Jackie and Julia. Episode 1 - Forays into Setiawangsa and Melaka

Jacqueline Newman and Julia Thistlethwaite are two of our best friends in Leicester. We had nagged and cajoled them to come to our abode in Kuala Lumpur and enjoy our company (yeh?) and our world here before we became too old and decrepit.   Much younger than us, they are both nurses, one retired and the other still working it out with the famed and 'de-famed' National Health Service in Leicester.

Intrepid travellers; they have (like most Brits) travelled all over Europe.  They toured Sri Lanka, Bangkok and Australia.  We do admire their stamina and guts when they travel. They (mainly Jackie because Julia's shoulder gave up the ghost) drove in Arizona to see the Grand Canyon etc, and spent an autumn in New England and a winter in New York

We witnessed that same stamina - and an enormous enthusiasm for the environment, the people and the culture they met - when they arrived here on September the 22nd.

We two septuagenarians have not been in the best of health since we came back in June.  I brought home with me a nasty infection after a visit to Singapore in mid-August.  And we so looked forward to J & J's arrival.  They were like a breath of fresh air and a ray of healing sunlight- just what the nurses ordered!

Hardly ten hours into their arrival, they were up and about 'exploring' our little slice of  "kampung Setiawangsa"

A photo to kill for - AsH snapped the shot that almost lopped off their heads - taken at the end of our side road.

Jackie (left) and Julia and a dried up coconut frond.

Clockwise :  bananas, coconut, turmeric leaf, serai all of which can be found in Leicester shops;  growing by the wayside near our street.   (Photos taken by Jackie - Ash cannot be trusted with the job after that first debacle!)

J & J are very, very keen gardeners  and between them they have a full time job looking after their high maintenance garden in Leicester - with its lawn, its vegetable garden, its fruit trees, its shrubbery, its nursery, and its many floral borders.  Of course we had to show off our wild senduduk bush (mainly for feeding the birds), our date palm from 6 Ramadans ago, out skinny lanky (like the spouse) frangipani, our serai wangi (citronella) that suffered a lot of pummelling from a stray, randy tom cat and pots of infected chili plants that need a high dose of plant antibiotics.   Hardly a grand garden, and hardly high-maintenance - but we love it first thing in the morning!

They took quite a nice picture of our garden.  Taken from the right angle, our wee garden does look quite presentable.  But I must be fair - they too have a lovely garden.  They must be as proud of their gardening skills as we are of ours(?).  See below and compare.

East and West -the twain shall meet.

On the very next day they left for Melaka - on their own, by Express bus.  The outward journey was fine, but the return trip was a harrowing experience - of a driver speeding on the highway, weaving in and out of the hard shoulder while talking on his mobile phone.  Sometimes he drove hands free while his attention was taken up by someting else more important than the rules of the highway code and the safety of his passengers!!  Julia had to be on the alert all the time as a kind of self-defence tactic on a Malaysian road.  I had to assure them that what they experienced is quite normal for Malaysian drivers and driving.

Melaka at least did not fail to capture their attention and interest.  We got them a nice hotel at Jonker Street, a good base for capturing the sights and sounds and food of Melaka.  They spent about one hour and a half  in the vicinity of an an empty restaurant, sheltering from a heavy downpour but it was all taken in good humour as another experience to be chalked up.  Nothing like a torrential tropical rain to energize the spirit of two dauntless Brits from Leicester. EYUP me duck!

Here are some photos of their walkabout in Melaka.

Something I've never seen before :  Melaka, a World Heritage City.

Symbols of Melaka's heritage.  The X is something Malay (other than the Istana of the Melaka Sultanate) I have to find out by visiting Melaka Baru (post-1960s) one day, InsyaAllah.  

For our two dear ladies from Leicester, Melaka was a new and wonderful experience - as we hoped it would be.    And they made the most of their short time there, taking a river trip, tasting the food, walking for hours, and enjoying the kindness of Melaka taxi drivers, coffee shops, and a nice little hotel.

