here is the full essay in english https://www.lightboxlib.org/091174821053/2020/12/11-67d44
and translated into chinese traditional script https://www.lightboxlib.org/091174821053/2020/12/11-cbkrn
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The Invisible Future, Facing the Visible Past– Jeffrey Lim
Of footsteps and of self– Cycling through downtown Kuala Lumpur, through streets originating from the founding of the city, many times treading the places whose names I find hard to remember, as they have been changed yet again. Or perhaps, my connection with the city isn’t close to my cultural upbringing, I grew up in a suburbia west of the city, but for most of my childhood, I had to cross the entire city to get to school on the far east side. Rediscovering the city through a mapping project was a way for me to deeply reconnect myself with this place. Most of the time, I can’t help but wonder if they were the same places and footsteps taken by my paternal grandfather. His early life here is quite sketchy, we only understood that he left to seek refuge from the famine and civil war that was raging in Mainland China, the time when the crossover from the feudal age was ending. We can only deduce that he arrived mid to late 1930s by boat from Haikou (Hainan) Island, via Hong Kong to Singapore and by train to Kuala Lumpur, a journey that would take no less than two weeks. Much of my curiosity led me on a family history research, it has also brought many questions on the methodology of the naming convention and the patriarchal society we live in. We are after all made up of mothers as well, if not even more.
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| Genealogy fan chart depicts paternal and maternal ancestry starting with self as a point of reference. (Self portrait / mixed media / 2019.) |
“Gua sudah bilang kat lu, pi situ…” (I have told you, head over there…) my mother’s conversation over the telephone with her ‘sister’. My mother speaks a strange type of malay, one that would be associated with the baba nyonya¹ culture of Malacca. Not only is her malay better than her english, but she also breaks out in songs from latin and sometimes french nursery rhymes. My mother was given up at birth, for many reasons, but mainly because she was a ‘girl’, blaming her Nyonya grandmother. She was left at the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus, Malacca and spent her entire early life into her late teenage years growing up in an orphanage, recalling it as happy memories of life, with an irony of abandonment, much still hanging over her. (In a turn of events at the time of my birth, she has since been reconnected with her real parents). Her trauma of lost and emotion has somehow transferred into my upbringing and desire to seek, for attachment or this sense of longing to belong². Much of her early life lacked any photographic evidence, and all the stories of her life were only by oral stories, and places, the address on her birth certificate, the school and orphanage where she grew up.
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| Found photograph from a recent research trip for this exhibition to Malacca, 2020. My mother immediately recognised herself, the dress, sash, and singing in the choir. |
At a point in my adult life in 2005, I started a family history research, Projek Roots 林羅, (my surname’s pictograph of trees with roots). For much of my life before, I was ignorant or perhaps oblivious to my being, as a form of escapism. It was due to the photography of the Kemp family, Mrs Alison Kemp who documented much of my father’s youth that I had some heirloom photographs to start with. My paternal grandparents worked as live-in servants for British families, the Kemp being the most charitable employers. My father spent much of his youth with their children which explained much of his anglo leanings. We owe much to them for bringing my grandparents out of poverty. My father continued this photographic trait, prompting interviews with my grandfather and seeking out relatives throughout the Peninsular, working at the Railway Hotel and the interstate train catering-carriage, to visit faraway places in his youth. Starting with the Kodak Brownie he was given by Stephen Kemp, making photographs of distant relatives from Singapore, to Tumpat, to Mertajam, each corner of Malaya at that time. It’s only now that I have come to realise, I am in the footsteps of my father as well.
