A Trip Up Penang Hill

(This is a very long and overdue post…)

First of all, some background information: If you want to know more about Penang Hill, you can refer to this article in Wikipedia, which I had written a substantial portion. Simply put, Penang Hill is not a hill but a range, with a number of peaks. The “Penang Hill” people normally say refers to Strawberry Hill, the one with the restaurant on the summit.

I had conceived of writing something like this for a great many years, but the lack of equipment frustrated my undertaking. I hope you won’t find the many pictures boring, though you are likely to feel so…

I took the route I normally use: From Hye Keat Estate to 84, then from there to the summit, interrupted by a detour of Viaduct Road.

The funicular railway from the foot-hill. Many people thought this is the entire section, but it is just the first half of the railway. There is another half not visible here.

The trail starts here. It is relatively easy and gently sloped compared to other trails that lead to Penang Hill. It is also well used by the residents.

The distant summit is Bukit Penara, accessible by Jalan Tun Sardon, a winding road that leads to Balik Pulau. Kek Lok Si is also visible.

A view of Air Itam valley, Farlim new town and Paya Terubong housing estate. It can be seen clearly that the housing development is not well planned, and that the development has been creeping up the hill slope.

Middle Station of the funicular from a distance. Only the lower slope is visible from the foot-hill.

By now I had left the residential area and the path had narrowed. It just allows a moped to pass through. A few years ago I had cycled down the path from the summit of Penang Hill, and the wheels were severely damaged -.-

Small streams and cascades can already be seen. Cool though the water is, it should not be drunk or used because the water may be contaminated by pesticides used by the orchards up the slope.

The shrine is a good place to rest, since it marks the end of paved path. From here, it takes less than 30 minutes to reach 84.

The path diverges just steps away from the shrine. The left trail leads to Middle Station while the right leads to 84. I had travelled both, but the one to 84 is more frequently used.

The water flow of this cascade is particularly rich because of the rainy season. The volume is much smaller from March to about October.

The path leads to a seasonal stream, as witnessed by the rocks covering the distance. It has probably become ‘dormant’. It is not difficult to negotiate, even with my heavily-loaded Crumpler and 1.5-kg of water

The next section of the path is overgrown, but there are no thorny branches. Such branches are more common at higher altitude.

Another shrine, this time a Hindu. Beyond the shrine, the path meets the one from Youth Park and Moon Gate.

The path is well used and very easy to walk. By now 84 is less than a minute’s walk away.

Finally reached 84! 84 is the name of a hillside kiosk for hikers to rest. The number is taken from the number of chains from the foot-hill, one chain being 66 feet (20.11 meter). The straight-line distance from foot-hill at Botanic Gardens to the summit is 168 chains (3.4km); the tarred roads to Penang Hill (i.e. Jeep Track, visible in the above picture, and New Waterfall Road) combined is about 5.5km.

Jeep Track, looking towards Botanic Gardens. The track was developed during the 1960s. The road is not gazetted, meaning that if something happens to one’s car (or possibly himself) on the road, he could not get compensation from insurance!

84, looking from the road at a higher position. The road is quite steep.

Maybe I should say very steep, evident from one of the many bends along the road. Normal cars are not able to use the road due to the steepness; only 4WDs and motorcycles are able to travel the road. Occasionally heavy vehicles, such as trucks, also use the road.

I am not an admirer of modern education system… One set of belief is taught in the school, but when comes to practice, it is another!

This is one of the more gentle sections of the road.

The hairpin bend looks steep no matter how I hold the camera (or handset?)…

Can you see a villa hidden up the slope?

End of Jeep Track. The right branch is New Waterfall Road which leads directly to the summit, while I would take the one to the left, Viaduct Road East. The suffix East denotes the eastern section of the road, as delineated by the funicular railway.

One of the many drains crossing the road at intervals…

Is this a piece of organic architecture? I guess this is the so-called man-made cave…

The eastern section of the road is paved, level and easy to walk.

I think this ‘Orchard Road’ is more appropriate than the existing one

One of the flower gardens along the road. This one is near the Turf Club Bungalow.

Why build two when one is enough? More is not necessarily better…

Hmm, what’s that…?

The funicular!

There are many stops along the railway, Viaduct Station being one of those. It is meant to serve the residents living near Viaduct Road.

The viaduct, built in late 1910s…

A close-up look of the rails and pulleys. The pulleys slope to the left because the viaduct turns right higher up the section. Note that there is only one pulley with cable through; one of the trains is below the station while one is higher.

Looking down the slope and Hye Keat Estate, where I started the hike…

And looking upwards, towards the summit. The road that crosses the viaduct is Viaduct Road.

Now the train descends…

And you see two cables!

From there I continued my journey on Viaduct Road West. There are many pictureque scenery of eastern Penang Island along the road; Farlim is hidden in this picture, behind the vegetation. There are a number of monasteries along the road.

Here the road is still in reasonable condition, although the log is not cleared.

Farlim and Paya Terubong valley below, taken from a Buddhist monastery.

George Town, from the same location.

One of the many hill-side cultivations visible from the plains below.

By now the path had degraded into an undergrown one.

This landslide cut the paved road, beyond the undergrown section, into two; and delayed my hike for some four hours. It’s partly due to my need to ‘overcome’ this section, and also that I am so tired after this section, I had to literally drag myself towards the summit…

My first attempt failed miserably, with mud covered the lower part of my legs. I had to drag myself to a farm nearby to clean the mud off my shoes and legs…

My second attempt is much better than the first, evident from the decrease in mud stuck to my shoes

Firstly, I had to follow the side of the road, where the mud is not so thick. It’s indeed good to follow others’ footsteps sometimes!

