My Cousin Brother, Sim Ah Kow October 1960

This precious photograph was taken in Padang Serai at a photo studio in 1960 October.

Ah Kow, a cousin of mine whom I do not have much memory of him but a plump boy employed by my dad to help in his hardware shop. Now he is married and living in Butterworth unfortunately we do not communicate at all, the last time I saw him was at his dad's funeral in Karangan, Padang Serai (2 December 2003). The next time if I do meet him again will be at some relative's furneral. That is how close we are. His late dad, Sim Boon Peng is my Tua Pek, eldest brother of my late father.

Look at us, wearing torn singlets on those super bikes. Anyway, our hairdos were neat and smart, mine was well combed and parted. Kong Ngee is one of the only 2 studios in Padang Serai, I had a few photos taken in this shop. Padang Serai has a lot of big time stories from a cowboy town, making headlines in surat akhbar, lately in the killing of a local politician.