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The wheel of karma? What goes around comes around....

 

I am not your drummer

This anecdote was picked up from facebook. If it came from Keith Richards' autobiography, then there must have been a very great element of truth in it: our favourite Charlie Watts story.

In 1984, the Stones were in Amsterdam. Keith and Mick returned to the hotel at 5:00 AM. Mick wanted to talk with Charlie. 

“Don’t call him, not at this time,” said Keith. “But he did, and said: ‘Where is my drummer?’ There was no answer, and he hung up the phone.”

According to Keith, 20 minutes later someone knocked on the door of the room he was in with Mick. It was Charlie, who, far from showing up in his pajamas at that hour, looked perfectly dressed in a suit, tie and perfume.

“I opened the door and he didn’t even look at me, he walked right past me, stood in front of Mick and said, ‘Never call me your drummer again. I am not your drummer, you are my damn singer.' Then he grabbed him by the lapels of his jacket. and gave him a right hook “, Richards recounted.

Charlie Watts and Don Everly

Remembering two iconic recording artistes today. One will still roll along strongly without their drummer but the other is definitely history already. 

Goodbye, Charlie Watts (1941-2021) and Don Everly (1937-2021).

Confrontation

For quite a long time already, I've owned this small pot of cactus. Then about eight years ago, I decided to perch it on a wall ledge. It was growing quite well, no need for any maintenance, not even to water it. If it rained, it'd be soaked wet. If it was sunny, well, a cactus plant can survive all right. Occasionally, it would sprout short-lasting white blooms. I was quite satisfied with the plant.

Then yesterday morning, I saw a mess at the bottom of the wall. The pot had fallen and cracked open, spilling the soil and the cactus stems everywhere. Only the night before as I was watering the other plants at the front of the house, the pot was still at its place. So it must be that something can caused the pot to fall between 10pm and 8am. Couldn't have been the wind; it wouldn't have blown strong enough to dislodge the somewhat heavy pot. Only explanation was that an animal would have caused the damage. But which animal?

It didn't take me long to discover the culprit. In the evening, I found a cat lying down at the precise spot that the pot was. It saw me and sat up. As I stared at it, it stared back at me as if to taunt, "So what can you do about it?" A few minutes of impasse. Then it decided enough was enough, and it jumped off the ledge. I hope never to see it again but frankly, I'm not optimistic.

You see, several weeks back, the same cat was spotted in my compound as I opened the main door in the morning. Found it confronting a small monitor lizard. The cat saw me opening the door and it walked off. So it must have been frequent visitor to the house. Passing through, I suppose. So not so easy to chase it off permanently then. Ah well, will have to learn to co-exist with it. Just don't topple over more of my pots, okay?

Oblivious to our own failing

It's disturbing, to say the very least, of the political events here in Malaysia during the past week or so. I've stopped commenting on political developments for quite a while now but I feel that I've to say something in these circumstances. 

First, a legitimate government elected by the people in 2018 was deposed by a backdoor government in February 2020. That was bad enough, these actions by a power-crazy group of politicians. And then, when this failed backdoor government resigned last week, they opened the doors for another illegitimate government to replace them. 

What galled me was that this latest reincarnation of a government is led by a scandal-hit political party. Remember 1MDB? That's UMNO, the political party behind it. What's more galling is that 21 of the 114 non-UMNO elected representatives that supported this new government were turncoats of their original political parties. Take note that they are now supporters of corruption, since February last year! 

This whatsapp message was forwarded to me by a friend this morning. The writer's observation on the state of the nation is very acute and disturbing. In his message, he said: 

"It was very remarkable how the political upheaval in the last two years have actually shaped outsiders' views and how other countries look at Malaysia. One would not realise if one is here in Malaysia. That is because, those of us here are also sucked into it and unable to perceive the gravity until we step back from the descending chaos and reflect. 

"I had one such moment this week when I was having a conference call meeting with Singapore and Japan. We were reviewing our situation here and in around the world and how the pandemic has affected our projects. We were trying to craft a way forward, now that borders are being gradually opening up. We were assessing the markets in the region and strategy for new opportunities or tenders. During the discussions, one of my Japanese colleagues working in a civil project in Singapore remarked that Malaysia is now worse than a third world country. He further said that Malaysia has not developed and we should be concerned and wary of taking projects here. 

"I was quite literally shocked, because other Japanese in the meeting were all in agreement. They all told me that this is how Japanese people and investors now look at Malaysia."

In response, another friend has commented: "Absolutely. Just like sitting in a stationary train at a station and parallel to the train another train is moving just a few feet away from the stationary train. We sitting in the stationary train feel that we are moving in the opposite direction. 

"That’s Malaysia we are in. Unmoving and just that momentary illusion. In such situation we can do this. Tell the train driver to move on, or if this not possible and we don’t know whether the train is going to move or not, get out and get another right train, or force the driver to move or change the driver. The latter (is) not possible by the passengers unless we hijack the train. 

"Many options. If we give up, just sleep in the stationary train and hope sooner or later it moves. Not knowing where to and at what speed. The last one is precisely 99.9% of what Malaysians do!"

