NE evening many years ago, I was in a Bangkok hotel lounge with Datuk Hamzah Abu Samah, then a government minister, chatting about this and that when a hotel staff came over carrying a small board with Hamzahs name on it. This was when mobile phones were still in the realm of science fiction. He quickly excused himself and went over to the reception counter to take a telephone call. He returned shortly and looked somewhat agitated. I asked him if everything was all right. Then, he said something so profoundly moving that I have not forgotten in spite of the intervening decades. Taking a sip of drink, he tilted his head towards heaven above and said, or perhaps sighed would be a more appropriate word, œWhat Tuanku gives, Tuanku takes. Apparently, Tuanku Pahang had been unhappy about something Hamzah was supposed to have committed, and the palace chamberlain had been ordered to tell him that His Highness would strip him of his Pahang honours. I am pleased to say that the Tuanku relented.
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