Saturday, June 14, 2008

Tronoh...quaint, yet ecstatic....

























Having completed my task as an external examiner for four solid hours, I stopped for a while at the peaceful lake right across the main gate of Universiti Teknologi Petronas. There was a cafĂ© then. But there were only ruins now, pieces of wood and a glimpse of its past glory, lay scattered in the sands…

My heart was mesmerized, at the familiar sight of the desolate town of ‘Toronto’ (Tronoh). The ancient post office still stands as it was. So was the quaint, little police station. These evoked me of my birthplace, Sungai Nibong Police Station, Penang. This might have been how it looked like when my parents ventured our of their kampung to a place in Johor when my father was posted there on his first assignment in the 1950s. The scenes of which were captured and presented to readers of my book, “Seungu Lavendar”. I wish that this place is left untouched for years to come. The surroundings are so enthralling and intriguing! For those who intend to relive scenes of Malaya/Malaysia in the 50’s and 60’s especially for the filming industry, this is the place. I just love it!

But my real intention of getting to Tronoh, which was meeting my mentor was not meant to be…He, who had played a great part in shaping my mindset as an academic, always kindling my ongoing interest in the quest for knowledge and lifelong learning, who was one of those responsible for and made a great impact in letting me become what I am today is Professor Paruvachi Ammasai Venkatachalam (his contract with Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP) for the past 8 years was coming to an end). For he was with USM Engineering Campus for 12 years before serving UTP. I was told, he and his wife were away in Australia, visiting their children and family for 10 days. Alas!

I really hope to get to see him before he leaves for India, his homeland for good, God willing…There are so many things that I would like to say to him....

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