Historical Diversion: New book in my Collection

Do any of you remember this history book? "The White Rajahs: A History of Sarawak from 1841 to 1946" by Sir Steven Runciman was first published in 1960 by Cambridge University Press. It was never a standard textbook if I remember correctly, but it remains a very useful reference.

Anyway I found this copy in Select Books at Tanglin Shopping Centre, Singapore yesterday.

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Well, at least for this Hari Raya holiday, you know what I'll be reading ...

Selamat Hari Raya 2011

Here's wishing all my Muslim schoolmates and friends a joyous Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri. And for all others, have a great holiday !

And now for some nice Hari Raya entertainment .... turn up your volume, sit back and enjoy ...

Living History

I've realised that as I get older, I seem to appreciate history more and more. Back in school, history was simply another subject. Interesting enough if you happened to have a good teacher, but otherwise just a bunch of events and dates to memorise and regurgitate for exams.

This morning, I happened to be listening to the radio while driving when an old Billy Joel song that I loved came on. I always thought Joel was a great musician but this musical number was simply brilliant. This song was first released in 1989 when Joel was forty years old. The song covers historic items between 1949 (when he was born) to 1989.  If we had such musical and video accompaniment during our history classes back at St Joe, maybe more of us might have taken up history in college.

Here's the Billy Joel number. If you still haven't guessed the title, it's called "We Didn't Start The Fire", and it showcases many historical events and figures during our lifetime. Turn up the volume and enjoy. You can even dance if you like  ...

As you know, I have taken a special interest in Sarawak history, and  have dedicated a number of postings in this blog to stories about the Brookes and other individuals and events in our state's colourful history. We in Sarawak have a great multicultural heritage that generations after us should know about. Perhaps one of these days, I should work on a book to cover some of the less documented aspect of our history.

In recent years, I've also been increasingly involved in another kind of history - family history or genealogy. I may have mentioned this in earlier postings of my blog. It is fascinating to trace your ancestors and their descendants, and it is particularly exciting when you can overlay your family history with your state or country's history. My genealogical project has taken my father and myself to various parts of Sabah (Kota Kinabalu, Beaufort, Membakut and Kuala Penyu), Labuan, Sarawak (Kuching) and Singapore. Anyway, we recently completed the first edition of our first genealogical book "Tracing the Roots of the Yong Family" and we are in the final stages of the second book "In Search of Lau Chek" (Lau being my mother's surname).

Well, that's it for today's posting on Living History. As always, you are encouraged to share your thoughts and experiences.

Class of 78 Get-Together in Kota Kinabalu

Fifteen chaps from the Class of 78 were in Kota Kinabalu between 12th to 15th August 2011. KK being a lovely coastal city, I had assumed they were there mainly for the sun, sand and sea. Leo reports that they were also there for the comradeship, cuisine and chi .....ahem ....  chinese reflexology.


Those who made the trip were .... From 5Sc1, there was Soh Soon Chai, Dominique Ng Kim Ho, Pierce Chow Kar Ho, Ng Yaw Hwa, Kho Ping, Chi Ted Fatt, Si Poh Liang, Henry Kung and Alan Poh.  From 5Sc2, there was Vincent Leong, Voon Kian Peng, Richard Wong Seng Kong, Ngu Chin Ho and Leonard Sia. From 5Arts1 was David Teo.

Dinner for the first two nights was at the same place, and in true Josephian record-beating style, some 10 kgs of crabs was consumed. 
 
Those who arrived on 12th morning visited the islands kind courtesy of David Teo (5Arts1) who is running a business in KK. He made most of the arrangements there including deciding where to eat and where to get the rubs and more. Definitely made the trip more enjoyable.
 

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Fig 6: Relaxing at tobby of Sutera Harbour hotel

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Fig 8: Montage B

Fig 9: At a lounge. Where are the drinks?

On Sunday night, onlyeight stayed on. More eating, more catchups, more chatting, more reflexo ...

Next year, the Class of 78 is considering another reunion ... probably in Phuket or Bandung.  Anyone interested, please contact one of them.

Condolences to Bertram Chew

Just heard the sad news of the untimely demise of Yu Fun, beloved wife of Bertram Chew  aka "Bertie" ( Form Five Arts 1, 1976 and Upper Six Arts 1978 ).

Many of us at St Joe during the Seventies would know Bertram and his brothers who attended St Joseph's and his sisters most of whom were at St Teresa's.

Bertram & family, deepest condolences. Our thoughts are with you during this difficult time. Take care.

Message in a Bottle

While driving to work this morning, I heard the radio DJ relate a recent "message in a bottle" story. Apparently about a year ago, off the coast of Oregon, a ten-year-old boy tossed a message in a bottle into the Pacific Ocean. Weeks ago, a 9-year-old girl in Hawaii found it.

The boy Thomas Craig never expected his bottle to arrive safely in anyone's hands. In an interview with West Hawaii Today newspaper, he said "I couldn't believe someone had found it. I was shocked. When I threw it overboard, it hit the top of my grandpa's boat so I thought it broke and sank. The chances of someone finding it seemed like a once-in-a-million type thing."

In Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, little Trinity Ballesteros  saw the bottle washed up on the beach. The note inside read: "Dear finder of my message, my name is Thomas and I live in Oregon. I'm ten years old and this week I'm salmon fishing deep in the ocean. I would like to hear from you."

Trinity responded (via email) to Thomas, who had included his mom's email address. Since then, the two plan to become pen pals - of the digital variety. 

Awwwwww ... how sweet.

I'm sure that when Hollywood makes this into a movie, the story would have these two kids grow up, fall in love, fight various challenges to their union and eventually live happily ever after. 

In this age of email and Facebook and Twitter, something as primitive as a message-in-a-bottle holds a certain fascination for me. What are the chances that a bottle randomly tossed into the sea would actually be found by someone at all? 

My question to YOU today is this. If you were to send a message inside a bottle, what would you write on that piece of paper?

Check out my other blog, Asian Observer

For those who have not done so previously, I warmly welcome you to check out my other blog

www.asian-observer.com

This blog carries a broader discussion of topics relating to Asia - whether on Asian economy, culture, politics and society - as well as Asian perspectives on world events. The audience is a bit wider as well.

Occasionally there's duplication with the familiar "Josephians of the Seventies" site, but only when the topic is equally relevant to both.

Attractive no-prizes for the first 50 who click. LOL.

Anyway hope you will share your views and comments just as generously.

Thanks in advance for your support.

--- James
     (aka Website Jaga)