Rengit: an Extraordinary Flea Mart (3)

We made another trip to the flea market, this time to look around for some dining table tops. This time around I was more interested in some of the old furniture . I saw this one tucked away in a dusty corner. I don't know where it comes from, but its appearance suggests aboriginal art from Borneo.

A close up shot

According to the owner, this closet has been sold

Michael inspecting what looks like a Chinese altar

Solid wood chairs with brass handles

These are undergoing reconditioning

Rattan furniture left out to dry after coats of varnishing have been applied

Doors for sale

We bought these Italian made lanterns (Rm 500 for six of them)

On the way back we stopped by at Senggarang to have 'assam' fish, which Senggarang is famous for. There are a number of shops selling this. This is opposite the wet market. The more well known one is close.

Working in such a confined space the lady could whip up the 'assam' fish in a jiffy plus the vegetables that we have ordered

Assam ikan pari or stingray

Assam local red snapper head

Rengit: An Extraordinary Flea Mart (2)

It was by accident that we discovered the Rengit flea market; we wanted to check out a cafe there known for its tasteful traditional Malay architecture. We ended up covering the length of the street in search of used furniture and odd appliances or equipment that might add to the rustic ambiance of Mr. Lim's 'Country Life' project.

The flea market in Rengit is conspicuous for its two extensive rows of ramshackle shacks lining both sides of the road that snakes alongside the Rengit river. What struck me too as odd was that the Malay women do not wear tudung or the baju kurung. I was later told that it was a settlement of 'orang asli' or indigenous people. On the Sultan's directive, they were allowed to occupy state land to conduct their businesses.

A view of the road

A view of the shacks that sell an astonishing variety of second hand goods as well as new teak or rosewood furniture

These shacks double up as living quarters for the families where cooking and washing are done at the back. What is noticeably lacking is a systematic drainage sytem which causes some compounds of houses at the back to be water-logged

Apparently not willing to discard any item, this owner leaves his stuff outside

This is one of the better houses

An exercising machine features prominently in the confusion of used articles

Prams by the dozens

Two golf sets and an assortment of toys and fans and a fridge on the left

Vacuum cleaners, rice cookers, bags, blankets, shoes, even pongo sticks

This shack seems to specialize in audio and video equipment; at the back used teak furniture

This sells used furniture made from 'jati' or teak wood. A lot of this furniture is brought in from Singapore without tax, a privilege accorded by the Sultan of Johor

An old clock

Some wood panels for sale

An old table with graceful legs. It has not been reconditioned yet

A cupboard cum writing table

A four poster bed

Second hand rosewood furniture

Mr Lim ordered a set of 6 teak deck chairs that comes with an outdoor umbrella for RM 700

Nearing the end of the road

Rengit: An Extraordinary Flea Mart (1)

The Sarang Tempua cafe

Yesterday, acting on 'reliable' information, we went to Sarang Tempua Cafe in Rengit, a small town between Senggarang and Pontian to pick up some pointers for the 'Country Life' Project. To our surprise, the cafe was closed indefinitely (so much for the 'reliable' information), but the female care-taker allowed us in to look around. We could only speculate on why the business had failed: the river was polluted with rubbish from the crude wooden shacks that line the river. The owner had tried to keep his part of the river clean by putting up nets to snare rubbish, but obviously the shack dwellers couldn't care two hoots about keeping the river clean.

What was to be a trip to gather information turned out to be one of discovery: an intriguing flea market; however it is not one of those open air ones which we commonly associate with a flea market. This is one long narrow winding road lined with crudely built wooden shacks, as hot as ovens, selling every conceivable article; prams, shoes, audio-visual equipment, golf sets, furniture, fridges, mattresses, mahjong sets, basins... However, this will be the subject of the next posting.

The signboard almost obscured by lalang (weed)

However, still bearing up proudly is this plant growing on a huge piece of driftwood sitting on some decorative plants

The river that fronts the cafe is polluted with rubbish dumped by shacks that line opposite bank of the river

Another view of the cafe, huts lining its side of the river for customers to enjoy the vew of the dilapidated shacks and contemplate the trash floating on the river

Another view of the huts

A close up shot

The owner had used the stoneware to great effect in attracting visitors

The interior of the main building

Another stoneware cleverly placed to entice potential customers; the owner obviously knows a thing or two about landscaping

At the main entrance is the cafe's 'warung' that sold deep fried snacks. Looks like it is out of business too

Shacks on the other side of the river

The polluted river

On the way back we bought some pineapples at 1 ringgit each from a mak cik ( honorific for an older woman) in front of her kampong house.

Immigrants In Colonial Malaya and Borneo: a pictorial account (10)

The Larut Wars (1861-1874)

The Larut wars in Perak are the stuff for a thrilling Hong Kong style historical-fictional movie. It's a wonder why no movie director has deemed them fit to adapt them into a movie replete with gangland warfare, gore and blood. What could have been more thrilling: a turf war fought over 13 years, an adulterous love affair, a final battle involving rival chiefs to the Perak throne? At the height of the battle between two secret societies, the Hai San, comprising primarily of the Hakka clan and the Ghee Hin of the Hokkien clan, and a sprinking of other lesser known dialect dominated secret societies taking sides, there were over 40,000 Chinese tin miners in Perak.

According to Isabella Bird,


The First Larut War was sparked by a fight over control of water courses to the tin mines between the rival secret societies. The Second, over a gambling quarrel between rival members. Story has it that the Hai San took 14 Ghee Hin members prisoners, 13 of whom were killed while one escaped. In retaliation the Ghee Hin razed a Hai San village, killing 40 men. The Third War erupted over a scandalous affair between a Ghee Hin leader and the wife of the nephew of the Hai San supremo. The adulterous pair was captured, put into a pig basket and thrown into a disused mining pool. To avenge the death of their Ghee Hin leader, the Ghee Hin imported 4000 professional fighters from China. The onslaught drove the Hai San members, numbering about 10,000 fleeing to Penang. The Final Larut War, which involved the rival chiefs to the Perak throne and supported by both the societies, was finally settled with the intervention of the British in the Pangkor Treaty in 1874.

Tin mines in Perak

Two of the 'prominent' leaders of that time