Bird bird, why you no wake up??

When words are best left unexpressed, when expressions are best left unworded....

Of missing children

You know, missing children is nothing new in this country. William Yau is just one addition to an alarming list of children that have gone missing. And why do I say alarming? Because the list is ever growing and we do not know how long it is. For every child that had been reported missing and publicised in the media, including the Internet, there must be at least one missing child that we do not know about. Or care about. And this is the real tragedy.

Nobody knows the anguish better than the parents of the child that goes missing. And when the realisation sets in that the child is indeed gone forever, the deep feeling of guilt must be truly indescribable. It creates a psychological scar that is impossible to heal. So let me say this to the insensitive outsiders who continue to pass unwarranted judgment on the parents: please don't. There is already a permanent hurt. Give them space to grieve in private. After all, they will have to live with it until the end of their days. I doubt the passing of time can improve matters for them.

When I was reading the stories of the hunt for the missing William, my thoughts immediately went back to the time when my son was three years old. At this age, boys are beginning to be playful. That's alright with me. Boys have to be playful. It's part of growing up. But they lack the sense of danger because at this age, they live in a state of naiveness. They won't know danger until danger visits them and teaches them.

In my son's case, he chose to play hide and seek with us in a department store. One moment he was with me, the next moment he had hidden himself completely behind a clothes line. I had always known where he was but this time, the clothes were so thick that I couldn't find him. My reaction was to call out to him but he being mischievous, he refused to answer me.

He didn't know it then but I was frantic. My heart did not skip a beat. In fact, it skipped many beats. But my wits were still with me. Luckily, we were at a secluded spot in the department store, almost a cul-de-sac. There weren't any other customer. Come to think of it, no sales person either. He wouldn't be able to run out to another area of the store without passing my wife. So I stationed her there while I went searching for my son among the rows of clothes lines.

I saw some rustling and zoomed in. Parted the clothes and there he was, looking at me and about to begin laughing. Inwardly, I heaved a big sigh of relief. But this was an incident that couldn't go unpunished. So down came my hand and I thwacked him hard on his bottom. He was surprised. He thought he was being clever playing hide and seek with us, and not getting found out for a while. And now he was being punished. Must have hurt badly too because he started crying. I picked him up and then came the explanation why he must never, never do such a thing in public again.

That brief incident has stayed with us all this while. Since then, every time we learnt about a child going missing, the moment comes back to us. It never fails to. So you see, we know how parents feel like when their child goes missing. Luckily for us, it was only a fleeting moment. But it was enough to teach us an invaluable lesson that if anything can go wrong, it can.

First full moon of 2013

I woke up at about six o'clock this morning to the moonlight streaming in through the windows and realised that despite the full moon occurring three days ago, our nearest celestial neighbour was still round enough to impress me. Grabbed my camera to take a few snapshots before the moon disappeared in the brightening sky. It is times like this when I yearn to own a digital SLR camera with a long telephoto lens... 

Scene from Equatorial

Honestly, I never thought that I would get to see this breath-taking view again. Normally, I wouldn't have any more reason to go to the Hotel Equatorial in Bukit Jambul, Penang; not ever since I retired at the end of 2009. But there I was with my wife yesterday to listen to Joey Yap's annual seminar on fengshui and astrology.

Like I mentioned on facebook, this is Joey Yap's 15 seconds of fame with me. Ha ha...

Flying AirAsia or JetStar?

I happened to be away from Penang earlier this week. Caught an AirAsia flight on the way out on Sunday and returned by JetStar on Tuesday. This was only the third time that I had flown by Jetstar while returning from Singapore.

In my opinion, JetStar's cabin services remain far more superior to AirAsia's. Their cabin crew are much more polite and helpful. Without being asked, they would unhesitatingly help the passengers with stowing away their bags in the overhead compartments, whereas AirAsia's cabin crew would invariably just stand and watch the passengers struggle on their own. Big plus point for Jetstar.

That's one of my two main reasons that sets the two airlines apart. The other reason?

Jetstar uses the aerobridge at the Penang International Airport while AirAsia forces their passengers to walk up and down some flights of stairs just to get into their aircraft. It precludes and discriminates the elderly from flying their airline. This was actually my primary concern last year when I brought my aunt and my in-laws to Singapore for a holiday. Choosing Jetstar over AirAsia became a no brainer.

