Author Archives: nikicheong
Daniel Bego
National swimmer Daniel Bego grew up in Miri and has also lived in Johor before relocating to Kuala Lumpur. Of Iban-Chinese parentage, Daniel speaks fluent English and Mandarin....
January Low
Indian classical dancer January Low is the darling of Odissi dance and currently focuses her energy on being a mother to her two children, a pair of twins who recently turned one....
Sanjitpaal Singh
Award-winning nature and wildlife photographer Sanjitpaal Singh remembers being intrigued by nature documentaries as a young child. He loves shooting nature because each time he steps inside a forest, surprises await....
Ee Soon Wei
Ee Soon Wei has been instrumental in shining the spotlight on the ancient art of letterpress printing through The Royal Press, the company founded by his grandfather in 1938, in Melaka....
Zamrudah Ahmad Rashidi
Before moving to Kuala Lumpur, Zamrudah Ahmad Rashidi spent her childhood in a quiet kampung in Ipoh. She treasures memories of growing up with her beloved parents and grandparents, when life was more relaxed and slow paced....
Sharifah Intan
Sharifah Intan has covered countless headlining stories in her days as a newspaper editor. Now retired, most important story is still that of her grandfather, our Bapa Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman....
Abdul Latif Harun
Retired Colonel Abdul Latif Harun was in the military for more than 40 years, serving 16 postings around Malaysia. Now, at 63, he continues to do his bit for the country by lecturing at the Malaysian National Defense University....
We didn’t have much, yet we were rich
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...
The Chindian connection
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....
Where have all the uncles gone?
It’s 10am and I’m packing my school bag, ‘pon pon pon’ sounds in the distance. I grab the house keys and run to the door shouting ‘Uncle, Chee Cheong Fun!’. Ah! My lunch has arrived at our doorstep. I grab a plate and carry it out for my fill of Chee Cheong Fun and fish ball. I watch expectantly as Uncle chops up the Chee Cheong Fun and gives my fish balls a quick dip in his pot of boiling water. Then he adds a scoop of sauce or curry and a dash of oil and toasted sesame seeds....
