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Cecilia Lim | all galleries >> travel >> malaysia > Dirty Habit
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1 September 2007 Malacca, Malaysia

Dirty Habit

This house in Malacca once belonged to a village chief and is reknowned for its beautiful, intricate wood-carvings. It is over a 100 years old and has certainly seen better days. It's caretaker sits on its ornate patio to have a smoke, ignoring the possible danger of causing a fire to Malacca's heritage. This historical house has been earmarked for restoration, and the dirt and mould may one day be gone, but I doubt this man would care much for his stained and damaged teeth or lungs, given his careless attitude.


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Cecilia Lim10-Jul-2008 22:28
Thank you Tim for that thoughtful comment. We do tend to take the things we are familiar with for granted, and we as travellers can see this quite clearly of people towards their own culture. It seems that this caretaker takes a lot of things for granted too, his health included!

Thank you Cecilia W for your wonderful comment too. I made several images that included this man's face as he smoked, but that turned out more as a portrait about him. I wanted the image to be about his smoking, and leaving everything out except his cigarette-in-hand said it best. As for the state of this historical house and his health, let's hope they will face a better future than their current forlorn state!
Guest 09-Jul-2008 18:30
This is a stunning metaphor, mostly against smoking. The white parts of this decorated railing are gradally being overtaken by black mold, precisely as the lungs become overwhelmed by the tar and other additives in cigarettes, till eventually they cease to function. The balustrade is still white and blue, but there is still a lot of encroaching breakdown, where exposure has begun its steady dissolution of materials. I love the orange shirt, the relaxed weight of this arm with its cancer stick at the end, and the fact that the rest of this man is off camera -- as he will probably be for good, soone rather than later.
Tim May09-Jul-2008 00:21
There is a casualness here that speaks, for me at least, to how we react to our own culture. What we traveled out of our way for he takes casually for granted.