Rojak vs Rujak

 

Two different countries. Same stock. Neighbors. Yet sworn enemies. Not family squabble. That briefly describes Indonesia and Malaysia. 

Why?........why this scenario? Sibling rivalry but with a twist......same father but different mothers......hence step sons and step daughters. Now you comprehend the vitriol involved. The lands of tropical forests and high mountains and rivers gushing into the Straits of Malacca or South China Sea or the Sea of Java.

I am not qualified to write on matters such as these. Who knows what is inside the heart of a man. Hence I have changed my direction and write on other nonsensical things. 

Just to clarify things, my blogposts are not fit entirely for human consumption. For one thing though it does not reflect the views or opinions of others. It would be best for one to read this blog with a big gunny sack of salt. 

Today is Friday 13/11/2020. Still boring and empty. Nothing happening. 

Saturday morning 06:33 am. Woke up at 06:00 am. Brushed my teeth and made myself a cup of milo. Aortic aneurysm and aortic dissection, medical terms which suddenly have cropped up in my life. Maybe one day they too will go away like my many illnesses of the past. God is indeed great. I have never been a pious or devout Christian but I sincerely believe in and have faith in my Lord Jesus Christ. He is not only my Saviour but my Healer. He is with me in times of distress. I remember just as if it was yesterday when after my fourth operation on the spine, I had difficulty walking for more than 10 years. The pain was gone but it seemed like the strength had left my legs. On and off I would pray to Jesus for help in walking normally again. I went to church for a few years and then stopped when my mother became seriously ill. I thought I would never get well again. Then one day in 2015, I walked up from my house to the commercial center where I stayed and realised "I could walk normally again". Thanks be to God for our Lord Jesus Christ. I am ever so grateful to the Lord for the many miracles that happened in my life. When you least expect it, the Lord Jesus Christ will step in and intervene and that is when the healing starts.

I have always suffered from a weak constitution since my young days till today. I remember the frequent fever chills that have plagued me even in grade school. Visits to the doctor were seldom carried out as we could not really afford a doctor's consultation even then. I remember my grandmother would come over to our house and work her miracles with a hard boiled egg and reciting incantations around a small pot that was burning with small pieces of yellow paper. Wonder of wonders, the fever would leave me and I would feel better. There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamn't of in your philosophy (science).

My youth age 5 to 18 was spent in an enclave of KL known was Imbi road. It was hemmed in Pasar road in the south and Bukit Bintang in the north. My grade school was spent in Pasar Road English School (1). The (1) meant that I was in the morning session of the school. I credit Pasar Road English School (1) with moulding me into the person I am today. Pasar Road a name synonymous with anything that is Chinese was home to many great men who lived and studied at the school. Pasar Road English School (1) was the equivalent of Harrow's in the British Isles. The teachers were patient and I don't remember anyone of them shouting or slapping any students for being overly naughty. The headmaster a benign and friendly gentleman ruled the school with the touch of a saint. He was the epitome of what a teacher should be. The speech days at the end of the year and the sports days organized by him went like clockwork and everyone enjoyed themselves to the tilt even the parents of the students. Sports day was marked by a sterling performance of the school band of which I was a member (I played the flute). The band was trained and led by Mr. Ng Cheng Kiat. The school band was very well known throughout Malaysia and we were even invited to perform at important events at the Stadium Merdeka. I cannot remember if we were attired in special uniforms for the band but we trained regularly on Saturdays and school holidays. I remember Mr. Mac Kean Boon who played the big drum and Mr. Dennis Appaduray who played percussions. There was no reward handed out to us only the joy of being able to play our musical instruments.

I used to hang out at pasar road with a young classmate who has since then migrated to UK when he was in Victoria Institution. We would go on Saturday afternoons to visit the fish shops stocked with aquariums. There was plenty then. We did not buy any fish and would just watch the fish swimming around in the aquariums. After so many years I can still remember every little detail of our weekly visits to the aquariums. We could not afford the bus fare, so the both of us would walk to pasar road come rain or shine. I lost a good friend and companion when my friend left for the UK while we were studying in form one in VI. At the perimeter of pasar road were places like Cochrane road, Nakhoda Yusuf, Peel road and Kampung Pandan where the houses were also inhabited by civil servants. A classmate Mr.Lim Mun Hoy stayed in Djalan Nakhoda Yusuf  while we studied together at Pasar road and VI. His dad Mr. Lim Wee Sin was a colleague of my dad. Both of them were at Federal House and were very close. In the nights Mr.Lim would cycle to our house bringing with him a pile of magazines for me to read. He migrated to New Zealand with his family in the early nineties and since then we have no news of him any more.

