TRIBUTE ABDUL - Perdana Library

FRANK SULLIVAN
with hardly a free moment to spare. The result is that you become
subjected to a vivid series of quick impressions which are apt to
become confused at the time and in retrospect. There is so much
to do, so much to take in, that sometimes you have to stand still
and think hard to remember what day of the week it is.
The Prime Minister and his party arrived in Hamburg to begin a
14-day programme in Germany, Belgium and Holland at an historic
time. It was the day of the long-awaited, and as it turned out, illfated
Summit Talks in Paris. Immediately the Tunku was plunged
into an endless round of formal calls or official discussions; receptions,
luncheons, banquets and parades with dozens of speeches;
tours of factories, projects, cities, ports, scientific and cultural institutions,
or tourist attractions; and all these interspersed with personal,
Press or Radio interviews and the telephones always ringing.
Add to this that you are always on the move, travelling thousands
of miles by air, road or water, up early and sleep late, packing
and unpacking, changing dress repeatedly for different functions,
taking your part in the current day and preparing for the one ahead,
and you get some idea of the calls made on your will and stamina.
Add to this again that you are meeting hundreds of new faces
and personalities, exchanging views and opinions, always keeping
eyes and ears open to learn as much as you can while you can, answering
numerous questions about Malaya and putting many more
yourselves, and never for one moment unaware or unalert that you
are the representatives of Malaya, responsible each in your own way
for protecting the personality and prestige of your country, and you
get some idea of the calls made on your brain and heart.
Yet when you are on such official visits, moving literally
through an ever-changing panorama, involved in the kaleidoscope of
new people, new things and new ideas, you are excited, stimulated,
interested, but above all, very pleased by the time and effort taken in
genuine hospitality and warmth of welcome to do honour to the
Tunku and Malaya.
I often wonder how it is possible to maintain such a concentrated
expenditure of energy on both sides, and the only conclusion 1
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