It is a very stupid policy by AirAsia. It has been mentioned before by the media - for example, here and here - that the cost is only about 25 cents per passenger to use the aerobridge based on a full load of passengers. Apparently, AirAsia looks too stingy to fork out this amount, true to their low-cost business model, but in the process they inconvenience and alienate a significant segment of those who want to fly with them.

If I have a choice, I wouldn't use AirAsia and I know that I do have a choice on the Penang-Singapore sector.

KL 112

Stadium Merdeka and the surrounds, as far as the eye can see.

Stadium Merdeka at 2.30p.m. today...

Stadium Merdeka at 1.58p.m. today...

I'm sure there will be still some people who would claim that these pictures, as well as many others, were doctored.

Black dog and Kashmir

Of course there will be people who will disagree with me but when I say that they are the "best band ever," I really mean it. Here are two official videos from Led Zeppelin's Celebration Day website. Play them loud.

Life's lesson worth learning

Li Chun, 2013

I was bounding down the stairs this morning when I bumped into my aunt. Evidently, she had been waiting patiently for me to come down. Her first words: "What time is Li Chun 立春 this year?"

"Why do you want to know so early?" I asked back. "It's still more than three weeks away."

"I just need to know, that's why" was her reply. Faced with this obstinacy but indisputable reason from her, I had no choice but to reverse myself and creep back upstairs to my study area and search for my once-a-year reference book, Joey Yap's The Ten Thousand Year Calendar. Found it.

I flipped it open to the page on Year 2013. Couldn't find the date. Then I realised that Li Chun, the Coming of Spring, for 2013 was on the preceding page (on Year 2012). The book was arranged according to the Chinese lunar months and as this year's Li Chun will fall even before the first day of the new lunar calendar, the day wouldn't show on the Year 2013 page. So there it was, finally, Li Chun falling on 4 Feb 2013 which corresponds with the 24th day of the 12th lunar month. The exact time of Li Chun will be 00:15 on that day, that is, 15 minutes past midnight.

So I came downstairs again to let my aunt know. Her second request: the next time I go over to the island, she wanted me to go to her regular joss stick shop to pick up several pieces of the red paper with the Chinese character Chun 春 to stick on the family rice bucket when the day comes rolling by. I wouldn't dare ask her why she needed so many pieces when one would do. I can anticipate her answer: "to keep, lah, it won't spoil one." Irrefutable logic.

Past entries:
Li Chun, 2012
Li Chun, 2011
Li Chun, 2010
Li Chun, 2009
Li Chun, 2008
Li Chun, 2007

Celebration Day: reliving the Seventies with Led Zeppelin

I was at the Artist Gallery yesterday, the one at the Gurney Plaza, Penang. I waltzed in, saw a box set on the shelf, smoothly picked it up and promptly walked to the payment counter. The girls behind the counter observed my every move, especially since I was hardly browsing the store at all.

Their eyes lit up when they saw what I had brought along. One of them quickly ran to the front of the counter to confirm that there was another copy of the box set left. Yes, there was.

Noticing my raised eyebrows at their strange reaction, they quickly explained that the box set I picked up - which comprised two CDs and two DVDs - was one of their fastest selling items lately. They said that at first, the store had brought in three copies of the box set but they sold out quickly within two or three days. So the store ordered another seven copies. My copy was the sixth sold from the second batch.

The funny thing was, they did not understand why this box set was so popular. They were utterly baffled. I don't blame them because they are so much younger than the youngest musicians featured in the box set. They would hardly be aware of the status of this band. I didn't tell them, but I was surprised that there were actually more people in Penang than I could give credit to that were fans of Led Zeppelin. We sure have good taste in rock music. Welcome to the club.

So this was the box set that I picked up at the music store: Led Zeppelin's Celebration Day which was recorded live at the O2 Arena in London on 10 Dec 2007. This was a one-off reunion concert of the last three surviving members of, in my opinion, the greatest rock band in music history. I did not know that the box set had only been released in November; so I must have been very lucky that the Artist Gallery unknowingly carried the title and that I happened to walk in while the box set was still available.

The reason why I was so prompt to buy the box set was because I have been aware of the concert since 2007. BTW, I wrote about it in Oct 2007 which you can read here. At that time, I was also rather envious of the 18,000 people who managed to buy the concert tickets. A Led Zeppelin concert, let alone a reunion concert. In 1969, Led Zeppelin opened my mind to rock music. Of course, there were other genres of music like pop, but rock music generally still had little following in my island of Penang. I could never forget the occasions I heard Whole Lotta Love over the airwaves, courtesy of Radio RAAF Butterworth. It thrilled me to no end.

