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By 1979 Malaysia had started to change. Dr. Mahathir Mohamed was in the Cabinet and would become Prime Minister soon. Malaysia’s brain drain began then. Along with a handful of classmates, I was sent to study in Britain. My most enduring memory of boarding school in Kent is the sound of the 30 bells that ruled our lives daily. |
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And the food – powdered mash potatoes, gummy tomato sauce and tinned ravioli – so bland compared to Malaysian fare. I still can’t eat ravioli.
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Wayward child that I was, I opted to study Physics at Southampton University. Did I know another Malaysian studying Physics? Of course not! Never mind, I did so well that Southampton offered me a scholarship to continue to a Ph.D. If only I had known then that all dinner table conversation would cease whenever anyone asked what I did… |
| I never attended my graduation ceremony. I was too busy travelling around Europe on a cheap rail pass and staying in even cheaper hostels. |  |