An Imagined Story of 2 Kids

After watching a documentary on Discovery Channel on the coronation of the Sultan of Perak, I was curious that his consort and two children are so young. So I did some googling and found out that Sultan Nazrin aged 59 has an impressive academic record, having graduated from Oxford and attaining Phd at Harvard. He married at 51 and have 2 children aged 7 and 4. However what intrigued me more is Sultan Nazrin's father, Sultan Azlan Shah.

When my father left his apprenticeship in Singapore for Kuala Lumpur in 1957 he started off working in the men's-boutique department of a departmental store frequented by well heeled customers including senior government officials and professionals. The per-requisite of a well-tailored bespoke suit is a hand draft pattern of great precision. Based on the individual's measurements, a pattern is drafted like an engineering drawing involving a lot of precise measuring and calculation. This was the skill which my father excelled. He brought a lot of business to the store and in no time felt he deserved more than the meager salary he was getting. Thus whilst still holding his day job he set up shop which opened only in the evening in the flat which the family lived. Of course he charged much cheaper than what the department store charged. The flat was on the third floor and one had to climb 3 flight of stairs to reach the flat. Even then he drew away many customers from the departmental store. Perhaps operating in the evening also suited peoples' schedule. From my parents' conversation, especially because of my mother's great admiration for the well educated and professionals, I knew from a young age names like Lim Chong Yah (who was then teaching in the University of Malaya), Lien Ying Chow (who was then Singapore high commissioner to KL) and a high court judge of royal lineage was amongst the customers who heaved and peeved 3 storeys to seek a tailor to make their perfect suit. Now the high court judge was the one that I remembered most because on one of his visits he used a meter-long ruler to hit the false ceiling of the room (which was renovated as a shop) and teased my father about what he was hiding above. I learnt from my mother that the high court judge later became a sultan and much later the Yang di Pertuan Agong.

After much googling I realised the documentary was about the coronation of the son of that 'judge' whom we held in awe. This was our closest link with anything royal and famous. When one has the slightest brush with the rich and famous one starts to let imagination runs wild. Could we have met when we were young? You see when these people came to make their suits, they sometimes bring their children along, like in an outing. Sometimes these kids would sit on the rattan chairs at the balcony whilst waiting for their father who seemed to be taking forever to select the fabric and design. My role as a young kid was that of a doorman, unlocking and opening the door when customers were about to leave the flat. The door to the flat opened into the balcony. So I would be on standby at the balcony near the door. Could one of those kids whom I exchanged stares with be the present Sultan of Perak? I wonder.

I like the scene which I imagined. Two kids, one Malay boy and one Chinese girl staring at each other. The girl opened the door for the father and the kid. More than half a century later an old woman watched a documentary on the coronation of a King; 2 kids, 2 life trajectories.