Led Zeppelin disbanded in 1980 following the death of their drummer, John Bonham. Sporadically, the remaining members had still come together for some short reunions but nothing really compared with the one at the O2 Arena in London. That it had taken so long - five years - for this concert to be even released surprises me.

I must say that the music on this box set is excellent. John Paul Jones did a marvellous job with his throbbing bass lines. Jimmy Page continued to show off his wizardry, squeezing out every imaginable note from the guitars. Robert Plant was still in full control of his voice and reminded the audience why he remained one of the finest rock singers in the world. Jason Bonham turned in an incredible performance worthy of his father.

My breath was already taken away when I listened to the two CDs on my car audio and then through my home audio system but my admiration for the music of Led Zeppelin was complete when I finally managed to play the DVDs at home and sit through the full concert.

There was such an incredible display of power and musicianship. Staggering, considering that these were three senior-aged men - in 2007, Jimmy Page was already 64 years old, Robert Plant 60 years old, John Paul Jones 62 years old - who were joined on stage by a comparatively youthful Jason Bonham at 42 years old. Today, as I add a further five years to their ages, I continue to appreciate the music of Led Zeppelin.

So what are on the CDs and the DVDs? Basically, the same set of songs for either an audio or visual feast. You take your pick. But you get two hours of solid rock music. Sixteen songs that could be considered the cream from nine studio albums.

The concert opened with Good Times, Bad Times, which was the first song from their very first album, Led Zeppelin, and this was followed by Ramble On from Led Zeppelin II and Black Dog from their untitled fourth album. Like I mentioned earlier, Jason Bonham did a very fine job attacking the skins, ala his father.

In quick succession after a brief greeting of Good Evening from Plant, the band followed with In My Time Of Dying from Physical Graffiti, For Your Life from Presence, Trampled Under Foot from Physical Graffiti, Nobody's Fault But Mine from Presence, No Quarter from Houses Of The Holy, Since I've Been Loving You from Led Zeppelin III, Dazed And Confused from Led Zeppelin, the anthemic Stairway To Heaven from the fourth album, The Song Remains The Same from Houses Of The Holy, Misty Mountain Hop from the fourth album and Kashmir from Physical Graffiti.

There were two encores that closed the concert: their signature Whole Lotta Love from Led Zeppelin II which defined their music for me and Rock And Roll from the fourth album. Wonderful...

Lotus in bloom

I was at the Nandaka Vihara yesterday morning and one of the first things I noticed was this very spectacular lotus flower in full bloom at their lotus pond.

What was interesting about this lotus pond was that it was covered with a wire mesh to prevent the fishes from jumping out of the pond. The lotus plants were all matured and there were two or three blooms trapped beneath the mesh. However, there was this one singular flower that the temple coordinators had set free, allowing it to bloom above the mesh. This was the lotus flower that had caught my eye. This was the lotus flower that I'd like to share with everyone.

The anti-bullshit boys

At the reading of selected articles from Kee Thuan Chye's latest book, Ask For No Bullshit, Get Some More, at the Borders bookstore in Queensbay Mall on 5 Jan 2013.

Left to right: Lam Yoong Koy, Yeoh Oon Hup, Andrew Choong, Lim Teik Wah, Quah Seng Sun and Ooi Ling Heong with Kee Thuan Chye (seated)

Left to right: Quah Seng Sun, Kee Thuan Chye, Lim Teik Wah, Yeoh Oon Hup, Ooi Kah Theang, Ooi Ling Heong and Andrew Choong

Nightcap at the OFA Restaurant: Ooi Ling Heong, Lim Teik Wah, Kee Thuan Chye, Ooi Kah Theang, Andrew Choong, Yeoh Oon Hup and Quah Seng Sun

A New Year wish fulfilled?

Two days ago, I mentioned in this blog that my wish for 2013 would be to see a more efficient Province Wellesley Municipal Council (Majlis Perbandaran Seberang Perai, MPSP) in relation to upkeeping the cleanliness of my Taman Jernih neighbourhood in Bukit Mertajam. I couldn't imagine then, as I write this piece today, that the story had been read more than a hundred times already.

But action has been taken - swiftly. One of my old friends, Jeffrey, posted up my story on facebook and almost immediately, I was contacted by Steven Sim, one of the MPSP councillors, for details, which I promptly gave him.

And soon enough, he told me that the sweeping contractors, Syarikat Hasbina, do come round to my neighbourhood every Wednesday at around 10 o'clock in the morning. [This actually begs another question: why are the sweepers contracted to come only once a week? It should be a daily job.]

