We were having a quiet breakfast with two lovely sisters from Sarawak, at a Perth Market when an old friend and his wife walked in
My husband gave him loud hello and he was happy to reciprocate,though pleasantly surprised. Then they were happily exchanging casual talks and filling in gaps from where they said good bye before in Kuching.
Then the impatient aide tried to put a word in.
His aide remarked, "Do you know he is a Tan Sri Now?"
The Tan Sri, casually said, "Never mind, we are old friends..."
So we continued...and and every now and then, my husband addressed him as " Tan Sri......"loud enough for the aide to hear!!
I suppose we have to stick to our protocols even when we are in a foreign country.
Note : He was to become a Chief Minister of Sarawak. He was one of the most loved Chief Minister of Sarawak but he untimely died in office.
We were glad to meet up with him in Perth, where he could be so human and so friendly, telling old stories and laughing.
May he rest in peace.
1 comment:
He was a very broad-minded person. In February 1966, five of us were sent by the Sarawak Government to study in the University of Adelaide in South Australia.
We were accommodated in a residential college run by a Catholic Mission in North Adelaide. Every morning, we were served with Western breakfast consisting of corn flakes, milk, bread and a plate of bacons and fried eggs.
Being a Muslim, he would only eat the eggs and give the bacons to someone sitting at the same table!
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