Of course, Jackie and Julia would have no way of knowing this.... but as I belong to the dinosaur generation of "locals" (and proudly so!), I much prefer the Melaka of the 1960s.  As I've mentioned many times before, the present does not impress me at all.    Those were the days - just look at those empty streets!

Melaka - 1966.  Photos by courtesy of Iain Buchanan.

Episode 2 of Jackie and Julia's venture to the East Coast will be next.  It is full of thrills and spills and food and sun and sand and snorkelling.

Balik Kampung Tanam Kacang

AsH balik kampung for Hari Raya in Kay-El and discovered Malaysia Baru - New Malaysia - hence my makeover spelling for the capital of a New Country.

With a memory like an elephant, a septuagenarian elephant at that - it reminded me of the landslide victory of Tony Bliar (oops Tony Blair) and the Labour Party in 1997 after a long period in the twilight zone when Margaret Thatcher and the Conservative party held sway from 1979 to 1997 with her free market, capitalist, monetarist policy.

Eventually, the British public had had enough of Thatcher and her cronies in the privatised Conservative culture.

Tony Blair came along like the Avenging Saviour for the weakened Labour Party caught in the shenanigans and mire of  'Socialism' and  Trade Union politics.  He modernised the Labour Party and stitched up a synthesis between capitalism and socialism and called it NEW LABOUR. It worked especially as it kept the middle class happy and Blair (and the Labour Party) ruled the roost from 1997 - 2010.  Like Ronald Reagan he was a teflon leader because political dirt could not stick to him - especially the invasion of Iraq in 2003.  AsH also believes Malaysia has a good share of teflon leaders!!  We Malaysians are as good as the West where modernisation is concerned.

If I had been in Malaysia Lama (or Malaysia Buruk?) on May 9, 2018 I would be utterly confused as to my choice of vote.  Deciding between BN and PH is really no choice at all.  It's like deciding between LABU and LABI, between the hantu or the jembalang.

Yang Mana Satu Idaman Kalbu??

Again our magnificient P. Ramlee has pinned the situation right down to a T.

 

Tukang masak aku tak sudi,
Tukang cuci menyakitkan hati.

As for misai tebal, ular sawa : as my dear ole mum would put it - selisih malaikat 44!!

But Haji Bakhil has hit the nail right on the head.  Tak habis habis asmara chinta (asmara politik?) Lagu nasihat lebih baik - bagaimana datang duit, darimana datang duit, bagaimana nak jadi orang kaya...

But that is what Malaysian politics has been all about for the past 50 years or so - the actors in Parliament, the protagonists in the social media, the (political) sifus and warlords, the taukehs and tycoons, the bankers, the lawyers, the academics, the CEOs, the Immigration Department, the handbag purveyors and the financial movers and shakers.  P. Ramlee could see all that coming - bless his cotton socks!  In my book he is the most Eminent Person that Malaysia did not have.  After all, if fate had not taken away his life too soon, he would be only 89 today - just a few years younger than the PM of Malaysia Baru.

I must admit that in this GE 14  I am on the same wavelength as Haji Bakhil's daughter :  Hati dah bosan.  Tidak berkenan sebab perangai tidak siuman.

And so in abject despair AsH has to submit to this ultimatum.

Biarlah setan atau pun hantu

Cukup bulan makan batu.

Biarlah hantu atau jembalang

Balik kampung, tanam kacang.

And here's the grand denouement :

Macham mana aku ta' makan,   says the Snake.

Sudah memang makanan kami.

Home Thoughts from a Broad ......

.... just a little play of words on Robert Browning's poem "Home Thoughts from Abroad".

Been back for nearly 2 weeks :  the moggies were happy to see us.

But the spouse was already showing signs of exhaustion.  He succumbed to the infections we picked up on the plane and it ended in this for both of us.

Through the haze of sniffles, sore throats, hacking coughs, fever and headache one's thoughts wander to Victoria Park where the spouse would wander almost every day to feed the gulls.

Walking back home from the Park we also noticed these 'leftovers' on the pavements.

Used capsules of nitrous oxide (laughing gas) - another form of recreational drug for 21st century young denizens.

