Saturday, November 24, 2007

The Search For U Lee

It was with a heavy heart that I deleted Moonlight and Roses from my blog roll. What is the point of keeping it there anymore since the blogsite is no more available after the blog owner deleted the blog for good. The reason for deleting it is only known to the blog owner who went by the nick U Lee or Uncle Lee to most bloggers. It must have been a painful decision for him to do it after painstakingly building it up from scratch. Furthermore, the blog has such a large follower.
Anyway, the blogowner had the courtesy to inform his readers via his last blog of the impending deletion bringing forth many comments for him to carry on blogging or at least keep the blog going. Everyone respected his decision and a few expressed their hope that U Lee will come back again sometimes later.
Being a newcomer to the blogging world and a recent visitor to Moonlight and Roses, I was only able to read the last few blogs namely the touching story about Donna and the hauntingly beautiful description of Canada during the recent falls. The beautiful pictures accompanying the story of Canada did justice to the detailed description. I was hoping to read the rest of the blog during the seven days it remained available. As with any form of procrastination, by the time you are ready to read it, it was already too late and no more there.
Rita Ho in her blog I'm Making Notes wrote a beautiful tribute to U Lee in one of her blog Uncle Lee - One Fine Gentleman. Rita Ho described him as a man who wrote from the heart. Rita’s post attracted many comments from avid readers of U Lee and non-readers as well. Of note were the comments from Ruby Ahmad, Puteri, Akmal, aidan's mama and papa, cat cat, jt and Daphne Ling(not in order of appearance). Ruby Ahmad commented that her gut feeling told her that U Lee’s departure from the blogsphere will just be a temporary one and he will comeback some day. What nice hope she was giving us.
Puteri of Puteri’s Musing enticed us with a peek into what we have missed on U Lee’s Moonlight and Roses by providing a link to some episodes of The Faded Letters, one of U Lee’s most moving story. Somebody told me that The Memories Of The Way We Were was another gem from U Lee but the best attempt at forensic internet search by Puteri failed to find it. What a Loss!
The only hope that we have now is to get U Lee to make a comeback to blogging. I hope that he had the hindsight to keep a mirror image copy of Moonlight and Roses before deleting it; otherwise, he will have to redo it from scratch again and come up with an even better version of his stories.
After reading those few episodes of The Faded Letters, I bet U Lee will be shedding loads of tears again if he were to redo the same story since it was a true story of his life that happened some 30 years ago.
U Lee, we would be most grateful if you could come back and share with us whatever the joy and sadness that you had experienced so that others may learn a lesson or two from it. From the bottom of my heart, I beg you to come back.

22 comments:

Unknown said...

Pak Zawi,
Eh, bukan uncle Lee dah balik ke?
Siap buat blog baru lagi kot. He virtually treated us with some buffet and a speacial one for you. Check it out at his new site. This is the URL to his new blog Moonlight Rendezvous

http://moonlightnightsstarryskies.blogspot.com/

He asked me why you MIA. Heheh, and asked me whether I saw you going out with some fresh chicks. Heheh.
Patut ler sume orang nak dia balik....(",)
Good day.

J.T. said...

Hi Zawi

Just like you, when U.Lee shut down his blog, I deleted Moonlight and Roses from my blog roll with a heavy heart. I was hoping it will be temporary but told him that I will respect his decision if he was going to stay away for good.

As I write this, I am happy to inform you that Uncle Lee has made a comeback. yeay!

I was told that you are one of the wonderful bloggers instrumental in bringing him back to blogging. Thank you, Zawi.

I look forward to many more of his 'ceritas'. :)

Unknown said...

Hello Zawi,

What a beautiful tribute to U Lee.

I'm sure U Lee will be so thrilled to know what a great new buddy he has found in you. BUT ma man! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN??? Ha ha siap in capital lagi tu. You have not heard?

U Lee has RETURNED! YES! He has returned with a vengeance!!.. and he has cited you as one of the reasons (read:one of the 3 persistent naggers) that made him return..ha ha! Please have a look at a brand new 'A Moonlight Rendezvous'.

But hey thanks for the mention here.

Well, we are back in the swing with U Lee. He's up with his old antics again..teasing, jesting and jiving with his gang! LOL!

Cheers.

Lee said...

Zawi! You made me reach for my box of tissues!
What can I say? But a terima kaseh seribu, my friend.
I really missed you? Di mana you AWOL? I sent out my agents all over for you too.
Ta'nampak your comment or your messages like saya puasa.
But Zawi...once again, thank you for this most eloquent mention.
Zawi, IT WAS YOU who first motivated, instigated my return. IT WAS YOU who started lighting the fireworks at first behind me, then underneath me.
But you don't play fair, ha ha.
You enlisted lovely Rita Ho's help, and how can I resist Ruby Ahmad?
You don't play fair, my friend.
But still, in spite of your nagging, macham nenek nombor tiga saya...I have returned. Thanks to you, Zawi.
Zawi...I left a message in blue for YOU at Ruby's blog comment page. Get on your Hercules bicycle and cycle over her place, then come to my new blog for kopi, kueh lapis, kueh dodol and kueh dada. Kita boleh buka cherita, ya.
Once again, my friend..I thank you with tears in my eyes for your eloquent message. Lee.