59 years ago

 This band looks promising!

😄

Their first official photoshoot on 16 August 1962. Drummer was newly recruited 😆

On Woodstock, again

Another anniversary story. This time, about the Woodstock music festival 52 years ago. The above picture of Bobbi Kelly and Nick Ercoline was taken by photographer Burk Uzzle on 18 August 1969 as Grace Slick sang with Jefferson Airplane while the sun was rising. No idea how much the organisers paid Uzzle to use this iconic picture which was eventually featured on the Woodstock record cover and other promotional material over the decades. Might be tuppence. However, it sure became one of the most famous pictures of the 20th Century.

 

What are friends for?

I want this post to serve as a record of what people are saying about my book, Ten Thousand Prosperities: The Story of Ban Hin Lee Bank.

First, from Lim Sian Pheng who worked formerly as the Legal Manager at Rockwills Corporation Sdn Bhd. He wrote:

I opened my first and only current account with this bank. The account is still active but is now under CIMB. Can't help feeling nostalgic when reading the book. After all, BHLB did have a close connection with the first n only company I worked with. I was also privileged to know its last Chairman Dato Seri Goh Eng Toon who became the Chairman of our trustee company for some years. A very humble n down to earth person.

The story of the founder of the Bank, Yeap Chor Ee was one of those rags to riches stories. I'm glad to see the publication of such a book because I felt it was a pity that such a unique bank (only bank with its HQ outside our capital) with such an auspicious name should become history so soon. At least now with this book, it will leave a record for posterity.

It's an interesting read. Not only you will learn about the Bank but also see how banking has evolved over the decades. There are also lots of interesting photos showing items or banking paraphernalia which should now belong to museums.

Syabas SS Quah for writing this book. I'm sure your ex-colleagues n ex-bosses will be appreciative of your labour.

And second, from Liong Chian Min, who wrote on his facebook:

A special shout-out to my friend & chess mate SS Quah, for his latest book on the story of Ban Hin Lee Bank (BHLB)! 📕 The book was aptly titled  “Ten Thousand Prosperities”, which is the literal meaning of Ban Hin Lee (萬興利)🏦 

Launched just on Sunday (Aug 1st, 2021), it told the story of BHLB, its rags-to-riches founder Yeap Chor Ee, its incorporation in 1935 & its history during WWII, Merdeka, Malaysia formation & KLSE listing till 2000 when it’s integrated into Southern Bank.

As BHLB was the first bank originated in Penang, its legacy is closely interlinked with the history of the Pearl of Orient. 🏝 

The book also related the inside story of staff camaraderie, their social activities, their event participation, newsletters, as well as the bank ethos & identity, the Director meetings, old documents etc.

Who can ever forget the collection of BHLB Chinese zodiac coin boxes during 1980s (see pix below)? I still recall my mum religiously taking me to BHLB every year to get this unique coin box😅. 

Anyone of you still had those at home?

Last but not the least, its Appendix Seven has an impressive list of thousands of ex-BHLB staff. If you are an ex-staff there, it’s likely that your name is there too! 😁👍

Thanks Quah Seng Sun for capturing this fascinating history of BHLB & taking us down the memory lane. 😁👍

Third, from Norliza binti Othman from her facebook post too:

Super excited semalam terima buku ni.

Ban Hin Lee Bank, nama yang gah satu ketika dulu dalam dunia perbankan mengabadikan banyak kenangan yang indah dalam sejarah kehidupan Cik Liz. 

Bangga berpeluang menjadi salah seorang ahli keluarga besar BHLB. Di sinilah bermulanya Cik Liz mengenal dunia pekerjaan. 

Tak disangka rupanya jodoh Cik Liz pun berjumpa di sini. Hahaha. 

TRANSLATION:

Super excited yesterday to receive this book.

Ban Hin Lee Bank, a once famous name in the banking world, captures many beautiful memories in my life history.

Proud to have the opportunity to be one of the big family members of BHLB. This is where I got to know the world of work.

Unexpectedly, I also met my life mate here. Hahaha. 

Yusri's tale

A former colleague from my banking days, Yusri bin Abdul Hamid, wrote a long piece on his facebook page yesterday after having read my book, Ten Thousand Prosperities: The Story of Ban Hin Lee Bank. His story has so much interest that I want to reproduce it here on my personal blog space. Yusri, incidentally, is also a member of The Old Frees' Association which makes the two of us doubly connected. Here goes! (PS. A translation appears at the end.)

Semalam terima buku ni.. rasanya dah lama tak beli buku hard cover mcm ni, sejak banyak bahan bacaan la ni ada di media sosial.. 

Buku ini lain dari yang lain.. buku ni mengabadikan cerita tentang Ban Hin Lee Bank (BHL Bank). Thank you SS Quah. Aku bangga menjadi sebahagian warga BHL Bank, jika tidak kerana 'merger exercise', aku yakin aku mungkin akan masih bekerja dgn BHL Bank (ramai kawan2 lama di BHL Bank pun cakap depa akan tetap berkhidmat di situ, jika BHL Bank masih wujud).

BHL Bank lah yg jadi tempat pembelajaran kerjaya aku (kiranya universiti utk aku). Aku mula belajar ABCD of the Bank (Accounts, Bills (Trade Finance), Credit (Financing) & Deposits) di situ utk faham tentang 'banking' sebenarnya. 

Pernah satu masa ex-banker sembang dgn aku  & bagi pandangan dia kata pegawai bank sekarang layakkah digelar 'banker'? Kata dia, dia observe pegawai bank sekarang hanya tahu buat kerja kutip dokumen ikut 'checklist'...🤔🤔.. katanya kerana 'too specialised', depa tak tau ttg ABCD of the Bank.. ini cerita lain..

Cerita hari ni ttg BHL Bank yg dah 'groom' aku dari budak dr keluarga susah ke lebih baik. Kalau aku nk cerita semua dari hari aku pi interview sampai bank merger, rasanya boleh jadi satu buku lain pulak😄.. 

Mmg betul byk kenangan peribadi aku dgn BHL Bank, keseronokan bekerja, walaupun kerja dgn boss yg 'angin tak tentu masa'😅😅, my full respect to you, Tan Leng Hock .. you had taught me a lot, help me to realise my full potential & empower me with challenging tasks.. seronok kerja dengan 'very supportive' rakan sekerja seperti satu family besar hingga sekarang pun masih berhubung rapat mcm family yg pasti akan saling membantu bila2 masa..

Hubungan rapat di BHL Bank bukan setakat di Jabatan yg sama, malah di keseluruhan Head Office Departments & Branches.. uniknya kerana adanya Recreation Club (RC) yg sgt aktif dgn pelbagai aktiviti menghubungkan semua staf secara informal serta kejohanan inter-bank.. aku secara langsungnya aktif sbg Secretary RC.. aku pun pernah jd Champion Bowling Inter-Bank🎳 (State Bowler pun kalah masa tu😅😅). Bukan saja Secretary RC, Secretary Staff Co-op pun depa bg kat aku, hingga BHL Co-op terima anugerah Quality Award.. ni semua, kira extra curricular aku masa kerja kat BHL Bank dulu.. 

Kerja kuat masa tu.. Leng Hock kata 'don't afraid of too much works, takut bila tak dak kerja'.. Leng Hock pun pernah cakap 'Yusri, you percaya Tuhan Maha Adil tak?' if you work more, god will give you more, if not now, god will give you later to balance it..(mcm ustaz plk😅😅).. mmg betul, BHL Bank had rewarded me well.. naik pangkat, pernah 6 bulan sekali dah naik pangkat..

Moment paling sedih bila dengar Bank nk kena merge & industri perbankan dah bertukar terus...

TRANSLATION

Received this book yesterday.. I think it's been a long time since I bought a hard cover book like this, since there are many reading materials on social media.

This book is different from others. This book captures the story of Ban Hin Lee Bank (BHL Bank). Thank you SS Quah. I'm proud to be part of BHL Bank; if not for the 'merger exercise', I'm confident that I might still work with BHL Bank (many old friends in BHL Bank also said that they will still serve there, if BHL Bank still existed).

BHL Bank was the place for my career learning (it was my university.) I started studying the ABCDs of the Bank (Accounts, Bills (Trade Finance), Credit (Financing) & Deposits) there to understand the real 'banking'.

Once upon a time when an ex-banker talked to me and gave me his opinion, he asked whether bank officials now deserved to be called a 'banker'. He said that he observed bank officials now only knew how to collect documents according to their 'checklist'...🤔🤔. He said they were 'too specialised'; they don't know the ABCD of the Bank but this is another story.

Today's story is about BHL Bank who had 'groomed' me from being a struggling kid to become better in life. But if I want to tell everyone the story from the day I went for the interview till the day of the bank's merger, I think it could be another book 😄.

It's true that I have a lot of personal memories with BHL Bank, the fun of working, even though working with an unpredictable boss 😅😅. My full respect to you, Tan Leng Hock. You had taught me a lot, helped me to realise my full potential and empowered me with challenging tasks. Fun working with 'very supportive' colleagues like one big family, until now still in close contact like family who will surely help each other anytime.

Close contact at BHL Bank not just in the same Department, but in the entire Head Office Departments and Branches. Uniquely because there is a very active Recreation Club (RC) with various activities connecting all staff informally and inter-bank tournaments. I was directly active as Secretary RC. I've also been champion of the Inter-Bank Bowling 🎳 (State Bowler lost at that time 😅😅). Not only Secretary RC but also Secretary of the staff BHL Bank Co-op until it received the Quality Award. All of these and counting my extra-curricular work at BHL Bank.

Worked hard at that time. Leng Hock said, "Don't be afraid of too much work, be afraid when you don't have work." Leng Hock also said, "Yusri, do you believe God is fair? If you work more, God will give you more; if not now, God will give you later to balance it." (just like an ustaz 😅😅). Really true, BHL Bank had rewarded me well...promoted, every six months a promotion.

