FISH & CHIPS WITH SALT & VINEGAR
FOREWORD
By Datuk Shahar
Effendi bin Abdullah Azizi
My fondest
memory of my student days in England has to be fish and chips – the fleshy
chewy cod fried in crispy batter scooped from a boiling vat of fat to be served
hot and smoky wrapped in yesterday’s Page 3 of the Sun.
So it is – the
prickly smell of vinegar assaulting the nose, rather than Samantha Fox’s puffed
up assets that made me jump at the chance to write this foreword to Azizi’s
book aptly-titled “Fish and Chips with Salt and Vinegar.”
To be sure, it’s
not just about fish and chips, though. For, Azizi and I go a long way together.
I have known him since our primary school days at Clifford Primary School in
the Royal Town of Kuala Kangsar, Perak. We were also together for a while at
Sekolah Menengah Sains Perlis before parting ways momentarily, when I accepted
an offer to go to the Malay College in my hometown. As fate would have it, our
paths crossed again when we were both offered to study at the same college in
England for our GCE A Levels.
So, it was there
on the wind-swept coast of Lancashire, in the north west of England, that we
would renew our friendship. Together with other Malaysians at the Blackpool
College of Technology, we had a whale of a time - discovering and getting to
know that foreign land and the ways of the Mat Salleh. It was a new journey for
a motley crew of young, fresh-faced Malaysian students.
This little
book, Fish and Chips with Salt and Vinegar, tells the story of those young
Malaysian students seen from the eyes of my friend, Azizi. It takes us through his interesting sojourn,
first in the resort town of Blackpool, and from there to Manchester where he
pursued his university degree.
Thrown into the
deep end, so to speak, this is a chronicle of the trials and tribulation, the
joys and pleasure of life in our adopted home, the United Kingdom.
Whilst I was
receiving education to become a mining engineer in Leeds, Azizi was training to
be a town planner just 40 miles away down the M62 Motorway. I guess all that
training as town planner has stood him in good stead as could be seen in this
book through his meticulousness and vivid recollection of the everyday life and
activities of a student in the 1980s UK.
This has
resulted in a book which has managed to serve up some real gems and bring back
pleasant memories which many of us could easily relate, especially for those
who had been a student overseas. In that sense, Fish and Chips with Salt and
Vinegar is rather unique in a sense that it could easily be seen as a record of
one’s daily life as a student – together with all the happy memories - all those years ago.
Readers will
identify with all the exploits and mis-adventures as highlighted by Azizi. For
example, I am sure no one would be able to forget their experience of having to
cook for their meals as a student. To this day my friends and I can still
recall with much hilarity of the trouble we had when we tried to cook the
notorious Malaysian belacan. The strong pungent smell that permeated throughout
the house almost caused a riot by the English tenants furiously protesting
against the offensive aroma from the meal that was being concocted.
There were also
many British life habits, culture and quirks that Azizi managed to capture and
share with us, looking at them through the eyes of a typical Malaysian kampong
boy.
Fish and Chips
with Salt and Vinegar is one not to be missed by anyone – especially for those
amongst us who had toughed it out as a student overseas.
So, go ahead and
sit down, or lie in bed, with this book. And, as the chippy shop counter
service person would always say: “enjoy your Fish and Chips, luv!”
Director General
Department of
Minerals and Geoscience Malaysia
Putrajaya
