The Tamil Treasure blog was established on July 2011 to showcase information of the items collected to everyone and build bridges of understanding and friendship with our multicultural society. Through informative materials, special events and cultural sharing that this blog has received multiple positive feedbacks on its representation of contemporary Indian culture as well as preservation of the old and treasured. All the items showcased in this blog are for our own references.
Used bicycle to carried dirty clothes for laundry purposed. Still practiced in Penang. It's getting extincted because new generation never practiced this anymore. Dhoby Ghaut village which the Tamils called "Vannan Thora Tedal" (Laundryman's district), located in Penang Dhoby Ghaut, which was once known as Dhobi Ghat, a long forgotten trade where clothes were washed. You can visit this places for experience it.
Still practiced in Ipoh. Already extinct in Kuala Lumpur and Penang. Jasmine flowers are being sold in length-wise by this man by walked along Ipoh streets. It is a hard job to practice and getting rare for new generation to see in bigger cities.
The pictures on left is an old fashion barber shop with traditional tools and its set-up. This kind of barber shops is no longer a common thing in big cities such as in Kuala Lumpur, Penang and etc. Most hair salons are air conditioned and comfortable cushioned chairs with the latest cutting hair tools. I went to this shop to have a talk with this man in the second picture. He told me his experiences and memories of the good old days. He started his career at the age of 12! And now he's 67 years old! WOW! Earlier he has his own shop in Little India Penang than he sold it off because of unforseen circumstances. We had a great chat and I had a wonderful time sitting in this old fashion barber shop.
This shop is called "Ottu Kadai", in Tamil it means small shop that sells basic items those days. Normally they sell cigarettes, tobacco, newspapers, sweets and etc, which cost less than RM1.00 those days. Now this type of shops are still available in Penang and it is getting lesser. If we look at this type of shops, only the older generations are still open for business. Younger generations have their hopes high on other money making strategies. These shops has never been upgraded to concrete / bricks. It is still sturdy and strong regardless of the wood they used long time ago. If you want to have a look at these kind of shops you can still pass by along Market Street, Jalan Anson and in Little India.
This photo was taken in the year 1992 at Dobby Ghat, Penang. Look at the photo, an Indian man (right hand side of the picture) was trying allocate a space to dry-up his freshly washed cloth. This practice is now extinct in Malaysia. The technology of using washing machine in every homes is now a common thing as it is very convenient and saves time. Those days, people depend on these people to wash their clothes by hand wash which they use a method to keep the clothes texture. Modern day practice, we use clothes detergent to help maintain and clean our clothes. Surprisingly, this particular dobby is still exist in Penang. You may want to drive by York Road, Penang and have a personal experience on these dedicated men to hand wash clothes.
This photo was taken in the year 1972, stated on this photo. The location of this photo was taken is somewhere along Kapitan Keling Road. The fortune teller....is no longer a trade in the modern day era. Fortune reading was a must to all Indian especially for Tamil community those days. Now the new generation has no believes in fortune telling. To experience this you may want to visit Little India Market Street, Penang.
This old tricycle carries junk foods or pastries to be sold around a neighbourhood. This tricycle hardly now on the roads of Penang. Now, most bread vendors will use motorcycles with a carriage at the back to transport breads to housing area at certain time of the day. In Penang, we can actually count the number of those vendors using this type of tricycles. Although it is rarely been seen but to have your lucks up, you can try going around Dhobi Ghat area or around Dato Keramat.
