Lest We Forget - Merdeka 2019

Let us learn from that reminder.

In the Beginning : REMEMBER THIS.

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The Ceremony

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DO NOT FORGET TO REMEMBER THIS.

The Installation of the Yang di Pertuan Agong

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MALAYS MUST NOT FORGET:

1.  Malays originate from the ooze and slime of the Semenanjung.  They did not arrive as missionaries, traders, foreign workers, soldiers of fortune, carpet-baggers, economic migrants, refugees from war and poverty, convicts discarded from other regimes, adventurer-capitalists, colonisers and colonialists.     When Ptolemy described the land of the Golden Chersonese (Avrea Chersonesvs), around 150 A.D., our ancestors were certainly well established within it!

2.  The Semenanjung (once) had a beautiful landscape before it was exploited and ravaged by 'economic development'.

Figure 1: A coastal village.

Figure 2 :  Padi fields where Malays had to work hard, surprise! surprise!

Figure 3 : Malays lived amongst coconut palms.  Coconut (and fish and rice) were essential to their simple diet.  Despite this seemingly easy life they also kept their kampung compounds clean and they were never short of space for their settlements.

Figure 4 :  But they were not simply kampung yokels dependent only on the bounties from land and sea.  Above is a Malay Eating House - the beginning of the Malay warong - a venture into food-capitalism?  Maybe KFC and McDonalds, Nasi Kandar and the Kopitiams  began this way! 

They lived surrounded by a naturally beautiful landscape.

Figure 5 : Gunung Bubu from Krian.

Figure 6 :The Larut Plain and Estuary from the Hills

Figure 7 : Morning Mists - Gunung Tahan

Figure 8 : A river landscape tarnished by tin workings, a common blight affecting Perak, Selangor and Negri Sembilan.

The images from Figures 1, and 3 to 8 were taken from  Illustrated Guide to the Federated Malay States edited by Cuthbert Woodville Harrison,  Malayan Civil Service.  It was published by The Malay States Information Agency , London, 1923.  The Colour Illustrations were done  by Mrs H. C. Barnard.

The spouse bought this book in Auckland, New Zealand for NZ$15 in the late 1980s.  It was (relatively) cheap because it was missing a map.

Figure 2 is the cover of .....

If anyone, anywhere wishes to 'make  use' of these illustrations, PLEASE acknowledge and give credit to the author and publisher of both books. Thank you.

It's a matter of Copyright and BUDI.

Mana kemudi patah di kerat
Berapa luas biduk kelana.
Binasa budi padah melarat
Kerana emas sanggup di hina.

Finally,  for hundreds of years, the Malays have been threatened, attacked, invaded, persuaded, cajoled and 'administrated' into parting with their sovereignty, independence and their land to serve the commercial ambitions of others.

After 1957, the Malays especially those of my father's generation and older, believed they now have the freedom and choice to repair the imbalances and losses.

But  their peers, their children and grandchildren have become the proverbial pagar makan padi.

Corruption, cronyism, nepotism have taken over and in the process the Malays are scratching each other's eyes out for bigger and bigger slices of booty.   They pledged, hocked, pawned, peddled, marketed, mortgaged  and auctioned the Tanah Pusaka  to the highest bidder and their middle men and agents - though all too often we still get shortchanged.

My Abah used to say this of the British ; "they will cut the ground from under your feet and make you thank them for it."  Nowadays, the Malays are collaborating with the ground cutters (today, they are more multi-cultural) in the name of Merdeka, Liberte, Egalite  and Fraternite.  


Si Kacang Melayu dah lupakan Kulit.

MERDEKA!  MERDEKA!  MERDEKA! MERDEKA! MERDEKA!

And in the beginning ............

Yesterday the husband of  " Elizabeth II, by the grace of God, of the United Kingdom ........... Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith "  i.e.   the Christian Faith,  was involved in a bad accident.

Worries and prayers were expressed by the Ugandan-born Bishop of York, Bishop John Tucker Mugabi Sentamu.

Perhaps if Malaysia (old or new)  had a Christian Royalty,  some of her rakyat and elite might be a tad more respectful, tolerant, understanding and accommodating towards having a "Yang di Pertuan Agong" as Head of State.  Let's take more steps backwards -  to more than 61 years ago , to just about 65.

