The Sitiawan Of Old
After 1990 I don't think I can consider myself a citizen of our old, sleepy town of Sitiawan. I was always away most of the time, either to school, or to work. Since then I don't believe I've stayed in Sitiawan for more than a couple of weeks. Usually it's just for a couple of days.
So if you're familiar with Sitiawan as it is now. Picture it in your head: the four-lane roads, shophouses as far as the eye can see from Simpang Empat, road dividers with designated u-turns... That's not the picture I remember if I think of Sitiawan.
Here's a series of photos of the town that Atok Irfan took back in the old days:
Above: The old UMBC building, currently right beside the current new UMBC Sime Bank RHB Bank building.
Above: The interior of the building where Atok Irfan worked.
Above: Simpang Empat, complete with a swift flying overhead.
Above: Across the road from the UMBC building is the post office compound.
Above: Wisma Ganda view - The new UMBC building and the Padang Astaka and the airfield beyond.
Above: Wisma Ganda view - Simpang Empat.
Above: Wisma Ganda view - The town mosque. Check out the land behind it, still unused. It's filled with houses now.
Above: 6 miles down the road, we have Teluk Batik, the place where as a kid you'd be taken there during weekends for a good time. And later, as a teenager, you'd bicycle there with your friends to take a dip in the water, then explore the jungles around it and meet some old Malay dude in rags on the jungle paths who speaks perfect English for some reason.
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