  

The 'creativity' of the young in filling up their their hedonistic and high-tech lives are quite amazing -  makes my generation with their ciggies and rock 'n' roll very tame indeed.

But some things remain unchanged.

Hope springs eternal even in Leicester.  We get this through our letterbox very frequently.

This image below - up to 10-15 years ago - is not a typical scene, in where we live in this part of Leicester.

A car from Eastern Europe, all 4 tyres flattened and abandoned.  As it has an East European number plate, the owner /culprit would be very difficult to trace.  When and if it is finally towed away, the Council will have to pay for it.   As it is, this year our Council Tax will be upped by 10%.

Fly tipping, of broken bits of furniture, mattresses, children's bicycles, broken plastic roofing, planks and all sorts of odds and ends have also blighted this residential area - again a recent introduction by our EU brethren.

Still, one has to ....

But bananas in Leicester are tasteless.

Back in Setiawangsa, we discovered a little stall that has a regular supply of my favourite pisang emas.

On the second day of Chinese New Year we decided to get our usual supply of bananas and papayas. But the shop was shut.  As I walked towards the stall selling my favourite pisang goring, I became aware of the openness of the little street and the peaceful, quiet surroundings because there were hardly any cars or motor-bikes.

It was just like walking along the lanes in Kampung Abu Kassim, Pasir Panjang, Singapore 60 years ago.  I felt a bit tearful but I can't blame it entirely on the impending cold. Time and tide can break many a heart!

I went back the next day to snap some pictures, hoping to recapture in Kramat, that bit of my past.

But it was just a wild fancy. This was all I could get. No more rose-coloured spectacles!

Jalan AU 3/12 at 0730.

Remembering a kampung wayside - minus the car and the atap genting.

The moral of my posting : for all those aged from 13 or thereabouts to 40, 50, 60 ; record and remember the scenes that make up the tapestry of your being before it's too late.

We are now certified .....

..... as a legally married couple in the eyes of the Akta Undang-Undang Keluarga Islam (Wilayah-Wilayah Persekutuan) 1984, Seksyen 31 (4).

What a relief!  It's like the rich and gooey icing on a Not-so-Secret Recipe Wedding Anniversary Cake.

We have been married for 30 years.  Our marriage was in 1986 at Masjid Assyakirin Jurong, Singapore.  We were issued a wedding certificate by MUIS Singapore.  It was all strictly above board and fully compliant with both the  secular and religious rulings.  We did not opt for some murky corner in Cambodia, Thailand or Indonesia - the various Malaysian versions of Gretna Green.

Before I took up Malaysian citizenship ( which was a heartfelt conscious desire to return to the land of my forefathers), the spouse and I would include our MUIS marriage certificate as a must-have item in our luggage.  It does look a tad travel-worn by now because it accompanied us on our family visits to Batu Pahat/Segamat/ Kuala Lumpur, to our jalan-jalan in Penang, Kedah, Perak, Negri Sembilan, Melaka, Sabah and Sarawak.  We were warned about Khalwat ; about being caught like a wetback in the US, i.e tangkap basah.

With my change of nationality, I discovered to my horror that we had to go through the nightmarish process of justifying the legality (religious) of our marriage despite our 30-year Marriage  Certificate  from  MUIS Singapore.  One day, perhaps one day, I'll write down the whole gory details of that re-certification drama and trauma which turned my brain bald and my spirit shapeless.

But right now I'm so thankful for that piece of paper which contains just a re-write of the details in our Singapore Marriage Certificate.  But  JAWI forgot to include an important item which MUIS Singapore had assiduously noted down - the name Donald Iain Buchanan @ Mohd Yassir Buchanan bin Abdullah - the genesis of which the religious authorities in Kuala Lumpur were very concerned about. 

                                         *****************************************


A matter of language - Certify, Certifiable and Certification

Finally we must be very careful in our use of words :  To certify (as a verb), means to attest to as the truth or meeting a standard.  Certifiable - which is derived from the verb certify - can be used in two ways.  Firstly it can refer to documents which are certifiable - i.e they can or must be certified.  But throughout all of that period leading up to our Certification  we carried the albatross of the other meaning of certifiable.

