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Of relocations and new friends



Working at the Post Office, I had the good fortune of meeting other government servants working in Sitiawan at the the same time. They were helpful guys and introduced me to a local Indian restaurant which provided me with 5 meals a day, including tea breaks at 10.00  in the morning and another at 3.00pm. All this for $40.00 a month. After paying for my meals and a contribution of $50.00 to my family in Ipoh; I was left with $10.00 for my entire month’s expenditure. 


Another friend from Ipoh said he was living with a few bachelors at a disused Hospital ward located on the fringes of the town and said he had discussed my move to a vacant room at the Hospital ward and the other inmates did not have any objections and so I moved into the vacant room where I did nor have to pay any rent except my share for payment for utilities.    


The job I had was a temporary job until confirmed by the Public Services Department. But before I was confirmed I had applied for the permanent clerical post in the Telecoms Department hoping for a permanent job. As I have chronicled elsewhere here, I managed to obtain a permanent job with the Telecoms Department but when the letter of appointment arrived I was surprised I was posted to Alor Setar  a town 160 miles away from my home, which was disappointing as I had hoped for a posting to Ipoh so that i could be nearer my family. 


Living in Alor Setar on my own, gave me opportunities to increase my circle of friends. I met many new friends who had never travelled out of Alor Setar. Since I was in a new place, I had plenty of time at my disposal and  the many new friends gave me an insight into community problems that appeared to skip the attention of the locals. 

After work we  used to assemble at an hockey field to watch a handful of guys playing hockey. That field, I later found out, had been gifted to the Indian community for recreational purposes by the Colonial Administration. As the land was in a strategic location facing the main gateway to the town it became a popular meeting place. The community leaders had put up a club house consisting of a timber structure where community members used to gather. 

content (c) Ganapathy Ramasamy, mynameisgana.blogspot.com

tonic advertisement image (c) Malaysia Design Archive 

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