Note the unctuous deference to the British Queen in pre-independence Malaya, specifically 1953.

Supplicants from Penang

And by the way, that loyal and humble subject Dr Lee Tiang Keng plotted secession for Penang to break away from the Persekutuan Tanah Melayu (Federation of Malaya) and join forces with Singapore - why kowtow to Malay Sultans?

As for Singapore:

Looking at the non-white membership of the Singapore Legislative Council, no wonder my Chinese fellow undergrads  at Singapore University mocked the title of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

Ash's experience at Singapore University from the early to mid-1960s.

So, this contempt for the institution of  the  Malay monarchy has a long, long pedigree.  People like Eric Liew and Richard Chung and countless others are simply carrying on with the tradition of their forefathers.

Insults and jibes at Malay institutions, religion, culture and all things Malay will never end especially from the likes of   highly educated and well heeled "Bangsa Malaysia" ......

.....  who  contributed his thoughtfully reasoned analysis (after all, he's a university graduate) on the Agong's  resignation.  I see no need for me to repeat his masterpiece.

Besides all the others - Malays and non-Malays - baying at this  Institution of Monarchy, we have the classic, oft-repeated pecuniary rationale of   "we pay the most tax, so we have the greater say!".

Perhaps Eric and Richard and all those of their ilk might ponder on the price we pay to be  a  Rakyat  of Malaysia.   Bishop John Sentamu for example, demonstrated and expressed his loyalty and gratitude to the country that gave him succour and security and citizenship

There are after all, many other Malaysians who have made "contributions" and paid a different price for sustaining the well-being of Malaysia.

" The ethnic profile of police officers has been traditionally disproportionate compared to the national ethnic profile with a significantly higher proportion of ethnic Malays especially in the earlier decades.  However the number of casualties involving ethnic Malay police officers are statistically higher overall due in part to the high mortality rates involving the ethnic Malay community during the Malayan emergency in the 1950-1970s, and in part to the ethnic composition of the police force."

From the above Table, the Malays paid in 1,016, the Chinese 98, the Indians 27 and the Eurasians 69 - LIVES, not ringgit and cents.

You could say that those members of "Bangsa Malaysia" who eventually became today's high-rate taxpayers were given the luxury/opportunity to study, work and prosper in peace because the Malays were protecting their rice bowl.

Enough's said.

So, we can look forward to a new Malaysia pledging to undo all the mismanagement and miscreants of old Malaysia.  The past 61 years have been rubbished.

But let's learn from an old Malay poem.



CHERITA  SI KATAK  PELAHAP


Dahan ! Dahan !  kenapa bengkok ?

Sebab terhinggap burong.

Burong ! Burong !  sebab apa hinggap dahan?

Hendak melihat ikan timbul.

Ikan ! Ikan !  kenapa timbul?

Sebab ada lembu masok sungai.

Lembu !  Lembu ! kenapa masok sungai ?

Sebab ada orang memukul.

Orang !  orang ! kenapa di-pukul lembu?

Sebab lapar, hendak makan nasi.

Nasi ! nasi !  kenapa engkau mentah?

Sebab api tidak bernyala.

Api !  api !  kenapa tidak bernyala ?

Sebab kayu habis basah.

Kayu !  kayu ! kenapa habis basah ?

Sebab di-timpa hujan.

Hujan ! hujan ! kenapa engkau turun ?

Sebab di-panggil katak.

Katak !  katak !  kenapa sudah memanggil ?

Sebab haus berkehendakkan  ayer.

KATAK CHELAKA !  BUKAN - KAH CHUKUP AYER

MINUM DALAM PERIGI DI-BAWAH POKOK ?


The bough (dahan) of this Malaysia will remain bent and crooked because the country still embraces the incompetent, stupid, arrogant and nefarious birds, fish,cows, humans, fire, firewood, rain and most of all, the cursed voracious frogs.

SELAM (AT) KAN MALAYSIA !  

ROYALTY

On 24 April 2017, the Sultan of Kelantan, Sultan Muhammad V will be installed as the 15th Yang di-Pertuan  Agong of Malaysia.

This occasion is described as an 'Installation' and not a 'Coronation' (from the word coronet which is also a crown).  Part of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong's Regalia is the Tengkolok di Raja (a traditional head-dress) and it does not include a Crown. Malay Sultans are not crowned (except for the Sultan of Johor).

