ILLUSTRATION ADAPTED FROM SHUTTERSTOCKbear the smell of durians. A moment later he
called the Sepoy, who was guarding the door,
and said. “Who brought durians here?” He
pointed to the Malay, and Mr Raffles told him
to get out quickly, and told the Sepoy, “Don’t
let anyone bring durians through this door.”
From that day no one dared to bring any
more durians. Then for the first time I knew
that Mr Raffles did not eat durians, and not
merely eating them, he could not even bear
the smell. Shortly after that, he went down
stairs, saying, “I’ve got a headache from the
smell of those durians; they are very bad to
eat.” We all smiled to hear him say that, for
he was different in that respect from other
people: a thing which other people liked he
hated. Therefore if any one brought durians,
the Sepoy drove them away.
One afternoon when I was about to go
home, Mr Raffles called me, saying, “Let us go
out for a while; I want to see a Malay school.”
I then got into the carriage with him, and
we went to Terangkera. When we reached
the house of Lebai Abdul Razak, Mr Raffles
went in with me, and we saw three boys being
punished; one was chained by the waist, the
other end of the chain being nailed to a log
which he had to carry; another was merely
chained, and told to read; and another was
tied to a post. Mr Raffles said: “Why are these
boys chained like this? This is a bad custom:
please ask the teacher.” I inquired of him, and
he answered, “This boy, sir, ran away, and it is
now eight days and we have just caught him; he
was brought from a place called Kendur, a day’s
journey from here; his parents paid the man a
dollar; that is why I punish him like this. Then
this boy ran away for two days, and climbed a
tree in the jungle; so I am punishing him. And
this boy forgets every single thing which he has
read, and so I am making him read.” Mr Raffles
said, “If so, it is quite right.” Then he said,
“Why do you not teach the Malay language?”
The teacher answered, “The parents of these
boys tell me to teach the Koran first, and when
they have learned the Koran, then they can
learn the Malay language; that is the custom
with all of us. Moreover in this country it is not
customary to have schools to teach the Malay
language.” Mr Raffles said, “Very well, teacher,
I only wanted to know, do not be vexed;
goodbye, teacher.” So we went out; and as we
walked, he said to me, “Is it true that that is
the Malay custom? ag