Anyhow, I've got to thank Steven for this quick response. I told him that I would try to keep an eye out for them on Wednesdays. But of course, like I mentioned before in my earlier story, I'm not one who will normally wait to look at life crawling by past my windows. I won't be watching out for them purposely from my windows or stand watching from my house porch for the sweepers to come by. I shall take his word for it that the contracted workers will come to Lorong Jernih 4 and sweep the road clean.

New year resolution

I must remember to write 2013 in my chequebook
I must remember to write 2013 in my chequebook

I must remember to write 2013 in my chequebook

I must remember to write 2013 in my chequebook

I must remember to write 2013 in my chequebook
I must remember to write 2013 in my chequebook
I must remember to write 2013 in my chequebook
I must remember to write 2013 in my chequebook

I must remember to write 2012 oops, I mean 2013 in my chequebook

I must remember to write 2013 in my chequebook

I must remember to write 2013 in my chequebook

I must remember to write 2013 in my chequebook

My New Year wish

Uhm, good morning. I know that many of you visitors are expecting to find all sorts of fun, bright or interesting static or even interactive graphics celebrating the New Year in every new post that appears on blogs on the first day of a new year. Well, sorry, I don't have them. Always a graphics noob, I find it a problem trying to design something new and I loathe copying other people's work. Gave it up several years ago when I found it difficult to grapple with graphics programs. Even Microsoft's Paint program can cause me difficulties at times. Duh is the word to describe me! So let me just shout out a simple Happy New Year text message, and may you enjoy great happiness and blessings in 2013.

But I do know what I want to wish for on the first day of the brand new year. It is for the Province Wellesley Municipal Council (Majlis Perbandaran Seberang Prai, MPSP, to those people who don't know what I'm referring to) to show more efficiency in their work. Why do I say this? It's because last night, I shot off an email to aduan@mpsp.gov.my to complain about their workers not doing their job in my neighbourhood.

Of all the roads in my neighbourhood, the cleanliness of my road has been neglected by the road sweepers. Don't get me wrong: I do see the MPSP workers sweep the roads in my housing area but in the eight years that I've been staying in Bukit Mertajam, I have only noticed them sweeping my road once. (Maybe that's my - wait for it: The Malaysian Insider's Word of the Year - "perception". I don't normally wait to look at life crawling by past my windows.) And that came only after my wife had spoken to someone at the Council and somebody popped along to my house almost immediately to ask me whether I had any complaint to make. I said: "Yes, I need your people to sweep this road." And off he went. And you know what? The next morning, I noticed these two fellas sweeping the road. Never noticed them coming back ever since....

Of course, this does not mean that the condition of the road is in a mess. On the contrary, the residents along the road have been doing the upkeep of the areas outside our own houses by ourselves. But this cannot go on forever. We, as ratepayers, want the MPSP to do their job efficiently, what with the Cleaner, Greener Penang tagline the state has adopted. So can we have that from you please, MPSP?

Speaking of the country's biggest municipal council, I went to their headquarters yesterday afternoon in order to pay the assessment bill on my property. Why didn't I do it online, as inquired by some friends on facebook, people like Jeffrey, Mah Jin Khai, Ted Targosz, Ong Chong Eu and Steven Sim. Well, the MPSP had an offer to place ratepayers who pay their Year 2013 assessment in full before the end of 2012 into a lucky draw contest this month or next month. As the prizes seemed to be quite attractive enough, why not give it a shot and go settle my assessment bill in full?

Apparently, hundreds of people must have had the same idea too. The moment I stepped into the building at 3.06p.m. and pressed the queue button for my ticket, this chit of paper came out: my number in the queue was 6937 but the number that was being served was 6574. I tell you, it did not have to take a mathematics professor to deduce that there were 363 people ahead of me, all wanting and waiting to pay their bills because of the magical deadline for the lucky draw. And there were a few people in the crowd who were visibly holding on to three or four or more assessment bills to pay at the same time. Who says that only the Singaporeans are kiasu? Nah, this was an original trait of the Malayans and the Malaysians, but now proudly proclaimed by the Singaporeans to be theirs.

So I settled down into a chair. Having driven through one end of Bukit Mertajam to the other in heavy traffic, I was determined to stay put here in the MPSP hall until my number was called at the payment counters. Yessiree, no way was I giving up my chance of a lucky draw. Luckily I had the presence of mind to arm myself with the ipad in which I could read my online newspapers in peace. In peace, that is, if I can ignore the people looking over my shoulders.

