This is the first time blogging from my humble home in Bukit Mertajam. Believe it or not, I'm a very nostalgic person. One thing about coming home every 3 or 4 months is that you notice the progress that the once little Bukit Mertajam is making.
Looking at the new houses appear by as I drive back through a once familiar road, I remember my teenage years, where the brand new houses stood were once a little path with coconut trees all around. Me and my friends used to bike around little kampung paths like these. During my last few years in high school it was already a construction site.
Driving back to my house I couldn't help but notice new condos, once that weren't there before. I remember when I was a kid and I wanted certain toys and my parents told me that you can't get that in little Bukit Mertajam. Not anymore.
Stepping in to a familiar coffee shop and hearing the familiar Penang Hock Kien accent puts a smile on my face. I always know I'm home when I hear it. Looking at the coffee shop people that see me growing up, I can only wonder what they think of me, or what are they whispering behind my back. Not that it matters much, it's just a matter of curiosity. "Char Koay Teow, mai nui qi pua." (fried koay teow, no egg) I ordered. The lady smiled as she sees me. My mother used to bring me here everyday after school. To be honest though, the koay teow here was never really good, I ordered more out of habit then anything else.
I just went to the new Jusco in town, and when I was inside it I couldn't help but feel a bit surreal when I think that I'm in my hometown. This is what Bukit Mertajam has become! I tell myself as I look at the vast, clean, modern insides of a brand new shopping mall. Secret Recipe, McDonald's, Auntie Annes, Baker's Cottage and whatever franchise is there can easily be found. No longer will people look at you funny when you speak english to them, and it's getting rare to find someone that doesn't have at least a basic level of English. My little town surely has progressed.
As I roam around my little town I couldn't help but wonder what would become of it when I've finished my studies in the U.S. With the current rate of progress, I'm almost certain that much of it will be unrecognizable. However, I'm equally certain that some parts of it will be the same, at least for a while.
Things may have changed here, but no matter what this is where my heart lies, and where my home is. I might travel the world, I might even live somewhere else when I grow up, but in a special place in my heart little Bukit Mertajam will always stay.
