Applicants for stalls to be interviewed

APPLICANTS for hawker stalls at the new RM17-mil market complex in Balik Pulau, Penang, have been called to attend interviews next month.

Penang Municipal Council licensing committee alternate chairman Teh Leong Meng said the interviews were aimed at identifying qualified hawkers to fill up the remaining 173 stalls in the market complex.

“The are 288 stalls in total but we have allocated 115 stalls to hawkers from the old market.

“This leaves 173 stalls for public applications,” he told a press conference recently.

He said the council had received 554 applications for the remaining stalls.

He added that priority would be given to applicants from the area, those with relevant experience and those who were in need.

Teh said the interviewees would know the result a week after the interviews.

He said successful applicants would be able to start trading at the complex by September.

He said the interview sessions would be held at the Balik Pulau Sports Complex on the following dates:

July 2 - for wet market stall applicants

July 3 - for dry market and halal food stall applicants

July 10 - for bazaar stall applicants

July 11 - for non-halal food stall applicants

Those with enquiries can call the council licensing division at 04-2638818.

TEXT SOURCE: The Star Online (North)

Picture of the new Balik Pulau market under fast-pace construction taken by Nasir in mid June 2007.

Flying in just for durians

DURIANS anybody? Penang is known for this thorny fruit which is dubbed locally as King of Fruits.

But how much lure does the durian exactly have? Strong enough to entice some Singapo-reans to fly here from the island republic just for a durian feast, it seems.

State Agriculture, Agro-based Industry, Ru-ral Development and Flood Mitigation Com-mittee chairman Datuk Azhar Ibrahim said he was informed that a group of Singaporeans took a flight to Penang to enjoy durians in Balik Pulau.

“They flew home after having the fruit. This shows that durians grown in Penang are of world class. Penang is a fruit and food paradise,” he said after opening the northern region-level Food and Fruits Fiesta at Penang Pesta site in Sungai Nibong recently.

Rich and creamy:Tan(right)and Yeoh with their award-winning durians.The three-day event featured 138 booths selling a variety of fruits and foodstuff.

Those who attended the opening ceremony were treated to a cultural performance.

A durian contest held in conjunction with the fiesta attracted 20 entries.
Orchard owner Tan Chong Bin from Paya Terubong, who was the winner in the “Best of the Best” category, took home RM1,000, a certificate and a trophy.

Yeoh Hui Chooi of Relau won the “Number One” durian category. He also got RM1,000, a certificate and a trophy.

SOURCE: Star Online (North)

The new towncentre of Balik Pulau is going to be unveiled soon, by August 2007 if everything goes as planned! If you haven't been to Balik Pulau the past six months or longer, prepare to be shocked...

I took a stroll down yesterday around the construction-in-progress huge piece of land, as clearly visible from the peak of Bukit Relau. See the photo below taken from the Anjung Indah observatory point situated at the midpoint of Jalan Tun Sardon between Relau-Bayan Lepas and Kongsi-Balik Pulau:


The are in the middle with the huge bulk of red roofs were all green, not too long ago. This zone now will house a future bus depot for RapidPenang and miscellaneous bus companies, the largest wet and dry market in Penang, dozens of new shoplots, dozens of modern terrace residential houses, a food court, a surau, ample parking spaces and more. I wonder if they'll be any major supermarket will make this new Balik Pulau towncentre its home, and become a favorite shopping place for the bulk of BP-ians and visitors from all over the world...

More pictures of the new commercial and residential community centre next to the historic Kongsi towncentre:-

The Commerce

The "Fortune" Residence

The infra

It's like the town knows I was coming to reside here...

Anak Bulan Di Kampong Pulau Betong... eh, Kampong Wa' Hassan...

That's the title for an act from the Actors Studio coming to Balik Pulau tomorrow night!

Excerpt from the Actors Studio website:

The Actors Studio with the support of / dengan sokongan Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage / Kementerian Kebudayaan, Kesenian dan Warisan (KeKKWa) present / mempersembahkan GENE SHA RUDYN in the text written by / dalam karya tulisan ALFIAN BIN SA’AT

“Anak Bulan Di Kampong Wa’ Hassan”

Director / Pengarah: Gene Sha Rudyn
Writer / Penulis: Alfian bin Sa’at
Cast / Pelakon: Gene Sha Rudyn

“Anak Bulan Di Kampong Wa’ Hassan” tells the story of Kampong Wa’ Hassan, the last Malay kampung (village) to fall victim to Singapore’s efforts at modernisation. Far from a nostalgia trip down memory lane to a romanticised Malay kampung, this is a journey of discovery of the true worth of a kampung, filled with real-life characters in all their rawness, and the true loss in the dispossession of it.