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| Some of the heirloom prints of my father’s early years given to us by the Kemp family before they left after the formation of the Federation of Malaysia. |
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| Mr. & Mrs. Athole Stephen Horsford and Alison Kemp. |
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| A.S.H Kemp standing left, First Cabinet of the Federation of Malaya, 4 August 1955, and later Private Secretary to Tunku Abdul Rahman after Independence (Book– Di atas runtuhan Kota Melaka, pg 38). |
Working in Singapore in 2007, I was perhaps in another form of escapism, this time from being in a relationship that was challenging and in contradiction with societal values and norms. An inter-‘racial’ relationship, which in a way, also symbolised the marriage and break-up of the Federation of Malaysia and the Republic of Singapore. It opened up a consciousness on the complexities of culture and politics, and how it has been indoctrinated into governing the masses. In reflection, this was a turning point in my life, where I seeked to have a deeper understanding of this structure, the social circumstances which we are all found in and responding to. How and where were these legacies started? Why were there lines drawn in between society, who drew them? In between social classes, race, religion… What then defined (my) identity? … In a later interview after my latest project³ in 2019, I could only assume myself as a product of the state, I am a product of Malaysia.
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| Marriage. Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew, taking oath at the swearing-in ceremony, 2 November 1963 (to join the Federation to make Malaysia). (Book– Malaysia, a Pictorial History 1400-2004, pg 234, image 3). |
For much of my youth, and even now on occasions, it has always been very intriguing for people to realise that I could not understand ‘chinese’. That it was not part of my ethnic or cultural upbringing. I would usually excuse myself for being of Nyonya origins, although that would not be entirely true. If it would be of any cultural roots, it would be my father with the Hainanese, or with my mother who is mainly Nyonya Hakka, and whichever it would be. Mandarin is still seen as the lingua franca and representative of being chinese, although it has blurred the lines between origins of ethnicity and nationalist alignment. I began my pursuit in recollecting narratives, of my parents and of their parents, using myself as a point of origin. Although it wasn’t as straightforward, I found that memory needed to have a form of reference, either from the context of language, or place, artefacts of photographs & objects, and more importantly time, in reference to emotion. Piecing together fragments of these varied memories and imagery, it started to paint a fuller picture.
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| On being Chinese. Malaysian Government form for application for Identification Card, No 14. Race. 2020. |
Concepts of Identity— Independence declaration, 31st August 1957, for the Federation
of Malaya. My uncle was at Stadium Merdeka (Independence Stadium), as part of a school assembly that spread out around the field to form a circle, it represented a myriad of ethnicities that would shape the new Malaya. Interestingly he held a Red IC until the 1990s, an indication of not being accepted as a full-fledged Malayan citizen. This was part of the identification system introduced to quell the communist uprising during the untold civil war called “The Emergency” after World War II. Much of our histories and national media has had state censorship and control, even now, over any publication within the country, on the grounds of national security. Nation-building included a national identity, which consisted of the three main ethnic races, namely the malay, indian and chinese. This is still evident in the modern historical consciousness and is the accepted national narrative. Politically there have been many counter arguments on the influence of one race above the other and underlying narratives among different communities, creating many different sides to the story. My decision to return to Malaysia in 2009 was to start addressing some of these, especially on the concepts of identity, but through subversive projects, as forms of reflection, or passive positive affirmation, with self-censorship. One was through the cycling culture and heritage, researching into the histories, producing restored & modified old traditional bicycles for modern use, another was the research into the designs of old vernacular products with the context of language, from symbolism to subject matter, reproducing painted signboards as signifiers of this new form of national identity and elements of consumerism.
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| Independence Declaration. Aerial image of Merdeka (Independence) declaration at Stadium Merdeka, 31 August 1957 (Book– Di atas runtuhan Kota Melaka, pg 96). |
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| New Malaya. “First day cover envelope to commemorate Malayan Independence. The map of Peninsular Malaya bears a picture of three men (Chinese, Malay and Indian) standing together, representing the three major ethnic communities” (Book– Moving Mountains, Volume III, pg 213). |
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| National Narrative. Muzium Negara (National Museum) Kuala Lumpur, modern ethnicity exhibit, 2019. |
Exploring other ways to formulate narratives into tangible forms were cultural mapping and participatory engagements. Under the pretext of creating a cycling map for the city, it provided a platform to also map out cultural and communal patterns across the city, places that would hold significance at different periods and to different communities. Layered with the utilitarian information of transport routes, this map project gave a different perspective to how communities formed and related to spaces and each other. Another was through a performative installation, a continuous thread was laid for 11 kilometers across the city, closely tracing forgotten rivers. The thread was revisited and on the third occasion, the remnants were recollected. This represented migration, retracing and recollection, in the tangible form of the threads. Entitled “Attachment”, it explored the migratory aspects, and the fragments of memories recollected & archived as documented proof of being and origin. These projects highlighted to me the sense of belonging but also revealed the invasive and dominion nature of migration.
