Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Nostalgia Johor Bahru

I have just returned from a 24-hour visit to my old hometown Johor Bahru (JB) where I was born and bred. I left for University in KL in 1971 and had since never actually lived in JB again except the trips home during term breaks and the regular visits to my parents after I started working. Mother passed away in September 2006 and after my return to Malaysia in January last, I made one trip to JB for the annual family reunion and had never again ventured there till yesterday.

Short, very short as it was the visit was full of nostalgia. JB had grown so much but the old town still retains its charm, messy as it still is today! But it seems more compact and somewhat tidier. Lots of development going on, hopefully things will get better.  

I visited my parent's graves. Regretfully they are quite far apart and I had to drive from one to another. My father's grave had undergone a make-over and was newer and neater (he died in 1996). One of the marble tombstones of mother's grave (she passed on 1n 2006) was uprooted and I could not do much but leaned it against the box. I wish the Religious Department would do more for the upkeep of the cemetery. It is always terribly overgrown with weeds and the soil erosion is bad, and there was always heaps of rubbish here and there around the cemetery. Shame with all the financial resources they have they could not even make the effort to look after the place and upheld the dignity of the departeds' resting place.

I drove around to the neighbourhood where I lived with my parents in two different houses (Nong Chik government quarters) from the age of 6 to 20. They have all been razed to the ground to make way for newer development. And the family land in Air Molek is now used as a paid parking lot and some food stalls and gradually being squeezed by other development. My eldest brother Long is adamant about not selling it and making some arrangement for a joint-venture development. Well I hope the day will not come when the government will just make a compulsory acquisition of the land and we will all be under compensated of the land's actual value.

I also stopped briefly at my 'almer mather'  Maktab Sultan Abu Bakar (English College) where I studied from 1965-68 and took some photos and spoke to one of the teachers who promised to invite me to give a "motivational talk" to the students one day. 

Then there was the compulsory visit to my tailor "Mun On" at Jalan Trus. I had been patronizing that tailor since 1967 and nothing had changed about it, except those days I would pay RM3.50 to have a shirt made with my own material and today it is RM70! I still could not find another tailor who will do my short-sleeved batik shirt according to my liking as they do, that's why I kept going back to them all these forty years plus!!! Amazing isn't it! Anyway this time I deposited four batiks materials to be tailored and as a goodwill gesture they charged me only RM 60 per shirt! Hoong Po or Wan J will have to collect them and bring to KL once ready.

JB, oh JB! So nice to have a place to go back to and reminisce about all its goodness!  

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Goin' Back

I think I'm goin' back
To the things I learned so well
In my youth

I think I'm returning to
Those days when I was young enough
To know the truth


Now there are no games
To only pass the time
No more colouring books
No Christmas bells to chime


But thinking young
And growing older is no sin
And I can play
The game of life to win

I can recall the time
When I wasn't ashamed
To reach out to a friend
And now I think I've got
A lot more than a skipping rope to lend

Now there's more to do
Than watch my sailboat glide
And everyday can be
My magic carpet ride

And I can play hide and seek with my fears
And live my days
Instead of counting my years

Let everyone debate the true reality
I'd rather see the world
The way it used to be
A little bit of freedom
Is all we lack


So catch me if you can
I'm goin' back.....



See video : http://youtu.be/gV1bnDqhMws
                  http://youtu.be/gvE2mppEDfg



I first heard this song in 1967 sung by Dusty Springfield. I was all of 16 years old then and the song touched me so profoundly with its beautiful lyrics by Gerry Goffin (melody by Carole King) about the loss of innocence that comes with adulthood along with an attempt, on the part of the singer to recapture that youthful innocence. Since then the song has always remained one of my eternal favourites and it has been recorded by scores of other singers over the years, the latest being by Paul McGrath, ex-Ireland football legend. And now 45 years since I first heard that iconic Dusty Springfield version I heard a new version which touches me even so much more. A month ago, my friend Hoong Po gave me a new compilation CD of Diana Ross, and surprise, surprise track 21 was "Goin' Back" and it was such a beautiful rendition. I even found a video of Miss Ross's version on YouTube. Surprising, the recording was made in 2001 and I had not heard of it. Thanks dear HP, Miss Ross, Carole King and Gerry Goffin. "Goin' Back" is forever....

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Eid Mubarak Aidil Adha

Salaam and greetings! Been so busy to write anything of late! Just back from a 5-day Deepavali break in New Delhi and was sick all the time there! The air was so horribly polluted there but had a great albeit quiet time with Seng Sung and Julia all the same. Home with a bagful of goodies as well! India is so fascinating and colourful, dirt and dusts and all....

Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Adha all.
(Foto is of a batik "Segala puji hanya pada Mu" I made a few months back - all praise to Him!)