My cousin, Paul and I were very close childhood buddies and we have spent many happy times together. During our early teen age years the two of us were inseparable. During the school holidays we often went to Seria by bus to stay in the SRC bachelor flats with Peter, Paul’s eldest brother who was a surveyor. Next to the flats[1] was the SRC swimming pool where we spent all our days swimming until our finger tips looked like prunes. Peter worked in the topographical department in Brunei Shell. He gave us a lot of cash to spend on toys and other boys stuff like Roy Rogers’s comics and cow boy jeans. Paul and I were among the first to wear genuine Saddle King[2] Jeans in Miri. Levi jeans did not make an appearance until years later; maybe even after Amco. However, as we grew up, Paul and I went our separate ways. I went on to further my studies in Australia. He went into the Baram jungles to seek his fortune. He married his girl friend, Helen Lai. They had two sons and lived in the house next to our land in Pujut for a few years. Later on, under pressure from Helen, he sold this house in Pujut for 23K and bought a terrace house in Krokop. Paul was a very ambitious businessman.
