And little by little he conceived a deep love for the Malays. He interested himself in their habits and customs. He was never tired of listening to their talk. He admired their virtues, and with a smile and shrug of the shoulders condoned their vices.
“In my day,” he would say, “I have been on intimate terms with some of the greatest gentleman in England, but I have never known finer gentlemen than some well born Malays whom I am proud to call my friends.”
He liked their courtesy and their distinguished manners, their gentleness and their sudden passions. He knew by instinct exactly how to treat them. He had a genuine tenderness for them. But he never forgot he was an English gentleman and he had no patience with the white man who yielded to native customs.
W. Somerset Maugham, “The Outstation”, 1926
Photo: R. Kennedy Stephen
