Wilfred Lim lived and grew up in a small fishing village at the seaside in Pengerang, Southern Malaysia for 18 years before pursuing education in Singapore.
Unfortunately, Pengerang is undergoing demolition due to the construction of an oil refinery that began in year 2011. Development leads to demolition of cultural heritage.
Historical temples, schools, and houses will be demolished due to the immense needs of ground for infrastructure development prior to oil refinery construction. Pollution, on the other hand, is inevitable. The disastrous impact and consequences incurred from the oil development are beyond imagination.
Wilfred has been working on the issue of demolition ever since the demolition started. He uses photography as a platform to respond to all the political and environmental issues in his hometown and contemporary Malaysia. He has also been keeping track of the progress of the development, creating artworks from time to time to gradually form up a collection of projects on Pengerang.
In year 2014, he took on the problem encountered by the villagers, which is the relocation of residential estates. This issue has brought his attention to the issue of living space as one of the basic human needs. The Malaysian government’s act of compensating villagers with a new house does not solve the problem. The destruction of habitat is able to impact one’s life radically, this issue has piqued his curiosity in the way humans define their living space. [Official Website]
