Ruslan Khalid's Quest for Architectural Excellence - A Review

                             

My better half has a knack for finding great books. One of the many biographies or autobiographies that are lined up in our mini library is one entitled Quest for Architectural Excellence by Ruslan Khalid. Knowing that the departed author was an architect, my first impression before I even open the book was that it would be a great spell to put me into slumber. How wrong I was. From the first page of his memoir, I instantly felt drawn to follow his life’s journey. It wasn’t just his journey that stroke my interest but his way of writing, and choice of words that were thoughtfully articulated. 

Overall, the book could be divided into two sections; the first is his journey from Malaya to studying and living in England and the latter is about his life once he decided to leave England and return home for good. Some people these days brag about their trip overseas on long haul flight. But not this gentleman! He left Malaya for England in style boarding the SS Canton with ports of calls at Colombo, Bombay, followed by Port of Aden where he and some acquaintances he made on the SS later travelled by land to the next port of call. What a privy I thought for a lad from small Malay kampung in Malaya to chance upon such opportunity. Some memoirs grew thick because of pictures annexed not in Ruslan’s memoir. Pictures of every port of calls the SS stopped at were beautifully painted by his turn of phrases describing the picturesque views he saw. From this memoir I learnt, unlike air travellers who are freighted from one time zone to another in just a fraction of time, the passengers of SS Canton spent 24 days sailing from one oceanic water to another whilst witnessing the change of views in the horizon and climate as they headed further North. Even modern cruise these days no longer offer trips crossing several oceanic waters. I have no intention to retell Ruslan’s many great adventures spanning nearly three decades as students, soon after as wage earner or later as registered architect in England. I feel I wouldn’t do justice to such beautifully written piece of memoir to be retold in any other way.  

The later part of his memoir is where he shared his architectural journey as soon as he landed in his homeland for good and the many accompanying tribulations and accomplishments. Many a time I felt the hurt and frustration that Ruslan felt during some hard times since I too had once experienced living and working in England and had high hopes upon return only for those aspirations to be shattered to pieces. I agree with Hijaz Kasturi in his opening line of this memoir’s forward; the dearly departed Ruslan Khalid has opened a whole can of worms through his memoir. Although some of the issues highlighted might seem thought provoking for stern believer of "if it ain't broken don't fix", they were all made with the intention of the betterment of his beloved mother land that could be attained by ensuring architectural excellence. This short review on Ruslan Khalid’s autobiography is written as an appeal for book lovers to please read this book. Not only is it a page turner where one could learn about his life experiences, but also an insightful look into his critical thinking process, and the less favourable solutions to civic issues proposed in the book. I wish to borrow the words of André Maurois, “The art of reading is in great part that of acquiring a better understanding of life from one’s encounter with it in a book”; to summarise the joy and teary moments I felt and most of all the reflections it left in me through this memoir.