Dr Gerry Goeden: “An actress once said that you have to kiss a lot of
frogs to meet a prince and I guess you need to write a lot of blogs to meet a
princess”.
How absolutely cool!!
One of the people Gerry works with at the Andaman said that the
invitations had arrived. The UKM was opening their new Langkawi Laboratory PPL
to the public. We were being driven there in one of the resort limos and would
be part of a discussion group.
The limo slid up to the entrance and we all hopped out. Gerry was in his
trusty work shorts and a tee shirt (what else) and I was looking pretty special
in a brand new pair of mini-denim shorts and a smart little button up top.
Goodness, aren’t the people here dressed well!! Suits and traditional
baju kurong for an open day for school
kids? Didn’t make sense. Oh well.
Inside the reception area the story started to change from one that
looked like fun to more of a nightmare.
Lots of chairs draped in royal colors, potted palms (always a bad sign),
and even more of those traditional baju kurong. Where was I? Where were the
school kids? What about the free chicken satay?
A friend looked at us in dismay. Cover your knees! Cover your knees! I
understood this reaction—Gerry’s knees are a bit worse for wear but mine are
great. What was his problem?
We all stood on queue and mumbled words to the state song. And there she
was dressed in gold. Incredibly elegant
and thankfully not looking at our knees. The Princess of Kedah was officiating
at the grand and official opening of the Research Center.
Gerry and I sat as soon as possible and tried to shrink into the seats.
The Princess’s eyes scanned the crowd (was she looking for knees?) and then
began her official speech.
Langkawi was declared a UNESCO Geopark in 2007, thanks to the efforts of
UKM geologists and now this Center would follow on with geology, marine
science, and herpetology (reptiles and amphibians). That’s why we were here.
Gerry will be supervising graduate students working toward their Ph.D.’s.
I’ll be tagging along---barefoot----in my smart little shorts. Not sure
what the Princess will be wearing but I can tell her where I got mine.
