Back again.

Well hello. I’m back again after what seems like a very long hiatus. The last time we “spoke”, I was in Bangladesh where I spent a longer time than initially expected. I had the wonderful opportunity to meet individuals who had worked with Mum and also the chance to travel to communities to witness and learn first-hand about some of the amazing community development programs taking place. It was also a couple of weeks before THE elections in Malaysia and I had shared my thoughts and hopes for its outcome in my last post. But since then it’s gone quiet from my end…

I’m sitting here now in a café in KL struggling as usual to find the right words! “In KL? I don’t remember that being part of the cambodia2scotland route”, you might be wondering. And indeed, you are right. That wasn’t part of the initial “plan”. Then again, how much of a plan is there really in an “unplanned” journey. Let’s just say it’s been a period of many unexpected and pleasant surprises. So, let me catch you up…

After Bangladesh, I headed to Nepal for a week for what I hoped would be a relaxing break amidst the beautiful Himalayan scenery. Unfortunately, as Murphy dictated in his Law, the trip did not go as I had hoped (this wasn’t one of those pleasant surprises). A combination of not so great weather (read: lots of dust) and unfortunate dietary incidents (read: food poisoning) meant the trip was mainly spent on recuperation and not much else. However, one big highlight of that trip was the sunrise at Nagarkot. On a week where dust and smog covered the skies every day, that one morning the skies cleared unexpectedly so much so that the villagers came out to enjoy the view as well. And I even caught a glimpse of Everest far on the horizon! #blessed indeed.

After Nepal, it was straight back to KL a week before THAT elections. The plan was to be back for a couple of weeks and head off again just after the elections were over. In this unplanned journey, that was the plan…but more on that later.

Now just like all the elections before this that I had been involved in, I was hoping for a positive change to occur. I decided to come back to cast my vote because I believe that every vote counts. But to be honest, I was not confident at all that change would happen. Perhaps it was all the news we were fed with about splits in the opposition camp or the fact that so much of the system was rigged in favour of the ruling party. Or perhaps it was that feeling of familiarity; we’ve been here before and yet nothing changed. In any case, on election day I headed off that morning, got in line, casted my vote and then waited.

What happened next is common news now. So I won’t go into another long narrative about the election results. Suffice to say the night of May 9^thand the wee hours of the following morning were full of anxiety, confusion, disbelief then relief and unbridled joy. The Opposition had won! We did it! As I stood there in Dataran PJ at 4am with loved ones and complete strangers, I thought about how long it has taken us to get here. For some, it had been 20 years since the Reformasi days began. For many others, the struggle had begun a long time before that. I thought about people like Mum and many others who hadn’t lived to see this day yet had spent almost all their lives (literally) in the selfless struggle for a better Malaysia. I felt sad that they were not here to enjoy this moment, but I am eternally grateful for their sacrifice. It was a chance for a new beginning. A new Malaysia that many of us had hoped for. I was extremely proud and honoured to have been a part of this change.

“So..” you might be wondering, “…that was almost 2 months ago. Yet he’s still in KL. What’s the deal?”. Well the election result wasn’t the only pleasant surprise. I did in fact decide to stay on a little longer to experience this “new Malaysia” and see if there was any way I could be involved in the initial stages of it’s shaping. I was fortunate enough to be given the opportunity for a couple of weeks to be a small part of a team that prepared and submitted a report on recommendations on institutional reform on the issues of refugees and migrants. That was certainly an educational experience. The research I did and the discussions that I was involved in opened my eyes to many new realities on these issues which I was not aware of. It has given me lots to think about.

But of course, this was not the only reason for this extended pause in my journey.

There is a saying, “you meet someone you when you least expect it”. And I can tell you now, that is certainly true. I had set out on this journey to learn more about Mum, her work and more about myself. What I hadn’t bargained on was meeting someone. Yet here I am, knocked off my feet by an amazing woman. It hit me right smack in the face when I least expected it. To some of you, it may seem ludicrous to interrupt this journey for this reason. Yet those of you who know me would know that when it comes to meeting someone, I don’t make these decisions lightly. And when I do, I’m all in. In the wise words of Ron Swanson, “don’t half-ass two things, whole-ass one thing.” Of course, I don’t know how it will all turn out. Time will tell. There is inherent risk in all matters of the heart, I certainly know this. But is she worth it? Totally.

So, as one of my dear friends asked, “Has your eat, pray, love journey stopped at love??”. No, it certainly hasn’t. This is all part of my journey. Letting life surprise me. But in the literal sense, the journey will in fact continue. I will be off to the UK at the end of July for the last month of my time off. Five weeks in Ireland, England and Scotland before heading back home. I’m hopeful for more opportunities to meet new folks, to spend some time with family and to also catch my beloved Arsenal in action!

What happens after that? I am yet to know. There are still a couple of months left till then and a lot can happen in that time. But my experiences so far on the road and being back in this new Malaysia have given me lots to think about in terms of where I go from here and what I do next. As always, circumstances will dictate some of those outcomes and life will inevitably throw more surprises my way, good and bad.

For now, I’m looking forward to spending the next few weeks back in KL. I’m definitely enjoying the World Cup (and boy what an amazing World Cup it has been so far!). I’m keeping my fingers crossed that one of life’s surprises isn’t going to be England lifting the trophy in July but stranger things have happened so far! Hopefully it’s Spain instead for that second star on the crest. Then, it’s my birthday with loved ones before I’m off again on that last leg of my journey.

Till then!