Out on a business trip about 2 months ago, and enroute to my meeting I suddenly wondered about place names. Kuching, in malay means "cat" for instance, is the capital city for the state of Sarawak, in East malaysia. The last time I went there was about a year or so ago. Place names can originate from past incidents,from legends and folk tales, from its geography and economic activities of the place in question etc. The name Malacca for example comes from a melaka tree. The word "Kuala" signify a site and in this case a river mouth and "Lumpur" means mud/muddy. I am staying in Batu Berendam which means "submerged stone" and a friend of mine stays in Bukit Piatu which means "Lonely/Orphan Hill"....and another friend is staying in Kandang which means a cowshed/stable! And yes, in Singapore we have a place known as Kandang Kerbau which means "buffallo shed". Does it make sense ? And this thing about place names is not only peculiar in Malacca or Malaysia; its everywhere...its global.
Anyway, since this issue of place names is not a problem to me....please see the images of Kuching which I managed to capture while enroute to meet a client in Kuching. And since the time was after the Chinese New Year...perhaps you may notice the connection on some of the cats.