Gradually the crowd started to dwindle as time moved on. Most had disappeared because their bills had been paid; many having paid their bills were lingering to be registered for the lucky draw and claim their free gift from the Council as well; and a few were left still waiting to willingly empty their pockets into the Council's coffers. I glanced at the wall counter. My number was slowing coming up. It was almost like waiting for the year-end countdown at the Esplanade or Gurney Drive or Straits Quay or up Penang Hill, only that this wasn't much exciting at all. By the time my number was called, it was about 5.10p.m. Ten minutes later, I was out of the MPSP building, clutching a booklet of parking coupons (that's all?), a reward for my patience, sufferance, endurance, perseverance, staying power and kiasuism. Don't you think so? Please agree with me, won't you?

The first MSSPP chess competition in 1972

The year 1972 was a watershed year for chess in Penang. Not only was the Penang Chess Association founded in that year, the state's first Penang Schools' Sports Council's (Majlis Sukan Sekolah-sekolah Pulau Pinang, MSSPP) chess competition was initiated in July 1972. This resulted from a flurry of chess activities that had swirled around the state since the beginning of the year.

Of course, the momentum has continued unabated ever since. For instance, that year ended with the Malaysian Schools' Sport Council's (Majlis Sukan Sekolah-sekolah Malaysia, MSSM) chess competition at the grand Dewan Sri Pinang auditorium in December 1972. I have touched before on the first MSSM chess competition, which started off as only a team event, here and here.

Today, I would like to mention something about the first MSSPP chess competition instead. In 1972, I had already started to document some of the early chess events in the state. While reading through my old notes, I realised that there are a lot of memories which should be shared with other chess players for posterity.

The first MSSPP chess competition was organised over five days by the Han Chiang Primary School starting at 3p.m. on a Friday, 7 July 1972. See? I had even taken note of the time that the first round was supposed to begin! At that time, the Penang Chess Association president, Fang Ewe Churh, was also the headmaster of the primary school. It did not come as a surprise then that he would offer his school to run the first MSSPP tournament.

As there were 14 teams, it was decided that for the Preliminaries, they be divided into two groups of seven teams each. In each group, they would play a round-robin and the first two teams would then advance to the Final of the competition. As this was the very first time that a chess competition was being held in the state, there were no chess clocks. I would believe that nobody owned a chess clock in Penang except for perhaps the PCA president and even then, maybe he would have one or two only. So it was announced that everybody would have to observe fair play and not delay making their moves on purpose. I think there was some threat of action if the participants ignored the rule.

Unfortunately, I did not keep any record of all the teams that played in this first ever MSSPP competition but in the group which included the Penang Free School - and naturally enough, I was a member of the team - we had Georgetown Secondary School, Methodist Girls' School, Saint George's Girls' School, Saint Xavier's Institution, Technical Institute and Tunku Puan Habsah Girls' School as rivals. The teams in the other group included Bukit Mertajam High School, Chung Ling High School, Han Chiang High School and Padang Polo Secondary School. No idea about their other three teams. Our PFS team comprised Tan Seang Beng, Wong Peng Hung, Khaw Teik Kooi, Khoo Chuan Keat, Toh Kok Chuan and I.

According to my notes, we beat GSS 4-0, beat SXI 3½-½, drew with TI 2-2 and then mopped up MGS, SGGS and TPHGS with identical 4-0 scorelines to top the group. The Saints finished second behind us.

As can be deduced from the scores, our toughest match in the preliminary rounds was against the Technical Institute. I had observed then that our team underestimated our opponents. Halfway through my own game, I felt that something was going wrong with our common strategy. One of my youthful team mates, Peng Hung, was careless and had lost to the TI's Cheah Khye Peng. Luckily, I was able to restore the balance by beating Saw Boo Pheng. This match proved to be a titanic struggle. After about 3½ hours of play, the officials called for a 10-minute break (a quirky rule, this) during which time, my team mates huddled and decided that in the interests of fair play, they would agree to split the points in the two remaining games. So at seven o'clock, the PFS-TI match was declared as a 2-2 draw.

Below are some old pictures taken by one of the Han Chiang teachers at the start of the preliminary rounds. There are a few commentaries below some of them. The story of the Finals continues after the pictures.

Lim Swee Aun of the Saint Xavier's Institution in the short-sleeved shirt on the right.

 Tan Heng Boo (left) of the Bukit Mertajam High School.

