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maxwell clock tower

So silence can, according to the circumstances, speak!

~ Robert Bolt, A Man for All Seasons, 1966

Theme: Anamnesis

Maxwell Clock Tower

Photo credit: Puan Delliya Zain and Aku Budak Telok

Maxwell Clock Tower is a long forgotten monument that once stood proudly on a site just opposite the present Klang Selatan Fire Station. It was named after Sir William Edward Maxwell (1846-1897), who was appointed the British Resident of Selangor in 1889. Built during the 1930s in the days when watches were scarce and house clocks not easily obtained, Maxwell clock tower was South Klang’s most prominent landmark and a focal point in the lives of the people that lived with and around it. It was also a spot where Japanese soldiers committed strings of atrocities during a brief occupation of Malaya during World War II . Though this urban artifact has disappeared altogether, its voice of silence is constantly beckoning to speak and wants to be heard by generations yet to come.

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Credit: A special thank to Puan Delliya Zain for bringing to my attention the existence of this monument that was part of Klang’s collective memories of the distant past.

Location of Maxwell clock tower

Photo credit: link

Location Map: Click Here

My Artwork (Encoding Memory: The Eternal Presence of Absence)

[ MAXWELL CLOCK  TOWER, 2017 ]  
ACRYLIC ON CANVAS
505mm X 505mm