aisyalam

Today was my last “work” day at MMU, at least for awhile—but I have to put the word work in quotes because it was far more social than laborious. In the morning I met with Dr. Rafi and then Ali—who offered some excellent advice on how to improve the quality of my photographs without a lot of rigmarole. As always I enjoyed my discussion with him. Apparently he and his friend Sheji are still planning on developing an interactive version of the Malaysian poems during the next year. After lunch with Amy and Sau Bin we went up to Forest’s office for some tea and to admire her books, which was pleasant as always. Finally I had about an hour’s time to work, and wrote letters and prepared a package for the library (including the bibliography), and got things ready so that the office could be vacated. Along the way I had chance to talk with a few of the other folks—like Khong and Helena, who was on campus for the first time since the birth of her daughter awhile back—whose company I’ve much enjoyed the past few months. At 4 p.m. there was a “high tea” (or Minum Petang) for Dr. Rafi, which also served as a going away part for me and a welcome party for the new Dean. After Rafi was feted and gave a casual speech, Hal and I were taken by surprise and also prompted to say a few words. I kept my bit short and did my best to avoid triteness, mostly expressing my gratitude and view that the place held a lot of potential (which is true). I look forward to seeing how the FCM develops over the next few years, and hope to be an active participant in the Faculty again. Somebody was telling me that they thought my presence at MMU and introduction of Digital Poetry in Malaysia would have an effect. I don’t know to what extent this is true, but have certainly done the best I can to build bridges, cultivate thought, exchange/introduce ideas, and so on. I did receive a few gifts from colleagues, which was nice, and most of the Faculty was at the “tea” (the chow at which was delicious), so got a chance to see people one time and bid farewells. Alea and Amy came up also (Stella at a sleepover), so it was a really nice affair all the way ‘round. Afterwards Amy and I walked over to the library, so that I could drop off my donations and walked back to the apartment and then went out to dinner. It was another day full of “lasts” but the experience will also totally last by sticking with me and being inside me for a long while. I didn’t feel sadness or melancholy, either, mostly fatigue! The right way to end the activities here, I think.