The SXI player beside Lim Swee Aun (same shirt) was Ooi Gim Eng. At the top of the picture were Toh Kok Chuan (Penang Free School) laying against Khor Bean Hwa (Technical Institute).

The two teams at the back of the playing hall were Penang Free School (facing the camera) and Technical Institute (back to the camera). The three PFS players seen here were Toh Kok Chuan, Tan Seang Beng and myself. 

There was about a month's break before the Final of the first MSSPP chess competition was contested. It started on 8 August 1972 and last five days. This time, the PFS team came better prepared after the experience of the preliminary rounds. Moreover, we knew that the opposition was going to be much tougher among the top four teams that qualified from the two groups.

I had written in my notes: "In the first of the round-robin system of play, the Penang Free School team set the ball rolling by overcoming the team from High School Bukit Mertajam 4-0. The Chung Ling High School team scored a 3-1 win over Saint Xavier's Institution. In the second round, Chung Ling High School beat High School Bukit Mertajam by 3-1, while Penang Free School beat Saint Xavier's Institution by 3-1. In the last round of play, Penang Free School and Chung Ling High School drew 2-2, and Saint Xavier's Institution beat High School Bukit Mertajam 3-1."

And I concluded: "With the completion of the rounds, Penang Free School became the champions with a score of nine points, Chung Ling High School became the runners-up with eight points, third were Saint Xavier's Institution with five points and fourth were High School Bukit Mertajam with two points."

My Straits Echo Press days

For a very long time, people used to think that I worked at The Star newspaper. This misconception arose because of my chess articles that had been appearing regularly in the newspaper since 1980 (give or take several stops and starts during this 32-year run).

But no, I was never a staff of this newspaper. I was only a contracted writer, a freelancer for them, with the sole objective of writing about chess. All this stopped in March this year when I was politely informed by the Star2 editor, incidentally an old friend from Penang who also happened to be an ex-colleague from my days at the Ban Hin Lee Bank, that this was an editorial decision to change direction.

(By the way, I do not know who were responsible for making this "editorial decision" jointly or individually but it occurred just a few weeks before the infamous Erykah Badu incident in the newspaper that saw this editor and another fella suspended before being transferred later to other duties in the organisation. Of course, this is another story altogether.)

So let me reiterate: I was never a staff of The Star. I was never offered benefits which the newspaper's management had given to their staff. When the newspaper listed on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange, I did not expect nor was I offered any pink form. When the newspaper celebrated its anniversaries, I did not expect nor was I ever invited to any of their functions in Penang. But I was invited once to a "meet the contributors" function in Petaling Jaya that I had to decline because I couldn't travel down from Penang on that day. And while the newspaper gave salary increments and bonuses to their staff, my once-in-a-blue moon adjustment came at the whims and fancies of the newspaper's management. Mine was strictly a contract to write a regular chess column for them. If I write, I get paid; if I don't write, I don't get paid. That was all: a very simple arrangement.

Having set the record straight, let me add that I did undergo a stint in journalism a long time ago, so I do know something about newspaper ethics. I'm proud to say that for six months of my life, from Dec 1977 till May 1978, I was working at The Straits Echo Press, a Penang-based newspaper owned by someone named KK Liew. We operated from a 2½-storey building in Penang Road (at the junction with Dato Koyah Road) and the editorial team took up the whole of the first floor. The ground floor was occupied by the advertising department at the front and the printing section at the back. Up the narrow staircase at the side of the building and we'd reach a landing with a long corridor. Down the corridor would be the newsroom.

Wilson de Souza was the chief editor of the newspaper but during my six-month tenure there, I don't believe that I ever had the opportunity to speak with him more than five times. Most of the time, my interactions were with the senior editors Cheah Cheong Lin and Sunny Tan. Of the two, Sunny Tan was practically the force behind the newsroom, breathing fire most times. On the other hand, Cheah Cheong Lin was a genial old man, more of a father figure to the reporters.

The chief reporter was the very loud G Ratnam and his two assistants were Allan Tan and Yang Yeoh. Like sentries, they would be the first persons anyone would come across after passing through the corridor so nobody, absolutely nobody, could sneak in or out without one of the three noticing.

Across from them was the reporter's desk, mostly empty throughout the morning but from the afternoons, would gradually be filled with people returning from their assignments and banging out their stories on the old battered manual typewriters. Newbies like me would cut our teeth at the magistrate and sessions courts. Months later, I was assigned to the police beat. I would remain there until I resigned to join the Ban Hin Lee Bank.

