Our Bukit Hantu circuit today -- and it's not that long since we last walked it -- was suddenly full of gaps...

The picture above is the space on which once stood the remains of a fine house. The photo in that post was taken in December 2019. By September 2020, admittedly, the remnants had dwindled. But those ruins held their own for a long while (we took another photo quite recently, but discarded it because it was so similar to the previous one). And now -- there's a gap.

A little further on, we came across another cleared site:




We photographed the derelict block in November 2019. Again, the site had remained unchanged until very recently.

And on another strategic corner -- what do you know? -- there was a third very prominent gap:


This site used to look like this, as we photographed it in October 2020.

Now, I'm sure some of you are thinking: "Well, all this clearing seems like a good idea. Who wants derelict buildings standing around looking like eyesores?" And I'm sure that sentiment has a lot of merit.

But part of me is a little sad to be losing these places. Part of me quite likes derelict buildings... I find them atmospheric. They remind us of the past. And nature invades so quickly in these parts that they're rarely ugly for long.

And the other thing I wonder is what will go up in their place. Something elegant, or something that's just like a thousand other buildings? Something in keeping with the surroundings, or something that stands out like a sore thumb?

We'll see.