the phone rang and i was surprised to see zak's name flashing, although with the upcoming class party, and given how bad our class is at rsvping, not that unexpected either. (as of a few hours ago, 1b-ers were more interested in squabbling over whether shrimp and duck meat are halal. rashid says no, zak says yes.) it turns out zak wasn't looking for a confirmation or asking what dish i'm bringing for the potluck - nor was he trying to practise his mandarin.

we got as far as:
hello zak! shi ni! hao ma?
(a hesitant noise) er, hen hao.
(pause. i grope for a malay reply)
me: er, we shan't continue this, shall we?
zak: no.
me: right.
zak: right. er, so what's up minz?

zak is thinking of staying an extra year at oxford and doing his m.phil (also in southeast asian history) and tells me he's right now writing his thesis about education reforms in colonial singapore and malaya. did i think my family can put him in touch with mr wijeysingha for an interview? he'd tried the ri archives but they were singularly unhelpful and anyway didn't seem to have the information needed. hm. i'll try to fix it up for him with my mother. also, today he started work with the straits times at the foreign desk and we can expect his article on economic threats to singapore to be in next saturday's edition. so now you all know.

i'm looking more and more forward to the saturday party. i think i'm going get around the transport problem by going to my aunt's in changi to make the cake, and then zak and i can share a cab with maybe another easterner, or we might even get ashraf to drive us! zak says he's cooking mee goreng. and julia says her mom will make a "kickass curry" and "chilli veggie with shrimp" and i think alfoo's going to bring roast duck. (hence the duck/shrimp question) i do think our class is complicated when it comes to food arrangement: we've got a taoists and hindus so no beef, 3 muslims, hence nothing non-halal, and shraf is vegetarian so we must always have potato salad on hand. heh. cake, i point out triumphantly to zak, is perfectly halal. i'll just have to tell my aunt not to put any liqueur into the cake. perhaps we'll do a fruit flan? or maybe a mango sponge? i'll go talk to my aunt.