After 73 years, (although I spent my first 63 years as a citizen of the  Republic of Singapore)  I am just getting acquainted  with the whats and whys and hows  of this unique system of  Constitutional Monarchy.  I am just beginning to come to grips with the history and legacy of  the Lingga-Riau Empire. Their Royal Regalia is similar to that of  Malaysia's Paramount Ruler specifically items like the Keris  and the Cogan. 



 More fascinating for me is the Nobat di Raja.

Here's a video of Perak's Nobat di Raja at practice.

No,  AsH has not gone dewy-eyed over Monarchy and Royalty.  Let me describe  phases of my span when Kings and Queens became part of my education - during Colonial times and the
Singapore-in-Malaysia era.

For a short spell when Singapore was part of Malaysia in the 1960s - Singaporeans faced the prospect of having a Monarch: a Sultan who is a Malay-Muslim and carries the nomenclature of  Yang di- Pertuan Agong as the Head of State.  The closest thing they could relate to a "Sultan"  is  Masjid Sultan or Jalan Sultan, where Malays and non-Malays would flock to for Malay and Indian-Muslim  culinary delights during every Ramadan.  As for Johor, it is the nearest neighbour with a Sultan, but Singaporeans were not too impressed with the 'stories' regarding the then Sultan of Johore.

From September 1963 to August 1965 ( which coincided with my sojourn at the University of Singapore )  we sang  Negara Ku  as our National Anthem.  The line  "Raja Kita Selamat Bertakhta" carried no significance for us  and we could not connect with the institution of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong in Malaysia.

But then, Singapore's very own National Anthem Majulah Singapura was sung with gusto at every morning Assembly in schools, and when a pupil was asked the title of the  Anthem, he happily gave the answer "Mari Kita"  (the Anthem's first two words)!

In Singapore, Malay might be the National Language (then), but it carried no kudos and no significance. Besides, Malay schools were flagging in their enrolment (like some vernacular Chinese schools in Malaysia today) and were left  to die a natural death, especially after August 1965.

When I was teaching at Sekolah Menengah Yusof Ishak in the late 1960s, I met a number of pupils who, in their 4th/5th year at Kampung Jagoh Malay School (Telok Blangah Road), had to menumpang at Jubilee Malay School (off West Coast Road) when their school enrolment reached a critical level.

By the 1970s/1980s Kampung Jagoh Malay School and Jubilee Malay School ceased to exist.   As they withered away, there were no voices that would or could whimper and mourn their demise.

But I'm digressing.

Interestingly, Dr Toh Chin Chye (1921-2012), a founder-member of the PAP, and a former Deputy Prime Minister (1965-1968) wanted the Anthem to be in Malay "as this is the indigenous language of the region "  and it would "appeal to all races".  A whole lot of water has flowed under the bridge since then!!

In 2001, the Anthem was re-arranged by Mr Phoon Yew Tien in "the musical key of F".  This arrangement was "grander and more inspiring" in order to make the anthem "more accessible to all Singaporeans".

[Details regarding the Singapore National Anthem were taken from www.nhb.gov.sg]

During the courtship period between Singapore and the Federation of Malaya, I recalled an incident that stuck in my psyche - that convinced me that this "arranged marriage" would not work.   One party was chalk,  the other was cheese.  More than that, the agenda - implicit and explicit - for the merger was fraught with duplicity and opportunism.

What was the incident?

I was with some of my fellow undergrads in the Union House canteen chatting about the hottest topic on the campus - of Singapore in Malaysia.  I was the only Malay in the group.  One of the boys cheerily quipped, "Yah man, we shall have AH GONG as our Head of State!"  They were beside themselves with glee and cackle -  except Maznoor bt Abd Hamid!

After that startling revelation, I wrote an article for the Bulletin of the University's Democratic Socialist Club entitled 'SULTANS : AN ANACHRONISM? ',  I wish I had kept a copy, but in those days we were still using dinosaur technology.  In a nutshell, I stated that Sultans, like the British Colonials and the Chinese tycoons, have a place in the political makeup of the country - and especially the Sultans.  If they had not been conquered, conned and cajoled (and sometimes connived) into opening up their States, there would be no Singapore or Malaya or Penang.  Just as the British Isles is the United Kingdom, 'Government' in Malay is translated as Kerajaan.  Very flimsy ground maybe, but there's a limit to the insults and encroachment that the Malays can take.

