cheng hoon teng Archives - juesatta (CJ Photography)

junction of Jalan Tokong

Parellel to the famous Jonker Street, there is a street which has three coexisting places of worship: Kampung Kling Mosque, Cheng Hoon Teng Chinese Temple, and Sri Poyyatha Vinayagar Moorthi Hindu Temple. It is Jalan Tokong (tokong means temple in Malay) and also known as the “Street of Harmony” by the locals, showing the harmony amongst the people in Malaysia.

While having a free time this Monday, Kenn-Wai and I decided to do a casual street shooting in the old town of Melaka. We just wanted to shoot for leisure and snap whatever we like on that day, even though we shoot photos always for actual events. We met in Jonker Street and setup our gear before Kenn-Wai suggested to go to Jalan Tokong.

It was drizzling in the afternoon when we started our journey in Jalan Tokong. Most of the shops were about to close then street was getting quiet and occupied with only a few tourists and locals. We spent first half of the session at the junction of Jalan Tokong and Jalan Hang Lekiu waiting for the right subject such as senior citizens and tourists to pass this intersection.

From the junction we could see the three of the places of worship. This was one of the reasons we chose to go Jalan Tokong. Not to mention that the three places of worship, Kampung Kling Mosque, Cheng Hoon Teng Chinese Temple, and Sri Poyyatha Vinayagar Moorthi Hindu Temple are one of the oldest temples and mosque in our country, they are also built along the same street and near to one another.

The area is now predominantly occupied by Chinese though, the presence of the mosque and the Indian temple suggests that this area was once lived by a multi ethnic community that was able to live harmoniously together. Besides, Jalan Tokong is made more thrilling by the Chinese traditional trades. We discovered some Chinese effigy makers and shops that sell red and gold lanterns, paper money and Chinese funerary necessities along the street.

We continued along the street and  took a few shots outside the Kampung Kling Mosque, went into the Cheng Hoon Teng Temple to pay respect and photo-taking, and finally went to the Sri Poyyatha Vinayagar Moorthi Temple which were close for visiting during that time. After an hour of relaxing photo-taking, Kenn Wai had an appointment and had called off the shooting session.

The outing was splendid and allowed both Kenn-Wai and I to realise how far we could go comparing our currents shots with the photos from the last few street shooting in that area. Again, Kenn-Wai taught me a lot of things humbly and benefited me even more.

Thanks to Kenn-Wai for inviting me for the shooting and sharing the experience with him. I am looking for the next outing for street shooting in the near future. May all beings be happy. Share some shots which I took:

Nan-Tong Paper Model Shop

senior citizens relaxing at the temple Cheng Hoon Teng

Guardian Lion of Chinese Temple

a shop for stone sculptures

Street of Harmony

one of the oldest mosques in Malaysia, Kampung Kling Mosque

riding bike on the street

inside one of the oldest Hindu temples in Malaysia, Sri Poyyatha Vinayagar Moorthi Temple

an old shop in Jalan Tokong

rusty ring