We avoided KL Merdeka celebrations...

We had a visitor from Singapore who stayed a night in PJ and 2 nights in BG. Gen is only 21 and has just completed a 4-year double degree in Psychology and Law at University of Kent at Canterbury where Nee graduated last year. She is not a typical kiasu Singaporean ala PCK, having finished her high school in Kenya and spoke like a foreigner.

Nee and I drove from BG to pick her from in front of Corus Hotel in Jalan Ampang. That night Nee had agreed with some friends to have supper and night out at Zouk or The Loft. Imagine, just 10 minutes or so, and both Nee and Gen decided that they could not stand the music – too old for it! Anyway, the next day they decided to stay in and I had to buy back lunch and dinner for my ‘kidnap victims’. Even a cousin remarked, 'Is KL so boring?' I managed to squeeze in a couple of hours of jamming in Sentul and painting of some grilles at the PJ house. Instead of staying till Sunday, Nee decided to leave for BG on Saturday itself.

On Sunday, we had brunch at Kong Hing and then a drive to Kuala Kangsar where we had coffee and cheesecake at a kopitiam. Then we drove to Matang for the famous seafood porridge.

For Monday, we had planned for Pangkor Island. Anyway, while waiting for them to wake up, I decided to go to my local Indian restaurant for my breakfast and to read the papers. I was shocked to read the news about this fire in Batu Gajah, which claimed a life and it was only a few hundred metres from our house.

The tailor shop used to be next to my in-laws shophouse and they had known Ah Kow since he worked as a teenager – some 30 years. A few years ago, his boss moved to another shop down the road towards Pusing because the original shop was sold by the landlord. When my father-in-law was around, Ah Kow and his boss’s relative, Ah Teck (now 76) used to go for breakfast together.

Recently, Ah Kow (49) was diagnosed with throat cancer and had treatments in KL. Once he told me that he is not afraid to die and that he is still smoking and drinking like before. My wife even gave him a bottle of toddy given by a friend.

Before we set off on our planned outing, we went to the shop. The boss told us that Ah Kow’s brother took back his remains to Teluk Intan. The whole of the groundfloor was completely burnt, including all the cloths and finished clothes awaiting collection. I am sure many Malay customers had their orders for Hari Raya Puasa destroyed by the fire.

For the day’s outing, our first place of visit was a ‘heong paeng’ place in MTD. We actually chatted while waiting for their first batch straight from the traditional oven. A visitor there, recognised my wife and asked about the fire incident. We were shocked when she told us that many people talked about him committed suicide, using kerosene. I told her I did not think he would have done it as he had always speaks of his boss and relatives like family. I told myself to ask our grocer, Ah Wah for the details.

Anyway, today I had the chance to talk to Ah Wah. He said it was strange that Ah Teck’s wife just asked for his telephone numbers on Saturday – after all these years! As it turned out, that probably saved their lives. After midnight, when they spotted smoke coming from downstairs, she called Ah Wah, who then called the Fire Brigade. He was there to help the couple get out of the shop before the fire brigade arrived. It seems, it was unusual for Ah Kow to have locked the room door from the inside. Anyway, the police had been there to look for clues.

It seems it took the Bomba more than half an hour to arrive and they even had trouble locating the place! Maybe it was communication problem but Ah Wah said he told them (after 999 and the need to provide name and telephone numbers and so on) that it was 211 Jalan Pusing, between Indian temple and Caltex. Just imagine, on the main road! Their sloppy work left much to be desired, like dropping the hose a few times and asking for the hydrant’s location. (Sigh)

We then proceeded to Clearwater Sanctuary and to my favourite spot where anglers fish but most times you can have the place to yourself for private chat.

We then proceeded to the last tin dredge preserved for tourists. As it was related to my wife’s business, she would include a tour for any new visitors. It was sad to hear of Steven’s illness and his pessimism. He is compiling a book with pictures for posterity. SP expressed interest even at Rm240!

We were late for lunch, reaching Tg. Tuallang past 2.00pm. It was packed and we waited one hour before the food was ready. But it was worth it because the food tasted excellent like always.

On our way to Lumut, it was raining heavily and being late, we gave up the trip to Pangkor Island. Lumut jetty is now very modern and chic.