The two video clips above are dedicated to the memory of the men who took part in fight for freedom. This one, a larger one I include as it is a syntax error.
I included two video clips of the American Civil War, I have a great interest in America, its history and legacy and most importantly the lives of the everyday American.
My peripheral neuropathy is acting up again with shooting pains in the face and legs.
This particular song has a special place in a small compartment inside my heart. I was only 16 when I first heard this song. Since then, all the members of the original group have died except for one. I am a lansia (lanjut usia) now, a ketandan, an old man who gets by each day reliving the memories of yesteryears. Somehow the musix dished out today does not interest me at all or strike a cord of vein in my body. Perhaps that is what the world calls falling into old age.
The title to this blog I suppose the three types of generic friends that passed through my life at different phases of my period in this world. Yes gypsies, friends and thieves would aptly describe the scumbags that I had to deal with.
During my formal school education in Indonesia I guess was the only time I had true friends, perhaps because of our innocence or the absence of having to earn a living so that we would not go hungry. Even in college I guess this trend continued but unfortunately I have lost the contacts of those halcyon years. Our study years could be summed up by one word and that is we were all hardup. We had very little except for the shirt on our backs. Money, most of us had none. In Sekolah Menengah Atas Malang, Negeri 1, my cohorts had just as much as me and that is one big egg O. Hence we were always hungry in school. The boys at the education ministry placed filling one's stomach at the bottom of the pecking order. As for recreation we just jumped into the nearest river that happened to be nearest.
MY shior or constellation was Aquarius which was thought to represent a peaceful and rewarding life. I believe the peramal or tukang tebak (soothsayer) who said this has to have his head checked at a sanatorium.
The song above I first heard when I was 15 years of age and have never grown tired of it. Music has a unique and special way of harnessing and bonding people of different cultures all over the world. In the morning I took out my laptop as usual around 8 am and tried to look for any traces of past schoolmates and childhood friends that may give me a clue as to where they are and what they are doing. As always after two hours of frustration I decided it was time and stop. Where on earth could they be hiding, I thought to myself, they cannot have just vaporated into thin air.
When I was in KL, I like the First Baptist Church located at high ground called Bukit Gasing. The pastor was Rev. Lloyd de Run. He was a genial man and had immaculate manners. His wife was Chinese and the adopted daughter always followed them to services. Their real daughter was a Miss Malaysia/Miss World winner and the pastor had a son who trained dogs for a living,
How time flies. I remember going to the USIS (United States Information) which was set alongside the Gombak river. Further up from here was the famous food court known simply as benteng. Often I would walked to Pasar Road, it was no Abercrombie and Fitch but it was always bustling with activities and the prices reasonable provided you know to haggle over prices. I remembered a Malay lady who sold nasi lemak (or nasi uduk in Indonesia). It was very delicious and the prices resasonable.
Above video from UTube diurik (plucked) as my preamble to script below. I used to insert snippets of song in the right column of this frame but I am going stop or reduce such efforts because it is just to plain and simple and hasn't the advantage of visuals. At the top of the block I invited those visitors to N Razak's blog and stop by and refresh yourself at my blog. I have great admiration for Najib Razak. I truly believe he was a victim of circumstances arising from the constant heckling and cackling from his fat wife who felt the country owes her a living which in her twisted mind is her God given right. As I have said my sympathies go out to the former prime minister of Malaysia and he must be given every right to tell his side of the story. As I have mentioned countless times about my two year stay in Kuala Lumpur to complete my matriculation called the Higher School Certificate then, and during that short period I was exposed to Malaysian life in the bustling metropolis that was KL. Frankly I have forgotten the names of most of my classmates and only remember a few but I can still recall with total clarity the youthful eager faces as teenagers. I did not have any special friend except for perhaps two, i.e. Dr.Tan Beng Siang and Wong Seng Choy. Both I believe are engineers and Dr. Tan is from the famous Imperial College in London. In hindsight I remember these two gentlemen went out of their way to make me feel at home and for that kindness I am forever grateful to them. They never touched on the theme oh, we are Malaysians and you are only an Indonesian Chinese. I believe both left for England soon after completing their HSC while I left for America. My parents had the notion that the Englishmen were snobbish and tend to look down on people who spoke bad English while the Americans were more easy and friendlier. I think so too when I look back on those years fifty years ago. For the past two years I have been trying very hard to reconnect with these two individuals but I have hit a dead end. Their names do even appear on social media neither are their names on the public domain. I tried some contacts of the old al mater but they too proved to be false leads. The Victoria Institution then was an exclusive secondary school where only high achievers in sports or academia or both were accepted by the school. This situation is no longer relevant today when the government of Malaysia introduced the New Economic Policy or NEP in short. It is tragic this policy was implemented as the playing field was levelled at the expense of meritocracy. But the shrewd politicians knew there was no other way out if they were to remain in power. It wasn't a masterly move but a move for survival and to ensure the Malay majority remained in power. Hence this is the title for my story here. Of course it can be said that the Malaysians got much helping hands from my country Indonesia. Indonesia gave them the blueprint and after some minor tweaks and re-engineering every thing was set to go. To project an image predicated on false pretences will not work and eventually the truth will be known.
