Block B

The area of Brickfields (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) is the setting of Block B. The area is a major local transportation hub (mono-rails, trains, and buses), but also an area of red-light prostitution, blind massage parlours, Indian cafés, temples, churches and mosques alike. This is a place where the overriding sounds of the azan (Muslim call to prayer) coming from the mosque compete with the chimes rising from the pooja (Hindu prayers). In effect, this mélange of sounds mimic the disparate voices that comprise the country's own religious complexities and insecurities. (...) In a country that highly discriminates against Indian-Malaysians, these residents fall between the cracks because they are expatriate, middle-upper class, highly educated, brought to KL to work. They are self-contained within their own compound, looking at the troubles of Malaysia and the Indian-Malaysians from a distance even though they live in the same area. It's a community within a community. A detail within a detail. Connected, but distant. I wanted the stagnant shot of the building to express this detail. (Chris Chong Chan Fui)