Edgwere Road

Should you be looking for Halal Food, you couldn't go wrong with Edgwere. Located near Marble Arch and Hyde Park, it was full of Arabs who moved here since the early 80s, establishing shops and the likes here. Malaysia Hall happened to be right around the corner from there, so, as student, once we god sick of the cafeteria food, that was where our destination was.

I was surprised when I was there yesterday on two fronts. First, the same old restaurants and shops were still there. The same kind of food, but instead of the usual old cafe, there were shisha bars here. I had my order of kebab - I should gave walked round the corner to a better one right opposite. I guessed I was too hungry then. None the less, the kebab was OK and it was real cheap.

Next surprise was beggars. Yes, I was not kidding. And they were all Arabic, some of them old mothers with small children, as well as old men, walking towards you, greeting you with Salam, making you really felt uncomfortable. There were several of them. Some of them started talking to me in Arabic, according to some Chinese friends, they only target Moslems. You would feel really awkward if you wee a Moslem, and one never expected Arab with their proud and oftentimes arrogant past to turn out this way.

I just ignored them, got on with my dinner and left the place. Should any of you venture to these areas, do expect beggars, and if you were a Moslem, expect them to approach you. And there were a few of them about.

Malaysia Hall

I first flew into the UK as a Government Scholarship holder in August 1990. It was a couple of weeks before Merdeka Day, which a bunch of us celebrated by visiting the High Commissioner at his home clad in our national colours. We also had an orientation week at Bedford School in between, for which we had the time of our lives. We were then placed at Malaysia Hall while waiting for the school term to open - mine was on the second week of September. The Hall then became our home.

Since I was in a boarding school - doing A Levels as a Sixth Former - we had three major term holidays, as well as mid-term breaks of a week in between. During this time, we would congregate into London again from our schools all over the country, and back to our base which is Malaysia Hall. It became part of our lives' routine, my life and all the students doing A Levels during the time. We were in our late teens and we bonded with each other - most of us were now Doctors and Professionals back home.

Seymore Sports Center where we played badminton and went swimming during school breaks. Located just round the corner from Malaysia Hall.By the time we were on our second year, we were a bit more clever. Rather than staying at Malaysia Hall, we rented apartments across the street at Edgwere Road. There were no curfew and we also had the audacity to cook for ourselves, and stayed up all night watching TV and stuffs. It was a big deal back then. We spent the day going out watching movies - that was where Whiteley's came in, bowling and the afternoon playing football down Hyde Park. It was grand!

I was in the middle row, in blue Baju Melayu and wearing songkok. This was 1991, as I was already wearing glasses.. Thanks to Mimi for this photo.The day I shaved my tache clean, a week before going to boarding school for the first time. 1990. I was on the back row, right most.I was pretty sure that this was on Hari Raya in 1991. I could be wrong though.There were also the little matter of Hari Raya where we would congregate in our best clothes for Prayers and visit the local Malaysians as well as again, the High Comm - he must have been sick of us lot by then. It was a coming of age for all of us, and we shared it amongst friends and Malaysia Hall.

That was why, I felt compelled to trace back the route I once took yesterday, by visiting the site that was Malaysia Hall, as well as Edgwere Road, Marble Arch and Hyde Park. I took a peak at a window where I used to escape from to get some ice creams from Edgwere Road after curfew - the main door was closed at 11 pm and most of us spent the evening at the reading room on the basement - and it had a window.

I thought I turned out OK in the end. Here during the MRCP PACES Course in Sungai Buloh earlier this year. I had become a teacher ..... of sorts!The site as it was yesterday was turned back into apartments. The bronze plague which read 'Malaysia Hall' was no longer there. The window at the basement was completely sealed. The famous basement cafeteria next door was also renovated. I must confess that I felt sad, and I was sure many generations of students similar to me felt the same thing. Gone were also the Friday Khutbah, when we could at least hear the sermon in Malay. That place was special to me, it was there no more.