BATU FERRINGHI – 20 January 1978

Olympus OM-1 on Kodachrome 64. Roll 1 Frame 14

Every time I hear Roberta Flack sing ‘Killing Me Softly With His Song’ I am immediately transported back to Malaysia. Funny how our brains can so strongly associate music with time and geography.

I was 19 years old, half a world away from home and drinking a beer at outdoor cafe while watching the sun set into the Indian Ocean. Roberta set the mood by telling the story of the boy who seemed as if he had read all her letters and was singing about it.

Earlier in the day I had set up my tent on the quiet beach of Batu Ferringhi on the island of Penang. I was sitting in front of my tent minding my own business when some men in a fishing boat came to shore. I got up for a chat and a photo.

A third man joined them and I awkwardly couldn’t take my eyes off him. He looked European but something wasn’t quite right. ‘I’m like them,’ he said. I had studied albinism in my genetics classes but I had never seen a human albino. I know it was rude but I couldn’t take my eyes off him. ‘Do you want to go out and check the nets with us?’ he asked. I said ‘sure’ and we pushed the boat into the sea and pulled in some empty nets.

It was a special day capped off with that sunset beer while Roberta sang.

In 2013, I returned to Batu Ferringhi. I tried to find the quiet spot on the beach where I pitched my tent. I tried to find the seaside pub where I had that magical moment listening to Roberta Flack. But I could only find wall-to-wall luxury hotels and sunburnt tourists. The beach I knew was long gone. There were no longer places to pitch a tent between the luxury hotels. Hawkers now roamed the beach instead of albino fishermen. The fleet of fishing boats was replaced with the constant annoying drone of jet skis. ‘Killing Me Softly’ was now being sung by a hip hop group called The Fugees.

I found it depressing and reminded myself how dangerous it is to return to those places where you once had special moments.

But still every time I hear ‘Killing Me Softly’ I don’t picture today’s Batu Ferringhi. It takes me back to that magical evening 41 years ago when Roberta joined me for a beer.