JANUARY 9

📍 KLANG RIVER & KONGSI KL

Today we visited the Klang River, further in the city near MidValley Mega Mall - no crocodiles in sight.

Kennedy took us on the muddy river walk, where he explained that the river was important, and the concept of the ‘river of life.’

Everyone decided to go on the river walk instead of the community path. It was extremely muddy and humid, however, we persisted. It was definitely worth it, showing us that the area was walkable, but certainly not walkable and accessible enough. Although the view was attractive, the water and pathway were not.

Kennedy stated that 97% of portable water is sourced by the river, however, that was difficult to imagine as the river was filled with rubbish and brown.

Whilst walking we saw numerous objects float past such as a suitcase.

He explained that the river is a public amenity therefore everyone is responsible for it. As the river is already dirty, people don’t care for it, therefore use it as a dumping ground.

He also gave us alarming information: it takes 7 days for society to go into annihilation if water was cut out.

We were told that otters live in the river and there were a couple of lizard nests nearby. A few people saw the otters underwater, unfortunately, I did not. 😟

Photos from the lecture:

We then traveled to KongsiKL, where we met with Junyi. We explored the space, I rode a bicycle that carried Cat whilst Carmen pushed as we had a flat tire.

Back at Dasein, we had a lecture with Junyi, where we learned that the KongsiKL space was used for exhibitions, such as photography, art, and performing arts, as-well markets, such as collectors markets.

Junyi also did a comparison of Perth, KL, and Bangkok, for a bit of context, and to further understand the situation. In addition, she taught us a bit about the history of the Klang, and how it was used.

Cheksant also did a lecture regarding the river situation in Bangkok, where the Penang would flood so frequently, that people use boats as a means of transport. He also showed his work that depicted the river.

Notes: