Lima Puluh Tujuh | Celebrating 57 years since Merdeka

The Chindian connection

September 8, 2014No Comment

2014-09-08T12:13:25+00:00

This is a portrait of my Indian (Tamil) family who lived in Selangor at the time. This picture was taken outside my grand mother and grandfathers home on Brickfields Road in KL. All the men were employed by the railways. The Chindian connection in this photograph relates to the two adult males (seated) on either side of the photo. These were the brothers of my grandmother (with baby on lap). They married two Chinese sisters, one of which is in the photo. The only real ‘Chindian’ in the photo at this point was the little baby on my grandmothers lap....

I didn’t know what being a Malaysian means

nikicheong September 2, 2014 No Comment

2014-09-02T18:38:34+00:00

Listening to the chatters of the adults in grandma house on a lazy Sunday...

We would pretend to be super heroes

nikicheong August 7, 2014 No Comment

2014-08-08T09:26:52+00:00

Mine was always a dragon, with a red body and green scales, while my...

Culture

Speed dial, the old way

September 2, 2014No Comment

2014-09-02T18:28:45+00:00

Do you remember the time before mobile phones? We had home and office phones, which from my earliest recollection was a rotary dial before the push button dial came along and even then we thought ‘Wow! That’s revolutionary.’However, what was more ‘Wow’ was that I could remember up to a hundred plus random 6 digit telephone numbers of family and friends. The contact list resided in our brain, and just like speed dial I could call up any of the phone number within seconds. How amazing is that!Since I bought my first mobile phone in 1998, my brain seems...

Green, green grass of home

nikicheong August 28, 2014 No Comment

2014-08-28T23:12:17+00:00

I was born and raised in the riverine town of Teluk Anson (now Teluk...

A kebaya should celebrates a woman’s curves

nikicheong August 7, 2014 1 Comment

2014-08-08T09:21:56+00:00

It was a soft pink top with lace scalloped edges and embroidered white flowers,...

Relationships

The sound of evening bells

September 2, 2014No Comment

2014-09-02T18:34:00+00:00

I remember back when I was growing up, I look forward to the evenings because that would be when the roti uncle or the ice-cream uncle will pass by. The bells and the rings will always be part of my life. Those days, I would happily run out as a child and buy bread or ice-cream from the uncles (usually uncles-lah). He would give me that wide smile and I would give a big smile in return (got food, sure smile lah). He even used to play “One To Juice (or is it Want To Juice)” after I give...

Hey, Mr Postman

nikicheong August 29, 2014 No Comment

2014-08-29T20:40:15+00:00

Back in the 90s, when I was a little boy, there was a postman...

Carefree days of yore

nikicheong August 28, 2014 No Comment

2014-08-28T23:16:10+00:00

I am the product of a mixed marriage: My father is of Hadhrami descent...

Shared Experiences

We didn’t have much, yet we were rich

September 14, 2014No Comment

2014-09-14T10:38:27+00:00

I was born in the mid 1960s, a time when Malaysia was newly formed and thriving as an infant in nationhood. Life was much simpler and the pace was slower then. We didn’t have much materially, yet we were rich because we cared and shared with one another! In school, my friends and I spent a lot of time interacting with one another face-to-face. We would look forward to seeing each other every day to chit chat and shared games like galah panjang and our very own version of high jump which used rubber band ropes hand-banded together with...