A Visit to Kuala Juru Fishing Village by BigFootHill

Dawn at Kuala Juru Fishing Village

Sun rising behind the swamp and Kuala Juru village

"Sampans" or small boats lying on cockle shells bank of the jetty

Wednesday November 17, 2010 was a public holiday in Penang State of Malaysia in conjunction with the celebration by the Muslim faith brethren especially for the Pilgrims who have performed their Hajj pilgrimage at Mecca in Saudi Arabia with their family and friends.  On this special day, the less fortunate, poor and needy are remembered and taken care of by the blessed Muslims when they went to mosques to perform prayers and thereafter sacrificed some cows and cut it to pieces to be distributed to the community. I remember those days some decades ago, when I was living in the Royal town of Arau, Perlis, another northern state of Malaysia, the folks there were very excited about the Festival of Pilgrimage also known as Festival of Sacrifice or Hari Raya Aidil Adha,
As early as 5.00am, the Muslim folks will wake up and get to round up the herd of cows and goats to be sacrificed near the mosque compound.  A group of them will help to hold down the animals and tied them to the coconut trees while the local butchers will perform the task of killing and cutting the animals for distribution to the needy in the community. Usually the Royal Highness "Raja" or King of Perlis and his royal family households will contribute towards purchasing of most of the animals to be sacrificed for that day. Thereafter, the folks will go visit the graves to pay their respects for the departed kins who are buried there and clean up the compound. In Perlis and other northern Malays states, the declared Public Holidays are two days to celebrate the Festival of Sacrifice by Pilgrims.  The other "Hari Raya Aidil Fitri" or "Hari Raya Puasa" or Festival to celebrate the end of Fasting month of Ramadan is celebrated with two days of Public Holidays.

My mom and her friends will tell us children not to look at the action of the killing of the animals as they said that the old superstition that once the boys looked at the action, the boys will be naughty and cruel.  I belief our moms would want to spare us from the frightening sounds and cries of the animals when they are killed after the prayers' rituals and to spare us from watching the horrors of bloods oozing out from the killing of the animals we use to chase away from our backyards, or to see the lifeless carcass after the meat have been cut for distributions. These grand old stories are told again and again each time we come to celebrate the festival annually. 

Coming to back to the picture of the small fishing boats, I was excited to celebrate the festival by sacrificing my sleep and waking up early at 6.00am and getting my family to join me to watch sunrise at Kuala Juru at Bukit Mertajam, Seberang Perai Tengah, Pulau Pinang.

The Kuala Juru Fishermen Association

 

It was also an opportunity for me to catch the life of the villagers at Kuala Juru.  We arrived the place at about 6.30am and went all the way to the end of the road where it stop at the foothill. The nearest house was some 50meters away.  We were the only ones there while the place was still very dark and misty.  My two companions were feeling spooky when we passed by the local Muslim cemetery and they wanted to turn back. Well, I never been there before and so it is better to be safe and so we turned back to the nearest point which have bright street lights and it happened to be near the Kuala Juru Fishermen Association as in the above shots.

Just then, a small lorry arrived to pick up loads of cockles packed in recycled plastic bags used for packing sugar.  In those days back in Arau, Perlis, I followed my mom to the market near the Arau Railway station, the cockles were delivered by the wholesalers in bags of gunny sacks which were environmental friendly.

Roller washing and filtering equipment to clean and pack the cockles in bags

The escalating conveyor to help lift the bags when loading into lorries

By then, we watched and talked to the men briefly and then walked to the jetty.  We looked for the sunrise but it was not the best place to view as it was partially blocked by the hill at Kuala Juru and the swampy trees.  So we just took some pictures and after some thirty minutes, there were two fishing boats passing through the river mouth of Sungai Juru which was how the place is named after Kuala Juru.  I did not manage to get the picture of the boats passing by as they were quite fast while I was still trying to adjust my camera setting.

Later we came across two senior adults or uncles and greeted them, Both of them have been staying here for more than sixty years and have been fishermen mostly rearing and harvesting cockles besides trapping the crabs, prawns and the mantis prawns or for living.  The place was quiet as that day was a public holiday and most of the Muslim fishermen were taking a day off. Behind the picture of the two uncles are the sheds occupied by local fishermen and a Thai "tom yam" (a kind of sour and spicy soup cooked with fish and prawns) restaurant owner originated from Southern Thailand.  There is only one common bathroom and toilet for the people staying there according to the uncles.

Pakcik Nordin and Pakcik Ismail

Brightly lit cement pathway to the jetty

Sampans docking at the jetty

As we were chatting with the uncles, my two companions were attacked by the little "kamikaze" mosquitoes and they retreated to the brightly lit areas to avoid being bitten by them. Soon we saw the swallow birds flying above the sky and then the white herons were hovering above the river mouth and landed on the banks and shallow parts of the river to catch and eat the little fish or crustaceans.

Herons

Fishing boat powered by motor passing by towards the sea

The landing jetty at Kuala Juru

The netting traps and ropes on board

two newer boats with red linings

Hunting for breakfast?

After the sky turning brighter, we can see the swamps clearer and there were more boats docked at the wooden jetty used for landing.  Up in the dark blue skies, we saw air planes taking off from Penang International Airport at Bayan Lepas towards our direction and over us.

The airline flying crossover to Kuala Juru

The Plane! The plane!...Welcome to Fantasy Kuala Juru

The seafood restaurant

Children playground opposite the Kuala Juru Fishermen Association

We then drove over to the other side of Kuala Juru which is near to the other restaurant and went to the end until we came across a quarry where there was new jetty being constructed by the Kuala Juru Fishermen Association.

New under construction landing jetty at the other side of hill of Kuala Juru

The new under construction landing jetty overlooking the Penang Second Link which is also under construction

Sunlight rising above the hill at Kuala Juru shinning upon the crossbars .

The hill and granite quarry at Kuala Juru

 

A sunny reflection on the pool of water at quarry at Kuala Juru

On the way out, we discovered a gem and scenic view of Big Foot Hill which look like we were on a narrow and winding road to the Swiss Alpine...ha.ha..so we really enjoy the holiday on a tight budget with airlines all over at Kuala Juru.

Big Foot Hill like a scenic Swiss Alpine

The narrow, long and winding road out from Kuala Juru quarry to Bukit Mertajam or Big Foot Hill or 大山脚

Please note that there is a different in the version with regards to Prophet Abraham sacrificing his son Isaac(Ishak) bore by his wife Sarah in reference made to the Holy Bible as compared to the Holy Qur'an which mentioned Abraham's son name as Ishmael(Ismail) bore by the Sarah's Egyptian maidservant, Hagar (Siti Hajar).  

Please see my earlier post "Looking for Church at Bukit Mertajam to celebrate Christmas" by clicking here : http://bigfoothill.blogspot.com/2010/11/looking-for-church-at-bukit-mertajam-to.html "

It reminded me of the story in the Bible book of Genesis Chapter 22 Verse 1 to 19 of Abraham offering his son, Isaac, as the sacrificial lamb to God and of his obedience to God and God's blessing upon him and his descendants of nations on the earth. Article is copyrighted by and courtesy of Focus Radio link http://www.facingthechallenge.org/gen22.php " 

Credit goes to the Ministry of Information of Malaysian Government for the information of the Festivals and public holidays.