E Contrario

I heard about Gunung Keriang in Kedah from one of my interrogator during the 60-day solitary confinement. The SB was a young chap, originally from Gurun Kedah. He was a keen collector of crystal.

“If you are ever freed and have a chance to be in Kedah,” he recommended me to go up to Gunung Keriang: “you can find lots of crystals in that mountain.”

On our way back from Kangar, we came across Gunung Keriang and decided to make a small detour.

Kedah has a very flat landscape. Gunung Keriang appears like a giant elephant in the middle of rice fields. There was also a Rice Museum at the hill foot of Keriang. Since we were already running late in the afternoon, we gave it a miss.

At the entrance to the recreation park, a small market for crystal is booming. Mt Keriang is famous for its crystals. The stones were excavated from the caves by locals at night and were not so pricy, though they were lower grade in term of quality.

Anyway, crystals are literally salt of the earth. Whatever grade they are, crystals have the power to mesmerize. Normally stones only diminish by the erosion of age. Crystals are opposite, they can actually grow. No wonder people are fascinated and even consider these stones possess life. I remember reading a sci-fi telling a story of soul being entrapped inside a crystal.

Needless to say, I could not resist buying a few pieces. I plan to give them as presence to my hardworking team in Suara Keadilan and Bureau Penerangan.