The charcoal factory at Kuala Sepetang is indeed a remarkable hidden gem, at least to me. I’m both surprised and ashamed as a Malaysian for not being aware of this intriguing national heritage that produces charcoal the old fashion way. It is also a picturesque haven for photography enthusiasts.

My last trip to the state of Perak in Malaysia was back in early November last year when I made a pleasant discovery of the tin mine dredge at Batu Gajah. This trip to explore the traditional charcoal kilns at Kuala Sepetang was made during my 3-days stay at Swiss-Garden Golf Resort & Spa Damai Laut.

As I was staying at a pretty remote area north and away from the touristy and happening Lumut town down south, I went up further north toward Taiping instead to explore places of interest. When we arrived at Kuala Sepetang, I was totally blown away by the great number of interesting places to visit and experience, along with the abundant heritage, history and culture of the place. I was already making a quick mental note to return for another visit; a resolve further sealed by a failing camera battery!

While Kuala Sepetang is predominantly a Chinese fishing village, its economy is driven by related industries such as fish farms, shrimp breeding farms, boat building and also the famous charcoal kilns. When I arrived, I found out that the entire charcoal making location was occupied by a few charcoal factory companies. The scene looked no different from a dusty and dilapidated ghost town with endless rows of wood stacked up along the walls of buildings.

The straight road opened up to a small square where a rustic sign which read “Chuan Seng” was seen nailed to a louvre wooden wall to my right. Right below it was a motorcycle effortlessly blending into this shack, immortalised in the passage of time as an extension of the building. I pulled over and got out to visit a nearby company’s charcoal-making facility.

The Pakistani guy above has been working here for the past 2 years. He was seen hacking off and splitting logs of charcoal wood into smaller manageable sizes to be packed into their gunny sacks. I was actually quite drawn to the beautifully aged and weathered wooden wall behind him.

I then stepped inside the medium-sized room and was greeted by a fast-depleting mountain of charcoal being packed into their paper bags by two elderly ladies. They were carefully picking the right sizes of charcoal to be put into the paper bags before weighing and sealing them off.

Almost everything in the room was soot black! The floor, walls, ceiling, grille, etc. I was pretty sure the room must have not been cleaned in any way since it was constructed, as that would have been a futile maintenance effort. Moving on to next door, I must say I’ve never seen a cat sleeping this soundly before in my life. It was 2pm.

The cat was just sleeping within 3 feet of the friendly Chinese lady and man with whom I had quite a conversation throughout my attempt at photographing them. They were very amiable, warm and accommodating to my presence. They weren’t the least shy about being photographed. I guessed they were glad to have someone come by and chatted with them and helped chipped away the lingering boredom. Despite the language barrier, the lady’s husband communicated with me in Cantonese. They were really simple folks who get by day to day. The lady said that this was all they could do here as it wasn’t that physically demanding a job.

As I was talking and photographing them with my Fuji x100s, the sleeping cat didn’t even budge a bit. Amazing! The elderly couple went on to reveal that they have been married for many decades and have been working in this factory for as long as they can remember. I think it was something in the region of more than 30 years! A few Malay workers whom I later photographed below revealed that they knew the lady working here even when they were little kids in the village.

The wooden wall in this shack (or everywhere else in this area) was so well textured to receive any chalk writings if need be. They make for an exquisite artwork in my opinion.

An old bicycle, presumably belonging to the couple, was just right next to them with a packet of rice and curry hanging from its handle.

With a fast-draining battery and no thanks to my silliness in forgetting to bring a spare and charger, I quickly walked to the other end of this somewhat mini but sprawling industrial village. As I was entering another factory, I paused and wondered at this iconic scene to my left.

A lone man walking in the distance amidst billowing smoke from the numerous kilns in operation; stacks of mangrove wood on the side wall. Charcoal is made from wood and here, at Kuala Sepetang, the charcoal is made from greenwood (kayu bakau minyak) that has been harvested from the nearby mangrove forest reserve.

Since the charcoal factory uses greenwood harvested from the mangrove forest and these chopped wood are then transported by boat, the processing plant is naturally located next to a stream that connects to the river. Workers would leave early at 7.00 am to harvest greenwood from the mangrove forest and be back by 2.00 pm to unload and sort them at the factory.

I was also made to understand that for each tree that is cut down to be processed into charcoal, a young sapling is planted as replacement to ensure the sustainability of this practice. I’m not too sure about the authenticity of this claim as it would require a highly delicate and systematic process to log and monitor both consumption and regeneration of greenwood over a long period of time. It’s indeed a huge undertaking. However, googling revealed that the Matang Mangrove Forest is touted to be the world’s best managed sustainable mangrove ecosystem in the world.

The factory has a row of traditional charcoal kilns – beehive-shaped clay structures towering almost 20 feet per unit housed in a huge building that span in parallel to the long stretch of stream just 20 metres away. This huge building serves both as a storage for newly arrived greenwood and processing of them.

Each kiln serves as a giant oven to smoke the wood until all the moisture is drawn out before it turns into charcoal. This burning process may take days sometimes up to a week, before the charcoal is ready to be retrieved. Workers would periodically check on the charcoal through a small slit on the sides of the kiln by taking a whiff of the smoke billowing out to determine if the wood is “dried” enough.

It sure is hardcore labour hauling these timber around. It’s a wonder that some of these locals who do not seem to spot the necessary physique and fitness are able to handle the mangrove wood with ease. I did not try but I’m sure I’d encounter some difficulties. But I guessed it takes practice.

One of the workers told me that such a job requires one to be highly alert. One has to mind his footsteps and be careful of where to hold and release when manoeuvring these heavy pieces of wood. I can only imagine with morbid fear the resulting limb injuries sustained from being crushed by them.

Once the charcoal is ready to be retrieved from the kiln, the temporary brick entrance is torn down. A lamp would be hung inside to light the interior while workers would enter and fill the trolley with “black gold”, as they are commonly referred to. They will then be loaded up to a truck to be brought to another processing area where they will be further broken down into smaller pieces for packaging as shared initially.

My battery died on me just as I was trying to capture the loading process onto the truck. With clenched fist and a defeated outlook, I walked away with gnashing teeth. I just wasn’t prepared for this unexpected eventful story that unfolded before me.

Badly equipped for the task at hand, I vowed to return in a forceful comeback to document this age-old tradition of energy creation. I definitely would, soon.