Malaysiana - The Cultures In The Maidens Poem by john tiong chunghoo

The maiden of Malaya is full of romance
Her hair curls and flows the way the Straits of
Malacca meets the Andaman, stretches of love that
sweep onto The Golden Chersonese

Seeds from afar as the desert plain of Arabia, the
land of Taj Mahal, Asoka - you see them dancing in her
ebullient eyes, magical eyes with lashes so long they
flip into your heart to remain in warm quarters you
could savour in the dead of nights

Her finely arched eyebrows sweep you through the
swathes and swathes of Arab sand where you remember
the Prophet and all his sayings

Layer upon layer of her young passion is played out by
the sand that swirls with the wind the moment it
blows, turning the clear sky into a miasma of her
desires

Her curvaceous physique is made
more desirous by her lace embellished kebaya
Every inch inches into your fantasy, tugs at your
heartstrings, the way the golden threads are woven
into the figure hugging costumes

Her soft tapering fingers are coloured with henna when
she marries - two floral patterned hands that promise
a wonderland of cuisine to spice up your life in all
spheres

The maiden of Malaya is full of romance,
In her flows a potpourri of cultures that would melt
away a man's heart, cultures that shine with the
mesmerising mirage of Arabia, sway to the riveting
Indian drums and twirl and swirl to the gracefulness
of a ballet nubile

The Golden Chersonese, the golden land, golden culture
and the lady that is the essence of it all