Every time whenever I visit my hometown, I always tell myself “I am gonna write some stuff about Penang especially my memories of this wonderful hometown of mine” but within hours of just arriving home, I find myself always running here and there, especially frequenting the malls around the island. And it’s in those times when I am in the mall, I will again get the epiphany that I should write about my experiences growing up here.
There is always some nostalgic symbolic memory I would have wherever I look around in Penang. Be it whether I am passing by Komtar, or driving along Jln Dato Keramat, or cruising through Green Lane heading back home.
I would think of all the experiences I encountered; with family ; with friends, over different occasions and I would just smile as I drive pass these places. The only thing I never did do : blog about my experiences and pen them down.
So the fact that you are reading this is a good thing, it means that I have finally taken the 1st step to pen down my thoughts and memories of Penang. To make it more alive and meaningful, I have decided to take pictures of these locations, just so that I have some memory of them – who knows, given the rapid development Penang is facing these days, some of these places may not even exist any more.
I have broken down this into a series of essays as it would be impossible for me to write down all my thoughts and memories of Penang in one post. I have divided my essays into a series of 5 parts.
Part 1 & 2 : Education : School and tuition
Part 1 will primarily focus on my experiences going through the books and exams. I will share and write my experiences on my primary school days and my secondary school days as well as my college days. I will also write about my tuition classes in Part 2, which I took throughout my secondary schooling days.
Part 3: Fields and Playgrounds
In this essay, I shall concentrate more on writing about my experiences of the playground – The Place where you build relationships with other kids and occasionally to deal with bullies and more “violent” delinquents.
Part 4: Malls and Arcades
I loved frequenting malls and just hanging out and checking out shops and stuff. In this essay I will narrow down my memories (which were spent with family and friends) of my most 2 favourite (now slightly defunct) malls – Bukit Jambul Complex (BJC) and Midlands One Stop.
Part 5: Church
Although I never did realize it until later on in my young adult years, but Church was an important aspect in my family and for me personally as well. In this essay I will spend some time recounting my church-going experiences with my family and also some of the friends I made.
So buckle up, we’re heading DOWN Memory Lane