I always found the police beat interesting but it played havoc with my time because at any moment I would have to rush off when informers or even the police headquarters in Penang called us. Some were hushed up assignments when the police wanted to raid a place. I remember following them once up the hills in Paya Terubong to ambush some moonshiners but naturally, the latter were always a step ahead of the force.

All our stories would be submitted to the chief reporter or his assistants who were the first level of checking. Some of the stories went to the senior editors for a second level of checking if the chief reporter felt that our stories were skirting on some controversy or sensitive issues. Sometimes we'd be called in for a critique of our writing which could be rather uncomfortable but we understood that the senior editors were there to offer the check and balance necessary in a newspaper's newsroom.

Anyway, just next to the reporter's desk was the sub-editor's desk: a semi-circular table seated with five or six of them. They would either be subbing the reporters' work passed out from the chief reporter or senior editors or the news received from the teleprinters. Their other main job was to plan the layout of all the pages for the next day's edition.

There were two teleprinters in the office: one was connected to the Bernama news service while the other to the Agence France-Presse (AFP). Beside was a telex machine for inward and outward communication. The stories, after being sub-edited would be passed to a group of typesetting typists whose jobs would be to input the text and format it into columns according to the sub-editors' page layout.

The layout department would then prepare the page. In the days before computerisation, page preparation was always done by the manual and messy cut-and-paste method. Scissors, rulers and glue everywhere. After the final vetting through by the sub-editors, the pages would be sent for preparation of the huge film negatives, bromide print and ultimately, plate preparation. When everything was in order, the plates were passed to the printing section at the back of the ground floor.

I should also mention that the newspaper had its team of photographers. Five or six of them. And a small darkroom as well with standing space for at most two persons. It was always fascinating to see them develop their own rolls of black-and-white film and making their own prints.

This was then the set-up of the newsroom at The Straits Echo in the 1970s. The reporters and photographers worked two shifts. The morning shift was regular working hours from nine to six while the afternoon shift would mean that we would work until midnight or sometimes one o'clock in the morning depending on the evening's activities. The sub-editors would turn up at about three or four o'clock in the afternoon. Same with the typists and the layout staff. By one o'clock in the morning, unless there was some important late-breaking news, everything for the next day's edition would have been completed.

I never studied journalism formally but I sure learnt a lot during the six-month stint in practical journalism at the newspaper. I made good friends there and I still keep in touch with many of them despite the lengthening years.

One very important code of ethics that we lived by was to ensure balanced reporting. By balanced, I mean we had to make sure that our stories had to be honest, fair and objective. For news pieces, we were not allowed to be opinionated or make assumptions or presumptions. If there were two sides to a story, we would be required to present both views. If there was anything that couldn't be confirmed, we left it out. As journalists, we prided ourselves for our professionalism in our career. Click here for more.

Having said all this, I was taken aback to read a ridiculous claim yesterday by a lawyer which was representing Utusan Malaysia in a court case in Kuala Lumpur. This lawyer had the temerity to claim that newspapers do not have the “luxury of time” to ascertain the truth of their news reports.

What utter nonsense, what utter rubbish. This claim flies against journalism's code of ethics. This claim is an affront to the integrity of all self-respecting journalists in the newspaper business. How can anyone ever suggest that the newspapers are even prepared to print stories without verifying their correctness of their sources or without allowing both sides of a story to be heard by their audience just because the newspapers do not have the time to do so?

Real bullshit and cowshit spewing from the mouth of this man. Does he really believe what he says? Initially I wanted to say that this was no better than gutter journalism but I forgot: UM is already a gutter newspaper. Using its pages to line birdcages is already giving the newspaper too much face.

POST SCRIPT: As a tribute to some of the people from The Straits Echo that I have had the honour to know through the years, apart from those already mentioned above, I would like to name them: Tan Poh Soon, Gerry Teng, Tan Gim Ean, Siew Mee, Ong Thean Seang, Alfred Teh, Vivian Loh, Koh Su Chun, Patrick Ho, Kee Thuan Chye, Ooi Kee Beng, Ung Mah Pheng, John Meow, Amiruddin, Ong Ah Tee, Goh Seng Chong, Chan Looi Tat, Henry, Anthony, Tony, Kung and many others whose names I have unfortunately forgotten.