When Singapore joined Malaysia, it became obvious that the main thrust of the PAP's agenda was to agitate for Malaysian Malaysia.   It was a glib and disingenuous mantra, which sounds like one thing, but it means another.   Today, though differently packaged it is still part of the agenda of the DAP, a clone of its cousin in Singapore.

So why did I write that article?

 I am no great fan of Royalty, local or foreign.  They were only characters in movies like 'Hang Tuah' (re the self-indulgent, unjust and effete Sultan) and 'Bawang Putih, Bawang Merah' (this time the handsome prince, which many red-blooded damsels dream of marrying).  Titles like Tengku or Raja or Syed for that matter do not leave me in awe.     But, enough is enough - just how many more apples do they want to pick off the tree??


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I reckon there are some in Malaysia who will snigger, mock, ignore or at the very least tolerate this Royal ceremonial event that takes place  every five years.

However this septuagenarian remembers how Singapore and the Federation of Malaya went to town to celebrate another particular Royal Event.   Here are some images from the "Penang  Settlement Coronation Celebrations" of June 1953.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second and the Penang Settlement Souvenir Programme.

The pages relating to "The significance of the Crown in Malaya" indicates that the nine Malay Rulers are only entitled to the appellation  'His Highness', not HRH ('His Royal Highness).  Mere titles they may be but it still reveals the pecking order.  Malayans then were quite at ease and happy with this version of imported Royalty and feudalism.  How different  should they be today?

The Nine Sultans - His Highnesses taking their place in this Ceremony.

The following extracts describe the 'Historic Ceremony of Coronation'.

In 1953 I was just nine years old and we had all this procedure explained to us in our classroom.  I was fascinated by the Orb and the anointing ceremony.  Fancy rubbing  your hands and head with
"holy oil from the Ampulla which is poured into the Anointing Spoon".  And we were informed by our teachers that this means " she is blessed and consecrated as monarch and made ready to receive the royal vestments and regalia, the outward symbols of her office".  We hung on to the words to imagine all these rituals taking place.  I remember being quite gobsmacked ( though that's not the right word for 1953) and we little brown children of the British Empire sat there on the floor with glazed eyes and (some) open mouths.

The Orbs

The Mace (top picture), The Royal Sceptre and the Jewelled State Sword (lower picture)

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Here's the Malaysian version.

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But I must admit most of that pomp escaped us and all we wanted was the Coronation souvenir badge.

Now that I am 64 years older I find these parts of the Ceremony quite fascinating.

1. Then follows the administration of the Oath, in which the Queen, in answer to questions put to her by the Archbishop, promises to govern her people according to their laws and customs, to "cause Law and Justice, in Mercy, to be executed" and to uphold the Protestant faith.

2. The Queen then takes the Sword and goes alone to the altar and in an act of symbolism offers it to the service of God and lays it down.

3. The Bible is presented ("The most valuable thing that this world affords.  Here is Wisdom; this is the Royal Law; these are the lively Oracles of God") and the Archbishop's Benediction follows.

The Queen is then ceremonially assisted from the Coronation Chair to the Throne, and in turn the Archbishop, the Princes of the Blood Royal, and the senior member of each degree of the peerage, kneel before her to pay homage ....


Certainly the Yang di-Pertuan Agong's Installation won't be as complex and ostentatious and magnificent and sumptuous and showy as the Coronation of a Christian British Monarch whose reign covers half of the globe.  Malaysians who prefer to be Republicans can take comfort from that difference!

Finally, how did the Rakyat in Penang celebrate that joyous day?

And finally, a grand tribute from the Rakyat in Penang to Queen Elizabeth the Second -

That lottery is for the construction of a permanent memorial,  a concert hall named Queen's Hall  in Coronation  Garden.     What is $200,000 worth in today's money?

The intent of this posting - nine Sultans taking turns to be the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is simpler (and more interesting) than having a permanent lifelong monarch.  Every nation needs a figurehead Head of State.

