From 11th March 2008 - Leicester (CsH)

Today, the 11th of March 2008, Lord Goldsmith, the Attorney General who said that it was legal for Britain to attack Iraq in 2003, suggested a policy where all secondary school students had to make an oath of allegiance to Queen and Country every morning, just like they do in USA and Singapore. I shudder because I can just visualize what those kids will do to 'embellish' the occasion. Oh, I pity the headmaster and the teachers.

I recall my experiences with demonstrations of loyalty which stretched from the time I was in Pasir Panjang Primary School from 1951 to 1957. We used to celebrate Empire Day, indeed we did, believe it or not!.There would be a School Assembly and we would salute and march past the Union Jack. We were taught that the Union Jack was made up of the flags of St George of England, St Andrew of Scotland, St Patrick of Ireland and and St David of Wales AND we had better remember that! After the march past we were given a talk by a superior-looking English Colonial Officer. As we were just little brown piccaninnies (I'm being ironic here), the sight of an actual 'white man' left us quite gobsmacked, as they say nowadays. No wonder we looked very, very attentive, even scared.
Before 1953, we were taught to sing 'God Save the King' and when his daughter took over, it became 'God Save the Queen' and that anthem became absorbed into our blood and bones. Many years later in 1974 I went to a movie in London. At the end of it, they would play 'God Save The Queen'. Everybody else, mainly the indigenous people of England were desperately scampering out while I stood rooted to the spot. Old habits die hard. I had to be almost forcibly dragged away by my 'native' companion!
When I was attending Crescent Girls' School (1958-1961), I sang 'Majulah Singapura' and later when Singapore was embraced into Malaysia, I also sang 'Negara Ku'. When Singapore was unceremoniously ejected from Malaysia, we kept to the former. When I entered the teaching profession in 1967, I found myself supervising tetchy and testy teenagers during the flag raising and oath-taking ceremony and the singing of the National Anthem.
Unfortunately, one of my students who was not too pukka with the English language wrote in his school composition for me : 'every morning we sing our national anthem and swear at the flag' !! (Honest, Guide's Honour) Bless his cotton socks.

With all these demands on my loyalty, no wonder I sometimes go to bed thinking, "Who do I belong to?" or rather "where do I belong?". It has to be where I take off my shoes or as they say in this country, where I hang my coat.

Bunga Tahi Ayam (Lantana Camara)

The four of us as wee bairns with our first cat, Puss. He waited for Abah to come home before he gasped his last breath.

Now, if I had a chance to design my own flag, it will look like this. The middle will be filled with all the brilliant colours of my favourite kampung flower, bunga tahi ayam which unfortunately translates as 'chicken shit flower'. Never mind, it is still special to me.
I shall illustrate the border with pictures of Puss, Puteh, Tina, Dajal, Belang, Kooky, Suzie, Rosemary, Fido or Oscar, Poppy, Bendy, Quincey, Mana, Poppy Mark 2, or Kuntum, Fido Mark 2 aka Adek, or Tiger, Socks, Hitam, Rusty, and Comot aka Coreng. These are all my cats from Singapore, Batu Pahat, Leicester and Kuala Lumpur; from 1946 to the present. Most have gone and many tears were shed when they departed. Here are the KL Mob.

Comot, literally a messed-up kid (ooops, cat)

Can't resist this picture of a cat destined for the garden tip!

Is this Hitam or Rusty - no idea!

Socks the Snob
Rusty at the top and Poppy and Comot exploring their humongous loo

I would also include Pedro, our one and only puppy, but we had him for such a short while because he disappeared after a big flood in the kampung house at Pasir Panjang. I will have to find room for our rabbits, geese, chicken and especially my very little chicken, the runt who was almost featherless, named Bogel. Whenever I got home from school, I would sit at the threshhold of the back door and called out 'Bogel, Bogel' and he would come running to peck my hand or peck my cheek. I think I was his only friend because he was so terribly bullied by his stronger siblings. Later when his health showed signs of weakening, my dad decided to do what he thought was best and my pet became a meal. (In those days, in the 1950s, you get a chicken meal only on the most rare occasion.)
From that day on, I could not bring myself to eat chicken meat. It was only after 10 years, when I was staying at Eusoff College (Singapore University), that I started eating chicken again because you eat what is on the menu or you go hungry.

As for my Anthem, I choose the Beatles' "In My Life".

All these places have their moments; Of lovers ( people) and friends that's gone before. Some are dead and some are living, In my life, I love them all.

Especially my four-legged friends and my two-legged, beautiful Bogel.
bjec