We were all indigenous at some point in time, when there was a different relationship to the environment around us, where our language and narratives were derived from our surroundings. There was a strong spiritual link that tied us to each other and the many realms, a different concept of interdependence rather than dominance or hierarchy over another. These were some of the understanding from the latest project Kanta⁴, involving the research of indigenous or tribespeople⁵ and their circumstances in the social constructs of today’s world. Using linguistics as a point of reference, the malay language as part of the Austronesian group, a study area was drawn up between East and West Malaysia with further explorations to Taiwan. Using the image-making of photography as a means of engagement, this project enabled a deeper insight into their alter-narratives⁶, every tribe emphasising the importance of the collective memory, oral traditions, and dreams as ways of seeing.
Exhibition Collection— The presentation of a culture, of photography, of a country has so many challenges. And for the exhibits to be in the form of a publication, a photobook, again renders difficulty in presenting an unbiased understanding. As the format of a book constitutes the need to formulate an institutionalised means of discourse, it is beyond the reach or of interest to many. In our current state, Malaysia as a nation is very young, forming a federation of states in 1963, comprising two distinctly unique land areas, the Peninsula (west) of the land mass to Asia and East Malaysia of Borneo, the islands link to Oceania. Indigenously consisting of two major language groups, Austroasiatic and Austronesian, one of the only countries to have both in the region. What would be the region of Southeast Asia, the Straits of Malacca one of the busiest straits, has seen a turmoil of piracy, empires and kingdoms, all for dominance, fought over centuries since the age of conquest in the name of discovery. The dawn of photography only started to document the Far East later with the coming of the west and their influences from the mid 1800s.
The legacies of early photography and their portrayal needs a deeper discourse. For one it was in the control and used in the interest of the west, of the wealthy and their influences. Subjects and landscapes were chosen mostly in a romanticised ideology of portraying the Orient⁷, it’s societal structure and their subjects, through their own interpretations. As one of the advancements of science in the new way of seeing through alchemy, it also inherited all the prejudices that came before it. In a way, it replicated what has already been categorised and illustrated for e.g. the depiction of a Negritos. From journals, specimens & scientific drawings, and the backbone to physical anthropology a.k.a scientific racism— which suggested racial hierarchy of one above another, for e.g. liar to jinak (wild to tame) in the Malay kingdoms, primitive, barbarian, savagery, 生蕃 raw to 熟蕃 cook assimilation from the Ch’ing Dynasty, and colonial Japanese anthropology studies. The predicament of culture looking at culture, of the ruling regimes and of the west took these in stride, photography was another form of dominance, power and prestige. Much of these legacies are still alive and with us today in our stereotyping polities, and methodology.
The exhibition theme reflects four different periods: Indigeneity, Conquest, Colonisation and Nationalism, with a subsection of post-analysis. Looking at levels of consciousness and perspectives from the different periods, emphasis was given to embody the indigenous perception to imagery. It includes oral narratives, to contemporary drawing depictions, and wood-carvings, written mainly from the perspective of indigenous groups. Even though many books have been written and documented about indigenous ways of life, they were from an outsider’s viewpoint. It is important to be aware of the author’s intention, cultural background and leanings, just as much as the subjects that are documented and the manner they are presented. Literary and similarly photographic works are perhaps the antithesis to the oral tradition and collective imagery, presenting a perspective of a singularity, rather than a collective memory.
