My hometown

     I grew up in eastern part of Kuala Lumpur, Ampang, which means dam in Malay. Ampang was a historical tin mining hubs which far 20km away from Kuala Lumpur. Even though it is located in the city, but I did not feel like I was living in the city. The population of this village around 700 thousand inhabitants, most of them are not rich people, amid the traditional shop, dilapidated food eateries, and very old local groceries. Here still standing were the century-old buildings which were built around 1920.

    In Chinese society, the famous landmark in Ampang is Nine Emperor Gods Temple, the 160-year-old temple, giving the historic information of the place and attracted more Chinese to live here, predominantly from the Hakka, Hokkien, and Cantonese communities. My father was the former carpenter, handmade the furniture in furniture factories which located in the wet market behind the main street.

Since I was a teenager, I would like to wander around the basketball court, because I used to buy some fried chickens or playing with some stray dogs. It was a boring place, but I would like to walk in bare feet in raining day

    Every Sunday morning, we used to worship God in Ampang Methodist Church. The service lasted one and half hour and ended around 11:30am. Generally, our family members will be joined together in the most prominent restaurant, Ampang Niang Tou Fu nearby church. My favorite food was the minced fish ball and the combo of pork paste. The food there is very local but nice. However, the waiters or the boss always arrogant because there is a bunch of customers asking for services in a restricted area.

    Three years ago, before pandemic contagious, I visited the Ampang area and found there is no any major improvement on the building but the basketball court has been refurnished and covered by a big roof, there are many teenagers were playing basketball together and felt relaxed. I ate my favorite noodles in Lim Kee Noodles House with my sister, unfortunately the restaurant has been burnt down two years ago.

    I reside in Taiwan and have lived here since twenty years ago. Almost twenty years, but my parents raised me and my sibling in Ampang, Selangor. Even though I do not live there anymore, I would love to see it again in one day. But I cannot, physically. My father with dementia, but he is able to remember all the numerous events from his teenagers to older years, and he brought a smile to his smile. That is why he feels nostalgic. I hope he will be keep going to be healthier if somedays he can go back to his hometown.