Telok Chempedak in the morning

Journalist and guest blogger Jehan Mohd was recently in Kuantan for the kick off of the fifth season of the RHB New Straits Times National Spell-It-Right Challenge. On the last day there, she took a trip to Telok Chempedak to catch the sunrise. Little did she expect to see an entire colony of monekys playing on the deserted beach. Her account and photos below.

I've always had an affinity for the beach and the sea. Being based in landlocked Kuala Lumpur, I tend to go a little nuts whenever I do get to go to a beach. So when I was assigned to cover the SIR Challenge in Kuantan, I immediately thought that the beach was a definite stop I had to make.

And that's how I came to be at Telok Chempedak at sunrise on my last morning in Kuantan.

Sunrise at the main beach at Telok Chempedak

A glimpse of the more secluded beach

The more secluded beach has more rocks

Sea shell, sea shell on the seashore

Rocky terrain of the more secluded beach

Awe-inspiring beauty right in Kuantan

Can you spot the tiny sand crab making its way back to its hole?

Time to head back to the main beach

A view of the main beach from a look-out point on the walkway

Rocky beauty of Telok Chempedak

After ooh-ing and aah-ing and taking loads of photos, we decided to head back at about 8am - and that's when we encountered the monkey residents of Telok Chempedak. Being early on a weekday, the beach was deserted except for a mother and young daughter, city council cleaners, me and my sleepy husband and the monkeys.

When the humans' away, the monkeys will play

Monkeys doing what's only natural

One man's rubbish is a monkey's food source

Monkeys on the beach

A little groomming in the morning

Mother and baby together

Another baby monkey exploring on its own

A monkey Banksy?

A monkey trying one of the vices humans enjoy

Pretend smoking

Family time- the baby throws a parting shot

Comments

Earning your second chance

People rarely get second chances. When we make a serious mistake we seldom get an opportunity for a do-over. Those we have hurt will remember our transgressions for a long time. Maybe forever. Published accounts remind us of the agony of former prisoners and rehabilitated drug addicts who are denied jobs, housing and other services on account of past convictions. They want desperately to clear their records of past crimes however minor these might seem. They want to take a path towards a new start that will help them improve their circumstances. Quite simply, they need a second chance. They want to have a shot at a normal life. But there are conditions attached to the privilege of being bestowed a second chance. Offenders must take full responsibility for their actions and honestly regret what they have done. Islam's concept of taubat (repentance) states that wrongdoers must demonstrate sincere remorse, sorrow and guilt, promise not to repeat their mistakes and do g...

Without money, food and other things

PERTIWI Soup Kitchen volunteers distribute food and drink to the needy regularly. The homeless are everywhere. Sometimes I see them walking the sidewalks of the less glamorous parts of Kuala Lumpur city. I caught two sleeping on a pavement opposite the bus station at Puduraya. I don't think about them all the time but they are on my radar screen. I saw them again recently at the area behind Tune Hotel at Medan Tuanku. I had accompanied a photojournalist friend who wanted to take pictures for a magazine of members of PERTIWI Soup Kitchen serving meals to the homeless and hungry. The NGO does this on a regular basis and visit various locations around Kuala Lumpur distributing food and drink to the needy. He quenched his thirst with a hot drink. A long queue of homeless people built up as soon as PERTIWI volunteers set up tables for the soup kitchen. Women and men quietly waited for their turn to take their food and drink. Those who have received theirs smiled ...

Dealing with death of a loved one

Today marks the end of Rabiaa's mourning period. She had completed four months and 10 days or 130 days of grieving, the stipulated period for expressing sorrow for Muslim widows. The death of her husband on Dec 30, 2020 was expected but it still came as a huge shock to her. It was too sudden, she felt. Yet observers would not agree. Her husband became bedridden in mid-November after a collision between his big bike and a car which had come from the opposite direction after taking an illegal turn. In addition to being bedridden, Anwar, lost his voice which was the direct result of the brain injury he had suffered after the accident. He was diagnosed with traumatic brain injury. How does Rabiaa feel now? The pain is bearable but the memories remain as vivid as ever. She is still unwilling to clear up all of her husband's things and some items remain in their original positions as before he became bound to the bed. His belongings connect Rabiaa to Anwar and sh...

a fleeting stay ...

Search This Blog