An interview with a gentleman

Yesterday was a big day for the law magazine. It was the long awaited interview with Professor Emeritus Tan Sri Dr. Khoo Kay Kim at the University of Malaya. I've been a long admirer of his work in History and indeed it's a privilege to have this once in a lifetime opportunity to interview one of the major kingpins in History. Well, most of you know that I'm massive fan of History and meeting plus exchanging a words with Professor Khoo is like one of the greatest achievement a history fanatic can get. Seriously, I've never imagined that I would one day be crossing paths with him and speaking to him in person. Professor Khoo himself is also one of the main constructors of the Rukunegara and is a well-known Malaysian historian.

In the morning, the three of us (Shehan, Su Wei and me) set off from campus at around 11.30pm. The interview was supposed to be at 2.30pm but we took some precautions just in case we get lost in KL while trying to find UM. Anyways, I did manage to find UM on the first try and we didn't get lost as what we have prepared for..lol. In fact, I realised that UM is extremely near Mid-Valley and Bangsar. So, since it's still early, we stopped by at Bangsar to makan lunch. It was obvious that Bangsar is notoriously known for people who park everywhere including double parking. As most car are just left there at the roadside, I thought that it would be safe just to leave mine there too since we would just be eating for a while. We ate and discuss happily at Subway about our stuff. When we got back to our car, I had this horrified look on my face when I noticed a "love letter" attached on the windscreen of my car by DBKL. *&#*$&@#!! Lol..I looked around me at all the KL cars that are parking all over the place and all of them never kena anything. Wahhh..my Penang car kena liao lor because of its number plate! I should have parked at the housing estate behind and walked the extra distance. I was a little annoyed, but I've got a task ahead so I gotta concentrate on it.

After a few wrong turns and jams, we managed to reached Professor Khoo's office. We were greeted warmly by the Professor who in turn was surprised to see us in full formal clothes..haha The interview that we had intertwined with many issues pertaining to the Federal Constititution and other historical matters in Malaysia. Professor Khoo is a very well-mannered and approachable person. One would feel comfortable in speaking and conversing with him. The amount of knowledge that he has about History is amazing, especially on local Malaysian history. Many of the facts that he had provided us were surprising things that we never knew of or thought of while we were in school. He would never shy away in giving his views. Haha..in fact, he shares my sentiment that school children and parents in Malaysia are not paying enough attention to History and humanities subjects and too many of them are focussed on Maths and Science, resulting in the lack of creativity in many students. I think all arts people think alike on the education system today and how too much dominance is given to Maths and Science..haha.=p

The interview stretched to about 2 hrs and I believe all 3 of us enjoyed the interview time as well as learning many new historical knowledge. Professor Khoo is indeed the pinnacle of the achievement of the arts fratenity. I would definitely love to have another chance to speak with him on many other historical issues. There are so many more that I wanna find out, especially on the paths that many have not ventured before. With that being said, it's been a privilege to have this opportunity to speak with Professor Khoo :)