When The Straits Echo closed down subsequently - but not before they changed their name to The National Echo and moved their headquarters to Kuala Lumpur - some of these people moved on to other newspaper publications like The Star or The New Straits Times. Others sought their livelihood overseas either in the same industry or another. But deep down inside us, we appreciated that The Straits Echo was THE organisation that gave many of us the first real break in our lives.

The champion cempedak

This arrived at the market yesterday. Had been waiting for months for this fruit to appear. "Have patience," the vendor kept telling me. "It should be available in January," he added.

Well, it had arrived a bit earlier than expected. My aunt alerted me to it yesterday morning and I made a beeline to the vendor. "See? It has come. The cempedak champion has come, all the way from Gurun," he said, perhaps a little too triumphantly. And there, stacked in a corner of his stall at the Kampung Baru market were about 10 of the fruits. All huge ones.  Those not in the know will buy the local versions which are smaller and yellower; those who know will go for the champion!

I bought one and after a moment's hesitation, bought another one for a friend. Mine weighed in at five kilos and cost me RM22. My friend's fruit was slightly heavier and it cost RM24. He opened it this afternoon and started posting it to his facebook. Aargh, how could he? And how can I wait until tomorrow then? I have to slice mine open tonight.

I know it is difficult to ascertain the cempedak's length from this picture but I assure you, it measured 15 inches from end to end.

Huge arils, glistening yellow and very sweet. Did not count the number of arils in this particular fruit but I ate only five of them. Need to watch my diet. Don't want my blood sugar to shoot up uncontrollably. My wife and aunt ate about the same number too. The rest went into the container, waiting for my son to arrive home tonight. But I doubt he can finish all of them. 

There you have it, the cempedak champion now stripped of all the arils. All that was left was the long, slender stalk.
 

The Christmas feeling

I've just finished re-cleaning these two records. To me, they are so representative of Christmas. I try to take them out and play them on Christmas Eve itself, just like I'm doing so today. Although I am not a Christian, I share in the values of the Christmas spirit. Peace and goodwill to all mankind. And sharing this spirit with my fellow citizens of the world does not make me any less a Buddhist because at the heart of Buddhism is compassion towards all beings.

I have been listening to A Festival of Lessons and Carols from the King's College Chapel in Cambridge, England, since the early Eighties. Come Christmas Day, I would tune into the BBC on my shortwave radio just as they would start broadcasting the recorded service from the King's College Chapel. It was almost like a ritual then. And then I got my hands onto a cassette from the British Council and made a tape copy of it. About seven or eight years ago, I finally managed to get my hands on this vinyl copy and I've been listening to this version ever since.

Side One: Processional Hymn - Once In Royal David's City, The Bidding Prayer, Invitatory, First Lesson - Genesis III, Carol - Adam Lay Ybounden, Second Lesson - Isaiah IX, Carol - I Saw Three Ships, Third Lesson - St Luke I, Carol - Gabriel's Message, Carol - God Rest You Merry Gentlemen
Side Two: Carol - Sussex Carol, Fourth Lesson - St Matthew I, Carol - In Dulci Jubilo, Fifth Lesson - St Luke II, Carol - Away In A Manger, Hymn - While Shepherds Watched, Sixth Lesson - St Matthew II, Hymn - O Come All Ye Faithful, Seventh Lesson - St John I, Hymn - Hark The Herald Angels Sing

And this was the second album that I normally listen to after the first record. This album was released in 1984 but remarkably until today, the message is still as fresh as ever. Who would have thought that 28 years have passed by since its release?

Side One: Do They Know It's Christmas (Trevor Horn remix)
Side Two: Do They Know It's Christmas (Standard mix), Feed The World

Anyone who is less than 30 years old today will probably not know of this album's significance but this was the album that pricked the world's conscience over the famine in Ethiopia. Months later on 13 July 1985, Bob Geldof and his musician friends organised a worldwide concert to raise funds for famine relief. The concert raised about STG150 million at the last count. Despite this humanitarian aid, famine is still ravaging East Africa. That is the magnitude of the problem. It's sad. There's no permanent solution. There are still people dying from hunger caused by environmental change and of course, conflict on the battlefields.

If you are too young to know what Band Aid stood for, here is a video from YouTube. Never mind the personalities, just watch the video and understand the message of helping others who are less fortunate than ourselves. There are other versions, including the original, that you may wish to watch later, but take a look at this first. Merry Christmas, I say to you.

No one can purify another

By oneself is evil done;

By oneself is one defiled.

By oneself is evil left undone;

By oneself is one made pure.

Purity and impurity depend on oneself,

no one can purify another.

-- Dhammapada 165 --