For the Malays - whose economy, demography, government and culture have been subverted and muddled by the appetite of Britain and its compradores - please, please let them keep their Sultans .... and please, please save them from the Republicans, the puritan Arabists and all shades of Shakers and Modernisers.

Prince Charles - a prince among (some) men.

On BBC1 News two or three nights ago there was an item on the launch of a report by a Catholic charity.    Accompanying the launch was a statement  by His Royal Highness Prince Charles Philip Arthur George, Prince of Wales, KG, KT, GCB, OM, AK, QSO, PC, ADC, Earl of Chester, Duke of Cornwall, Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Baron of Renfrew, Lord of the Isles and Prince and Great Steward of Scotland.

In his video message HRH Prince Charles said,  " It is an indescribable tragedy that Christianity is now under such threat in the Middle East, an area where Christians have lived for 2000 years and across which Islam spread in 700 AD, with people of different faiths living together peaceably for centuries."

The report, by Aid to the Church in Need, claimed that "across the world, Christians remain the most persecuted religious minority, while Muslim countries predominate among states with the most serious violations of religious freedom."  (My emphasis in bold).

The report also said that "as Western Europe becomes more diverse, political and social tensions are rising between different faith and cultural groups".

John Pontifex, who compiled the religious freedom report, says "all faith communities need to work together to stand up for the right to worship in peace."

"We do not want to be alarmist but we do want to tell the truth in this report about the degrees to which minority groups - Yazidis, and indeed of course Christians, are being pushed out of their homelands."

"It is in effect a genocide.  What more evidence does one need to point to it being a genocide?"

Read :  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-29899571    (4 November 2014)

Also read:  http://www.ibtimes.co.in/prince-charles-asks-muslim-leaders-stop-persecution-christians-middle-east-613172


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On 18 December 2013, at a reception for Middle East Christians at Clarence House in London ...

Read :  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2525604/Christians-Middle-East-need-help-says-Charles-Prince-says-bridges-Islam-deliberately-destroyed.html


......" I have for some time now been deeply troubled by the growing difficulties faced by Christian communities in various parts of the Middle East."

"It seems to me that we cannot ignore the fact that Christians in the Middle East are increasingly being deliberately targeted by fundamentalist Islamic militants."

          Judge not, that ye be not judged.  For with what judgement ye
          judge, ye shall be judged:  and with what measure ye mete, it shall be
          measured to you again.  And why beholdest thou the mote in thy 
          brother's  eye, but considerest  not the beam that is in thine own eye?  
          Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of
          thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?  Thou hypocrite,
          first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see
         clearly to cast the mote out of thy brother's eye.
         (The Bible. Matthew 7:1-5)
          

HRH Prince Charles will one day - on the demise of his mother Queen Elizabeth II - ascend the
British throne.  Fidei Defensor or 'Defender of the Faith' will be one of his assignations.  He will be the 'Defender of the Anglican Faith' (as of 1544) and this signifies the British monarch's position as the Supreme Governor of the Church of England, a position that is superior (formally) to the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Another inherited title is  Dieu et mon droit - meaning God and my right - referring to the divine right of the king/queen to govern.

This you can observe in the British Passport

Note 'Dieu et mon droit' at the base of the logo

and the British coin.

The 50p coin.  FD stands for  'Fidei Defensor'.

In 1994 HRH did declare that "I personally would rather see (my future role) as Defender of Faith, not the Faith."

If that is HRH's desire then maybe he should be a bit more circumspect about apportioning blame to Islam for causing agony to the Middle Eastern Christians - in the same way that Catholics and other Christian groupings are doing.    Such people are merely 'menanggok di air yang keroh' .... or making hay while the sun shines and striking while the iron' s hot.

Let us remember: allegations that Islam and Muslims are more violent, than any other faith and groupings on this planet must always be seen in a context - and a context Westerners usually forget:

1.  Countries with the Christian heritage have killed off tens of millions of people in the wars of the twentieth century, 16 million in World War I, 60 million in World War II.  Some have attributed more deaths during WW II to "Buddhists in Asia" - because Buddhists in the Zen orders supported Japanese militarism.  And today you have the Buddhist monks of Myanmar pushing for the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingyas.

2.  Then there were those killed in the Colonial (Christian) wars against non-Christian natives. In India we have the Battle of Plassey,  the Indian Mutiny and other colonial 'skirmishes".  Belgium - a strongly Catholic country, - in its conquest over the Congo killed off half of the Congolese - at least 8 million.