The saddest moment was when you heard that the Bank wanted to get merged. The banking industry changed straight away...

Cowherd and the weaving lady

Although this is the seventh Chinese lunar month when the Hungry Ghosts Festival goes into full swing for 29 or 30 days annually, the seventh day of the seventh lunar month holds a completely different significance altogether. It is on this day that the folklore of the Cowherd and the Weaving Lady takes hold. This is an old Chinese love story and is fascinating because of its astrological origins.

Early sky-watchers in China had discovered that the circumpolar stars revolving round the Pole Star would return to the same place in the sky every 27.33 days, which formed a sidereal month. In relation to this discovery, the Chinese devised the 28 Mansions lunar system as early as the middle of the Shang period (商朝) (circa 14th Century BC). These 28 Mansions are equatorial divisions, or segments of the celestial sphere. A name was given for each of these 28 segments: the ninth mansion, with its star that westerners call Vega, was called Ch'ien Niu (牵牛) or Cowherd and the 10th, symbolised by the star Altair, was named Chih Nu (织女) or Weaving Lady.

As Vega and Altair are close to each other in the sky, it was easy to imagine myth-makers, such were the ancient Chinese, creating the boy-meets-girl romance of Heaven. 

Vega (the Weaving Lady) is the brightest star of the summer triangle.
Then there is Altair (the Cowherd) which is the second brightest,
separated by the Milky Way (the Celestial River) with the fainter 
Deneb (the bridge of magpies) in its midst 

One of the early stories goes back to the state of Ch'u (楚) (BC 740-330) telling of the Cowherd marrying the Weaving Lady who was the youngest of seven grand-daughters of T'ien Ti (天帝) or Lord of Heaven. To pay the dowry, the Cowherd secured a loan of 20,000 strings from T'ien Ti. For a long time, however, the Cowherd was unable to repay the loan. As a punishment, they were transformed into stars. The Cowherd was banished to the west of the Celestial River or Milky Way while the Weaving Lady stayed in the east. However, they were permitted to meet once a year on the seventh night of the seventh moon.

On that night, provided the skies were clear, magpies (鵲) would form a bridge over the Celestial River with their bodies and wings so that the lovers could meet. But if there be rain, the Celestial River became so wide that the bridge could not be formed. So the husband and wife could not always meet by reason of bad weather, sometimes for three or four years at a stretch. But because their love remains immortally young and eternally patient, they remain optimistically happy hoping to meet on the next year's seventh night of the seventh month.

In Malaysia, Chinese households used to pay homage to this pair of celestial lovers during the Seven Fairies Festival (七仙女節 ). As times have changed, this practice is no longer popular among the larger community. In my family, however, we still continue with the tradition on the night of the sixth lunar day, usually around 11.30pm as a new day is deemed to have begun at 11pm. Our worship to the seven fairy sisters would include offering a glass bowl of water. In the past, some in the Chinese community would bottle up the water on the next day as it was deemed to have curative powers. In Penang, and I dare say elsewhere too, the Baba Nyonya community would use the water to make bedak sejok. These are not done nowadays. At best, the women in the household would now share out the water to wash their faces in the hope of radiating a beautiful countenance almost as ravishing as the fairies.

In Chinese culture, the magpie is a very popular bird. As a symbol of good luck and good fortune, the bird is a common subject in Chinese paintings as well as traditional Chinese poetry and couplets. The Quah clansmen in the Ow Quah village, Hokkien province, had named their clan house as Swee Cheok Tong (瑞鵲堂). The closest I can get to translating this name is Auspicious Magpie Society.

The story goes that a long time ago in China, there was a senior member of the Quah clansmen who was a righteous government official. When he finally retired to his village, a flock of magpies had flown to accompany him on his long journey home. Thus, he was inspired enough to name the clan house that he founded as the Swee Cheok Tong. When my forebears migrated south to the nanyang in the mid-19th Century, the clan house that they established in Penang was subsequently named the Penang Swee Cheok Tong Seh Quah Kongsi (檳城瑞鵲堂柯公司). Click here to learn more about the Kongsi's origin.

Some chat on British colonialism

Here's the other side of a coin. Not everybody is enamoured with Captain Francis Light founding Penang as a settlement for the British East India Company 235 years ago. These series of messages came from a local whatsapp chatgroup and represented people who were very critical of British colonialism in this part of the world. 

I'm not saying that colonialism is good or bad, but Penang would not be what it is today, with all its imperfections and blemishes, if there had not been the start of colonialism by Light. I wonder what these critical people would say if Penang had been settled (to use a more neutral word) by the Dutch or the Portuguese or even the Siamese? 

Anyway, here are their exchanges. No names attached as I don't know who said what, although I can generally guess who these three gentlemen were collectively.

