(4) Coco Majid

Foreword for TEMD

I had called Coco to ask if he could write the Foreword for TEMD, explaining to him that I had tried in vain to get Tun Dr Siti Hasmah to write the foreword. He agreed and I faxed his office a sheet that had only the word 'Foreword'.

I totally forgot about the Foreword that I requested from Coco as I went about my daily work. The time came for me to submit my TEMD manuscript. I called Coco's office to ask why Coco had not returned the Foreword. I was told that Coco never received the Foreword and I was to fax a drafted foreword.

I sat down to think what to draft for a man who had survived that long in Malaya and Malaysia and done almost all things he possibly coould to help Malaya/Malaysia. I could not draft anything for him as a foreword. I had no idea what to draft and what to emphasize. The ugly thought of sending him another single-word fax was the only option.

I decided to list only a few keywords and fax that to him in the hope that he would write and I need not have to draft. I got worried as the deadline for submission closed in. I started to panic as I had no Foreword to go with my manuscript submission.

With the deadline almost a week away, I decided to draft for Coco a text which I thought would be best for him and befitting the overall theme of my TEMD. I made several drafts and made countless revisions. I settled on one which I particularly liked and faxed that to him.

I learnt from Puan Safiah that Coco had agreed and was pleased except for 2 typos. I was happy. Had I read Coco's mind?