That version of certifiable means 'a crazy person' - albeit it's an informal use - but most of the time we did feel like we were in a loony bin or a sin bin!!

You can read of my weary despair at http://anaksihamid.blogspot.my/2015/12/were-off-well-weve-been-off-for-years.html

 At last I can hope and begin to pick up the pieces of AsH.  Thank you all for the patience and indulgence,

What's it all about, Rusty?

We have an uncanny cat.

When we moved to our house in Setiawangsa, a black cat we would call "Poppy" seemed to be a part of the place.   A stray cat, she hung around, very warily, and we fed her.    Poppy had kittens, and when she disappeared after a neighbour's wedding, the four offspring stayed.    One of them was called Rusty.

When we were back in Leicester 2 years ago, Rusty was taken ill and our niece Maria had to take him to the vet at Wangsa Maju.  We were of course dreadfully worried and concerned.  And then something very weird happened.

The spouse picked up the phone and dialed the Vet's KL number.   Suddenly, through the French window, he caught a fleeting glance of a black cat that looked exactly like Rusty.    That was odd - we had never had a cat in the backyard before.   Occasionally, at night, a fox.   But never a cat.

The spouse called me to look.      The black cat  gave  a piercing and long stare at the both of us as we gasped, "It's Rusty!!"    After doing a little 'job' in our back garden plot,  Rusty's double climbed the wall and disappeared.   And we never saw him again.

The spouse carried on with the call to the Vet.   Rusty was fine, she assured us, and was responding to treatment.      We didn't tell her, then, that we had already seen Rusty's agent!!

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.  (from Shakespeare's Hamlet)

Since then poor Rusty has been in and out of the Vet's - taking up medical residence for 1 month, then a few weeks and on our last sojourn in Leicester he was in for 3 months until we got back.  This time the Vet suggested that Rusty may require an operation to remove a part of his flabby colon.  Since June, we have been carefully tending to Rusty's health and diet and finally today we bit the bullet and decided to take him to Jalan Gasing Veterinary Hospital for the operation.

Two things worried us.  Firstly Rusty's operation.  Secondly, getting to PJ.   During Hari Raya, we had visited some friends in Taman Tun Dr Ismail and Kampung Tunku.   We got lost before we got to TTDI, and then must have spent forty-five minutes going round and round Kampung Tunku's 'mulberry bush' to look for the address we wanted.  To get home our host kindly offered to lead us to DUKE highway in his car and get us back on our way.   It was that bad for us!

This time we turned to Google maps for the route to Jalan Gasing.

From Setiawangsa to Jalan Gasing - The Guide and Map.
NB - We don't believe in SatNavs.

With our hearts in our mouths, we made the journey to Jalan Gasing and back to Setiawangsa.   In the end, it was fairly straightforward.

But most thankful of all, the Specialist Vet did not think an operation was necessary.    He had seen far worse cases, and Rusty, he said, could be managed with a proper diet and plenty of liquid.

And here's Rusty melepak-ing in the garden after the trauma of the car ride.

He has to be kept on a harness and leash to stop him scavenging for food around the neighbourhood.  Rusty has a stomach like a bottomless pit - that's why his colon is in the state it's in.

Here are a couple of snaps to show where Rusty used to look for snacks.

This is a frequent scene in our neighbourhood - rubbish which are chucked and tucked away from the houses with the Mercedes, BMWs, Hondas and Toyotas.  And it's just beside our fence!  Nimbys - a proud aspect of this Malay middle-class suburbia!

The discards from suburbia deposited near Osman and Aisha's work trolley.  This means additional work for them.  Note the Clarks shoes in the blue plastic basket.  In its condition, that could be sold in our charity shop, Leicester Animal Rescue.  No wonder Malaysians are worried sick about the depreciating ringgit!

Aisha chatting with her favourite stray cat next to a pile of leaves that she had just swept together.

So Rusty's days of rummaging and snacking on rubbish are over.

