LOCATION: KAKI BUKIT, PERLIS
The project by Beagle Books combined the specialties of photojournalist SC Shekar and writer Liew Suet Fun to unearth the history of tin-mining in the caves of Kaki Bukit.
Educated in Kuala Lumpur and Australia, Shekar began his career as a photojournalist at The Star in the early 1980s, earning multiple awards. In 1989, he founded Reds Studio Inc., specializing in editorial, architecture, hospitality, and food photography. His work has been featured in numerous exhibitions, including at the National Art Gallery and international showcases.
Renowned in the Asia-Pacific hotel industry, Shekar’s photography for Shangri-La and Four Seasons has gained widespread acclaim. He has also undertaken documentary assignments across India, Sri Lanka, and Papua New Guinea. His books, Our Land Within (2011) and Raising Land (2013), explore Southeast Asian communities, while his 12-year documentation of life in Myanmar is set for publication in 2014.
Suet Fun is a writer and author of 21 books, including Gilding the Lily and One Day Three Autumns. Her works have been featured and studied in university courses and literary journals. She has a background in advertising, PR, and environmental communications. She later led communications and fundraising at WWF Malaysia and served as a communications specialist for the UNDP/GEF Peat Swamp Forest project.
During her time in the US and Brunei, she worked in communications and procurement, including for the Wisconsin State Department of Aging and during President Bill Clinton’s visit to Brunei. At 45, she pursued writing full-time, inspired by personal loss and the passage of time. She holds an honours degree in English Literature and a TESL diploma from the University of Malaya.
2024 Project – Community History Research Project of Kaki Bukit and Wang Kelian.
The Beagle Books team beautifully documented Kaki Bukit’s history by engaging with locals and documenting their stories through photographic storytelling. Acclaimed photojournalist SC Shekar and author Liew Suet Fun began visiting Kaki Bukit more than 12 years ago, to record the accounts of its elderly residents that had lived through the bygone era of the tin-mining boom. Over several visits they gathered interviews with shop owners, long-time residents, and newly arrived community members. Local people also shared old photographs from their own collections.
These stories allowed the team to create a rich story that weaves both historical and contemporary narratives of the town. To capture the area’s physical transformation, they took aerial photographs that contrasted the area’s development over the past fifty years. They captured various images of the past and present to showcase the transformation of the area over the past century, shining a light on its unique tin-mining heritage.
In December 2024, the team curated a photographic exhibition based on research and interviews on the community’s history and transformation. The mounted visual materials tell the story of the area’s rich tin mining history and the resilience of its people. The exhibition features prominent families and historic events of the town, as well as the charming elements of everyday community life. The exhibition enables visitors and community members, past and present, to connect deeply to the history and contemporary life of Kaki Bukit.