Lee said...

ZAWI! I am sooooo EXCITED TODAY! Sunday 25th Nov.
Why? Holy Smoke!
Someone HAD copied, I repeat, COPIED some of my previous postings in my deleted, 'Moonlight and Roses'.
I have really regreted deleting them......but like a prayer as well your this posting,...I think it is this posting of yours that answered the call.
Once I get them back, I will upgrade, re-edit a few to republish again in my new Blog, 'A Moonlight Rendezvous'.
This person really made my day today!
Its your this posting, Zawi...someone, somewhere, up there....answered your poignant message.
Thank you, my friend, thank you. Lee.

Nightwing said...

Helo Zawi,

Thanks to you constant request of Uncle Lee's return plus tribute by Rita and kak Ruby...Uncle Lee is back!!!

Kudos to you. Hope by the time this comment is posted, you have already visited Uncle Lee's new crib.

Cheers.

Pak Zawi said...

akmal,
Pak Zawi berada di rumah anak sejak 19 November 2007 dan tak dapat masuk internet sangat. Bab tu saya tidak tahu kepulangan U Lee ke alam blogging.
Terima kasih kepada URl yang Akmal kasi. Sekarang Akmal tahu kenapa dia ramai peminat kan? Terutama dari kalangan kaum wanita ya? Sebenarny cerita lain yang dia tulis lagi menarik. Tunggu la apa bila dia post cerita yang dia olah semula tu.
Dia ingat saya pergi Rantau Panjang jumpa Akmal dan sambil tu tersalah langkah ke sempadan sebelah la tu yang dia fikir saya MIA.

Pak Zawi said...

j.t.
We were in the same boat of die Hard fans of U Lee and his Moonlight and Roses. That's why we long for him. Soon there will be more people clamouring to read his new postings after all the cries for his return is read by soon to be fans of U Lee.
Dont be misled by his profuse accolade of me as being instrumental in bringing him back. It was more the work of Rita Ho, Ruby and Puteri. A collective efforts by us all including your comments has soften his heart I guess. Pssst, between you and me he is easily swayed by people of your gender than mine. So Ruby's caution of him holding my hands is definitely a waste of bytes hahahaha.
Anyway his blog is certainly a new variety as espoused by Ruby. All of us are definitely happy that he is back.

Pak Zawi said...

U Lee,
Don't blame me for making you come back. Blogging addicts like us will find the slimmest excuse to continue blogging. All we need is a small push. Together with the others like Rita Ho, Ruby Ahmad, Puteri and the rest who made comments, the small push became a large one and we are happy to have you back. I know tears from a male like me wont move you but tears from the other gender will definitely move this gentleman called U Lee. The only difference was I made personal appeal through your email asking for episodes of The Faded Letters and The Memories fo The Way We Were because of Puteri's failure to retrieve it from Google's archive. All done fair and square, short of punching you in the nose to make you come back. Anyway you are too tall for me to hit you there. If I were to play it my way I would have punched you below the belt where the famiy jewel is located and where it will hurt you most. Then it would be an unfair tactic hahahahha.I have been to Ruby's site earlier and again this morning. Lost for words after all others have beaten me to the mark due to my absence from the blogsphere since the 19th of November. Left my mark there too so u better watch out, its my territory now hahahaha.

Pak Zawi said...

U.Lee (Nov 25th),
Somebody copied some of your previous postings in your deleted Moonliht and Roses? Who may I ask? The consider it as flattery of the highest order and you should thank him of the effort and free publicity. I wanna see whether he did justice to your beautiful work. I will put a piece of my mind there if he/she doesnt do it nicely.
Yes God has answered our prayers.

Pak Zawi said...

Nightwing,
Happiness is having contribute to agood cause and apprecitaed for it. Told everyone that it was a collective effort including your goodself.
I have vsisted to all the reletaed sites and I am happy to note the generally happy mood brought about by his return.
Thank you for visiting my site.