We also notice the population of stray cats in our neighbourhood is growing.  (They are being fed by some of us and by Osman and Aisha - our road sweepers -  who between them earn just about MYR 2,000 per month ).There's one particular one, ridden with mange.  It took the spouse two months to coax it into a cage (on the first try, it actually picked up the saucer of food with its teeth and carried it out of the cage!) so that it could be treated at the vet's to rid it of its miserable discomfort and  before it could infect the other cats in the vicinity.

The two geriatrics too had a fair share of falls this time.  Ash had it on the first of Ramadan and the spouse said he had never seen such a graceful fall.  Six weeks later it was his turn.  After a lovely dinner of ikan tiga rasa we discovered the car's battery had given up the ghost (because we forgot to turn off the lights).  So we walked in the semi- dark, for about one km along Jalan Setiawangsa to get the mechanic.  Iain tripped and fell, grazing the knee and elbow, ruining a pair of trousers.  But he fell like a pro, making sure his bionic hip was not affected.

So that's the Story of Ash for the last few months - a bit woeful but we're luckier than most.

On Se Quitte Toujours - We always leave

The packing's done. The house has been put to bed.

In 4 hours' time Yasir (Wania's Baba) will  take us to Heathrow  to catch MAS at 2000 hours.

We always leave
And the page is turned
To new  familiar faces
We look in turn.

And is believed to discover
The sun rises
And we see bloom again
The flowers of a new dream."


Farewell to Jack  and his garden and the heady days of summer.

Jack and spouse and Stanley

We'll be welcomed (I hope) with open paws by ...

TRUSTY RUSTY - who was warded again a month ago.

COOL COMOT

SHY AND RETICENT SOCKS (photo taken by my brother Mus)

.......  and in time for a peaceful Ramadan for all.

Gentle on my mind

By today I should have got over the jet lag.    By today I should be wandering to my favourite shopping mall .....

Leicester Animal Rescue

... and I should be writing this posting from my den.

The snowdrops would have come and gone.  Jack as usual would have crocuses and daffodils planted in our little back garden.

Jack at his best - mucky gloves and jumper and little seedlings in his arms.

Spring has sprung!!

If only .......................

Four days before our flight to Leicester  last week we were both hit by a nasty stomach flu.   First I came down.   After a few days, we still thought we could just make the journey.  But then the spouse got the brunt of it for another few days, and so the journey was put on hold. And as if to justify the change in our travel plans - dear, lovable, soppy ole Rusty ......

....... had to be 'hospitalised' - again - at the Vet - for the same colon problem.  We were advised that his diet had to be strictly monitored.  A free range cat he may be - but his ranging days are over.  He usually stays out at night - but no more karaoke for him.  He has to be bound to quarters .

Our two cat-sitters and house sitters, Osman and Aisha looked at Rusty's pad and they suggested that he would need padding for the resting shelves.  So off I went to buy two cushions and sewed  on straps to keep them secure on the shelves.  I put my foot down at carpeting when Osman mentioned a little luxury for that little, fat  black blob.

So, InsyaAllah we'll take off in a few days' time for Leicester - leaving behind scenes like this at our LRT Station .....

A scenic view from Setiawangsa LRT Station

.. and our car battered by motorbikes and a neighbour who has not  mastered the art of reversing a car.

"Sikit saja"

Brushes with the ubiquitious motorbikes in KL.  Loads more on the other side.

But ... especially for this Malay Peninsula ....

It's knowing that your door is always open

And your path is free to walk.

That makes me tend to leave my sleeping bag

Rolled up and stashed behind your couch

And a big thank you to my nieces Maria and Hidayah for sorting out our tickets on the Internet and for arranging our departure for KLIA.  But like Uncle Iain said, " It's a small price to pay for getting rid of us."  Ha ha!!   See you all later .. InsyaAllah.

..... that you're waiting from the back roads by the rivers of my memory, ever smiling, ever gentle on my mind.

Two of Us - On Our Way Home.

