M20

COMMENT

SATURDAY METRO, SATURDAY 15 NOVEMBER 2008

The way things were

Total recall difficult as our cities change at a rapid pace
By NIKI CHEONG
niki@thestar.com.my

T WAS past two in the morning

when we stumbled down from
my local watering hole, The Attic,
after a few drinks. Some of us were
hungry so my friend Siti suggested
the famous Nasi Lemak Ayam Goreng
in Bangsar Baru.
We all knew which stall she was
talking about, but I clarified anyway,
asking her if it was the one at Jolly
Green Giant. She looked blank but
our friend, Tony, exclaimed, You
also know it as Jolly Green Giant!
Jolly Green Giant, for those of you
who dont know, is the medan selera
(food court) of sorts currently located next to Bangsar Village II. I dont
remember ever seeing a sign, so Im
not sure where the name came from
but this was about 15 years ago I
think when they first built it and
moved all the hawkers scattered
around Bangsar Baru into the building. I suspect the name came from its
green roof back then.
When Tony reacted, I got excited
as well. These days, few people know
it as Jolly Green. I wouldnt refer to it
any other way, but I cant blame everyone else for not knowing it either.
After all, things change so fast in a
city, and its hard enough keeping up
with the present, let alone cling on
to the past.
That has always been my problem
though. Dad often reminds me (scoff,
would be a better term actually)
about how nostalgic I can get, short
of referring to it as an annoying trait.
I am frequently told that because of
my penchant for walking down
memory lane, I come across as two
things: A) an old soul in a young-ish
persons body and B) annoyingly
pretending to be old when Im really
not.
My argument has always been
that if we dont remind ourselves
about the little things in our past, we
would probably forget it eventually.
These days, I drive around KL and PJ
easily because I have lived here all

THE

BANGSAR
BOY
I find it hard to
remember how
certain roads
and areas looked
like before they
were upgraded
into highways, or
before that new
building came up
from nowhere

my life. Yet, I find it hard to remember how certain roads and areas
looked like before they were upgraded into highways, or before that new
building came up from nowhere.
What was Bangsar Baru like before
the shopping centres were built, and
how did the houses along Jalan
Maarof look before they were converted into shops? Was there a road
where the LDP is now located, and
was the area just empty land before
The Curve, Ikana Power Centre and
Ikea was built in Mutiara Damansara?
I cant remember too well.
I still remember once, in the late
80s I think, when there was a massive laser show happening and we
all drove up to Jalan Ara and sat on a
cliff of sorts overlooking the houses
in Taman Bandaraya for a good view.
Today (and probably since 15 years

R
GSA
BAN

ago), huge houses lay where we sat

as a family watching the laser beams
shoot into the sky. I have memories
of the event, but I barely remember
how the spot looked like.
On the way to work (and back), I
drive past Bangsar Shopping Centre
(BSC) currently undergoing a major
transformation and am reminded
about how little I, well, remember of
its past.
I keep trying to recall how the old
wing looked like before the construction happened. This is considering the fact that I live just down the
street from it, and was playing
around the construction site when
the original wing was being built
(never mind the dangers of cycling
and skating in a construction site).
Some may think that I am simply
hanging on to trivial things, but all

these (and so much more) were such

a major part of my life that it is sad to
have so little memories of them.
The scary thing is that I am feeling
this way in my late 20s. Imagine
what would have changed by then
and how much more difficult it
would be to remember in the next
decade or two as I grow older.
I dont know if many people feel
the same way I do but I believe that I
am not alone.
In fact, its not just KL that is
changing so fast it is the same
everywhere around the world.
Many people find different ways
of immortalising the past and one of
them, I have encountered, comes in
the form of photo-blogs dedicated to
taking pictures of a locality around
the world daily.
Until recently, my friend Edwin

was taking pictures for his photo

blog Kuala Lumpur Daily Photo
(http://kualalumpurdailyphoto.blogspot.com/) and another friend Jerome
is still actively uploading pictures of
Hanoi (http://www.hanoidailyphoto.
com/).
Its too late now to capture how
the old BSC looks like, but Im already
thinking of taking a walk up there
now to snap a picture in case they
decide to change its look again in a
few years, or worse, tear it down.
Perhaps this is the solution to my
concern. Hmmm I wonder if I
should start carrying my camera
everywhere I go.
Niki Cheong blogs at www.
nikicheong.com/blog and Twitters
at
http://www.twitter.com/
nikicheong/