“If ‘to know me is to love me’, then the way for us to understand why Orang Kampung love the kampung is to get to know the kampung that they know.” - Gene Sha Rudyn

“Anak Bulan Di Kampong Wa’ Hassan” mengisahkan tentang Kampong Wa’ Hassan, kampung terakhir di Singapura yang menjadi mangsa dalam usaha Singapura mengejar kemajuan. Jauh berbeza daripada sebuah lamunan romantika tentang sebuah Kampung Melayu yang penuh nostalgia, malahan ianya merupakan satu penerokaan mengenali nilai sebenar sebuah kampung, yang padat dengan watak-watak nyata lagi asli, dan kehilangan sebenar dengan pemupusannya.

“Kata pepatah ‘Tak kenal maka tak cinta’. Jadi, kalau kita nak faham kenapa orang kampung cinta sangat dengan kampung, kita kenalah mengenali kampung yang mereka kenal.” - Gene Sha Rudyn

“…bijak pada masa-masa yang tepat dan lucu tanpa disangka-sangka.”

(“…intelligent at the right times and funny when least expected.”)
- Hasleen Bachik, Berita Harian (Singapore)

“Funny, intelligent and moving.”
- Eugene Ng, getasia.com.my

“Although hilarious at times, there was also serious reflection…”
- Jad Mahidin, The Malay Mail

“The insightful observations of Kampong Wak Hassan suggested the subtle suppression they faced.”
- Zieman, The Star

“…a weighty depiction of the faces of fear and apprehension…”
- Christina Leong, KLue

“…penonton ketawa terbahak-bahak,… mengetawakan diri sendiri.”
(“…the audience laughed hysterically,… laughing at themselves.”)
- Mislina Mustaffa, Berita Harian (Malaysia)

“…with this sense of unease,… left us with a powerful imagery of the past drowned out by modernity.”
- Veronica Shunmugam, The Edge Daily

“…so clearly illustrates the battle between the spiritual human voice and the increasingly dominant consumerism of our culture and traditions.”
- Amir Hafizi, Kakiseni.com

Event Information/Maklumat Acara (as SMS-ed to me from Lina/The Actors Studio):

Time/Masa: 9 pm
Date/Tarikh: Sunday, 10 JUNE 2006
Venue/Tempat: Taman Rimba Anjung Indah (hmm.. I don't even know if this place exist -- definitely not in Kg Pulau Betong!), Balik Pulau

ADMISSION IS FREE!

See you there!

UPDATE (15 JUN 2007): I finally got more info about the event and venue... but too late now... posted anyway here for everyone's acknowledgement -- and only yesterday I've first realized where the mysterious place called "Anjung Indah" (just officially named such last month) is situated at although that's one of my favorite hangout place for nearly five years now.. and I tiredly circled the entire Balik Pulau from Pulau Betong to Sungai Rusa to look for it last weekend... bummer!:

1. Event announcement at Behind the Red Helmet Blogspot
2. Info on Gene Sha Rudyn, the play director. He also has a website at geneshar.tripod.com
   

The Actors Studio, with the support of the Culture, Arts and Heritage Ministry, presents Gene Sha Rudyn, who will be presenting text written by Alfian Sa’at – Anak Bulan di Kampong Wa’ Hassan. Anak tells the story of Kampong Wa’ Hassan, the last Malay kampung to fall victim to Singapore’s efforts at modernisation. Far from being a nostalgic trip down memory lane to a romanticised Malay kampung, this is a journey of discovery of the true worth of a kampung, filled with real-life characters in all their rawness, and the true loss of dispossession. Dates: June 6 – Tanjong Malim, Perak; June 9 – Balik Pulau, Penang; June 13 – Klang, Selangor; June 17 – Kuantan, Pahang; June 20 – Masjid Tanah, Malacca; June 23 – Kluang, Johor.

Free admission. Call the Actors Studio ( 03-20940400) for information on venues.

SOURCE: The Star eCentral > Sound & Stage