Wan Hassan hung around the Edgware Road area and we used to congregate at 102 Star Street which is now run by Yunus Saidin - affectionately called Chairman of the Star Street Forum.

Jaafar used to turn up and invite us for dinner. Not in his restaurant but for home cooking at his own flat. He calls the Star Street office 'God's Waiting Room' - which we think is not too funny.

These were the pioneer pre-1957 Malaysians pre-1957 who set foot in UK after a sea voyage of some twenty-odd days from Singapore and landed in London virtually penniless. (I had the grand sum of 13.50 in my pocket) and was quite starry-eyed.

One of us Nik Ibrahim (now very successfully retired) landed in Marseilles and had to ask for the way to London at the French port.

We all at some time or the other, had lived in Malaysia Hall at Bryanston Square and had our 60 pence dinner there. A four-bedroom flat in Bryanston Square can fetch a million pounds today.

Malaysia Hall (donated by the British) consists of four magnificent Georgian (I think) houses about six stories high. All the high-and-mighty together with the not-so-high-and-mighty dropouts have passed through its rooms.

The Tunku, Lee Kuan Yew, Razak, Hussein Onn and Tengku Razaleigh who cut his political teeth as a student leader there. Pity some bright spark at the Malaysian Embassy decided to give up the lease to this historic building to the landlord Portman Estates conveniently forgetting

we virtually had the freehold.

Schooled in pre-1957 type integrated schools (Wan Hassan was at St Xaviers in Penang for a while),we were of all races and beliefs and in the melting pot of London (you can hear about 145 languages on London buses), became totally liberal non-racist.

Wan Hassan's endearing quality was his no-nonsense way of lambasting religious or racial shibboleths. (The Arabisation of the Malays was one of his favourite topics which struck at the chords of common sense).

Wan Hassan had many Chinese friends from the days when he lived at Kampong Attap in Kuala Lumpur and hung out at Petaling Street among the street peddlers whom he still saw on his less and less frequent trips to Malaysia. (He bought his VCDs there for those in the know).

And the simple reason as he told me why he could not be in Malaysia too often was that he needed to be within five minutes from St. Mary's Hospital, Paddington after his first heart attack almost 10 years ago. Britain's National Health Service is still brilliant and angioplasty is free.

So there you are. As the writer AAB says you can have all the Datukships and TanSillys in the world in Malaysia or live a life that's full in London and not regret a minute of it.

Wan Hassan did the latter.