Here are your H1 and H2

How would you spend your evening if you were in a small town like Jerantut? I was there from 1974 to 1978, some 30 odd years ago.

Well, I patronised the two cinemas with my buddy Ho Phea Keat every night without fail. (Ho was a temporary teacher from Benta. An ardent cinema-goer he was. Later, he obtained a scholarship to study engineering in India. What impressed me most about him is the huge numbers of pimples that decorate his face.) You see, one of the cinemas would be screening Chinese love stories while the other English films.

We usually frequented the one showing English films and the films starring Charles Bronson were our favourites. On days when Hindustani films were on, we adjourned to the other cinema showing Chinese films. The shows were screened for one day only. That explained why going to the cinema became our daily routine because we got to watch a new movie every day. The ticket seller recognised my hand and our favourite seats. Hence, the moment I gave her the two rinngit for our tickets, she would say, 'Here are your H1 and H2' without my uttering a single word.

I lost count of how much I had spent in the two cinemas. Those were the days I could vividly recall.