Remembering Leo

"If music be the food of love, play on" wrote Shakespeare. However, in Leo’s life it has always been, "If music be the essence of life, then sing it, drum it and play it". Such was his love and passion for music.

I remember and enjoyed the walks we had after our co-curricular activities in school where we would take a bus back from Bukit Mertajam and get off at the Prai roundabout. As we walked back home, we would start singing songs by our favourite bands and popular songs that we liked although we only remembered one or two lines of the lyrics and improvised the rest.

From the time we started singing from the Prai roundabout (which has now given way to flyovers) till we reached Leo’s home (for his house was nearer then mine), we would have practically belted out every song that we knew, improvised on those that we did not know, and would have laughed our hearts out. Strangely, we did this over and over every Friday as we walked home, never feeling bored about doing it. The best part of all this was how we laughed at ourselves for being silly and the improvisation that we did.

Leo, as I remember him, was never one to be too serious. He was always waiting to break into laughter or vocalise on his imaginary drumming sessions, or would start one of the many jokes that he had up his sleeve.

Leo had always wanted to play drums. He would often be banging on his desk in class, imagining that he was John Bonham (drummer of Led Zeppelin) and start drumming as he vocalised each sound that was supposedly being made by the different drums in a standard rock kit.

One fine day, I went to Kota Kinabalu on temporary duty and called up Leo. He met me at my hotel room that evening and we went out for dinner. After which, he decided to show me the night life in one of the pubs in town. As we were enjoying the drinks and the music by the local band, the band leader invited Leo to join them in their rendition of some of Deep Purple’s numbers. This somewhat surprised me, because I knew that he couldn’t play any instrument (other then banging his fingers on a table and vocalising). At first he was reluctant but with some coaxing from the band he stood up, walked straight towards the drums and took position. I was sure that this must be some practical joke that he and the band was playing on me. To my shock and amazement, Leo started playing the drums to one of our favourite Deep Purple numbers, 'Smoke on the water'. My friend Leo had finally learned to play the drums!

In the early years when Leo was in Sabah (I think it was in the early '80s). emails and SMS’s were not heard off. I remember receiving a letter from him (yes, we actually wrote letters in those days!) that gave me a shock. As I remember vividly the content, he mentioned something about having met this gorgeous and stunning-looking girl called Suzi. He went on to describe her in detail... about her curves, how he derived pleasure from her and how he enjoyed every moment he was with her. He went on to describe her beauty, how she performed and purred at his touch. This was really shocking since he had not mentioned anything about meeting up with a girl before. I found out later that this hot girl was his new roadster — a Suzuki motorcycle.

Another event that comes to mind is our chemistry class. Leo and I took chemistry as one of the subjects but never really enjoyed it and dreaded attending the class each time. One fine day, the chemistry master had told us to read up certain chapters as preparation for the next class as he would be quizzing us on it. When the next class came up, neither of us understood nor could we answer any of the questions the chemistry master was throwing at us. He was furious and asked us if we had read the chapters concerned. Leo answered, "Yes Sir, we read chapters 10 and 11 as you directed". We could see the master's face turning red as he shouted back: "You were supposed to have read chapters 12 and 13 you bungling...!" Surprisingly, I too had read chapters 10 and 11! Despite the ridicule, after class we could not hold back our laughter, and the both of us laughed until tears were rolling down our cheeks.

These were some of the great moments, fun moments and hilarious moments that I had with my buddy from Prai whom I came to know from school and became great friends with. Leo, I will always remember the good times that we had and will always treasure them. You had, in a way, shown me how to have fun and laugh, no matter what. Thanks mate.