"We should celebrate 11 August 1786 as the day a crime was committed, the deprivation of justice, rights and integrity.  The day of plunder and vandalism. The looting of an island. We don’t think much of colonial crimes, saying that it’s benign. A crime is a crime, regardless of conditions, colonial or not. There is no foundation, no treaty, no documents and no signatories and no signatures. This is the greatest lie in Malaysian and world history. There is no legality to the acquisition of Pulau Pinang and what right would anyone on 11 August 1786 read some proclamation and change the name to Prince of Wales Island? It is theft, plunder, vandalism; not only of place, but of space, and name. 11 August 1786 is a myth. After 235 years, we still center ourselves to the avatar of 1786. That image below is a massive lie in the history and historiography of Pulau Pinang and Kedah. The nation is deceived by it and all the narratives from the national archives to school textbooks are false. That myth is still integral to the nation’s history. It has distorted the past, erased the grundnorm of Kedah and any existence of a civilized social order. It is big time propaganda consumed for more than 200 years. British and European scholars have never resolved the question over Pulau Pinang’s acquisition. Even English judges in Pulau Pinang in the first half of the 19th century lied in their own courts to justify British rule of the island. Everyone knows that as perjury.  Perhaps incestuous is more precise. Even Winstedt was embarrassed."

"Yes, the Penang as it has evolved and come to be known to us all today is largely a colonial legacy. We can also write the history of Penang from various other perspectives. The prevailing narrative has been written from the perspective of the history of the British Empire. There is nothing wrong about it so long as the truth is not veiled. There can also be other versions, and a mature historian will look at the context."

"Why involve ourselves here with such things. This is a simple chatgroup for exchange of information of historical interest. Meant to cheer us up. No need to cloud and muddle our minds. That is the trademark of academics. By the way what do the historians trained in historiography etc have to say. By the way I am not a historian."

"‘Formal founding’ is a fallacy. There was no treaty, no document, no agreement, no signature and no signatory. 1786 is a myth. It is a crime, illegal and immoral."

"It is not a matter of right or wrong. We leave it to the experts to discuss the matter. It is just about what this chatgroup is all about. There are many members who have joined the group to share information on local history, biographies, publications, interesting illustrations, stories and anecdotes from the past etc."

"This is not to muddle to muddle things but to lift the veil. If we want to keep it veiled, go ahead. Just to note that ‘agreement’ was never conveyed to sultan Abdullah Mukarram Shah of Kedah, if at all. Lifting the veil will reveal that there is no Such agreement by the Sultan, no treaty, no signature and no signatories. The national archives website must take down that page with the so called ‘agreement’. It is false and misleading. But if you want to veil the false ‘treaty’ as displayed by the Archives, go ahead. That is falsifying history."

 

Ten Thousand Prosperities (萬興利) - Part 10

Dropped by the residence of Dato' Seri Anwar Fazal yesterday and presented him with some copies of my latest book, Ten Thousand Prosperities: The Story of Ban Hin Lee Bank. He had written one of the two Forewords.

 

Penang's 235th anniversary

Happy birthday to modern Penang. Today marks the 235th anniversary of the formal founding of Pooloo Pinang as the first British settlement in the Far East by Capt Francis Light. He renamed it as Prince of Wales' Island, but that's beside the point. The events leading to Light taking formal possession of the island is detailed in my other blog.

Tribute to Ong Jin Eong

I've just learnt of the recent demise of a chess friend's father, Professor Dr Ong Jin Eong. Like the two of us, he was also an Old Free but from the Class of 1960/62 (Form Five/Upper Six). From Penang Free School, he continued his studies at the University of Melbourne and did his Ph.D. at the University of Tasmania. I'll reveal more of that man's life later on in this passage.

From what I've read from tributes that had been flowing in from around social media, Dr Ong was a much respected scientist and lecturer, known not only in Penang but also through the region. It is not often that the death of a retired personality would attract the attention of his former workplace but the University of Science Malaysia (USM) duly released an obituary in his memory recently.

Noting the passing of one of their kind, the University issued an obituary that read: "On 5th August 2021, we lost a prominent scientist who had devoted his whole life to the study of mangrove ecology. After obtaining his PhD from the University of Tasmania in 1970, Professor Ong began his service as one of the earlier batches of academician who joined Universiti Sains Malaysia. During his tenure at the School of Biological Sciences, Professor Ong made outstanding contributions such as assisted in the setting up of the electron microscope lab, founded and led Mangrove Ecosystem Research Group, served on the editorial boards of international journals BIOTROPICA, Asian Marine Biology and Mangroves & Salt-Marshes. He was also an active member of Malaysian National Science Research and Development Council, UN Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Protection (GESAMP) and Malaysian Nature Society. He was best known as the foundational scholar of mangrove study in Malaysia, pioneered in the research of mangrove productivity, nutrient fluxes, carbon sequestration and in his later career, communicated extensively on the links in mangrove and climate change.  Professor Ong’s commitment to science inspired many of his students and his passing has left a big void especially in the mangrovian community. May his soul rest in eternal peace."

The Centre for Marine and Coastal Studies (CEMACS), a USM body which undertakes research focused on biodiversity, mariculture, marine mammal ecology, conservation of marine and coastal forest ecosystems, among others, commented on their own facebook page that "as we mourn for the lost of Prof Dr Ong Jin Eong, we are celebrating his life's work and passion for mangroves."