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| Attachment performative installation, “11km walk … where i traced a path using a cotton thread…tracing along the river”. 2017. (https://attchmt.wordpress.com/gallery/) |
We were all indigenous at some point in time, when there was a different relationship to the environment around us, where our language and narratives were derived from our surroundings. There was a strong spiritual link that tied us to each other and the many realms, a different concept of interdependence rather than dominance or hierarchy over another. These were some of the understanding from the latest project Kanta⁴, involving the research of indigenous or tribespeople⁵ and their circumstances in the social constructs of today’s world. Using linguistics as a point of reference, the malay language as part of the Austronesian group, a study area was drawn up between East and West Malaysia with further explorations to Taiwan. Using the image-making of photography as a means of engagement, this project enabled a deeper insight into their alter-narratives⁶, every tribe emphasising the importance of the collective memory, oral traditions, and dreams as ways of seeing.
 |
| Cave drawings depicting human figures to animals from 3000 years ago– Gua Tambun (Caves), exhibition research trip to Ipoh, Perak, 2020. |
Exhibition Collection— The presentation of a culture, of photography, of a country has so many challenges. And for the exhibits to be in the form of a publication, a photobook, again renders difficulty in presenting an unbiased understanding. As the format of a book constitutes the need to formulate an institutionalised means of discourse, it is beyond the reach or of interest to many. In our current state, Malaysia as a nation is very young, forming a federation of states in 1963, comprising two distinctly unique land areas, the Peninsula (west) of the land mass to Asia and East Malaysia of Borneo, the islands link to Oceania. Indigenously consisting of two major language groups, Austroasiatic and Austronesian, one of the only countries to have both in the region. What would be the region of Southeast Asia, the Straits of Malacca one of the busiest straits, has seen a turmoil of piracy, empires and kingdoms, all for dominance, fought over centuries since the age of conquest in the name of discovery. The dawn of photography only started to document the Far East later with the coming of the west and their influences from the mid 1800s.
 |
| A young boy named Dick, was the visual and physical archetype of ‘Africanized’ slavery practised in the Malay Archipelago, “Papuas” or “aboriginal black race”, of the inland and interior peoples as Negroes or Negritos. Sandra Khor Manickam, Taming the Wild, ASAA, 2015. pg14, 28, & 29. (image–Natalie A. Mault. 2015. Java as a Western construct: an examination of Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles' "The History of Java". 1813). |
The legacies of early photography and their portrayal needs a deeper discourse. For one it was in the control and used in the interest of the west, of the wealthy and their influences. Subjects and landscapes were chosen mostly in a romanticised ideology of portraying the Orient⁷, it’s societal structure and their subjects, through their own interpretations. As one of the advancements of science in the new way of seeing through alchemy, it also inherited all the prejudices that came before it. In a way, it replicated what has already been categorised and illustrated for e.g. the depiction of a Negritos. From journals, specimens & scientific drawings, and the backbone to physical anthropology a.k.a scientific racism— which suggested racial hierarchy of one above another, for e.g. liar to jinak (wild to tame) in the Malay kingdoms, primitive, barbarian, savagery, 生蕃 raw to 熟蕃 cook assimilation from the Ch’ing Dynasty, and colonial Japanese anthropology studies. The predicament of culture looking at culture, of the ruling regimes and of the west took these in stride, photography was another form of dominance, power and prestige. Much of these legacies are still alive and with us today in our stereotyping polities, and methodology.
 |
| Depiction and cultural studies by the Imperial Ch’ing Dynasty of “Taiwan's aborigines, each showing a man and a woman with handheld local specialties or special tools. The distribution, customs, skills, annual levies”. (Illustration of Tribute Missions Hsieh Sui, Ch'ien-lung reign(1736-1795), Ch'ing Dynasty. National Palace Museum, Taipei.) (https://www.npm.gov.tw/exh95/aborigines/intro_en.html) |
The exhibition theme reflects four different periods: Indigeneity, Conquest, Colonisation and Nationalism, with a subsection of post-analysis. Looking at levels of consciousness and perspectives from the different periods, emphasis was given to embody the indigenous perception to imagery. It includes oral narratives, to contemporary drawing depictions, and wood-carvings, written mainly from the perspective of indigenous groups. Even though many books have been written and documented about indigenous ways of life, they were from an outsider’s viewpoint. It is important to be aware of the author’s intention, cultural background and leanings, just as much as the subjects that are documented and the manner they are presented. Literary and similarly photographic works are perhaps the antithesis to the oral tradition and collective imagery, presenting a perspective of a singularity, rather than a collective memory.