3.  Does Christianity  want to be reminded of the Holocaust of over 6 million Jews - that Christianity thrived on the belief that Jews were the killers of Jesus Christ.  Who pays for this 'indescribable' crime?  They are mainly the Muslims in Palestine and by default the  Christians of the Christian Holy Land.

4.  Most recently, Christian civilization has surpassed itself in inflicting civilian deaths on Muslim populations in Bosnia, Iraq (twice), Afghanistan  - using the "official" excuse of a "War on Terror". Their direct involvement in 'wars of liberation' in Libya and Egypt, their support for Muslim radical/extremist groups like al-Qaeda, Muslim Brotherhood and ISIS is well-documented.   Of course you will not find such facts in documents and videos publicised  by Christian charity groups like  'Aid to the Church in Need'.

5.  If Muslims are slaughtering each other today, do take into account the inter-Christian butchery that took place during the Christian Reformation and Counter-Reformation.  And Christian civilization seems to have little stomach to analyze and discuss the "indescribable tragedy" of  the African Slave Trade that claimed 10 million African lives or the number of Native Americans in North, Central and South America hunted and massacred during Christian Colonial Conquests.

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The killing of Fusilier Lee Rigby in May 2012 sparked off blood-curdling cries against Islam in Britain.  David Cameron regarded it as an "an attack on the British way of life".  One sane voice dared to differ.   Seumas Milne of the Guardian had this to say: "When Rigby became a target by Muslim extremists, it  was a predicted consequence of an avalanche of violence unleashed by the US, Britain and others in eight direct military interventions in Arab and Muslim countries that have left hundreds of thousands dead,  Only the wilfully blind or ignorant can be shocked when there is blowback from that onslaught at home.  The surprise should be that there haven't been more such atrocities."

Read :  http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/20/woolwich-attack-muslim-world-islamophobia


When it comes to selecting victims, it seems that some victims, - especially Christians and Israelis - are more equal than others.  The Judaeo-Christians shield themselves, through their media machine, from the atrocities committed by their culture on others especially in  Muslim countries.

Other than perusing videos presented to him by sources related to his Faith - HRH might try to catch some of these .......

Bound and gagged: A Taliban insurgent in US custody in Afghanistan

A few days after the end of the Gulf ground war, an American soldier inspects the carbonized bodies of Iraqi soldiers killed when their convoy ... was bombed and strafed by Allied Aircraft.

Afghani children - victims of the War on Terror

More victims 

Victim of sanctions on Iraq

Victim of phosporus in Iraq - the very same 'weapon' used by Israel in Gaza.  With the phosporus bomb, "as the charge bursts, fragments of the white phosporus would be scattered ... at speed, and the particles spontaneously ignited on contact with the air.  They had a marked tendency to adhere to naked skin, where they would continue to burn and cause painful flesh wounds."  How different is this from ISIS's beheading??

Onward Christian soldiers, marching as to war, with the cross of Jesus going on before. 

Of course the minority Christians in the Middle East are victims of this terror war in their homeland but no more and no less than the majority who are Muslims.  To simply blame their plight on the Muslim extremists is mischievous - and perfidious.  For 2000 years these early Christians have lived in peace under Muslim rule.  Think: would they have survived the inter-Christianity wars in Europe in the Middle Ages, in the battle for supremacy between the Catholics and the Protestants? Think again - when did their world (and the Muslims too) began to fall apart.  Who made it difficult for Christians to make their pilgrimage to the Holy Land?

Perhaps HRH should also listen to other concerned voices like CAAT  (Campaign Against Arms Trade).

Prince Charles dressed up in the costume of a ceremonial sword dance in Saudi Arabia to "help enhance military links"

And Jesus said, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do."  And they cast lots to divide his garments.  (Luke 23:34)

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Dr Mahzan bin Haron, this posting is for you.  You (among a couple of others) nagged me incessantly to get to work on writing.  

Three days ago you wrote me  "If you stop, it's like a doctor who stops practicing because there's so much diseases and sick people around and it's only getting worse now."

I'm weary and the leaves are turning brown ...

Victoria Park - Our Haven.

.......  but you're making sense, just like my Abah, just like your Tok Antan.