“Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa.”
The repetitive Buddhist Vandana or homage chant in the ancient Pali language grows softer as I leave the prayer hall and head back to the main entrance. There‘s one more thing I have to do, something very important, before I adjourn for an early lunch.
Despite being nestled in one of the most densely populated areas in Selangor, the Chetawan Buddhist temple or Wat Chetawan is an oasis of calm and serenity. Almost every day without fail, faithful devotees brave the notorious Petaling Jaya traffic snarls to walk through its gates to pay homage to Lord Buddha, meditate or just socialise with friends. Today, I‘m here for a different reason.
Once outside, I begin my search by scrutinising every square inch of the temple‘s intricate facade. The fine ornamentation featuring deities and mythical beings on the external walls blend seemlessly with the myriad of ancient Siamese symbolic embellishments. Some 15 minutes later, my search is over. I‘ve finally found King Bhumibol Adulyadej‘s royal insignia!
While marvelling at the sacred symbol located directly below the roof apex of the main temple building, my thoughts race back in time. It was just a little more than a year ago, on Oct 13, 2016, when the world was shocked to receive the sad news of King Bhumibol‘s demise. The year-long mourning period in Thailand is almost over and this will culminate in an elaborate royal cremation ceremony set to be held at the Sanam Luang Royal Square in Bangkok later this week.
My thoughts return to Wat Chetawan and its unique association with the Thai royal family. In fact, each stage of the temple‘s expansion has been graced by members of the royal family, including King Bhumibol‘s son and current Thai monarch, King Maha Vajiralongkorn.
Built in the 1950s, partly with a royal donation from King Bhumibol, Wat Chetawan is the only temple of its kind in this country to have the privilege of displaying the Thai monarch‘s royal insignia.
King Bhumibol visited Wat Chetawan when he made his first and only state visit here in 1962. During that time, the Thai monarch confirmed Wat Chetawan‘s sacred nature by performing the special ceremony of raising the temple‘s “chofa“, which is a type of decorative roof element.
Interestingly, it was reported that just before the consecration ceremony, on June 26, 1962, a 70-year-old Thai woman knelt before King Bhumibol and pledged her obeisance to the Thai monarch. The woman, known only as Madam Hia, had made the journey all the way from Bangkok to present a cheque of 20,000 baht to the Thai monarch at Wat Chetawan.
Hia, a well known philanthropist in Thailand, had made numerous donations to temples back in her own country in the past and it was through King Bhumibol suggestion that she made the trip to Malaya and present her gift at the newly-built RM250,000 temple in Petaling Jaya.
THE ROYAL VISIT
King Bhumibol and Queen Sirikit arrived in Kuala Lumpur on June 20, 1962 for their week long state visit onboard a silver and white Thai Airways DC-6 plane. The Thai king, in his white naval uniform, appeared at the aircraft doorway with his consort, who was clad in an attractive tangerine national dress. The Thai royal couple were then warmly welcomed by the-then Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Syed Putra ibni Almarhum Syed Hassan Jamalullail amid a 21-gun salute.
More than 4,000
school children lined the three-kilometre long route spanning the airport and Istana Tetamu. They waved both Thai and Malayan Federation flags as the royal motorcade drove past. At the royal banquet later that night, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong said that the royal couple‘s arrival marked a sparkling moment in the history of the Federation of Malaya and termed King Bhumibol as “our royal brother and friend.“
Early the next day, the Thai king visited the Police Depot and laid a wreath at the memorial, paying respects to the 1,345 Malayan police officers and men who‘d laid down their lives for freedom and democracy. He also praised the men in uniform who were fighting the remaining Communist terrorists hiding in the dense forests along the Malayan-Thai border.
The Royal guests next visited the National Operations Room in Brockman Road (now Jalan Dato Onn) where the Thai King spent about an hour discussing development plans for rural Malaya with the-then Deputy Prime minister, Tun Abdul Razak.
Later, accompanied by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, King Bhumibol headed to Port Swettenham and boarded the Royal Malayan Navy flagship, KD Mutiara. Over the next hour or so, their majesties toured the new multi-million dollar North Klang Straits project. The royal party snacked on cold roast turkey and Russian salad for lunch, served by chief steward Frank Roeon, onboard the ship.
University Malaya, officially opened on Jan 1, 1962, rolled out the red carpet and welcomed its first foreign dignitary in style later that afternoon. More than a thousand undergraduates lined the road leading up to the Lembah Pantai campus to welcome their royal guest. During the reception, King Bhumibol‘s musical interest was piqued when he learn’t from the student union‘s president, Liu Chang Lan that the university had an active jazz band.
