Getaway

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The lovely plate-collector at Mr. T. T. recently took what must have been a short holiday on the Malaysian resort island of Langkawi, up in the north west of Kedah State. Possibly she was away three or four days; it could not have been longer. In the holiday pics she was keen to show, the full wrap of traditional clothing, with scarf and sun-glasses added, made recognition a little tricky.
         Not unexpectedly, the plate-collector took fright at the camera being pointed in her direction. Even protected as she was with all her covering, the resistance is perfectly evident. In one picture where she is caught in motion, crossing a car-park, the smile comes of itself. In all the other shots the lips are often widened a little, but remain very much firmly pursed. A "native" kind of person the plate-collector, defensive, wary and resolute.
         At work among the tables at Mr. T. T. the same tightness is often evident. Yet of course when her button is pressed in the right way, some sly piece of trickery ventured - like tapping her on the wrong shoulder going by - the plate-collector will open up like the best of them, wider and more gleeful than most. Normally a traditional Malay woman would not be touched by a male, would not have her hand shaken, could not be patted. An almost-Italian finds that constricting. But that's the way it is around Geylang Serai. (The Indon gals are something else again. Nothing like the same applies to them, not even some of the Achehnese.) Contrary to all this, better watch out for a poke in the ribs when you're least expecting from the plate-collector.
         The Langkawi Fair Shopping Mall takes the water-fall in its region as a cue for one of its features within doors, rock carvings added in this case, as well as a coconut palm and a kind of fully stretched eagle that seems to be the chief totem of the town. A larger-scale bird of the same form and colour hovers over the waterfront promenade and car-park.
         The Flamingo restaurant is featured in other photographs, decorated with potted plants of long-branched stalks holding plum-like pink flowers. A shopping-mall kind of place, highly unlikely to have impressed the day-shift plate-collector of Mr. Teh Tarik in Geylang. But then she wasn't the photographer. One of the youngsters did these duties, the youngest sister alternating with the chap who must have been either her boy-friend or husband. The birds received a good deal of attention; the water-front; and then the Flamingo and other mall highlights. A real waterfall away from the mall also drew the tourists. It led to a good number of unstaged photos as people were caught wading into the water, the women in their full-length body-cover. The plate-collector's group were not so venturesome, the youngsters probably inhibited by their elders.
         The pretty young girl in the photos was identified by the plate-collector as an adek—younger sister. With the twenty and more year age difference that seemed unlikely. In fact the explanation was adoption. (This came later through the good offices of Zainuddin acting as translator. The shared two dozen words was insufficient to get this kind of particular from the plate-collector unaided.) Certainly a sister, but step. The distinction only elicited because of the questioning. The Malay love of children often led to the adoption of orphans and excess, unwanted children, daughters usually, most often from the Chinese community. Many an older, clearly Han face can be seen under a traditional Malay scarf around Geylang Serai and in Malaysia proper. It takes a while to realize what is going on. The reverse — the Chinese adoption of Malays, certainly in the earlier era — was apparently extremely rare, not to say non-existent. In Singapore and Malaysia one might be tempted to draw a general conclusion on racial characteristics from such practices.
         The kaka, the older sister of the plate-collector, has ensured she stays well out of shot of the camera. In only one photograph does she appear, standing determinedly side-on, like a prisoner in a mug-shot. A surly, un-co-operative prisoner, refusing to submit to the authority.
         The thought occurs: like the plate-collector, never once have these traditional Malay women around Geylang Serai removed their scarves to reveal their hair. Women who have been hailed, greeted, engaged in conversation almost from day one fifty-five weeks ago. Resolute characters without exception.

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