Imagine having a picnic at such a place! No rubbish about, no unpleasant odour from the river, clean and clear running water…etc. Blissful isn’t it?
This is none other than the Perak River (at Parit). Yes, folks…believe it or not our rivers once looked like this 😉
picture courtesy of: Ruth Iversen Rollitt
This postcard shows the Victoria Bridge, which is the oldest railway bridge in Malaysia. The bridge was officially opened on the 21st of March 1900 by Sultan Idris Murshidul’adzam Shah of Perak and FMS High Commissioner Sir Frank Swettenham.
As I have just returned from a bone-dry part of Africa which is suffering a serious drought, with grazing animals dying from ingesting dust and nothing but dry brown stalks to eat, I thought it would be nice to remember how nice Perak’s countryside was – and despite the damage caused by mining and development – still is.
This tinted photograph dates from around 1900 and shows the Perak River with our limestone hills in the background. An idyllic scene! Now of course, the river no longer reflects the blue sky and some of the hills have been damaged beyond nature’s capacity to repair. But nonetheless we still have one of the most beautiful states in our country and long may that continue. And that it can if you, the man in the street, wants it to. All you have to do is care about our envirinment (our natural heritage) and encourage others to do the same.
You know it makes sense so as Nike says “Just do it”.