Romantic Redang

We got up and trekked back across the chasm. It was a deep chasm on the side of the mountain, the yellow spotlights hanging on handles along the bridge, only barely illuminating the sides down to a few meters below. The ground was shrouded in darkness and I shivered at the thought of any accident that would surely kill whoever fell over into the blackness below.


However, we quickly reached the main beach again, and the dangerous air was dispelled by the dazzling multicolored lights decorating the resort. Heading towards the disco, I nudged Cherlyn, “Shall we go and pick up Paul and the guys?”

“I don’t know whether they’d mind.” Cherlyn hesitated, referring to our guides.

“I don’t think so, let me ask them.” I turned to Eddie and told him that we’d made arrangements to go to the beach disco with some new friends.

The guides assented and we headed back to the More More Tea hut, leaving Eddie and Mi on a bench beside the beach disco.

Reaching the bistro, we were slightly disappointed to find out that only the middle-aged man was left inside, still singing. The groups of young men, whom we made friends with, have gone. We stopped by the bar to ask for tap water to drink and once refreshed, we left the building to head back to the disco.

As we approached the disco however, Cherlyn made off in a beeline for a bench within the enclosure made on the beach to represent the dance floor. I was momentarily confused but was presently informed that Paul and the guys were right there, waiting for us to join them already.

I waved to the guys, and turned to Eddie to explain to him that those were our new friends. I invited the guides to join us, but they politely refused and remained sitting on the beach, content to watch us youngsters dance and jump merrily about, as they probably do so, every other night.

It was my first time at a beach disco. The disco was an enclosure of a small portion of the beach. The dance floor was delineated by wooden benches arranged in a square. Many more young people were already on the dance floor when we arrived, but we soon joined them in jumping about without a care in the world, assured that we would only land in soft fine sand if we were to fall.

We all let loose our cares and concerns and thoroughly enjoyed the music, as if we had known each other since forever before, even though before the day began, none of us knew each other existed even.

As all merry times slip away at lightning speed, all of a sudden, it was midnight and the deejay announced that the end of the party was near. We all groaned unanimously and a few shouted for more.

Unfortunately, the deejay firmly repeated, “We’re closing soon, but first, let us all enjoy this moment. Everybody come together, whether you know one another or not, hold hands and make a big circle. The bigger the better, come on everybody join in!” Not caring who our partners might end up to be, we obediently joined hands and made a circle that spread out onto the entire dance floor.

The lights were dimmed, and soft music started to play. We quickly recognized the all too familiar song “Waves blossom” again, but we could never tire of the touching lyrics, close to all our young buoyant hearts. We sang in unison:

I want you right here with me,

Watching turtles swimming in the sea
Lying on the sandy beach,
Counting the waves as they blossom each


Do not be afraid, for you won’t be lonely
I’ll always be by your side, making you happy

As the days go by, we will gradually grow up
But I don’t care whether you understand what I’m singing now
I know that one day; you will fall in love with me
Because I’m really not that bad at all


Time is hurriedly slipping away
Never coming back again
Beauties will become old women
But by then, I too will only be an old man

Let us hold each others’ hands
And only care to count the waves
As they bloom again and again

The joyful song carried a hint of sadness at the realization that our youth will disappear into old age one day, but aptly carrying a tune spiced with the optimism which all youngsters view life with. It was true that nothing lasts, but as long as they lasted, each wave while they bloom, is enough to bring us joy, again and again.

And being the buoyant children that we were, we were not content to just stand and sing calmly. Instead, some amongst us broke out into a run around the circle, pulling along the rest of us tighly, sometimes closing in on opposite sides so that we would all run into and bash into one another enthusiastically. Needless to say, by the time the song ended, no one had any breath left to continue singing.

We were too engrossed in the mood, and not wanting it to end, just kept standing holding each others hands until more music started again. This time, it was the song, “At Least I Still Have You,” by Sandy Lam. Once more, it was really emotive for us to continue holding hands, enjoying each others presence, knowing that we are not alone. I heartily agree that no man is an island. Perhaps being the only extreme sentimental, I started singing again, and only stopped when the rush of the game took my breath away.

Only concerned that time is not enough

I want to hug and hold you tight
Until I can feel your wrinkles’ trough
Being tracked by the passing time
Until I am sure that you’re true
Until I lose all my strength and energy
For you, I am willing

Even when I can’t move anymore
I must watch you still
Until I see that your head of hair
Have been shaded by the snowy white
Until my vision has become blurred
Until I can no longer breathe

But for us, our hearts and souls will never part
Even if I can let go of all the world,
At least there must still be you
For whom my appreciation is worthwhile
And now the fact that you’re here
Is life’s miracle.

Even if I can forget the whole world,
I will not allow myself to lose hold of you
That mole on your palm,
I have and will always know where it is

We live a hard life, bound and not free
I fear that time is too swift, that I can’t see you clearly
I fear that time is too slow, worrying everyday that I would lose you
If only we could age all in one moment,
Then we’d not have to part forever

This time, when the song ended, all of us were tired and willingly let go of each other in order to rest a while. The deejay still continued to play some slow songs, but now encouraging us to pair up and enjoy the romantic midnight by the sea.

Another young man in his twenties, Ah Hong, had, by now, become our friend too. He was cheekier than the others and decided to pair me up with Terence. So he devised a scheme for all six of us, Terence and I, Cherlyn and Paul, himself with his girlfriend, Xiao Ting, to dance to a slow song in a circle.

Soon he broke up the small circle and began dancing with his girlfriend, embracing her and at the same time, making winks at Terence to prompt him to take the cue to dance with me, which he did. Fortunately, Terence was more polite than I had imagined him to be, and he was very appropriately distanced from me, both of us only holding our palms lightly and waltzing to the slow tune.

At the end of the last song, it was deeply regrettable that we would all have to separate, maybe never to see each other again. We took the opportunity to take a grand group photo and then said our goodbyes reluctantly, but we managed to exchange email addresses in order to keep in touch.

“Let’s promise to come back again, same time next year!” Paul shouted to us as we walk away from the beach disco, disheartened but still filled with too much euphoria from the partying before.

“Sure!” Cherlyn and I shouted back, questioning in our hearts, how much each of us meant it to be anyway, but yet, hoping that we all would carry out the promise, because it seemed so much more romantic that way.

That night, Cherlyn and I stayed up until 2am even though the party ended slightly past midnight and everyone had dispersed to their respective rooms. We found 2 deck chairs and sat down with Eddie and Mi and had a long and casual chat, touching on this and that topic, while watching the clouds pass over the velvety black sky, illuminated ghostly silver by the half moon hanging high up in the middle of the sky. We had hoped to see some shooting stars, which are in fact, supernovae, occurring very frequently in the space beyond our universe. Unfortunately, the sky was too cloudy, and it only got worse, as stormy clouds blew across the night sky so that at 2am, we gave up.

It was lucky that we left when we did, saying our goodbyes and thank yous. For when we reached our room, it started pouring and we were only too glad to lay our heads in our clean and dry beds, and close our sleepy eyelids to rest our exhausted bodies.

Although it was only a two day trip, we had thoroughly enjoyed every second of it. To me, it seemed much more than 48hours had passed, for every minute was stretched by its content of bliss into infinity. Even though I was to leave this happy land tomorrow morning at 8am, as I closed my eyes to sleep, my mind, which was still caught up in the waves of joyful celebration, continued to dream deep into the night of all the happy times that young people are blessed with.

THE END