A day later, King Bhumibol, renowned jazz music admirer, sportingly demonstrated his musical prowess at the request of the Federation‘s Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj. This unplanned and informal performance occurred during a buffet party in Cameron Highlands‘ hosted by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong in honour of the Thai king‘s third day in the Federation.
It was reported that the 60 VIPs present tapped their feet and clapped encouragingly as King Bhumibol jammed with the Radio Malaya orchestra as they played his favourite song Margie. The Thai monarch had borrowed the saxaphone from one of the orchestra players but used his own reed which he‘d brought along. A few minutes later, he borrowed a clarinet and led the orchestra in a rousing old-time jazz number.
While the invited guests dined on venison and locally-grown strawberries, Queen Sirikit joined Tunku at the dance floor. Accompanied by the band, they performed the Ramvong, a traditional Thai dance.
TRACKING THE ROYAL VISITORS
Earlier that day, tourists as well as Commonwealth servicemen and their families on vacation at Cameron Highland‘s Army Leave Centre were abuzz with excitement when the royal motorcade drove into town after landing in Royal Malayan Air Force planes, some 80 kilometres away at the Bidor airstrip.
While in Cameron Highlands, the royal couple made Mount Vernon, a green and white bungalow, their home for the next two days. The bungalow, named after the first American president‘s plantation house, overlooked the picturesque mist-covered golf course.
The royal couple left the popular hill resort on Sunday June 24, 1962 and made their way to Ipoh, the capital of Perak. On that day, the Thai King chose to wear his blue Royal Thai Air Force marshal uniform while his queen wore an apple green Thai national dress.
The royal couple‘s first stop in Perak was the Mek Prasit Buddhist Temple in Jalan Kuala Kangsar where they were greeted by the chief priest, Pra Palad Prom Abhividhano. From there, the royal entourage proceeded to Istana Kinta where they received a warm welcome from Sultan Yussuf Izzuddin Shah and state dignitaries headed by titled Rajas and chieftains. During the meeting, the Sultan presented the Thai king with diamond encrusted walking stick made of the valuable Kenanga wood and in return, he received a gold cigarette box.
Later that afternoon, King Bhumibol and Queen Sirikit left Ipoh airport by a special Royal Malayan Air Force plane for Penang. This time, the royal couple was accompanied by Tun Abdul Razak and his wife, Tun Rahah Tan Sri Mohammad Noah.
In Penang, the royal entourage stopped at Wat Chaiya Mangalara, the oldest Buddhist place of worship in Penang. The 137-year-old temple‘s chief priest, Venerable Pra Kru Daeng was present to receive his royal guests. Later that afternoon, King Bhumibol and Queen Sirikit drove to the Botanic Gardens. The Thai monarch must have been amused by the monkeys there as he took quite a lot of photographs of his consort feeding the monkeys groundnuts.
In the afternoon, the royal visitors left by ferry for the Royal Australian Air Force base in Butterworth to board a specially chartered Malayan Airways Viscount plane to return to Kuala Lumpur before going home on June 27, 1962.
I must have spent quite a long time gazing at the royal insignia as my action manages to attract the attention of a curious few. A small group of teenagers start chatting excitedly among themselves in Thai after I explained the history and significance behind the Thai King‘s emblem. As we continue chatting, it dawns on me that they‘re Malaysians of Thai descent.
Over the course of our conversation, I jokingly ask if they consider themselves as Malaysians or otherwise. My question is met with silence. Just when I thought I‘d said something sensitive, the group starts laughing loudly. Noticing my worried look, they assure me that I‘m not the first to pose them that question.
Smiling, one of the girls from the group decide to sum things up for me, saying: “There are about 70,000 Malaysians of Thai descent living in Malaysia. We all speak Thai as a way to keep in touch with our roots. Like other Malaysians, we follow events that unfold in Thailand because it‘s our closest neighbour. But despite that and without any doubt at all, deep down inside we‘re true Malaysians, born and bred here. Our allegiance will always be with Malaysia!“
Bidding farewell to the group, I slowly make my way towards the nearest taxi stand. I‘m heartened by the exchange, knowing that if all Malaysians, regardless of caste and creed, pledge that same level of loyalty to our beloved country, then our shared future as one people will indeed be very promising.