Our good friend Jack has been over on most recent Saturday evenings to watch a very interesting TV programme on "Wild China".  We would share a small supper and after the programme, Jack and spouse would  depart to the latter's study where the two of them would go surfing YouTube for Opera songs,  not the fluffy modern singers like  Katherine Jenkins and Il Divo but the ones from the 30s, 40s and 50s like Amelita Galli-Curci and  a younger Maria Callas.     In the process they discovered a fabulous young tenor from the US called Lawrence Brownlee - Jack, an expert on classical singing, reckons he's the best singer around at the moment.....better than Luciano Pavarotti.

At about 11 pm we would walk Jack back to his house which is just 5-10 minutes away.  Before the three of us became old and decrepit it would have taken us just short of 5 minutes !!

Last Saturday, on our way home from Jack's, we bumped into our former neighbour and friend Doug.  He was walking home alone from Barry's house (about 20 minutes distance from his own house).   The time was nearly a quarter to midnight!   He was just as shocked as we were to meet up so late.  We told him of our trip back to KL and there was a hint of disappointment in his voice when he expressed his regret that we had shared only one get-together since we got back to Leicester.  You see, we had arranged for Doug to pop over for dinner five weeks ago.  But we, especially AsH, had a nasty infection for three weeks and everything had to be put on the back burner including our planned  return at the end of  January.

We got back home, we pondered and we agreed that despite our imminent journey we must have Doug over for a meal.  And we did just that two days ago.  And Doug was so pleased to share the meal and the time.  And we walked him home as well !

Douglas Holly and we went back a long way, since the mid 1980s.  He was then a lecturer at the University of Leicester School of Education.  I had applied to do my Masters at the School of Ed in 1983 when I was about to end my teaching contract in Brunei.  I waited and waited in vain for a reply from them.  Finally I had to call upon my former Geography Tutor who was teaching in Leicester University to make an inquiry.  He got in touch with his 'mature student' Frank Moule who knew a lecturer from the School of Education.  That lecturer was Doug Holly.

Now one could describe  Doug as an old-fashioned liberal - his political stand  would be very much to the left of centre.  He went to see the lecturer-in-charge of Admissions to find out what had happened to my application.  It seemed that this lecturer Dr RK  had chucked my application to the bottom of the pile, simply because it had come from Brunei!  Doug then called upon Morag Carsch who was in charge of one of the courses I was applying for.  They both looked through my 'suitability' and they both advised Dr RK that I should be given a 'yes' reply soon - before I  'relocated' to another University.  I did Doug and Morag proud because I became one out of two students to gain a Distinction in the M.Ed course.  And I did enjoy bumping into Dr. RK whenever  I could - just to gloat.

After the spouse and I got married we visited Doug at his little terrace house at Oxford Avenue.  We liked the cosiness of the Avenue  (and Doug!).   So sometime during late 1986 we bought No 10 Oxford Avenue and we moved in.    I could not think of a better and happier place to live in - our neighbours and the neighbourhood  were just perfect.  Today, sadly, as with most things, it has all changed - for the worse.

We were neighbours for 19 years.  We got on because on many political and social issues we had a lot in common.  However at the height of the protest over Salman Rushdie's  "Satanic Verses" in 1989, we discovered a chink in our relationship.  We could hear on that summer's day in 1989 loud protests against "Satanic Verses" and Salman Rushdie coming over from nearby Victoria Park.  In summer, most of us kept our front doors open.  From Doug's door we heard him shouting angrily against the protests from the Park.  His one sentence  "After all we've done for them!" shocked us.  "Them" referred to the Muslims!  And this came from someone who saw himself as a broad-minded liberal and a vocal supporter of multi-culturalism.

This made me realise that the white man's liberalism, anti-racism  and broadmindedness are really skin-deep. When it comes to Islam and Muslims, that entrenched hostility and insecurity which fills their religion, literature, history and  culture floats up to the surface - even for someone like Doug who sees himself as an atheist.

We decided we had to square this circle with Doug.  We went over to his house and had a civilized discussion about freedom of expression, about the pathological phobia of the West against Islam and Muslims and what we thought of Salman Rushdie the Wog, the darling of British culture and of the literati. It did not break our friendship - we were sensible, thinking adults and were willing to listen to each other.

