First
of all, we would like to say thanks to Dr. Nicholas Ghani because has given us
a chance to complete our assignment. Our group consist of four members,
Cordelia Dominic Ajang, Ee Min Jun, Khoo Kai Le, and Sathiaraj A/l Sundramoothy
are taking SSF1033-INTRODUCTION TO MALAYSIAN SOCIAL HISTORY. We are doing a research about the history of Carpenter Street for our group assignment for Malaysian Social History subject.
Malaysia is famous by way of its untouched white beaches and beautiful accessible islands. As a result of its rich history in spice trade, oil, gas, wood and colonization, it has always been visited by early settler from all parts of the world thereby making a country with multi religions, multi-ethnic and outspread traditions and culture. There are more historical places in Malaysia such as A Famosa ,Lembah bujang, Guah Niah and others.
Malaysia is famous by way of its untouched white beaches and beautiful accessible islands. As a result of its rich history in spice trade, oil, gas, wood and colonization, it has always been visited by early settler from all parts of the world thereby making a country with multi religions, multi-ethnic and outspread traditions and culture. There are more historical places in Malaysia such as A Famosa ,Lembah bujang, Guah Niah and others.
‘Kuching is
the capital and largest city of the East Malaysian state
of Sarawak and the district of Kuching, as well as the largest city
on the island of Borneo’,(Wikitravel, n.d.) .Kuching is a heaven for
tourists. Kuching is one of the main tourist destinations in Sarawak. You can
take pleasure in various sightseeing activities in Kuching. In the middle of
them are visiting museums, seeing the sights of Kuching city and sightseeing
for nature lovers. Kuching is quite the sunset spot, often considered as "one
of the most memorable".
On
7 December 2013, we went to one of the famous places in Kuching which is
Carpenter Street. Carpenter Street is also known as Kuching’s Chinatown. It is
one of the oldest streets in Kuching. We went there at 9 in the morning. When
we reached there, we were so shocked to see that the street was very packed
with people even though it still early in the morning. It shows that many
people came to get their necessities from here. Along this road, we can see
that there are many shops that provide all the necessities needed. For example
like bicycle shops, carpenter shops, herb shops, food court and others. This
place is not only packed with local people but also with foreigner tourists.
This mean that this place is so interesting and unique until it can attract
foreigners to visit there. We also mesmerize with the atmosphere here. It feels
like we are in China with most of the buildings has an antique looks and with
the Chinese community there. All of the buildings look still the same even
after through many years of modernization. Some of the families here has live
there since their ancestors migrated from China to Kuching and they still
continue run their families business.
We
did interview some of the residents there; two Chinese old women and two
Chinese old men to get some information about the history of Carpenter Street. We
got many useful information related to the street. We also took some pictures
here for our memories. Other than that, we also grab our chance to try the
local delicacies that was served here such as kolo mee and the famous foods
served here, pork satay and fish-balls soup. We went to the famous food court
here that served all that local delicacies. Lau Ya Keng Food Court that only
located near to the Harmony Arch and in front of a Chinese temple. Finally, we
finished our trip to Carpenter Street after spending one whole day there. Even
though it only one day trip, it is a very useful and meaningful trip for us.
