In a December evening of high winds in Johor Malaysia, when the locals suggested being a bad idea to swim or surf, we ended up barbecuing at the Desairu Beach. Stuffed with a few grilled fish, I walked up to the sand.
As night fell, the winds were blowing with increasingly intimidating force, coupled by the stupendous tides pounding the shore tirelessly. Those white bubbles would sporadically flush my feet and flee as they were always in a hurry. At 80 something degrees, I almost felt a little shivering going through my back.
The moment came when I looked up to the sky. My God, what a view! All my life, I had never seen so many stars with such astounding clarity: the whole universe was right in my face. The endless clustering of stars and galaxies were so close, yet so far away. For a second, I felt my soul and mind completely cleansed: such insignificance and inability as a human being.
I tried hard to remember some of the constellation patterns when I was in school, but to no avail. It’s so hard to match “the Big Bear” or “the Big Dipper” with a space of such overwhelming scales.
At the end of the night, I came to a conclusion: this country has got to be a nightmare for the telescope manufacturers: who the hell would need one anyway?
(This was written a few years ago)
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