09 Aug, 2008 
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Pulau Ketam Trip Part Two
Posted by: vkeong In: Photography| Pulau Ketam| Selangor| Travel ()
There aren’t many landmarks in Pulau Ketam. So, even the basic facilities like the police station and fire station are considered as local attractions.
I am pretty sure Pulau Ketam is a safe place to have a dedicated police station serving the residents.
Bomba Sukarelawan Pulau Ketam was formed in 1972, located not far from the police station. It was a need by the residents of Pulau Ketam because a few fire incidents happened back in the 60s and 70s. Pulau Ketam’s residents form the team of volunteer fire fighters.
There is also a Chinese chess association within the residential area. I noticed more tourists used this place to rest more than playing chess though, lol. It can be quite tiring walking up and down the island under the hot sun.
An elderly couple sells fried ice cream right in front of a clinic. Being the only fried ice cream stall in Pulau Ketam they get to monopoly the business, hehe.
Pulau Ketam’s houses are not really built on land, they are more like constructed on stilts above the water. Quite similar to Chew Jetty in Penang. I noticed there’s no proper drainage and waste system. So, most of them just throw their rubbish into the water. It’s an eye sore, really.
See? Speechless, lol. I have heard of many stories regarding Pulau Ketam’s dirtiness. But I honestly did not expect it to be this bad, and the stench is quite unbearable too.
This is the only public toilet I saw in Pulau Ketam. It’s the first thing you will see as soon as reach the jetty. And yeah you guessed it right, it flushes directly into the sea! Eww? LOL!
Let’s move to see something not so polluted, lol. As you might have guessed, most people in Pulau Ketam work as fishermen and sell seafood products. Almost each house has a boat big or small parked in front.
After these prawns are peeled, they will be taken to the restaurants or further processed to make prawn crackers. I saw some tourists wanting to buy the prawns as fishing baits. But the ladies won’t sell it regardless of the price being offered.
This lady is peeling the tiny la la to extract the flesh. Based on the amount of la la she peeled and the amount of flesh accumulated in the small plastic bowl, all I can say it’s pure hard work. These la la flesh would be then sold to the hawkers to prepare the popular La La Chien.
The majority of Pulau Ketam’s residents is Chinese and a few temples can be found. Among all buildings, I found that the temples are the cleanest, most beautiful and well taken care of. If you noticed, the statues on the temple are prawns and fishes, pretty unique!
Another temple, which is bigger in size.
A very nice looking arch named the Buddha Door opposite the temple I just mentioned.
In front of the big temple is a god statue. From the the appearance, I think he’s Bai Wu Chang. Most noted for his long tongue, white face and robes.
Behind this door is a wall of Chinese painting, a small sculptured cave with Guan Yin inside. There’s also a dragon statue which I think is the guard?
Next to the wall is a enclosed corner with live tortoises. I don’t have a clue why the tortoises are there, but it did attract many kids.
In less than a few hours, we have finished walking around the island and decided to return to Port Klang. The ferry is pretty stable and fast, taking about half an hour to 40 minutes to reach the destination.
Well, in all the trip was so so for me. The sight of rubbish floating on the water under the houses was a real turn off and eye opener for me. But at least seafood was pretty good and cheap (except the crabs) I do hope they improve the basic facilities like toilets and try to keep the island clean.
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