PLAIN OF JARS, LAOS.

 A MAD COMIC 

AND 

A MAD WAR ON THE PLAIN OF JARS.

“We write to taste life twice, in the moment, and in retrospect."

--Anaïs Nin

THE FIRST JOB - A TEMPORARY TEACHER.

A NEW BICYCLE.

A DEVASTATING WAR IN A NEIGHBOURING COUNTRY.

A COMIC BOOK FROM THE DISTANT LAND THAT CAUSED THE WAR.

53 YEARS PASS.

FINALLY A DREAMED TRIP COMES TO FRUITION.

T'was the 1st of July 1964. 

Six months after completing my OSC or Form V, me, the eldest son of the family reported for his first job as a Temporary Teacher at NTPS* English, Taman Eng Ann in then Klang, Selangor, Malaysia. (Pic 1)

My classmates and neighbours were happy and excited about my success.

The school was 5 miles from home and I cycled there proudly, excitedly and enthusiastically five days a week on a new top of the range UK made Raleigh bicycle complete with bells and whistles-  Sturmey Archer 3 speed hub gear, hub brakes, a pump and bag attached behind the seat. The pump was carefully kept at home for obvious reasons. (Pic 2)

The bicycle was purchased on a monthly instalment basis from the then most comprehensively stocked Swee Soon Hin bicycle and electrical appliances shop, located on Rembau Street. (Pic 3. In 2020, it had shrunk to half its size, and its new owners were only dealing in bicycles.)

At the end of the first month, I received my first ever pay packet from the very fatherly cheroot smoking Headmaster, Mr Sinnathamby.

As he handed me the $150/=, he said I should hand over my earnings to my mother to be blessed. On returning home, I dutifully handed over a major portion to my mother, minus $50/= of which $30/= was for the bicycle installment and the $20/= to treat my close classmates at the Evergreen Cafe across the Klang River which served lip-smacking chicken chops and refreshing ice-kacang. $20/= went a long way long ago.

The next day, on the way home after teaching duties, I made a beeline to the only decent bookshop in town. It was aptly named the Station Book Store, for it was located at the train station. There, I browsed through the magazine rack and found what I wanted. Yes, I could now purchase my own copy and not have to borrow from my more affluent classmates. I could read, re-read, and even lend my copy to my non-working former classmates. 

I purchased my first copy of the American Mad Magazine, the July 1964 issue. (Pic 4)

The magazine was worth the financial sacrifice as the contents were very whacky and transported one to a genre of humour way beyond our then limited experience and worldview. 

It gave us a new perspective and appreciation of American humour, which was much different from the schoolboy British versions found in Dandy, Beano, Beezer, and Topper. It poked fun and parodied politicians, advertisements, professions, and the like. As one chuckled and laughed at the humour, the vistas and possibilities of subtle and creative use of language to create mirth opened up in one's mind.

For decades, a frame from a segment of that issue remained engraved in my mind for two reasons.

The 3-page section on "A CHILD's VIEW OF NEWSPAPER HEADLINES" carried a cartoon panel showing "GORRILAS RUNNING OVER THE PLAIN OF JARS". It was superimposed on a news item of the PATHET LAO GUERRILLAS RUNNING OVER THE PLAIN OF JARS. (Pic 5)

While there was humour on one level - the superficial one, on another more serious level, the cartoon was reflecting a current news item carried by the daily local papers, radio and TV broadcasts then - attacks by the villainous Pathet Lao guerrilas on the valiant American and Laotian forces loyal to the leader of Laos, Prince Souvanna Phouma who was ensconced in the royal capital Luang Prabang. The incessant bombing initiated by Nixon and Kissinger was to annihilate the Pathet Lao and prevent the "Domino Effect" on South East Asia and beyond.

{Excerpt from the BBC- "Between May 1964 and the summer of 1969, the Plain of Jars was heavily bombed by the U.S. Air Force (USAF) operating against North Vietnamese and Pathet Lao communist forces. The USAF dropped more bombs on Laos, primarily the Plain of Jars, than it dropped during the whole of World War II". (Pic 6) 

Then, about 6 months later, on 23 January 1965, I said farewell to my students, colleagues and the kind, fatherly Headmaster, Mr Sinnathamby to report for duty at the secondary English school in a little fishing village town located in the north of the state, Sungai Besar.

Time passed and life too took its passage through some 48 years of ebbs, flows and meanders resulting in marriage, birth of children, relocation, migration and retirement in a distant land Australia.

Then, in October 2013, memories came gushing back when an item on a Malaysian online news portal caught my eye. The school where it all began had celebrated its 50 years in education. (Pic 7)

Memories of the Mad magazine, Gorillas/Guerrilas running over the Plain of Jars, Luang Prabang - "Yes, after all these years, Laos beckons me I said to Flo.

So in early 2017, off we went to Laos on a private tour since there were no group tours to that part of the world from Oz.

Finally, we arrived at the Plain of Jars. Despite the passing of 50 odd years since the end of hostilities, we could from the barren, denuded landscape pockmarked with craters comprehend the utter destruction of the area and its peoples caused by the screaming, fiery horror of incessant bombing. 

Those safely ensconced in citadels of power in faraway places would have brushed aside the lost lives, property, and livestock as Collateral Damage.

Even after the passage of half a century, large areas around the plain are marked off as no-go areas. An estimated 80 million unexploded bombs remain buried in the area, especially cluster munitions, thus limiting free movement. 

Evidence of the bombing raids can be seen in the form of craters and broken or displaced jars. Sightseeing on the Plain of Jars can only be done safely on cleared and marked pathways. (Pic 8 - Pic 12)

Work is being carried out to clear the area of unexploded ordnances and make it safe for the surrounding villagers to carry out their farming activities.

The Mines Advisory Group, a non-governmental organization, in collaboration with UNESCO and funded by the New Zealand government (NZAID), cleared unexploded bombs from the three most visited sites from July 2004 to July 2005. A second phase of bomb clearance at the sites also funded by NZAID was undertaken in 2007 and four more jar sites were made safe. (Pic 13)

We visited the 3 main sites.

On 6 July 2019, some 2 odd years after our visit, the Plain of Jars was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

I feel considerably blessed to be able to visit places that left an impression in my mind in the distant past.

*National Type Primary School English (now known as Sekolah Rendah Kebangsaan)