This series records various memories I have of those times, and sometimes of the people who made a difference in those battles.

It is an Asian custom for an acolyte to pay homage to his teachers. Here I recount several of them: I start with two. They have made a huge difference to the way I work.

I hope you have as much fun watching this video as I had of ‘accidentally’ doing it.

How this series came to be made

Samad Hassan Al Muthalib is the director of these videos. The videographer and lighting expert is Aaron Chung. Both are creative geniuses.

Samad had been speaking about doing some ‘personal stories’ about my early days at the Bar. I had resisted this for a long time: well, at least for as long as 63 other videos. I kept most of my videos about the law. They were neutral. Personal stuff was hard. Some characters in these stories were still about, and I was anxious not to discomfit them.

How videos are usually made

Most videos start with a script. It is revised many times. It is then timed. Then ‘shot lists’ are made. Then lighting and sound are activated.  It all takes a long time; especially for someone like me who has no idea about the process.

Very late on a Saturday last December 2020, as we were gearing up to shoot one of ‘Grandpa GK’s stories’ I was asked to sit on the chair while lights and sound were being adjusted.

In the course of these adjustments, Samad would ask me to move this way and that; Aaron would ask me to say something so he could adjust microphone levels.

That Saturday they said, ‘just keep talking and moving your head’. And talk as if you are at a recording’. I did.

These stories were born out of these ‘equipment adjust’ episodes.

I hope this opening story is as enjoyable to you as it was fun for Samad, Aaron and I.

My pupil-master

My pupil master had a fearsome reputation. He was larger than life. I had no idea what I was walking into when I entered his chambers.

Here is that story.