Gong! The giant bell tolled majestically through the chilly night and into my living room. The Japanese celebrate the new year one hour earlier than us, so while my countrymen were still waiting for 2019 with baited breath, I had ushered it alongside the Japanese.

Just as 2018 marked the impending era of the Heisei era, it signified the closing of my chapter with NorthLight. A poignancy exacerbated by a stunning sense of clarity about what I would miss about NLS.

As I chased for proficiency in Thai, my Malay improved as well - one word at a time. I would miss sprinkling Melayu words into my conversations without a second thought. I would miss the cultural attitude embedded within these words I have come to embrace so dearly - the salam, the gotong royong semangat and oh yes, the lepak.

But perhaps I shouldn’t be so melancholic because I know that the few Malay words I did manage to learn are internalised as part of my psyche for a lifetime.