DEDICATION
Ere Here Where?
Amusing Musings
Story #651:
"DEDICATION"
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Dear Daniel:
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This is specially for you: my olde friend Daniel MS — better known by his Facebook pseudonym “Mahjik Man” — who was my neighbourhood buddy especially during the years 1972 to 1978.
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Thank you for sharing with me during our growing-up years the wide repertoire of music genres — from rock n roll, to progressive music, hard rock, and blues as well as the huge selection of easy pop culture songs of the ‘70s.
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We had a lot of wonderful chats on a whole range of interesting as well as controversial subjects. No doubt, you always had an opinion on the whole gamut of topics well before the advent of the Internet! Fascinating really...
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We often listened to loud music at very late hours which annoyed my father no small bit. And the many memorable moments of musical interludes of all sorts. At that time, analogue music from LPs or vinyl records spinning at 33rpm on a record player made a huge impact on our auditory sensations. In my view, a touch of heaven on earth for two poor kids struggling to make sense of the world.
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I still remember you helping me put together — on a purse string budget — my first stereophonic sound system with an amplifier, turntable and twin speakers which we assembled from scratch with speaker components, woofer and bass elements.
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Only the pair of speaker box wooden case was custom made by a local audio house for a cool S$180 which was a hefty investment at that time! I remember you calculating the induction coil copper wire length to get the speakers to perform way past their normal capacity. But you did it. And then, we enjoyed the analogue sounds with sheer gusto. For that: “Thank You” — even after all these years.
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We used to visit the Jalan Besar/ Sungei Road vicinity to explore the variety of goods on offer. And with our limited budget, managed to get some value-for-money offers, though we wished we had more to buy those goods beyond our reach. Those days were marvellous for us poor kids in the Bendemeer Road HDB neighbourhood.
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My gratitude also for the motivational cassette tapes and books you shared with me. These materials helped me see things with a very different perspective. And for passing your paperback copy of "A Course in Miracles" to me.
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Even now — some 40-plus years later — I still listen to, and still prefer the music and songs of those early years more than the current crop of musical entertainment published today.
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The musical wonders of those early years in the ‘70s are still freshly embedded in my personal psyche and cultural landscape of mind, heart and soul. For all these wonderful moments, I express my profound gratitude to you my olde friend Daniel for the kindness of those days so very long ago. Blessings to you on your life journey olde friend.
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Sincerely,
Leon
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Leon Enriquez
15 June 2021
Singapore
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<ENDS>
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