After that, I had to cross the landslide, using the fallen branches and uprooted plants as support. They were sufficiently strong to support my sub-50-kg body, hehe…

In return for my effort, I was rewarded with the view of George Town .___.

I did not realize the magnitude of the landslide until I took this picture -.-” Lower Tunnel Road is just visible in this picture, being cut into half…

From there it is nice paved road leading to the top of the ridge. It is very steep, in view of my exhaustion…

The canopy walk from the ‘forest floor’… I’m at the forest floor level, isn’t it?

Upper Tunnel Road East… By now you should know how the East originates…

Summit Road! But I’m still an hour away from Upper Station of the funicular railway T_T The hut is the entrance to the canopy walk.

The canopy walk… I don’t know how it compares to other such walks, since this is the only one I’ve been to :$ The person-in-charge is kind enough to let me enter free of charge, after I talked with him about higher education

“This is where I come from…”

Looking down the forest floor…

Another view…

Coincidentally, I met my friends there… I was quite lucky, otherwise I would not have completed the ‘walk’…

Moving on… Summit Road is easy to walk, still true in view of my exhaustion… I should have brought some food T_T

It’s no longer necessary for me to tell you what place is this…

Quite a boring post right? Haih…

Self Contradiction

Finally I have something to rant. Actually, this is more of an explosion, since I already wanted to say this for quite some time. Perhaps the title is not that right; after all, I hope I could use such phrase as blardy fool, moron, or something like that.

Take this:

TUARAN, Dec 30 (Bernama) — Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said on Sunday that the country will become bankrupt if the government reduces oil prices, which were skyrocketting in the world market.

“Throughout the world oil prices are rising, it’s not possible for the opposition to bring fuel prices down. It simply does not make sense … they (opposition) are just trying to make fools of the people of Sabah.”

Actually, both are making fools. On the one hand, if the government is really that visionary (visionary would be an exaggeration – wise is just about the right word), the subsidy would not be instituted in the first place. Countries like Norway and Singapore did (and do) not have it, but they are doing fine. In fact, its absence make their economies more competitive, as they readily adjust to the market condition, letting price as the signal, instead of having the private sector turning to the government like a boy running to his mother. The government should just do the job it’s supposed to do – enforcing laws, ensuring physical safety of its citizens, and make sure that no one starves to death – just feed the starved, and let the private sector take care of job creation. When the government goes beyond that, you can be sure that the country is drifting away from democratic principles.

On the other hand, the opposition has not a consistent set of principles to contend with the incumbent party. Have you heard any member of the opposition party saying something like “The government should not do this because it is not consistent with the principles of democracy or logically contradictory in such and such a way” or “The government has done the right thing, but on the wrong reason”? I don’t think so. Warren Buffett likes to highlight the difference between goal and promise, and I think it is good that we examine their differences here. To put simply, goal is something one tries to achieve, based on a set of plausible arguments and supports; promise is something that must be accomplished however the circumstances. Influential and resourceful though the government is, there are many factors which are out of its control; this is especially true of a small and open country. Political promises are probably as good as the prospect of someone being older than his father; goal of governance would be something worthwhile to be drafted and implemented instead.

Our people do not learn an important principle of double-entry bookkeeping. The principle is that the accounts must balance; debits must equal credits. The fallacy that the subsidy can stay in place without having some source to pay for it is an evidence of the lack of appreciation of the principle among the people. Elimination of the subsidy before the oil revenue runs out would be a meager but necessary remedy (it’s too late to talk about investment). However, it’s not elimination of a tax – elimination of subsidy would certainly cause the oil price to go up, converging with the world price. However, there are so many complaints about this. Why there was no complaint when the subsidy was instituted? (Perhaps there were, but I had not been born then ) Don’t question the special rights now; the subsidy is in effect a special right conferred upon all the people, from an economic point of view.

Perhaps the goal of being a developed country in some years time is too ambitious; the more realistic to do, for now, would be to ’straighten the logic’ that has distorted the view of so many people over the years…

Please do not think that I’m complaining about other people because I have nothing to lose from this. My family does use petroleum-based fuel, and we would be affected as well. The following quote from my earlier article (also about the fuel subsidy, but on a more subsided tone) would serve as a good conclusion of this ranting:

… the government terminates the subsidy. This may be done one-shot or gradually. If the case is former, there results an adverse supply shock (prices of petrol and diesel increase dramatically). The economy may contract in the short run, or face instability. The government, anyway, would need to finance the ’smoothing’ expense in helping the economy go to the track without subsidy.

But as PM Lee of Singapore said, “Is it better to take your medicine sooner or stretch it out? Take medicine once or two times? I prefer to make my medicine early, why? This is something we need to do, once we have done it, we can move on…”

I humbly admit that my knowledge of economics is unsatisfactory and not being the brightest soul around, however I can’t help but to say, “It’s time to think rationally!”

p/s: One note about the taking of medicine sooner or later. It does make a lot of difference taking it either sooner or later. For the former, the country would have accumulated a surplus and would not have to borrow and service loans. The latter will sink the country into more debt, and this is definitely not a good thing when an economic downturn struck.

Looking Back

“So you thought this is your home?”

I think this question (or implicit statement) aptly summarizes the situation in Penang. Confirmation of the hypothesis made in late 2003. Need I say more?

I think luckily, however, the core is still there; what was lost is the substance (think of a heart without a body). Perhaps it will re-emerge someday – maybe 10, 20 or 30 years later. I just don’t know the precise moment, being limited in foresight. Perhaps if I’m good enough I can dispense with this institution altogether. Why discriminate between internal and external?

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At last I can appreciate an architecture being organic. True to its Nature.

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There were (and are) many detractions along the way to Omaha… But it must be done at all cost and as soon as possible!