That incident - and what I saw and heard in later years - pushed me to read and learn even more, especially about Christianity and Western history and culture.

Just after we got married, my father-in-law Professor  K.M. Buchanan posted me a little pamphlet ( from Wales where he was staying)  about what the West owed to the Arabs - in the field of mathematics,  philosophy, architecture, medicine etc. etc.   It was an eye-opener for me.  It only told me how ignorant I had been about the world , about my Muslim world.  I began my own journey into this world and the western Christian world starting with books by Edward Said , Noam Chomsky - and  V.G. Kiernan's "European Empires from Conquest to Collapse (1815-1960)."  For these discoveries I have to thank my father-in-law Keith and his son.

After that little fracas with Doug I articulated my frustration in a long essay about the context of the  "Satanic Verses" issue which I still store in my files.  I wrote a letter of protest to The Independent which was of course heavily edited.

From then until today,  my inquiry and my learning have not ended  The maverick and rebel in me became even more consolidated and tenacious.

As for Doug and us, our friendship grew stronger with the years.  We have a lot of respect for him.  He remains committed to CND, Friends of the Earth and the local Community Committee.  He has lived alone for as long as we've known him.  He has his family who keep in touch with him especially for Birthdays and Christmas but he leaves them very much to themselves and makes sure that he doesn't become a burden to them.  He is a keen solo traveller, has been round the world sans the frills and luxury, goes to the gym and takes a long walk in the English countryside  ( usually ending at the local Pub) every week - and he loves my cooking!

And Doug is 84 years old.

This has turned out to be a long posting when all I wanted to write was about our trip back to KL - arriving InsyaAllah on Friday 21 February - just a day short of my 70th birthday.

"You and I have memories - longer than the road that stretches out ahead."

 Anak si Hamid and Son of Buchanan have travelled a long way - physically and metaphorically - together,  and with people like Doug Holly and Jack Marlowe as inspiration we hope to do a lot more, InsyaAllah.

What a Flop

                                                  Tanah  Tumpah  Darah  Ku

For the past week or so since getting back to Kuala Lumpur, life's been swinging between a flop and a  fever.

Election fever in Malaysia did not really affect where we live.  The streets looked very lively and colourful with blue, white and green flags, banners and buntings.   A couple of them promised cheap petrol and cheap cars - mainly in the poorer neighbourhoods.  The mugshots of the candidates were the usual run of the mill but I must say the poster boys of a certain political party looked like images drawn up by Saatchi and Saatchi of London.  In open necked shirts  (looking like Tony Blair), with shoulders back and arms folded  in a Stamford Raffles stance, they give such an air of authority and style that you feel tempted to vote for them because of their impressive image and to disregard  the ideas.  But that's politics for you.  Lebih indah rupa dari kata!

A couple of days ago we were driving through the leafy suburbs of Wangsa Maju when a car with DAP flags attached to the sides passed us by and what we read on the posters at the rear windows made us gasp in disbelief!  I had no chance to take a photograph but we remember very distinctly what they claimed.  It was so heinously devious and cynical it couldn't come unstuck from the memory!

One poster read  FREEDOM FOR PALESTINE, SYRIA, and MALAYSIA.

The other 'pleaded'   SAVE  GAZA AND PERAK.

Where were these  "Malaysian Freedom Fighters" when the Zionists were pulverising the Gazans and Palestinians?  What campaign and demonstrations did the DAP organise to support these beleagured people?

As Malaysians, we have to apologise most abjectly to the Syrians, Gazans and Palestinians for the cheek of some of our citizens for making use of their sufferings  and oppression to serve the political ends of some of our well-fed, well-heeled smug people in Malaysia and Perak!

I guess I was so shocked by those posters that I didn't notice this naughty-wotty Aedes mosquito
attacking me and leaving me flopping about with breakbone (dengue) fever.  Or could that poster-wielding car have been nasty Mr Aedes in disguise?  Especially in Malaysia, many politicians are such great actors that they could fill up the rolls of Oscar nominee awards.  There are wolves in sheep's clothing, wolves in wolves clothing, sheep in wolves clothing,  foxes in clerics'garments, foxes dressed as hens scouting about the henhouse, sharks in dolphins' suits, Greeks bearing gifts, smiling crocodiles in city suits and Malay baju, dumb asses who would sell themselves for a carrot, carpet baggers on the ready for a quick buck and loads of Friends of Red Riding Hood  (FoRRH)  using her to get a good bite at her dear old grandma.

