Heinz Weber and Monica Meier visit, 12 - 14 November 2010

Robert Tyabji, Shah Alam, November 2010 

Heinz is a childhood family friend as the Webers and the Tyabjis were part of the Swiss community in Bombay. Heinz was born in Bombay (8 years before me, though) and at age 11 settled in Switzerland when his parents returned there. A veterinary scientist by profession, he has worked with Sandoz/Novartis in Basel where he met Monica Meier, also a veterinary scientist, with whom he has travelled extensively over the years.

Our acquaintance with Heinz has been limited to a couple of brief meetings in New Delhi and Basel and to exchanges of Christmas greetings. Recently he wrote to say he was planning to visit Malaysia with Monica to see animals in the wild and especially primates of the rainforests in peninsular Malaysia and Sabah.

So it was that our paths crossed again, after a gap of many years, and it was fortuitous that Ursula was also around to meet him briefly. After nearly 2 weeks of travel in Taman Negara and Sabah, they stopped over chez Tyabjis in Shah Alam for a couple of nights before moving on to Cambodia.