Watching Michael Jackson on black and white TV

The death of Michael Jackson on Thursday due to cardiac arrest is a loss to the world of entertainment. I still remember how I watched Jackson Five in Jerantut, Pahang some 35 years ago. At that time, colour TV had not come to Malaysia and still we enjoyed the black and white shows of Jackson Five, with Michael Jackson as one of the singers.

We glued our eyes to the idiot box in the house of Uncle Tee, the father of my student Tee Guat Hoon who was studying in Form 2 then. I was teaching her Integrated Science. During weekends and sometimes weekdays my housemates, Tan Ching Hong, Boo Cheng Kee and I would be at the Tees to watch television shows. The Jackson Five show was one of our favourites. The other shows included Sixth Sense and Rockard Files (whose main character, the private eye used to call his father by the name, much to my surprise as Chinese like me won't call our father by his name).

Later, my impression of Michael Jackson was that he looked like a girl with very fair skin. At one time, I knew that 'Beat It' became a hit. I enjoyed watching him dance while singing. He was so fast and agile. Frankly speaking, I am not a fan of Michael Jackson but on and off I chanced to listen to his songs and dances on TV screens at home.