He was the second CEMACS Director. Although he retired from USM in 1999, he continued playing an active and significant role in research as well as engaging the Centre in forest and mangrove research. From the mid-1970s until his retirement, he led the small but very active Mangrove Ecosystems Research Group at USM whose main long-term aim was to close the carbon and nutrient budgets of a mangrove ecosystem. This Group worked across disciplines, collaborating with scientists around the world and pioneered frontier researches of mangrove ecosystem at that time.

"Among colleagues and peers, he is well-known to be a person and mentor who is very gentle and great kindness. His passion towards the mangrove and willingness to share knowledge have touched the lives of many. His great contributions to the scientific community, university, and society as a whole will be always remembered and cherished. Thank you Professor Ong for everything and rest well," concluded CEMACS.

The chess friend I was referring to at the start of this story is Terry Ong. I've known him since his schooldays at Penang Free School. On facebook, he posted such a moving tribute to remember his father that I feel sufficiently that it must be reproduced here as a testament to a life well lived. I know he won't mind.

My father was one of the pioneering and leading mangrove experts in the world. He was definitely one of a kind, what his colleagues would call a non-conformist, and I suppose what Americans like to term a “maverick”. Someone who would always go against the grain.

My father’s father and both his younger brothers went to school at St Xavier’s, yet my father got on a bicycle and cycled to and from his house in town every day to study at Free School, which was more or less at the “end of the world” at that point as the road didn’t extend past there.

When my father went to study in Australia, travel by air was really expensive, so he went by ship. It was a two- week journey, and he was befriended early on by a chatty priest. Perhaps the priest saw someone who might be receptive to conversion. However, after a few days of theological debates, the priest was duly convinced otherwise and spent his time elsewhere …

He and many of his colleagues at USM chose to take EPF instead of pension because that would allow them to speak their minds freely, without fear of losing their pensions. This seems to be an option that they exercised early and often. He once told me that it took so long for him to be promoted to Associate Professor and Professor because he never bothered to apply for the positions. He was of the mindset that, “If my boss thinks I deserve it, then he should put my name in.”

He contributed to the reports of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. Whether this was ever really appreciated by the powers-that-be didn’t matter, because as the feedback from his colleagues, students, and others in the scientific community showed, he and his work were valued by those who matter.

The IPCC shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore. After I watched Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth, my father told me to watch The Great Global Warming Swindle as well. It’s not that he didn’t believe in climate change (“Of course the climate always changes”), but he believed in scientific accuracy over oversimplified generalisations or political or PR pandering.

So much of the local biology community has been directly or indirectly influenced by my father. Most of my biology teachers in Free School were either taught by or connected with him somehow. I asked him about what he taught about lecturing once. When asked for his profession to fill in for school forms, he would always say “scientist”. This being Malaysia, “scientist” wasn’t always accepted as a profession, so the back-up option would be “lecturer”. I once asked him what he thought about lecturing. He replied, “When your student becomes your boss, that’s when you know it’s time to stop teaching.” I think more than one of his students became his boss. That left me with the impression that he much preferred research and perhaps teaching was just a necessary evil. However, I can see from the many heartfelt and passionate tributes from his students and the many researchers and enthusiasts that he took time to inspire that this clearly was not the case. Tributes to him have shown up almost randomly on the Facebook feeds of my friends as well. He clearly left a huge impression and will be remembered fondly by so many of you. This is a wonderful thing, which we all appreciate deeply.

Swimming runs in the family. My father took me swimming starting from when I was a small kid. I only ever learned the breaststroke though, so perhaps it was good that he never went into coaching. We went swimming at the Penang Swimming Club every Saturday evening and Sunday morning, before Saturday dinners and before Sunday lunches at Jones Road, till I was in Form Five, and then went off to university. We would walk on the beach and rocks as he would look out for interesting plants or animals to point out, and then swim about 20 laps before going back for the family meal. I will always remember these times fondly.

When I was eight, he taught me how chess pieces move on one of those tiny airline magnetic boards. That was the only time I ever saw him play chess, but the lesson stuck and I’ve played ever since.

My father was a swimmer, a King Scout, a scientist and a teacher. An influencer in the true sense of the word. He did not suffer fools, but he was never afraid to say foolish things himself. He smiled and laughed readily and often. The world is a less unique place now, but one brightened by his time in it.

I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about where atheists go after their time here ends. I’m no closer to knowing, and I’ll never be. But what I do know is wherever that is, that place just became far, far more interesting.

Goodbye, Daddy, we will miss and remember you always.

Japan, Day 5: The Shinkansen experience

Ha, ha.... It's been three years since I stopped writing my travelogue on my family's vacation in Japan. We went there in October 2017 and my last entry was made in July 2018. I really don't know why I stopped writing about our trip but I did. I should complete what I started, shouldn't I?

So here we were, Day 5 of our vacation. We were in Kawaguchiko, a town at the edge of a fabulous lake and with a fantastic view of the Fuji mountain. We had just completed a short bicycling trip to the lake and was walking back to the homestay apartment.  

