Queen’s Diamond Jubilee

Post 145 Down the memory lane There was a big celebration in Britain for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in June 2012 and many people would surely have seen it on the TV news. This event brought me down the memory lane to one day in June 1952 when I was a primary one pupil in a small town. I remember my class receiving a paper bag containing a green apple, a meat bun, some sweets and a ‘gold’ coin of Queen Elizabeth from our class teacher. There were no lessons on that day because it was a day of celebration. Later I was told by someone that it was the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth of England. It sounded very foreign to me indeed: where was England and what was the meaning of Coronation? I only knew of David, an English boy, who played with Fatimah, Ah Chong and Samy, in my Standard One Chinese language textbook. It seems to me sixty years have just gone by in a twinkling of an eye. The British’s colonisation of Malaya had left behind a strong administrative system and an English education system. The older generation of Malaysians who are English educated would also have felt a special attachment to this Jubilee. A memory in life is remembered for its special moment. -- Quote by Ho Nee Yong 5 June 2012 (No posting on Tuesday 29 May 2012 -on leave)