Descendants to Die For

Worth reporting, for what it’s worth: in our near neighbourhood here, walking distance more or less, the remains of persons directly related to the foremost giants of human history and civilization. There exist no bigger names in the annals of mankind. First cab off the rank, detailed in the newspaper of the weekend just gone: within the grounds of the old Chinese Bukit Brown Cemetery, visited not a fortnight past with the guide Gabriel, a direct descendant of the great guru Confucius interned in that soil. Something like a cool ten thousandth branch of the family here among us. Not to be undone, the Muslim Malays too can boast a comparable figure. No less than a teacher, another guru —not in fact of the Prophet himself (as mistakenly first reported), but of his household. Tutor to the Prophet’s kith, kin and servants. This sage held within the earth of Tanjung Pinang, two hours away on the ferry on the island of Bintan. Long bows, but such be the reports.