The Postal Services Club was only about 100 meters away from our house. It was a popular meeting place for the young and old alike. The young would go there during the day and played football or just exercised while the older ones usually comprising of civil servants would head for the club for drinking sessions and billiards. 

The postal club still exists today and together with the padang are the last remaining vestiges of the old era. Though many of its former patrons have passed on, the club has a sort of notoriety about it. A famous footballer and ex-Victorian Mr. Zakaria bin Shariff trained at the postal club padang during his schooldays. I do not know the reason why but when Zakaria left VI, nothing more was heard of him and his football exploits. The inter-civil-servants annual athletics meet was also held at the Postal Club padang. Malaysia excelled at athletics and stamped its mark in South-east asia. Surprisingly the meet was of a very high standard. The best part of the meet was reserved at the end. Tables were reserved and covered with refreshments meant for the guests, meaning us. We helped ourselves generously to the food and drinks that were laid on the tables. It was kind of postal club management to allow everyone including the residents living nearby to participate in the happy event. 

During the era in the sixties, was the height of the emergency. The emergency in reality was an all out war between the government and the Malayan communists. It was fought deep in the jungles of Malaya, specifically in the Main Range now known as Banjaran Titiwangsa. Hence every year the Information Services Department of Malaya specifically it's propaganda arm would conduct film shows held at the Postal Club field in the late evenings. Usually an announcement would be made about the film show to be held, its time and venue. About an hour before the film show, we would head for the field and sit around the projector and in front of the screen. The shows were popular Hollywood movies e.g. Sinbad the Sailor and Ben Hur to name a few. Before the movie was screened a short talk about the evils of communism would be held by an officer from the department. Usually we would forget what the officer had said and wait impatiently for the movie to be screened. Often the officer would be a bule (known in Malay as Mat Salleh) representing the British government who were assisting the Malayan government in the war against the communists. The government should have no fear about the emergency for the people were solidly behind the government in the war against the Malayan communists. We knew too well what the communists stood for and had no love for them. The movie would end about 10 pm in the night and we would head home, all walking as cars were unheard of then. We brought no stools along with us and just sat with legs folded on the soft green grass. It was one of the many kindnesses shown by the government towards it's people.

After completing standard six I was lucky enough to be selected to progress to Victoria Institution, Kuala Lumpur to continue my secondary education. I remember receiving a letter from VI to sit for an entrance examination to be held on a Saturday morning in December at the school. I recollect that on that fateful Saturday I forgot to bring a pen or pencil for the test and had to borrow a red ballpoint pen from the student sitting on my right. I also remember for getting a strong whack on the back of my neck by an invigilator whom later I would get to know as a teacher by the name of Peethamparam aka in short Peet. Peet has since migrated to Melbourne, Australia and my desire to repay that whack he gave to me never materialized. I am now bigger, stronger, taller and much more younger than him and I strongly believe in the proverb, "An eye for an eye.............". Peet had developed a reputation as a whacker among the many male teachers who were addicted to whacking and slapping found in Victoria Institution. I believe one of the pre-requisites before a teacher was accepted to teach in VI was, "Do you believe with all your heart and soul in whacking and slapping your pupils on a regular basis?' If the answer is a positive, rest assured you would be accepted into the fraternity of whackers and slappers nesting happily in the premier school of Malaysia during that era. The whackers and slappers were the norm and not the exception and indeed if a teacher were to be found lacking in this discipline, he would be looked down upon by his fellow brethren and sisters of the Hood. What Hood, I frankly have yet to ascertain. Sadly among the Hood, some had fallen beneath the Hood and no longer with us. I bear no malice towards anyone of them for many of us were really stubborn and naughty and needed a whack or two to get back our alignment and balancing into perspective something akin to the wheels of a wahana (vehicle).

I remember Mr.Renggasamy, our teacher in General Science. He was a tall, stooping and rather thin character. But he knew his subject matter well. Moreover the added bonus was that he was a personal and good friend of the author of our series of general science books, a Mr.Ooman, himself a teacher at the Methodist Boys School KL. Mr. Ooman's books were well written, easy to understand and very illustrative with plenty of pictures and diagrams to help the students. Mr. Ooman's books were accepted as the standard teaching material for students in Malaya from form one to form three. I grew very fond of general science and would look forward to the lessons taught by Mr.Renggasamy. I cannot remember who was the class master/or mistress for form 1 north. It was so long ago. I was living in Djalan Selatan, Imbi Road during my education at VI. Every Tuesday morning we had a one hour lesson in Physical Education or PE in short. Nobody liked PE for it made us sweat and sticky all over. But PE was mandatory and unless one produced a medical certificate from the doctor, everyone had to partake of this stupid routine once a week. I was as think as a rake or bambu and what I needed was more food and not exercise. All of us were thin as bambu (aka bamboo) except for Mac Kean Boon, who looked like spongebob. No offence meant as Mac was a nice guy and easy to get along with. He had a cousin brother also in the same class, a Mac Yin Tee. Both Macs were good students and very friendly. Both also came from Pasar Road English School (1). There were 7 Malay students in the class, Salleh the Hood, Nordin, Raja Nong Chik, the twin brothers, Syed (Syed Nasir's sons), Abdul Rashid and Aminuddin. 

