Gary_Lit_Ying_Loong

AN international scholar. A revered academic. A visionary leader. A devoted husband and loving grandfather. At nearly 95, Professor Wang Gungwu is all these and more — a man whose life reads like a tapestry woven through some of the most defining moments in modern Asian history.

The water is cool and impossibly clear, instantly washing away the exhaustion from hours of trekking through the jungle.

TAN Chong Tee’s gaze never wavered even as Major Onishi, the enraged Japanese Kempetai officer, screamed in fury.

WITH their vibrant bouquets of hornbill feathers, the Kayan hornbill dancers glide across the stage, their movements so graceful they seem to soar through the air alongside the mythical and majestic hornbills.

IN the heart of the dense jungles of Sarawak, where the air is thick with the whispers of the past, a young Iban warrior lay in wait, ears straining for the faintest sound of approaching danger. Jenggut Anak Atan, only 14 years old at the time, was no stranger to the jungle’s perils — its venomous snakes, crawling leeches and the constant threat of enemy patrols.

“HURRY, Hurry! The Japanese planes are coming!” shouted the army captain at the top of his voice to his soldiers as they crossed the long rickety bamboo suspension bridge.

FOR more than a century, travellers from near and far have been mesmerised by Taiping’s mystical allure. The breathtaking beauty of the Lake Gardens has often been compared with the romantic Westlake of Hangzhou or the manicured gardens of Suzhou in China.

FOLLOWING the Marco Polo Bridge Incident in Beijing, China, where escalating tension between Japanese forces and the Chinese garrison resulted in a firefight on the night of July 7, 1937, the Imperial Japanese Army also began setting its sights on Shanghai.

MY inaugural visit to the land Down Under was an unforgettable sojourn to the World Expo in Brisbane back in 1988. Inaugurated with regal splendour by the late Queen Elizabeth II, the event catapulted the Australian city Brisbane onto the global stage as the “Sunshine” capital, simultaneously casting the Gold Coast into the limelight of international recognition. Little did I know that this expedition would be a plunge into the […]