Gesturing to say he would be back in a moment, he went into the club. A lot of repair work was in progress. Addison was in charge of the work. Liang, his brother and a few other workers were busy making shelves and cupboards for the library. Seeing Addison they all stood up. After giving them a few instructions he looked at Liang’s older brother and said, ‘Big John, I want you to make me a small wooden ornament box. Do you understand what I mean? There should be small compartments in the box.’ He took out a piece of paper and drew a diagram. ‘Something like this, understand?’

The carpenters watched attentively and tried to make out exactly what Addison had in mind.

‘It’s for my wife-to-be. Make it properly. It must be beautiful, understand?’

They nodded.

‘Good. Come to the office tomorrow and tell me what materials you need.’

Smiling gently and patting Liang on his back, Addison left. The carpenters went back to work. After a while Liang said, ‘I’ll leave a bit early today, ako.’

‘Why?’ his elder brother asked, putting aside his saw.

‘There’s a meeting in the Chinese Club. Then I’ll go to Tung Chin’s house. They’ve invited me for dinner.’

‘Don’t stay out late. No one knows what might happen.’

‘We have our papers, ako.’

‘Never mind, I feel scared even with the papers. People say that the war has taken a serious turn.’

As Liang made his way to the Chinese Club, Addison sat with his friends sipping beer in the open verandah beside the swimming pool. The news of the war replaced their usual topics of conversation.

The overall situation was slowly becoming grave.

Most people were worried about the security of the country. There were public drives to collect money, clothes and other materials to help the soldiers. There were many more issues that had made the atmosphere heavy with dread. Although the situation was tense, day-to-day work in the garden went on as usual.

When Liang reached the office, bearers of the Chinese society of Makum and other important Chinese people of the area had already gathered at the club.

Lee Chang was reading out the war news from a newspaper. Everyone was listening to him intently.