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Temasek, a fairy tale
by Tan Jing Quee
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Letter from Chennai
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Temasek, a fairy tale by Tan Jing Quee * * * * * * * * * Letter from Chennai |
| TEMASEK , a fairy tale ( I ) Was this the site where five rajas sauntered and sported Amongst these trees Under forbidden shades Within this same bukit ; When ancient waterfalls broke The sportive giggles of dayangs ; Dancing Puteris pined and sighed Amidst serunais, tambors and tambourines Now , Beethoven's symphonies fill the languid air The trees are silent The hills will not speak. Will the dark earth yield dire tales Which foreshadowed this forlorn amnesia, Will the monsoon rains lay bare lingering trails from excavated earth, Reveal ancient intrigues and conspiracies Layered remains of buried treacheries To exorcise ghostly secrets and murders ? The winds rustle with eerie tremors Retell shadows of angry gajahs From distant Ayuthia Advancing hordes uprooting wild trunks To avenge a royal murder most foul In old Temasek. ( II ) The ingrate usurper, Parameswara Of Samudra descent and Hindu lineage Confronting stronger arms, superior might Led a ragtag retinue of cronies Fled with unseemly haste Across the treacherous straits In search of a new haven Under an old malaka tree Sang Kancil bid him rest establsished a new kingdom To cleanse the assassin’s stains Of blood and ignomy His son Iskandar rose to proclaim a new Sultanate and godly sovereignty over Kota Melaka to spite the heathen southern isle Zhenghe , eunuch and Muslim , led an armada from Cathay came to visit, took copious notes, rhinocerous horns, wild herbs, left to report on the wonders Of a new periphery Returned to seal a new alliance For peace and tranquility in the South Seas And Malaka prospered And Temaasek was overran, laid waste A pirate’s lair, strewn with wild skulls. The people left, Wild jungle reclaimed the land Imperialism came and Raffles landed, unveiled an old trickery to the Temenggong Lured Sultan Hussein from his retreat at Rhio : Signed, sealed and delivered an abandoned isle for a pension in cursive calligraphy on durable parchment ( III ) A post colonial modernity rose from the seas An Emporium of the East : A fortress, new harbours, airports, railways, roads Stock exchange, telecommunication towers; Banks, agency houses, shopping malls Proliferate, grow in tandem Huge high-rises of steel , stones and glass rise Buses, trucks, vehicles move on smooth tarmac Orchids migrate from wild recesses To gardens and nurseries Bougainvilleas grace the lawns And crimson hibiscus disappear ( IV ) Will the unchanging monsoons Wash away the debris of memories To reveal the dark secrets of the earth And purge this land from murders Will rainbow hibiscus bloom again ? ******************************* Letter to the editor KL Chai's "Pulau Tikus" musings, as well as your book reviews in The Penang File, give me so much joy; and I have much more to anticipate from you and your crew, as I've only read issues 47 backwards to 41, and a full forty issues are being hoarded by me for rainy days. May I take the liberty, commit the boldness, of introducing myself? I'm an old Penang buck, currently marooned in Chennai (Madras), India, and I'm 55 years old. In 1962, I did my MSSEE from Westlands Primary School, and made the first term at Penang Free School in 1963, when I heartachingly left our emerald isle for Ipoh, in my father's footsteps - he worked in Indian Overseas Bank, and often was transferred - and ended up at ACS, Ipoh. The first day at ACS, it was revealed kindly to me that I was an erstwhile Pig For Sale, per my class teacher, who was doing the taunting. In 1962 & 1963 in Penang, I lived in Irrawaddy Road. In 1966, my family returned to Penang, and we lived in Western Road till 1970. From 1966-69, I was back in Free School, finished with Form 6 there, and hit Delhi for my BA, then the USA for my MBA, worked in India and the USA, etc. I returned to Madras from the US in 1984, rather than coming back to Malaysia, because my parents had retired to Madras. And here I've been ever since, visiting Malaysia roughly twice a year for holidays, to catch up with friends. Alas, I'm mostly in KL during these trips, as most of the PFS mates who I want to luxuriate with are now in KL. When I chanced upon your magazine two days ago, it took me back to my wonderful days in Penang, no wine but all roses, lovely rains and fallen angsana flowers and Gurney Drive char kway teow, et al; and the books you reviewed strike especially sweet chords, and lure the most fragrant of memories from the abysses of the past. N. Kumar. |
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| _____________________ The Penang File Issue 53 |