Good Old Prof. Hickling

The quotation at my blog header was from my old Prof. R.H. Hickling. He taught me when I was in my first year at the Faculty of Law, UKM. In fact, he taught me two papers : The Malaysian Legal System and Constitutional Law. Often, in between classes - should I have a one or two hour gap, I would drop by at his office. We chatted. Him, being almost 80, then, it was like a meeting between a granddaughter and a grandfather. Oh yes, he was very 'grandfatherly'.

Most of the students avoided him. I don't know why. To me he is a very nice person. Even when I paid him a visit we hardly talked about the law subjects that I took. We talked about literature. He knew then that I have been writing. He encouraged me a lot. But he told me one thing that I stayed with me till now.

He told me that I could always stop practising law if I wanted to, but he told me not to quit writing. "Any law graduate could become a lawyer but not everyone has been has the gift of writing." I was not thinking so much of becoming a writer back then so, I didn't take heed of what he said. But, each time my work was published, I always think of him and what he had told me.

He came all the way from London for my wedding and he also visited me when I had my third baby. I think that was the last time I saw him. I remember calling him once when he was in KL because I wanted to give him my latest book, but he had to leave early because his wife was ill.

We use to correspond a lot but lately that has been reduced to exchanging Christmas Card. I don't know whether the quote was originally his or he quoted it from elsewhere, but he did write this in one of this letters :

It lies not in our hands to love or hate,
for the will in us is overruled by fate.

Somehow, I really like this quote.