The City Built On Tin

Pre-war buildings along the main road leading into Old Town

During the boom of the tin mining industry at the beginning of the 19th century, areas along the riverbank of Sungai Kinta flourished. This town was known as Ipoh. In 1892, the Eastern part of the town was destroyed by a great fire. It was rebuilt and henceforth became known as New Town. Meanwhile, the area on the other side of the river was named Old Town.

Slipping Into 2012

It's the year 2012. The year the Mayan calendar ends. The year the world ends.

Doomsday prophecy aside, it's just another new year. Last I checked, there's this peculiar custom where people go about making new year resolutions, promising to become a better person this new year.

I will stop reliving in the past and start worrying about the future. I will delete my Facebook account and spend more time with real people. I will not pretend to call in sick to work. Not even once. Totally. Honestly...

However earnest you are (or try to be) when you make these resolutions, you're also aware that it's a matter of time before they're swept to the neglected corners of your mind. Then comes the next year, when you'll feel maybe a small pang of guilt that the previous year's resolutions didn't go according to plan and promise to hang onto them for real this year. Then the cycle continues.

It is also the time when party spirit runs high. Right now, there's a growing crowd at the party venue at Taipei 101, as the revellers count down the final hours of the year 2011. At the first struck of 12, fireworks lit the sky for the next 202 seconds. All this extravaganza showing on the TV in my hotel room at the relatively rural Miaoli County, while I'm lying in the bed half asleep, too exhausted for the flurry of live reports.