Each book is placed into a period that reflects the consciousness of its time, and sub-grouped to reflect the social and cultural orientation. The collection mainly consists of coffee-table books, academic & personal journals, art & illustrative catalogs, documentation and photobooks. As one of the early photographers who visited the region, John Thomson was pioneering, who on his own accord and interest, travelled throughout Southeast Asia and most parts of China including Formosa (Taiwan) from 1862-1872 and authored the book, The Straits of Malacca, Indo China and China (published 1875). His photographs depicted a very different side of the Orientalist view and the experiences changed his sensitivities to the human condition. Resulting in his next publication of Street Life in London (1877) which started a new form of photography as social documentation, leading to how photography is then used as a tool for social advocacy. Two groupings that are of special interest are the post-analysis of the indigenous and the commissioned photobooks of young and unestablished photographers. These books are reflective of the age of re-analysing the structures of identity, and the use of photography as empowerment and activism.
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The collection of books would hopefully provide a broader perspective & representation of a region, and the stories of its people. Bringing to light many of the legacies that we still live in from the period of indigeneity, invasion and conquest, to the social constructs of today’s nationalism. The title of the exhibition “The invisible future, facing the visible past”, takes inspiration from an indigenous concept of time, “with the future behind us, the past is in front”. Either by strengthening convictions or breaking of conventions, it hopes to aid in the perception of a forgotten past, and by recognising our origins, it can be a means to better understand ourselves and where we are heading.
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¹ Peranakans / Baba Nyonya, are an ethnic group settlers of Chinese descent in the Malay Peninsula and Indonesian Archipelago between the 15th and 17th centuries with a long history of transculturation and interracial marriage. (Books– Baba & Nyonya Heritage Museum, Stories of one Malaccan Family / Melissa Chan, Henry Chan).
² Conversation with KG Krishnan on Epigenetics– “experiential genetic imprint that is transferred generationally via maternal line”.
³ Cendana interview– Beneficiaries #1 (https://web.facebook.com/watch/?v=700234797069521)
¹ Peranakans / Baba Nyonya, are an ethnic group settlers of Chinese descent in the Malay Peninsula and Indonesian Archipelago between the 15th and 17th centuries with a long history of transculturation and interracial marriage. (Books– Baba & Nyonya Heritage Museum, Stories of one Malaccan Family / Melissa Chan, Henry Chan).
² Conversation with KG Krishnan on Epigenetics– “experiential genetic imprint that is transferred generationally via maternal line”.
³ Cendana interview– Beneficiaries #1 (https://web.facebook.com/watch/?v=700234797069521)
⁴ Kanta portraits— a portraiture project as a search for self, and on concepts of identity.
⁵ Tribespeople… engage in a culturally mediated social strategy, whether out of choice or under geographical or political constraint. “Tribal” thus refers not to some sort of “ethnic” category, but to particular socio-political circumstances of life. Geoffrey Benjamin & Cynthia Chou. Tribal Communities in the Malay World. ISEAS. 2002.
⁶ “Alternative narratives are those that provide different stories from the ones of dominant power structures, such as information provided by governments, corporations, organizations, the media, etc.” (https://alternative-narratives-vis-archive.com/).
⁷ Orientalism– A representation of Asia in a stereotyped way that is regarded as embodying a colonialist attitude.
⁵ Tribespeople… engage in a culturally mediated social strategy, whether out of choice or under geographical or political constraint. “Tribal” thus refers not to some sort of “ethnic” category, but to particular socio-political circumstances of life. Geoffrey Benjamin & Cynthia Chou. Tribal Communities in the Malay World. ISEAS. 2002.
⁶ “Alternative narratives are those that provide different stories from the ones of dominant power structures, such as information provided by governments, corporations, organizations, the media, etc.” (https://alternative-narratives-vis-archive.com/).
⁷ Orientalism– A representation of Asia in a stereotyped way that is regarded as embodying a colonialist attitude.
