Light after dark

An attempt to capture the beautiful light as darkness falls at 7.42 pm on 19 May 2013 at Lower Peirce Reservoir.

The light in the darkness

Once again, I found myself seeking the peace and joy of the twilight at Lower Peirce Reservoir away from the crowds on a Saturday evening, and have these two photographs taken in the semi-darkness with just enough light in the sky to permit both the sky and the surroundings to be evenly exposed. The photographs were taken at about half an hour after sundown, the first at 7.37 pm and the second at 7.43 pm.

The sun sets on a Singapore we want only to forget

The Singapore of my wonderful childhood, was one that was very different to the one I now find myself waking up to. It was one where we could find pleasure not in the clutter of the pompous paraphernalia we now seek to embrace, but in a simplicity we can no longer find beauty in. It was a world of places marked not by the cold hard stare of concrete, glass and steel that had rendered them faceless, but one where escapes could be found in the unique charms of places that even today, we seek to forget.

Twilight in a world we seem to want to forget.

Solitude

It is in a world we have forgotten, that I have come to enjoy a peaceful moment in. It is a world which in being seemingly far removed from the cold, grey and unfamiliar world that has grown around me; I take great joy having a moment in quiet solitude in. It is also one in which I find a sanity that can no longer be found in the Singapore I struggle to feel at home in. The world is one which will soon change. A change necessary, as we are told, for the small island we call home to move forward. A change which, as with the many changes we have been forced to accept, we will surely look back at with regret.

Two December’s Sunrises

This year’s North-East Monsoons has brought us lots of rain, so much so that the sky at dawn has more often than not been covered in a pall of grey cloud with spectacular shows of colour at sunrise being very much a rarity this month. The pall did seem to lift the last two mornings which did result with two very different and unusual celebrations of the new day:

6.46 am , 19 Dec 2012, Kampong Wak Hassan.

7.03 am 20 December 2012, Upper Seletar Reservoir.

A calm that may never again be found

I often find myself by the sea in a place that seems forgotten. It is here that, despite it having lost much of the charm it once exuded, one does still find a semblance of the old and gentler world we have chosen to discard. It is also where it often is a joy to take the start of the new day in, free from the distraction of the urban world that now does not seem far away. Sitting by the old crumbling sea wall, the reflection of the changing hues of daybreak off the gentle undulations of the sea brings not just that moment of magic that precedes the rising of the sun, but also a sense of calm that is hard to find in a world now dominated by the cold of steel and concrete. Every moment of magic is one to celebrate as if it were the last – the winds that bring with it the change that until now this world escaped seem not far away. It is a matter of time before it does arrive bringing a world with it in which the calm that I now seek may be a calm that will never again be found.

The celebration of the new day in a world that for now seems forgotten.

The magical calm that the surface of the sea takes on at the start of the new day.

The song of a forgotten shore

I have, of late, stolen moments alone, moments in which I am able to wander at the break of day along a forgotten shore. In the calm of the morning, it is the song that is sung in the greeting that the sea gives the shore that I hear, a tune that takes me to a time I might otherwise have forgotten. As I listen, the lightening of the sky reveals the shore which except for the signs of human interventions of a not so recent past, is one that is untamed. The shore is one that wears textures painted by the meeting of water with a litter of sand, wood and stone. It exudes a beauty that only few can see, a beauty that finds no place in the manicured world we now embrace. I sometimes spot a figure dancing through the wash. In the face of the figure it is my face that I often see, my face not of today, but of a yesterday of three decades past. As I take the walk the figure takes, I find myself walking back to once familiar shores, shores that although distant, are close by through a familiarity of sight. I am grateful to still be able today to take these walks yesterday, taking each as if it were a last. The next may be a walk into tomorrow. And with tomorrow, the forgotten shore and the distant shores that I am reminded of, will be ones that will certainly be forgotten.

The forgotten shore.

All that glitters is Hong Kong!

One of the things that strikes you about Hong Kong, is the unabashed celebration of ostentatious opulence on display. It is Hong Kong at its most glitzy, where labels having made their mark in the western capitals have found not just a home, but have become an inseparable part of the heart and soul of what Hong Kong is. Hong Kong is in fact where the labels seem to belong, thriving on a thirst for luxury that is driven very much by the pursuit of wealth as a means to measure success and happiness that makes Hong Kong, Hong Kong. It is in Hong Kong where there are more Gucci and Hermes outlets than there are in the world’s capital of haute couture, Paris, where every other shop seems to be one that offers the flamboyance of a Louis Vuitton or a Chanel, or one that glitters with the gold and diamonds of the many jewellery shops that illuminate the streets and malls. Nowhere is there such an enormous concentration of displays of luxury watches and mobile phones. This is even more startling walking through Harbour City shopping mall in Tsim Sha Tsui, where there seems to be nothing but shops that seem to speak of nothing but money.

Objects of luxury and desire are everywhere in Hong Kong.

Luxury labels are everywhere in a concentration that surpasses even the fashion capital of the world, Paris.

I guess this is what seems to define Hong Kong, and while the objects of desire are unattainable to many, it is somehow a side of Hong Kong that thrives, alongside the traditional trades, markets and street vendors that share the streets with the glamour. This is perhaps what makes Hong Kong interesting, and what gives it a buzz that draws visitors from all around the world.

The pursuit of happiness in the form of material wealth is very apparent on the streets of Hong Kong.

Desire for all that glitters is what makes Hong Kong, Hong Kong.

Even mobile phones speak of luxury!

Perhaps one of the reasons that Hong Kong embraces the show of wealth with such gusto is the fact that many do not see the need to enslave themselves to the car, as it is the case in Singapore. The excellent public transport network that again combines new and old to good effect, the ultra modern MTR and the traditional means such as the Star Ferry, tramways, minibuses and taxis seem to work hand in hand in transporting the millions around. While we do see cars and particularly many Bentleys and Rolls Royces alongside the Nissans and Toyotas, it is considered expensive to own one: high taxes on cars and petrol, and the need to buy or lease a parking space at a home or in the city at high prices seems to make one more of a luxury than a Gucci or Louis Vuitton, many Hong Kongers have chosen to dispense with one. That parking spaces are highly priced (as are highly prized) is probably best seen in a conversation that I had with a Canadian expatriate whilst on the tram from Causeway Bay to Central. The Canadian who had been in Hong Kong for fifteen years described how recently, parking lots in one particular development that were sold came with a free gift … a brand new car!

Cars can be an unobtainable object of desire in Hong Kong.

Whatever it is, it is nice to be able to wander down the streets and take in the lavish surroundings – it is certainly a unique experience, one that somehow gives me a feeling that I am amongst those that have attained the holy grail of life … happiness …. albeit only for that moment I am standing in the glow that the glitter of Hong Kong has cast on me …

Even shop windows of cafes and restaurants speak of wealth.

---

Note: this is a repost of my post on the omy My Hong Kong Travel Blog site. Please visit the My Hong Kong Travel Blog where you can vote for you favourite blogger and stand a chance to win a trip to Hong Kong. Details would be provided at the voting page.