David Munusamy visits Singapore

David Munusamy was in town for two nights recently. He had written to say he was on his around-Malaysia fund-raising tour and would drop by Singapore. Near the appointed date, I rang him only to find he was still in Teluk Intan. A week later found him in KL. Then Kajang.

I figured it would take him another week to get down and was reminded of David's sense of time and distance...

Then out of the blue a day later I got a call from him saying he was coming in… A bit of a mad scramble and I fixed up a place for him to stay at Johann’s as well as a simple programme for two days.

I arranged to meet him in Little India, parked the car in an open car park and settled down for a beer at the Broadway Hotel cafe. No sooner had I plonked my bag on the seat when my mobile rang and it was David - he’d missed the turning to Serangoon Rd and was sitting at a bus stop a short drive away. With thoughts of the Kingfisher Beer I could now not have, I got back in the car and eventually found him as he said, sitting at a bus stop outside the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes along Ophir Road.

It’s been almost two years since we met but he looked much the same - that same broad ageless smile, the same jocund manner. We put his bike in the car and set off to settle him in at Johann’s.

Later that evening we met for dinner and Mei finally got to meet this mad cyclist I have often mentioned. He was settling in nicely at Johann’s - and so he should as if ever there was a mad cyclist, it would be Johann.

We met again the next day for lunch when we also popped by my favourite bike shop, Song Seng Chan, then went with Johann for a night ride into Singapore’s Central Business District. Well, the outskirts of that to be more accurate - around the stadium then the Esplanade and the Merlion/Collyer Quay.

Amazingly I’d never done this and since that night have quite an interest in exploring at night. It’s so much cooler and traffics that much lighter. Although I would reckon good lights are a must have - Singapore drivers are not the most observant or tolerant in the world.

Here are some pictures of David’s too-short time in Singapore.

Me, David, Mei, Joe and friend at dinner at Sin Hoi Sai along East Coast Road

David and I on the Esplanade Bridge

David playing photographer for a couple of tourists

Johann and David with the Singapore Flyer in the background. There was some small National Day practice thing going on hence the bright lights.

David with the CBD in the background.

That's the new Integrated Resort (read: Casino) being built in the background.

Outside the Raffles Hotel - sorry didn't get it in the shot.

Day 25 Nov 9 Parit Buntar - Penang Part 1

David and I had breakfast, posed for a couple of pictures and then I set off.

We had talked about his retirement plans and I encouraged him to continue doing what he was doing - his contribution to the tourism industry went way beyond the little money he earned from his efforts. I look forward to keeping in touch and hope one day to find he's earning a good retirement income from David's Homestay.

David assured me the ride to Batu Feringgi was easy if I took the coast road. And indeed, the start of my journey that day was fine. Until I got closer to Butterworth that is.

Like Kelang, it was a case of one bridge after another... and then another, before I got to the Ferry Terminal. Michael, my cousin Margie's husband, had told me not to worry about training too hard and that I would simply get fitter on the ride. I have indeed and the bridges now don't scare me so much. Or cause me too much hassle.

At one stage I recalled my fears of the Hills of Perak. Indeed, while in Parit Buntar I got an SMS from my brother Tony asking how the Hills of Perak were and I replied 'Hills? What hills?'. Well, after hearing of the Hills of Perak (capitalisation just seems so appropriate) from Singam and Francis, I must say I encountered..errr... none!

But it seems someone read my reply and moved the hills to Penang Island....

With David's directions in my head (finally he got them right!) I found the ferry terminal, survived the harrowing rush among the motorcyclists to get on board, enjoyed the trip over to the Island (where I met and spoke with yet another local who thought I was Japanese or Korean!) and did the ride through Georgetown and along Gurney Drive. It was after Gurney Drive that the hills were dumped on me.

A day later, when Mei and I took a cab in to town and we passed the same way, but in the opposite direction, I was amazed I managed without a problem. Some of the roads were very narrow indeed and some of the hills were quite long and steep. I noted the way in to town had no run off nor the security of a cliff wall - if you were bumped off the road going in, you ran the very real risk of falling over a cliff and into the sea. The few times we drove there reinforced my desire not to ride back but to take a cab instead.

The Lone Pine is a very nice hotel - low-rise and without the masses and throngs that blight the bigger establishments. Mei and I enjoyed our stay there, and the wedding of Chris Seow and Mong.

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Day 24 - 25 Nov 7 - 8 Parit Buntar Part 4

One of the places David took me to was a toddy plantation where we sat on plastic chairs under the shade of coconut trees drinking toddy and chatting with more of his friends. The Toddy Plantations are, I guess, not exactly licensed to sell for on-premise consumption, but what the heck. I realised this was the pub culture of the area and it was utterly fascinating.

Many of the people in the area are fishermen and when they have no maintenance work to do while on shore, they really do have a lot of time on their hands. There is a rising drug problem, but on the whole, the fishing community do what many urban people do on Friday evenings - kick back and relax with friends over a few drinks.

So, the setting is in the fresh outdoor air, with a padi field as a backdrop, the music of birds the background to casual conversation, steamed fish, grilled ray, roast duck or whatever anyone has brought on the table for all to share... No loud blaring music, no smell of stale cigarette smoke lingering on your clothes, and all for RM 6 per 2-litre bottle!

And the conversations were familiar too, even if topically different. We all laughed at the types of drunks - the sad and weepy ones, the sleepy ones, the aggressive ones, haven't we met them all in pubs in cities? - talked about my ride, the life in the village, and we heard a few good (ahem) reasons why some of them didn't turn up for David's Diwali gathering when David admonished them. If I closed my eyes, imagined a smell of beer and spirits, maybe some stale smoke, and the dry artificiality of air-conditioned air, I could have been in a pub in KL. The loud voices, the laughter, though - they were the same.

We stayed an hour or so and I sampled the fresh toddy (sweet and lower alcohol) as well as the morning's collection (sharper taste with higher alcohol content). Then off we went for a siesta at a sauna by the padi fields.

Well, David did the sauna thing, while I had a quiet snooze in a hammock. The place is run by a Chinese family in a Malay kampung. The steam boiler is fired by coconut husks - the family sells the nuts they harvest and the husks are a good, high-calorie source of heat. The coconut tree is certainly a marvellous multi-use plant. Here too, they know David and we bumped into yet more of his friends. One of whom was indeed at the party the night before and needed to steam out the alcohol he had consumed!

Everyone who knows David has greeted him warmly. Chatting with one or two of them on the side, he has been described on more than one occasion as having a big heart. Indeed the man has. And then some.

As we drove around the Parit Buntar environs, David slowly let his Tour Guide persona ebb and the other, more personal, side of him rise. I had told him I was keen on seeing what made him tick, and that idea slowly dawned on him. He took me around not to educate me as he would a tourist, but he began clearly to want me to share in his life. He was showing me Parit Buntar and her residents because in them was a reflection of him.

What is, or who is, a Malaysian?

This ride is about re-discovering the values that underpin our Malaysian identity and by so doing, unearthing one definition of 'Malaysian'.

I will explore this a little further for this topic deserves that bit of effort, to add to the mountain of words what academics, sociologists, anthropologists, even politicians (professional or coffeeshop) have created.

Meanwhile, if we broadly accept that being Malaysian includes possessing and living these attributes:
a can-do attitude that overides whatever limits life may put in one's path,
a sense of brotherhood that cuts through racial and creed barriers,
a pride in our country that is beyond nationalism,
a warmth and kindness and a desire to befriend and help others,
then I put it to you that I have met and stayed two days with a true Malaysian.

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