My Frankentree

There is a curry-leaf (daun kari, Murraya koenigii) tree behind the house mother told me to cut down. At least it was a curry-leaf tree, but it doesn’t really look like a curry-leaf tree anymore; kind of like a Franken-tree or something. The trunk is thicker, and the leaves are different. It still gives out the familiar aroma of a curry-leaf tree, but plus a hint of kaffir lime (limau purut, Citrus hystrix) smell.

There was a kaffir lime tree a few metres away from the curry-leaf tree. My father had my brother chop it down quite some time ago. Could the two plants cross? “Bila pulak dia kahwin?” commented my mother. My sister was more concerned about what to call the tree, and what can we use it for. I just don’t want to get rid of the tree.

So typical of Malaysian bureaucrats – my mother was, after all, a headmistress – to want to chop down any tree they see. There is a huge conspiracy against trees. That's why nobody does anything about all those illegal logging activities reported in the news. My old primary school used to have plenty of shade from the many big old trees on the compound, including a huge casuarina tree (pokok rhu), but they’re all gone now. “What’s wrong with the tree?” I said, “it’s not in the way of anything”. “I just want it gone [AHA!]. I’ve been taking curry leaves from the smaller plants by the drain anyway” said mother. Still, the tree has done nothing wrong.

As a compromise, we settled with me just trimming the tree a bit. I like the lone Franken-curry-leaf-kaffir-lime tree, my Franken-curry-leaf-kaffir-lime tree.

It turns out that the curry-leaf and kaffir lime trees come from the same family Rutaceae. Now that’s something new I learn today.

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Mention One Tree Hill today, and most people would think of that TV show I don't watch. But for me, it will always be a U2 song, named after a spot in Auckland, New Zealand.

One Tree Hill
by U2, from the album The Joshua Tree (1987)

We turn away to face the cold, enduring chill
As the day begs the night for mercy, love

A sun so bright it leaves no shadows
Only scars carved into stone on the face of earth

The moon is up and over One Tree Hill
We see the sun go down in your eyes

You run like a river on to the sea
You run like a river runs to the sea

And in the world, a heart of darkness, a fire-zone
Where poets speak their heart then bleed for it

Jara sang, his song a weapon in the hands of love
You know his blood still cries from the ground

It runs like a river runs to the sea
It runs like a river to the sea

I don't believe in painted roses or bleeding hearts
While bullets rape the night of the merciful

I'll see you again when the stars fall from the sky
And the moon has turned red over One Tree Hill

We run like a river runs to the sea
We run like a river to the sea

And when it's rainin', rainin' hard
That's when the rain will break a heart

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