Jalan Bukit Gambir – Peter Tan – The Digital Awakening

Panoramic View Of Taman Pekaka, Taman Lip Sin And Bukit Jambul

Panoramic view of Taman Pekaka, Taman Lip Sin and Bukit Jambul.
Click on image to enlarge.

The image in the previous entry did not do justice to what I could actually see from the bedroom window in my apartment in Penang. The view from the 20th floor is practically unobstructed to Teluk Kumbar and all the way to the Straits of Melaka in the horizon. On clear days, I could see the tail of aircrafts on the runway at the Penang International Airport.

There are a lot of memories locked in that 850 square feet of space 30 meters up in the air. Mum spent the last four years of her life there, and I another two years after she passed away. Since 2006, after I moved down to Kuala Lumpur, I have been in two minds whether to keep the apartment or put it up for sale. I will definitely miss the breathtaking view should I decide to sell it off.

View From My Room

Early morning view of Taman Pekaka, Asia Hills and Bukit Jambul from my bedroom window.

No matter how I tell myself that there is nothing left in Penang for me except memories, I am invariably drawn back to this little island that was home for forty years. How could I simply walk away from a place where I was born, grew up and spent almost an entire lifetime in? Try as I did, I still pine for those familiar places that were occasionally stirred up from my deepest memories.

I am glad I still have a home to go back to in Penang. I love the view from my bedroom window in Taman Pekaka. I could just sit there and look at the unfolding dusk as the sky turned from blue to orange to the colour of darkness. The sights of kids scampering in the playground, people playing soccer and joggers running around the field brought back memories of how Mum would lean on the window and look out from that exact spot. I wonder what she was thinking those times.

Photoblog – An Accident

Panaromic view of Jalan Pekaka 1, Taman Pekaka.

Almost the whole stretch of Jalan Pekaka is accident prone. The road slopes down from the traffic lights at the T-junction with Jalan Bukit Gambir. Cars turning into Jalan Pekaka usually speed down the road to Sungai Dua. Add a few junctions along the way coupled with impatient drivers and you have the perfect recipe for accidents. Countless vehicular accidents have happened along this stretch, usually tailgating fender benders.

As I was writing the previous blog yesterday, I heard a loud crash. Looking down from the window, I saw a woman lying motionless on the road. Her scooter was a good 20 meters away and pinned under the bonnet of a Wira. This happened just beside the Taman Pekaka surau.

4:14pm – View from my window. The scooter is pinned under the bonnet of the green Wira on the left. The victim is lying near the yellow box. A helmet lies beside the blue car on the other side of the road.

The distance between the victim and her scooter and the Wira is approximately 20 meters.

Close-up of the victim lying on the road.

Close-up of the mangled scooter under the Wira.

4:16pm – Some Good Samaritans carried the victim to the pavement. Ideally, this is not a good idea. If the victim suffered trauma to the spine, moving her could aggravate the injury.