Indeed the dengue's breaking my bones, but I hope my mind's still intact.



For (some of)  my fellow Malays :

I look at the floor and I see it needs sweeping  .....

However, ....... 

.....  I don't know how someone controlled you
       They bought and sold you.

.....  I don't know how you were diverted
       You were perverted too.
       I don't know how you were inverted
       No one alerted you.

Home Again

I got so embroiled in writing my riposte I forgot to mention that the two wanderers are back home from home.

We've had our asam pedas ikan merah and sambal goreng tahu/tempeh from my sister.  We've had two dinners and more from our nearest (physically and metaphorically) neighbour Zarina.  We've been plagued by the little monsters especially when all of Ampang suffered a disruption of water supply over the weekend except for Setiawangsa !  And we had our petai!!

What more could one ask for ?

Our cats were happy to meet us.  Here's Comot reviving her old days with the spouse.

Socks is never around except for breakfast and dinner.  She spends all her time on the neighbour's roof - our cat on a hot tile roof!

Poor Rusty had to go to the vet today because of ringworms which he caught from another stray cat.
Here he is with a flowery attachment to make him look better.

I'm so pleased with my tiny vase which travelled in my handbag.  I could pick my favourite bunga tahi ayam from the garden and have a teeny-weeny floral display in the house.

Here it is set against the banana tree that had increased its height by ten times since we were away.

And closer still on top of the writing bureau.  The vase is just two inches high!

Even though it was night time we couldn't help but notice the political buntings and flags on the way home from the airport.   It looked even more colourful in the day ... unlike elections in England and Singapore this democratic exercise is lively, healthy - and crucial.  But I wonder what my dear Abah would say if he was alive now to see how the Malays have split themselves into three and are shooting themselves in the foot as a result!!

Alas, what happened to the Spirit of 1946!  He would say  "Melayu tak sedar diri - mudah lupa daratan.  Dengki khianat sesama bangsa".   He told me that about my bangsa in the 1950s, way before Merdeka 1957.  And Anak si Hamid  concurs - especially now, despite over half a century of Merdeka.

Cupboard Love

"Hoi, banyak cantik punya muka....."  replied  'Bang Long when I asked him if'  'the best cook in KL' - his wife ( my sister) - could just leave her asam pedas ikan merah, sambal goreng tempeh/tahu,  crispy-fried  ikan selar kuning in our kitchen when we arrive in KL on Tuesday 9 April InsyaAllah. We don't expect them to wait for us as we won't get to the house until midnight!!

And I thought they would be happy to see the two 'kaki menginding' back again!

 But I reckon Zarina (another  'best cook in KL') would be delighted  to carry on giving us her super scrumptious 'meals-on-8-legs'  (hers, Ken, Daniel and Haiqal) to the two gorgeous geriatrics - wouldn't you Zarina??

So, it's time to  "bed down our house" again.  We've had a rejuvenating, productive and recuperative time and  the heavens brought us loads of snow and cold - just what we came for!

Goodbye to our friends like Jack and Doug and all the lovely ladies at Leicester Animal Rescue. Farewell to a 'so near yet so far'  moggie at the window.

Yesterday, we went for a brisk walk in a cool and sunny Victoria Park to say goodbye to Daisy and Daff....

......  and to the spouse's favourite flowering currant, which he says has the same spicy fragrance as the 'bunga tahi ayam'.

Although it's difficult to part with this little one in Leicester.........

Wania and dadiji

...... there are all these monsters waiting in Kuala Lumpur.

Rusty and Socks above and Comot below.

H  E  L  P  !!!! 

This I will miss most of all - my Play Station.

Fare thee well Leicester.  InsyaAllah we shall be back.