URBAN EXPLORATION : BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH

I found this totally interesting website 'Urban Exploration' by accident when I was reading a posting on my friend's facebook. It is sad to discover that there are so many abandoned buildings and structures around us which have gone unnoticed. Structurally and architecturally, the foundations of most of these buildings are still intact despite their being abandoned for quite sometime. One of the places mentioned in this website is Pulau Bidong in Terengganu which was once used as a refugee camp for the Vietnamese 'boat people'. A good friend of mine used to work on the island more than 20 years ago teaching English and a few other helpful skills to these refugees before they resettled in other first world countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia and France. The island is still not properly developed until now and visitors to the island will only be greeted by ruins and remnants of all sorts. Closer to my hometown is this almost forgotten 'ghost town'. Nobody ever pays much attention to it and most people will only drive by without giving it a second glance. Most of the shophouses are in severe dilapidated conditions and are clearly not fit for living. Like a lot of other small towns that mushroomed all over Perak in the last century and especially during the 'tin rush', this deserted little town once had been the 'heart' of small villages surrounding it. Sadly, it does have the same lucky fate like the other towns. Instead of flourishing and enjoying what modernisation can bring, it has been left behind to die a slow uncertain death. I haven't had the chance to exactly explore this place and I don't think it is safe to do so alone. This place is called Kampung Kepayang and there are still a lot of people who live around the area. I think one of the reasons why this place is unable to survive is due to its location which is non-strategic commercially. Not many would want to start or have a business here since there are a few other towns a few kilometres away providing services to the residents around the area. In my opinion, it is a shame to see places like Pulau Bidong and Kampung Kepayang neglected just like that. They had a past and they had a history. Give them a new breath of life or grant them a dignified death. Don't let them suffer like this.

p/s I did a little editing to the pictures so as to give them a more romanticised quality. The buildings actually look real bad in real life.