Realising objectives (part two)

On the 22nd afternoon, I accompanied my wife and sister-in-law to the Dewan Tunku Chanellor at the University of Malaya for the convocation ceremony of my nephew. Leaving them there, my next destination was the unlikely Xiao En Centre in Cheras.

Why the Xiao En Centre? Well, this was the unscheduled stop in my short visit to Kuala Lumpur. The previous evening, I received some text messages to inform me that Dato' Tan Chin Nam had passed away at the age of 92.

People who know me well would realise that Dato Tan was the main man behind the growth of chess in Malaysia. He was the first president of the Malaysian Chess Federation and for the past 15 years or so, had his company sponsor the Malaysia Chess Festival, possibly the largest chess and most popular event that the country had ever seen.

Some people would also know that I've known Dato Tan since 1974. With such a long history between the two of us, it became imperative that I should pay my last respects to him, especially since I was already in Kuala Lumpur.

So that was why I had to go to the Xiao En Centre with some urgency. I shall be writing a separate story on remembering Dato Tan later, a sort of tribute to him.

From the Xiao En Centre, I dropped off at the Pasar Seni MRT station and took a short walk to the Junk Book Store in Jalan Tun HS Lee. I had heard about this second-hand bookshop from Facebook and was curious to see for myself the range of old, second-hand books there. True enough, when I entered the building, there were rows upon rows of second-hand books, all wrapped up carefully in plastic sheets.

I went through the ground floor and then the proprietor told me that there were more books on the first floor. So up I went there. Took a slow perambulating walk round the passageway and then my attention was diverted to three boxes on the floor that held some 300 pieces of vinyl records. Immediately I sat down to go through the dusty pile of records and I pulled out several titles that interested me.

Then I asked whether they had any books that dealt with the history of old Penang. Maybe, he said, and then he asked his assistant (could be his wife) to open up the second floor for me to check on some titles there.

So up I went too to the second floor. Took a quick look around because the lady said they would be closing at five o'clock. then went downstairs again with the records to haggle with the prices. Felt spending RM150 on seven records was a fair price to pay!

On the way back to the MRT station, I came across the Soong Kee coffee shop. I had been here with a cousin some two or three years back, but it was at night, to eat the beef koay teow there. I was alone this time but it was as good a time as anytime to order a new bowl of the said beef koay teow to try again. Superb stuff. Very happy with THIS decision.

The next day on the 23rd, my daughter brought my wife and I to the Batu Malai Śrī Subramaniar Swamy Devasthanam (more popularly known as the Batu Caves Temple) in Batu Caves. Although we had visited the temple some three to four years back, I had felt that it was time to revisit it as so much had been written lately following a decision by the Temple Committee to give the whole place a new coat of paint. Yes, Batu Caves is now a riot of rich, bright colours. The main temple at the foothill has been gaily painted in multi-coloured hues, as also the 272 steps that led to the biggest of the limestone caves at Batu Caves.

Whether or not the Batu Caves temple will lose its national heritage status remains to be seen although I hope not! The colours themselves do not mean that the value of the temple has been devalued. It is the very nature of the Indians to celebrate colour in their everyday lives as well as in worship. For the Batu Caves Temple, much value and heritage are still attached to it as could be seen in the numbers of devotees present despite the day not being any religious occasion. The cave walls still have a history to tell. So I would suggest to the National Archives to leave the Batu Caves Temple well alone and let the Temple Committee do their job.