...on her own she supposes she could play the bamboo flute... but she would rather leave it to the musician to play an instrument for an audience... the year was 1988: she was in kuala lumpur and she wanted to see her father's old clarinet again that he used to practise on during rainy days back in the old hometown; he used to be in an eight-piece band as a hobby but he played the cello that he plucked like a small double-bass...she had her youngest brother to thank for helping her hunt the clarinet all over the big insomniac city and they tracked it down to someone's terrace house in petaling jaya...it was on top of the fridge gathering dust and the dude said he used it as a blunt tool to threaten the cat with when it got naughty...

she brought it back to australia, got an instrument repairer in sydney to look at it and who did a great job of lovingly restoring the clarinet...she handed it to her son and he had regular clarinet lessons in canberra...now the boy is a grown-up in sydney where he has picked up ukulele-playing for relaxation like most everybody... and the clarinet is with her down at the coast...

(boosey & hawkes 'regent' made in england serial no.159385 ©210315)