Battle of the two towers

Teluk Intan, there was much more stories in that leaning tower than the expensive KLCC. Stories about success and failure of humble human being in a town that classified KFC as high class restaurant, Jamal Abdillah to be the all time favorite singer and credit cards can only be eligible to super rich businessman. Those were the days, days of my innocent but ordinary life; where this world was just empty space with unlimited possibilities of excitement.

Daddy didn’t earn much, just as much as the total sum of what his son pays for Astro and phone bills today. No need for car, the ever reliable ‘basikal tua’ traveled thousands of kilometers before making its way to the junkyard or better known as ‘kedai besi buruk’in Teluk Intan giving way to the second hand Honda cup. Family trip was still enjoyable on those non-express busses which stop almost every five minutes meanwhile during emergency there’s always wealthy neighbor with car who wouldn’t hesitate sending us to the hospital as long as the tank was not empty on the way home. We were happy although we do wonder how big was Angkasapuri, how tall was Dayabumi and what Big Mac taste was like.

School days were splendid with none pretentious racial integration, be it in class or during football games. Khoo Tian Soo or Arulpiragasam wouldn’t care about my
skin or status; we were just school boys adoring Mokhtar Dahari and Arumugam whenever we had chance to be on the field after terrific exhilaration of healthy
contest in class. Or else we’ll be hanging in front the school gate, looking as adorable as we can to the sore eyes of school girls next door. There were no Playstation or Astro waiting after school, the best was to have RTM1 starting at 3 pm on Thursday than 5pm on Monday to Wednesday. I was happy with action-pack Gaban and Ultraman fighting the super evil plastic monsters.


Festive seasons were the most awaited time of the year, not that we were excited about the trip to ‘Pasaraya’ for new outfits, it’s the food that we crave the most. It’s the time that I could enjoy the Indian and Chinese food, without having doubt of halal serving. A mutual understanding built on trust and respect; accurately cook to perfection without big ‘rumah terbuka’ banner topping it all.



Journey to the luxurious end to this side of the world was expensive, as expensive as the landmark; Petronas twin towers. An ostentatious city with money topping the popularity chart; be it legal or not having lots of it is a common goal. With KFC falling into the middle class category, no meals can be too expensive; it’s just where you are in the society. Cars are necessity, the more expensive it is, and the more successful you are in public eyes enhancing the possibilities of having opposite gender attraction or so call love at first sight in a materialistic way.

Schools are no longer the place where racial integration takes place; kiasu penetrated the innocent environment leaving no place for sincerity with parents playing catalyst to patronizing student’s behavior. To list 10 names of different races can be impossible when time is so limited for it to happen, tuition classes and playstation is too challenging acquiring most of the time left after school. Football for the Malays, basketball for the Chinese and cricket for the Indians; where on earth can they mingle?

Forget about festive season; most of us will be flocking the highway rushing to be there on time for the celebration leaving kids to mingle within the small circle of family. Are they happy? They should be happy after the amounts of money daddy spend on them. I just wish my kids can experience and learned the hard way like I did, only the stage is different and why not they dictate this stage and not get sucked into the routine games.