Pak Zawi said...

ruby,
Mine is nowhere compared to what you wrote in your blog. Your's and Rita's tribute inspired mhe e. I did mention it in my comment on your blog (ttribute). We should be thankful for U Lee to consider us as his close friends which I personally consider as a big honour to be one. It was unfortunate that I was in KL but nowhere near any place with internet connection until this morning. It's like being a duck dying of thirst swimming in a lakefull of water but yet was unable to drink it.
It's good that he is back being his usual self otherwise he wont be the same U Lee that we know. Who wants a new U Lee anyway?
Now that he is back let us prod him on so that he will redo all the beautiful pieces that he has deleted. He needs us to give him moral support too. A support from peolple like you always work better on him. (Ahem).

Lee said...

Hi Zawi....aha, talking behind my back, huh? Arhaaa ha ha. I like you!
Thank you for the compliments, Zawi...you certainly have a way with words, ha ha.
Re the someone who copied my stories in the now deleted, 'Moonlight and Roses', yes..it is really a beautiful compliment and my heartfelt gratitude to this person. Your this post sure got answered, mysteriously too. Somebody up there heard you, and me.
Inspite of a heavy work schedule, I'll be receiving the copies one by one from beyond the sea.
And yes, there are a few when I get them, will redo and bring them back unedited unlike the last time.
Zawi....terima kaseh. Lee.

Pak Zawi said...

Lee,
You are right. We were talking behind your back but within your earshot as it was meant to be heard by you.
I am a mean of a few words as I didnt have the benefit of any tertiary education. Just used the fews wordds that I have to the best use.
Of course when somebody copy your work its a great compliment. Who would want to copy a lousy work anyway?
Take your time Lee. Our battle is already won when you agreed to comeback. We will let run at your own pace. Just give us your best shot and we will enjoy every word that you will write as there is the one and only U Lee can produce from this world.

Anonymous said...

Zawi,

Good post about our good friend, story teller extarordinaire, Lee!! Of course lah by now berita busuk already, everybody who is anybody knows that U.Lee is back to his glorious story telling ways on his new blog!

Lee, both Zawi and I have copies of your old blog, not all but most, and one of our other dear friend has the whole blog! Yes, I know who this person is! I guess you know too, eh, since you emphasised it in caps!

Unknown said...

Hello Zawi,

You and U Lee sama cheeky lah..ha ha. Adoi..you pun pakai that word 'ahem'..ha ha.

This is blogosphere. Only people who understand game and fun in blogosphere, just mean that virtual game and fun will have a lasting blog friendship...ha ha.

Mesti lah U Lee ahem with us girls, like Rita, Pi, JT, Kak Teh, Winnie and a few cute others (he he..I'm having fun here jesting). He mesti lah respond better to us than you guys. We are prettier than you, Akmal, Hi&Lo and Nightwing..LOL (berguling)!!!

Pak Zawi said...

Ruby,
The master himself has taught me well. By saying Ahem.. we saved so many words to describe things that we already understand and we are free to imagine what it could mean hahahaha.
I am the pretender to his throne and one day I will get to inherit it all. So I might as well learn all the ropes from the master. The sooner the better.
Now I am happy to know that you have noted his fancy for your gender and not of mine OK? He will never hold my hand beside shaking it like when the 2 gentlemen will meet one day to buka cerita somewhere on the face of this earth hahahaha. Lee's trait is infecting me already. I must be learning well I suppose.

Pak Zawi said...

Puteri,.
Yeah I guess my post was overtaken by events. Its funny cos I was criss crossing between Shah Alam, Puchong and KLIA. All areas surrounding Cyberjaya but I couldnt find a suitable place to complete my draft. It was like being surrounded by an ocean of water and not a drop to drink. Well at least I got to put across a piece of my mind that I have been nagging him to comeback. Anyway Rita and Ruby's postings has already done the trick and made him comeback already.
I wonder who is this person who has the entire blogs. Let's wait for the latest versions la since Lee said he is not going to hold any punches this time. Its the full version unlike the abridged version we have in our keep.
My stock of tissues is already out now I have to go and get a fresh stock in case a box of it wont be enough to dry up an old man tears when it start to flow. Remember the saliva tend to drool too.

trueblue said...

Pak Zawi,
I was surprised when I read your entry but felt so relieved when I read the comments. Thank God Uncle Lee is back. Hehehe..

He has a way of telling a story that always amuses me. By the way, you're a good story teller too!!

Pak Zawi said...

trueblue,
I ws the last to know about his return to the blogsphere because I was away from home and not able to log in from anywhere. After posting it only that I came to know about his return.
Me a good storyteller? I am blushing. Well at least you think so and that make me very happy. I will be wrting more so that you will say that again to me. At least I know one blogger who likes it. You made my day.

L'abeille said...

Hey there,

Isn't it great to know Uncle Lee is back? hehehe...

Pak Zawi said...

l'abeille,
If you have read his stories, definitely you will want him to continue forever. Just read his latest and you will see what I mean. I am waiting for him to repost the 'Memories of the way we were'. Its one of his best I heard.
Thanks for visiting. Have a nice day.