By the way, this was a fantastic spiderweb we encountered, The spider was no where in sight, though. Just the web still glistening with the morning dew.

Throughout the whole of our short stay in Japan, we had depended on their super-efficient trains to get to our destinations. All the time, except for this short journey from Kawaguchiko to Mishima which we took the bus. The problem, you see, was that there was no direct train service to a shinkansen train station and no way were we going to retrace our steps to Tokyo just to enjoy their bullet train. Therefore, bus it had to be, and Mishima was the closest shinkansen station on the map. And luckily enough, there was a direct bus service there.

No, this wasn't the bus that took us to Mishima. This was only one of their small buses that served the townfolk. It's quaint, though. I had seen it whizzed its way around Kawaguchiko. How I wished we had the opportunity to board one, if only for the experience but our bus would be arriving soon. Nevertheless, my son still found time to visit the 7-eleven store across the road despite me anxiously waiting for him to return.

The bus journey to Mishima was, of course, without any incident and for the first time, we managed to observe everyday life in Japan. Not the big city everyday life but everyday life in a smaller, slower city. 

The information screen in the bus informing us that it would stop briefly at Fujikyu Highland and Yamanaka Lake before arriving at Mishima station. 

The entrance to the Fuji-Q Highland amusement park. A roller coaster was seen in the background.

A last look at Mount Fuji.

And here is the Yamanaka lake.

A lake cruise that's sure to thrill the little kids in us

The bus detours through a main road in Mishima before arriving at the station where we hurried to catch the Shinkansen to the Shin-Osaka station.

Pressed for time, we did not have any time to explore the Mishima station. Indeed, after alighting from the bus, I quickly hurried my family into the station to find the nearest ticket machine. It was important to buy the tickets fast, since we wanted to sit together. Unfortunately, we couldn't find a car with four empty seats. In fact, my son and daughter had to sit apart in their standard (economy) class coach when I bought their tickets. But when I wanted to buy the tickets for my wife and I, suddenly there were no more seats in their standard class! Instead, I had to buy green (first) class seats for the two of us. So my kids sat in standard while we sat in green class. Of course, the green class seats were more luxurious and exemplary. We really enjoyed ourselves for the brief journey of almost three hours.

Mishima shinkansen station

Inside our first-class coach

Information behind every seat

There's really very good leg room in first-class!

A defibrillator on board in case anyone needs it.

When we arrived at the Shin-Osaka station, we still needed to catch a connecting train ride to our accommodation unit in Imamiya. We dragged our luggage across the station, bought our tickets and waited on the platform for the Osaka loop line and then.....proceeded to board the wrong train. We didn't realise the mistake but in hindsight, it did look funny that the other passengers hadn't any luggage with them. It was only after the train had stopped at its final station that we suddenly found ourselves at the entrance to the Universal City theme park in Osaka.

Back into the train we went to retrace our way to a station where we had to switch trains to the Imamiya station. The apartment was a welcome sight to us when we finally reached it. As can be seen from the pictures below, it was a very decent place. More spacious than the other two apartment units we stayed in Tokyo and Kawaguchiko.

Not too sure where we went for dinner that night but my son took us walking around aimlessly and ended up in this restaurant after we didn't want to queue waiting for sushi. Good meal, though.

 

 

52nd anniversary

Happy 52nd Birthday to the Abbey Road album cover! This is one of the most famous, if not THE most famous, photographs in the history of the record cover art designs and was taken 52 years ago today.

The photographer was Iain MacMillan. On 8 August 1969, he stood on a step ladder in the middle of the road to shoot the cover of what would be turn out to be the last recorded album by The Beatles. Appropriately, it would be named after the street where their recording studio was located. The photo showed the band crossing the street while walking away from the studio. There's another photo from their 50th anniversary album in 2019 which showed them crossing the street in the opposite direction.

The photo shoot lasted ten minutes, and MacMillan took only six shots from his perch while the traffic was held up by a policeman, from which Paul picked the cover. 

Coming of autumn (立秋)

We are already well into August and somehow, I have just realised that today is rather unique. For one thing, today is the first day of the Chinese calendar's seventh lunar month. That's the signal for the Hungry Ghosts Festival, the time for ghosts to leave their underworld home and roam in the land of the living. Wooo.... 👻👻

As I haven't been moving from the house much, least of all crossing the bridge to go over to the island because I have no permit to do so due to the Covid-19's movement control order, I don't know whether there have been any preparations by the community to hold the annual seventh lunar month Phor Tor worship of the God of Hades. I guess I shall have to drive into the Bukit Mertajam old town centre later to see whether the traditional effigy of the Phor Tor King is displayed.

The lunar month is also celebrated with worship in the houses and private temples to remember the deceased members of one's family. Regardless of whether there are any Phor Tor celebrations, these home worship sessions can take place on any convenient day during the lunar month. We are going to do ours on the 20th of this month which coincides with the 13th day of the lunar month. One day later, my Quah Kongsi will hold our traditional worship on the 14th day although it is very likely that we shall scale back on the worship. My vice-president will look into arranging the worship but we won't be allowing any member to come into the premises.

