Early morning Kuala Lumpur: changing world

Its around 8.10 AM and I was in the elevator heading up to the Legend Hotel lobby.  I made my way to the ballroom where the Colloquium was supposed to be held but there was no one there.  Puzzled, i looked around and sure enough there were signs of the event everywhere, almost, but still no familiar faces.  so, i found a place to sit and dug up the itinerary from my somewhat oversized bag and read it again.  true enough I misread it the first time.  The registration is at 11AM, which means that I’m waaaayyyy too early.

To make a long story short, I found myself art McDonald’s (Aaaaaarrrrggghhhh!!!!!!!) with a cup of coffee and my laptop.  As i looked around, I noticed that there are a few laptops, maybe two or three, and a few PDA-phones.  Most noticeable, I only find two newspapers, open and read while the other is folded and tucked safely in the armpit of a chap carrying a computer bag and waiting for his turn at the counter.  I seem to remember a similar scene from more than two decades ago, I was waaaayyyy too early for a meeting with my friends in Kajang town.  We were supposed to go for some event somewhere representing the Kajang High School Prefectorial Board.  I found myself in the Champion restaurant with my blazer draped over the back of a chair (like it was this later morning) but with a teh tarik and a roti canai (or was it a lontong, I’m not sure on this count).  Anyway, it was such a beautiful morning with the light shining at just the right angle flooding the restaurant with a brilliant shade of a colour I dare not attempt to describe for fear of not doing justice to this picture i have in my head.  In this photo i have in my mind, there were twelve open news papers.

Perhaps the newspaper really is dying, as they say.