We meet again, 40 years later ....

December 12 2016 was and will be a special day to remember for all ex-Merliners as we gathered for the second re-union at the Royale Chulan Mutiara Hotel. As for me, I knew many of them back then in the 70s when I was working with the hotel group (Faber Merlin) as one its managers. Although I left three years later to pursue my other careers, the rest stayed on making a name for themselves in the hospitality industry. Today, many of them, are managing international hotels overseas and some local.

For the event, ex-Merliners flew in from the Philippines, Melbourne and Bhutan to join in the occasion, and what tales we had to tell as we walked down memory lane of the time when the KL Merlin stood tall in the heart of the Golden Triangle.

To grace the event, we had the presence of the three children of the late Dato Lim Foo Yoong, Mr OB Lim, Mr OK Lim and Belinda Lim.

Everyone contributed something to make the evening a memorable one. As for me, I did my part with music.

The imposing and towering sight of the once popular Kuala Lumpur Merlin.

Remembering their roots and it all began at the KL Merlin.

Eddie Yeo (L), former GM of the Pulau Tioman Merlin with Julian Blaydes, GM of the Royale Chulan Mutiara Hotel. Julian Blaydes was once a staff of the KL Merlin.

The ladies were former secretaries and managers with the hotel.

Andre Sibert, former GM of the Pulau Tioman Merlin, and me doing a number.

It was also the moment for us to celebrate the 80th birthday of George Loong, former GM of Kuantan Merlin.

Annette Yeo (L) was the former industrial nurse based at the KL Merlin.

Belinda Lim (daughter of the late Datuk Lim Foo Yoong) with Julian Blaydes on her right and Eddie Yeo standing behind her.

The blogger entertaining the crowd.

Happy Birthday, Mrs Ee

Mrs Dorothy Ee or Mrs Ee, as she was affectionately called, was my History teacher in 1964 and 1965 at the Cochrane Road Secondary School in Kuala Lumpur.  She was not only a very strict teacher but a good teacher too that somehow, her teachings of the subject got me interested in world politics.

Even long after many of us have left school, she still kept in touch with us and twice we ended up helping her to move house.  The last time I saw her was in 1979 when she dropped by at my office to make a booking for a condo unit in Taman Desa.  That was 35 years ago.  Since then, I have tried locating her but failed until November last year, I managed to trace her to a home for the elderlys.  The place is called "The Green Pastures Rest Home" located in Damansara Perdana.

I dropped by to visit her and was told she was suffering from dementia.  I chatted with her for one and a half hour, but it was more of a monologue conversation as she could not remember nor the ability to speak well.

On April 30, two days ago, four ex-Cochraneans and I decided to give her a surprise birthday party, and there was nothing like bringing cheer to her now that she is in her twilight years.  This was the least we could do for the all the years spent in moulding us to what we are today.

From L-R (the old boys of CRS): Chong Chee Ling, Mah Kong Howe, Timothy Heng, Billy Ong, Loh Meng Chee.

During our visit, we had the pleasure in meeting the owner of the home, Pastor Leon Lim and his wife, Lydia Looi. Both husband and wife built up the homes which comprised of several old Semi-D houses located in a secluded area of Damansara Perdana, surrounded by lush greeneries.

Pastor Leon Lim (left) and blogger

Happy Birthday, Nelson Mandela!

Today marks Nelson Mandela’s 95th birthday. Mandela served 27 years in prison. He came out - rooted and grounded in hope - w...ith a smile on his face, preaching peace and togetherness. Today, the world wishes Nelson Mandela a Happy Birthday or imini emandi kuwe in his native Xhosa language.

Here are are few quotations for your reflection.

- During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons will live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for. But, my lord, if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.

- I had no epiphany, no singular revelation, no moment of truth, but a steady accumulation of a thousand slights, a thousand indignities and a thousand unremembered moments produced in me an anger, a rebelliousness, a desire to fight the system that imprisoned my people. There was no particular day on which I said, Henceforth I will devote myself to the liberation of my people; instead, I simply found myself doing so, and could not do otherwise.

- You will achieve more in this world through acts of mercy than you will through acts of retribution.

- The first thing is to be honest with yourself. You can never have an impact on society if you have not changed yourself… Great peacemakers are all people of integrity, of honesty, but humility.

- No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.

- I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.

- Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies.

- We must use time wisely and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right.

- If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.

Painting | Nelson Mandela Original Acrylic Portrait Painting by Artist Derek Russell 

MANY HAPPY RETURNS OF THE DAY AND MANY MORE TO COME!

Here's wishing Nurul a very Happy Birthday and may she be blessed with a big win over NFC Sharizat in the coming GE.

Lim Kit Siang's 70th birthday, a greeting from Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah

After a long journey in your political career, weathering the often rough and tumble of Malaysian politics, you somehow managed to survive and carve a popular name, an icon among your admirers and a ‘political bug’, so to speak, among your opponents.

So, you are now 70 years of age — not too young but not too old either — to go on treading the political journey.

You have consistently upheld and stood your ground on matters relating to the fundamental rights of all the rakyat, irrespective of race, to free and responsible speech, the rights to enjoy a just and fair distribution of the economic and social wealth of the nation, and to political, judicial and legal justice.

You have consistently and courageously spoken up against the corruption and the various misdeeds and defaults of the government and demanded actions, both in Parliment as well as outside it, depite the possible reprisals, the threats and even possible punitive actions that might be taken against you, which in fact you have suffered in the past.

But you have not kept your silence; you continue to grow bigger and speak even louder.

In the end, it seems to me you are the winner because, despite what your opponents say about you, as long as you know and believe what you stand for is good for the poeple and the country, you are on the right path.

Politicians, and especially those who have been given the mandate to ‘rule’ or ‘govern’ the country, must be honest, trustworthy, clean and efficient.

They must have PRINCIPLES and be consistent in their upholding and promotion of the principles for the good of the rakyat and the country and not be swayed or swerved by their personal interests and greed.

The rakyat look up to a Wakil Rakyat or to a government leader not because he or she is a Malay, a Chinese or an Indian, an Iban or a Kadazan; they look up to you because of your principles — principles that they can respect, trust and emulate.

On this auspicious day, may I quote Georges Pompidou who once said:

“A statesman is a politician who places himself at the service of the nation. A politician is a statesman who places the nation at his service”.

Let me now say “Selamat Menyambut Hari Jadi Yang ke-70”, in other words “Happy Birthday to You”.

Wishing you good fortune, good health and long life. May you continue to tread the rough and tumble of the Malaysian political road with even greater tenacity and thrust in the years ahead until we can all together ensure that no one in the country is allowed to create a situation of disaster of the type we have just seen in Tunisia and Egypt.