So what else is special about today? Well, it so happens that today marks the start of the solar term known as Coming of Autumn or Li Qiu (立秋) in the Chinese lunisolar calendar. If one is familiar with the Li Chun (立春) or Coming of Spring on the third or fourth of February every year, then Li Qiu occurs six months later. Typically, the Coming of Autumn starts on 7th or 8th August, depending on the exact position of the sun in the sky. 

It is the 13th of the 24 solar terms and the first for the three months of autumn. Traditionally in China, when a yellowed leaf flutters to the ground, all things are awakened from summer dreams by the sound of the leaf. Hence there is a saying that the fall of one leaf announces the coming of autumn.

Because the Chinese lunar months have no fixed begin and end dates and depends on the moon cycle whereas the Chinese lunisolar calendar has more or less fixed dates throughout the year, it is rather rare that the beginning of the Chinese seventh lunar month should coincide with the start of the 13th Chinese solar term. I can't think of a time when this last happened.

To ivermectin or not to ivermectin?

That is the question. I've a chess friend who is such a supporter of the drug known as ivermectin that in our social media chatgroup, whenever someone posts a story that is anti-ivermectin, he will counter with several pro-ivermectin stories to justify its use to combat the coronavirus. What makes it worse is that he is a lawyer. It's very hard to win an argument against a lawyer, I must tell you. 

Anyway, here is a video by a doctor, Dr Tan Ee Ping, from Kuala Lumpur. To me, she is rather balanced in her presentation and leaves the viewer with room to make his or her conclusion one way or another. What's yours? To ivermectin or not to ivermectin?

86 Beach Street

Back in September 2015, I had written a story on Ban Hin Lee Bank to commemorate what would have been the 80th anniversary of this Penang-based bank. I say "would have been" because the bank has since disappeared from the community, fallen to a grand government-initiated merger scheme in 2000. In that post, I had written that when the bank first opened its doors for business, its premises occupied the ground floor of 86 Beach Street in the Chinese quarters of the town. 

Today, I would like to touch on the original building which had once stood on this piece of land. It is this magnificent-looking three-storey building, capped with a dome, at the corner of Beach Street and Market Street. 

The ground floor was occupied by Ban Hin Lee Bank and above it was an architect's office. Occupying the top floor was the office of another prominent Penang businessman, Heah Joo Seang. 

It was after the bank had moved to its permanent premises at 43 Beach Street that this building was leased to other businesses such as this Penang Trading Company. (Note: Just to be sure, this Penang Trading Company should not be confused with an identically-named business that was established in 1969 and is selling pepper and other spices today.)

I've also a book which showed a picture of Beach Street, taken from the direction of the Chulia Street junction, which had a partial view of the building on the left side of the road but interestingly enough, the dome is missing. 

I'm told that this picture dated back to the 1920s when the original building was probably constructed, but who knows, it could be even earlier. 

By the mid-1930s, a dome had been added, as can be seen from this picture. Unfortunately, I have no idea when the building was torn down. It must be quite a long time ago because I do not remember seeing a domed tower in this part of town. The ownership of the building changed hands in 1969 and a modest six-storey building was built in its place. Overseas Union Bank operated a branch from this building after moving over from 35 Beach Street. 

Then at the turn of the 21st Century, the branch was renamed as United Overseas Bank after Overseas Union Bank was bought up. Due to consolidation later, United Overseas Bank ceased to operate from here and the building was left vacant for quite a while until Standard Chartered Bank relocated here from their original premises at the other end of Beach Street. It remains as Standard Chartered Bank till this day.  

During the research for my book, Ten Thousand Prosperities: The Story of Ban Hin Lee Bank, I realised that although the three-storey building was used by Ban Hin Lee Bank, the owner was the millionaire Yeap Chor Ee. 

There is no indication when the ownership came into his hands but by the 1930s it was already his. He was such a successful businessman that he owned many properties in this part of Beach Street. Definitely, this building was his because I've seen an image of an Indenture where he transferred the land title from himself to Ban Hin Lee Bank Limited in 1939 for Straits Dollars 15,000.

The bank itself first operated from this address when it was opened for business on 1 November 1935. It was only in 1938 that it moved over to Number 43. On the right are the two pictures that I used in the book.

Mail orders for Ten Thousand Prosperities: The Story of Ban Hin Lee Bank are now available from my publisher's website. The price of each copy is RM65. Due to the pandemic, delivery within Malaysia is free of charge until further notice. Global shipping is also possible but please do check from the website.

Finally, here is another picture of busy Beach Street in the 1930s. The magnificent domed building can't be missed but another interesting domed building can be seen in the far distance. That one belonged to the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation and was damaged during the bombing raids of the Japanese Occupation. It must have been quite a sight in the past with two similar domes at either end of Beach Street. The Hongkong and Shanghai Bank's domed building at the corner of Beach Street and Downing Street was torn down after the war and the present one constructed as a replacement.