Howard's Malay ; As a Wide-Eyed Teen Sandra Howard Was Spellbound by Malaysian. 50 Years On, She Discovers That the Magic Is Undiminished

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By SANDRA HOWARD

BEING back in Malaysia after, well, I won't say exactly how many years, was a strange, warm feeling. I'd had a teenage holiday there with my parents in its last months as a colony which is a hefty clue, since last week the country celebrated 50 years of independence.

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Howard's Malay ; As a Wide-Eyed Teen Sandra Howard Was Spellbound by Malaysian. 50 Years On, She Discovers That the Magic Is Undiminished

My father was stationed at RAF Changi in Singapore, and we had driven over the causeway at Johor Baru and up the coast to Kuala Lumpur, staying at historic Malacca on the way. Quite brave of us, really, considering the independence riots in Singapore at the time. My travel to school had been by truck, with an armed guard who sat with his gun pointing grimly out the back, a poor, pimply youth whom we girls teased mercilessly.

I can still vividly reme...

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