VI was perceived as a melting pot of the best students in academia and sports. I do not subscribe to this view. I believe other schools had equally smart students in academia and those who were also good in sports but their public relations was not so effective. School commenced at 7 am and ended at 1pm. And after that there were curricular activities which were given equal importance. I joined the 2nd.KL Scout Troop but cannot remember much of the activities I participated in. I also joined the Red Cross, the Philatelic Club. I cannot recollect joining anything else. The house I belonged to was SAS (Sultan Abdul Samad) denoted by the purple T-shirts that we wore. During form 1, the house captain was Nah Seang Hoo who also happened to be the school vice-captain. He was good both in studies and sports. 

The school kantin was famous for its curry laksa. But due to financial constraints I had the opportunity to taste it only once when I was in Form 1 North. As for the other dishes it was equally expensive for me with my limited budget. Hence by 10:30am I was a very hungry young man. There was no subsidies given to impoverished students. The new economic policy had not taken effect yet. I had a few friends who were prefects and they executed the trust placed on them exceedingly well. It was during this period that Malaysia was experiencing a Christian revival. Many evangelists from the United States and also from Indonesia came to Malaysia to perform evangelistic work among the local Christians. People like Billy Graham was on everyone's lips. Even the conversion of Karen Carpenter and Cliff Richard was much talked about in schools, pulpits and coffee shops across Malaysia. Speakers especially from America were much sought after and many of them were asked about the hippie culture and flower people. The war in Vietnam was much debated and most Americans especially its youth were against the war. I remember being taken every Friday and Sunday nights to attend a church service at Gospel Hall, Jalan Gasing, Petaling Jaya by an alumnus two years my senior, a Mr.Kam Beng Teik. It was here that I received Jesus into my life. I expected to feel something different inside me but there was change in my feelings or emotions, everything was the same as before. I was advised by Beng Teik not to rely on my feelings or moods. Beng Teik was essentially a nice person and soft spoken. He was a bio-math student and after his HSC he was offered to study medicine by the National University of Singapore. I was with him for two years before he left for Singapore to further his studies. At Gospel hall Djalan Gasing, our pianist was none other than Dr.Lenny deVries's younger brother who also taught at VI. The younger brother was totally different from Lenny, he was kind, humble and soft spoken.

There were three cinema theaters that were closest to VI. They were the Rex cinema, the Pavilion cinema and the Cathay cinema and the Rialto in BB Park. These  cinemas aired popular Hollywood films. I remembered that I saw the movie "Goodbye Mr.Chips" three times at the Cathay cinema. I was in Form 3 East. It was the year the Lower Certificate of Education was held. There wasn't any panic among the students as it was an easy examination and the school achieved 100% passes. Form three was a pretty quiet year for an examination year.

I cannot remember any earth shaking event that happened directly or indirectly because of the school because nothing happened at school but something did happen which the world would soon know as the May 13, 1969 racial riots that happened in Kuala Lumpur and its surrounding areas. It started at around 6pm in the evening and quickly spread like wild fire. I returned home early on May 13, 1969 as there were no curricular activities that day. My dad had heard what was happening early on, as the prime minister's office was in Federal House as were many ministers at the time. So those working in Federal House got the news early. It spread quickly and soon the building was almost empty of workers as they fled home. The Malays gathered first at the house of the menteri besar of Selangor, Dato Harun Idris at the junction of princess road and circular road. Many witnesses claimed they saw the darkening night sky lighted up in flames and heard the beating of drums in the distance.

Malaysia declared two months of emergency curfew and all the schools were closed. Thus the honeymoon year was given an additional two months of "holidays" by circumstances beyond our control. It was also days of the rumors. The rumors sounded ridiculous in the first place. Thankfully peace was restored after two months and the situation on the ground gradually returned to normal. We have learned not to take things for granted and to work diligently for our peace and prosperity.