Into the great dining hall, the children came. The guards at the gates do their best to keep as many of them out as possible, but they are too few and the children have become many and they have become good at pushing their way in. They gather eagerly despite feeling unwelcomed because this hall is opened only once every five years for the grand dinner. And everyone can talk that day. Over time, the children have learned that if they are precise in their language, and if they speak in unison, their voices can actually echo nicely and fill the room.

They tend to assemble in several big groups. There are those who rush to come close to the head of the table where the food is served first and where the favours of the master of ceremony are dispensed most freely. Then there are those who sit slightly to the side, sulky but hopeful of some attention from the main table. At the far end of the room gather those who have given up on ever getting to the main table and they mix in uncomfortably with those furthest away who prefer the fresher air closest to the tall windows.

There are always some who prefer to hang around outside the swinging doors that lead into the kitchen, not caring that being close to where the food is being prepared does not mean that they get served first, or at all. But they are hopeful. And every now and then, one of them manages to sneak in to satiate themselves unnoticed.

It is otherwise all meant to be rather formal and ritualistic, like a sun-worshipping ceremony that starts with the sun rising and that ends when the sun goes behind the first clouds, and whose real significance few remember any longer, least of all the masters of ceremony.

It is all often more reminiscent of mealtime at some Dickensian orphanage, where one gets one's share – and often less – and any request for more is rewarded with a sharp slap or with detention.

But this year, 2018, 9 May, the often oppressive and unhappy atmosphere in Malaysia Hall feels strangely different. Perhaps it is because the windows over time no longer shut very well and more fresh air than normal now fills the room.