East Coast Escapade – Kg. Chempaka Fishing Village, Kuantan

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.
In the Name of Allah, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful.

Assalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.

Dear brothers and sisters in Islam.

Have you been to the East Coast of our Malaysian peninsular lately?

Mere words can’t fully describe the joy of seeing scenes such as these.
Miles and miles of white sandy beaches still relatively unspoiled environment of the coastal states of Pahang, Terengganu and Kelantan.

We have yet to go explore the Johor State coastal areas facing the South China Sea. Insya Allah, we will, one of these days. For now, let’s enjoy these scenes that I managed to capture during our trip to Kuantan and Kemaman recently.

It’s kind of like those picture postcard moments. The weather there is really hot and sunny. No wonder East Coast folks look quite weathered and tanned especially the menfolk. The lasses on the other hand are quite pretty and charming. One thing you notice are that the East coast people are quite friendly towards visitors to their state. Negeri cantik ; perangai molek! Beautiful state ; great manners!

We came across a fisherman and his assistants collecting fish from their nets. This fisherman used drift nets. Drift nets do not harm the sea bed unlike trawler deep sea nets which scrape the seabed and catch practically everything that is unfortunate enough to be in its way. I like the drift nets. Environmentally friendly and better for the fishing industry in the long run.

I spoke to the fishermen and could sense their contentment in living by the sea, fresh and free. Their chosen life and career is no smooth sailing leisure trip out there as it could also mean a life or death trip, going out there in the stormy seas. Yet they do it day in day out for the rest of their lives as it is something that they regard as being in their blood.

This is the fishermen’s local coffee stall or ‘warung kopi’ as it is known in Malay. The proprietress was quite friendly and had her children help her run the stall.

I saw them having a well in front of their stall which I believe is used by the fishermen to draw water and use it for their washing up after coming back from the sea.

This is what we call as ‘gayung’. Used to be made from palm fronds base stalk but now being made from used polypropylene containers. These ‘gayung’s are used to draw the well water by dropping them down into the well and drawn out again by the rope tied to the handle.

Their simple bathroom.

A scene that leaves one at peace, far away from the madding crowd and chaos of city life. Kg. Chempaka, Kuantan, Pahang Darul Makmur, Malaysia.

After this posting, we will be moving on to show the rural side of Pantai Sepat and Penor areas leading to Pekan. Traditional delicacies are still being baked using time honored ways where copper moulds and coconut husks are part of the preparation methods of the kampong folks. Prices are still dirt cheap. More pictures and news after this. Insya Allah!

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