Next day in the afternoon flew to JB and had a couple of hours walk in the old town, plus of course the compulsory visit to my tailor Mun Onn where I had another order of six batiks shirts to be made. Evening dinner and a meeting with the MB in 'Saujana' where I snapped the photos of our four past Sultans posted here. The MB was most cordial and pleasant, made me feel good to be a Johorean.
Next day after breakfast, was driven to Singapore, my very first entry into Singapore via the new CIQ (haven't entered Singapore by the Causeway in years - I simply dread it). Not all that efficient I must say and on the Singapore side the queue was long and very slow and tedious. And the young Malay woman at the immigration booth took like 20 minutes to clear some 7 passports of the car in front of mine and when it was our turn clearly showed she was trying to be overly-efficient and not in the least bit friendly (worst still the Malay women at the Changi airport immigration who cleared my passport and was totally impersonal and indifferent as she could possibly be- what's wrong with all the Singaporean Malays!!! Superiority complex or what? Big deal being immigration officers!). It took me 40 minutes to get through the Singapore immigration and customs! Talk about being welcomed and efficiency!! A two-hour visit to the Singapore National Museum to see the "Dreams and Reality" exhibition brought all the way from Musee D'Orsay Paris (and a thorough briefing by American volunteer Helen who really knew her stuff). Then a rushed visit to our High Comm to say hello to my friend and colleague Hussein and I was off in a heavy downpour to the airport. Again home at 8.30 pm.
At last a free day to do my packing for my travel tomorrow night for 10-day holiday(finally) to Australia. Canberra here I come!
2 comments:
Hi Yusof, thought to have peek at your blog after talking to you atWill's--you are as sentimental as I am about the past in JB. Some experience entering S'pore--and from a Malay S'porean?' Liked you Poem--may add one on your blog comments one of these day's--trying to get around to writing another Book of poetry--have over 200 Pieces to choose from-have been quite a prolific writer--use them for my Poetry at Reading venues in Melbourne--strange lot--these poets I meet--many are great--but I think all these poets--like myself seems to carry a 'personal affliction'--they are quite strange some of them. Enjoy your stay in Oz--I still feel I should be there--as its hard to catch you in M'sia--re: Air molek--do tell the family to sell up when the 'market' improves.I lived walking distance from there--will call you sometime,Randhir
Oops!-not a poem-- but a Song by Dusty Springfield--I should have scrolled further down
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