VERANDAH STORIES….ON-LINE   for Langkawisenses.

Some few years ago when at long last I learnt to use a computer to write on I felt that one ought to pass on a few of the ‘old stories of the ‘old days’…of what was called Malaya.
Those Old Boys, who worked hard, played hard, drank very hard, and died soon in this part of the world.
So that their contribution, especially in the Plantation world, vital to the rebuilding after the war, then suffering under the fight against the Communist guerrillas, might not be completely forgotten.
Apart from that some of them had great personal stories to tell.
So night after night, with a whiskey bottle glowing in the light of an oil-lamp, the sounds of the jungle and river in the background, these stories were told and retold. We young upstarts just listened, and sipped….

As far as I can remember my mother, soon after she was married came out to Malaya in the 30’s and was left for a while living in Raffles Hotel,.
My father was one of the pioneers of flying in the Far East, the old Imperial Airways. In fact I know that he flew a land plane from North Malaya, and I believe it might have been from Alor Star, now the capital of our State of Kedah (another amazing coincidence) to find a  route from Malaya/Singapore to get to Hong Kong, for the flying boats to follow. He did in a plane called Dedalus.
Mother then transferred to Hong Kong as father was in charge of the new flying boats landing there. His father lived there, for many years, two of his brothers born there.
And then I was born there, and we lived on The Peak, of course…

So one day, some time before she died, I turned to my mother, whilst reading some of Somerset Maugham’s famous short stories particularly of Malaya, and said I thought they were fantastic, 
 “ Oh “ she said “Those stories… I could probably put names to most of them….”

So one day I should tell my stories………….

They will be in this collection affectionately known as ‘Verandah Stories’….

I have at times sat with strangers and related some of the stories, to be chided severely as to their being just inventions of an incredible genius………….. which I am not!!!
But in the small world of those in plantation world of both rubber, especially in the early days, only later on the oil-palm, we all knew everybody’s name and where they were, even tho’ we had not necessarily met them..
So when us, young ‘uns heard the stories,  we had no reason to disbelieve them, perhaps only with slight exaggeration to be accepted.
After drinking how many bottles of whiskey?? And bedding how many girls?? Were you still able to shoot the tiger walking up your verandah steps????................
But you were sitting on that verandah with your bare feet in the fur of ‘That Tiger’!!!

That’s all about ‘before’.

Now living here on Langkawi if I was to write about some of the relationships ( as there isn’t any tiger hunting and nobody ‘lives’ in the jungle proper ) that I see,  then I would get the same remarks about “ that’s ridiculous you have made it up to write about!!”

So when I do, Maugham will turn in his grave..
They are true!!,  and I will have to leave the island for ever on the next plane……….!!!

VERANDAH STORIES

So if anybody wanted to read a few I have attached them to this...........

PLEASE NOTE.. they are in .pdf  format so that if you DONT want to read them on this site you can merely copy them to your computer for later.......
THEN ...RIGHT CLICK and use SAVE TO.... wherever you want on your computer

'BUNGA SUNDAL MALAM'   
Just a short story of the young Planter and his 'Keep'......

CROCS UNLIMITED

As it says there were lots of them... everywhere !!

If you are not careful I will put some more in soon, but I realised that some of them from the era of 'Work hard, Play Hard, Drink VERY Hard, and ??? Hard' may not be suitable for the young and innocent!