JUST like the three Chinese New Years before, my wife bought me another red shirt from British India. She has always insisted I wear a new shirt for the CNY. I do not mind too much as long as I am allowed to wear it over my old comfortable jeans.
So on the first day of CNY, feeling casually smart in my only new very red shirt with nice prints, I went to “pai neen” or pay my respects at Datuk Tan Chin Nam’s open house. Though slightly frail as he nears 90 years young, Tan’s memory was still good as he told me about his foray into building his first houses in Penang back in 1948 with just RM5,000 capital at that time.