Senjakala, Senjakala, Mari Kita Pulang

I was tending my garden today at around 7 pm when suddenly I have an audio flash back - this tune came haunting me. I think I learned this song while I was in standard 2 in SRJK Lenggong (1971).

Senjakala, senjakala
Hari sudah petang
Malam sudah datang
Siang sudah pergi
Sekarang kita pulang
Esok datang lagi
Senjakala senjakala
Mari kita pulang

Mind the lyric, ok - it has been nearly 36 year. I must have missed a word or two – make it a para or two. Anyone out there who can complete the lyric for me?

Yes, sunset can do this to you. For me, my best memory of sunset is with my aruah Bapak. Coming back from school holiday in 1979, aruah and I used to jog along rubber plantation behind our rented house in Bukit Chandan Kuala Kangsar. (We had moved to KK from Taiping in late 1978). We climbed up some hills and from on top of one of the hills, one could see an amazing view – the golden dome of the Ubudiah Mosque, the golden dome of Istana Iskandariah with its minaret, and the brownish - make that golden too, water of Sungai Perak - flowing lazily, all in the splendour of a golden sunset.

Picture perfect!

So there we were, staring dreamily at the Arabian fairy-tale view basked in the golden hue until it passed us by and was replaced by a reddish tint. It was an out-of-this-world scenery; or at least out of Malaysia. We didn't say anything - just absorbing the view in front of us.

These pictures do not do justice to what we saw basking in the splendour of the golden sunset (Ubudiah mosque with the Sungai Perak on the foreground (Left), while the Iskandariah Palace on the right. I believe both architecture are Moorish. Bapak and I were teleported to the 1001-night era that evening. Oh by the way, they are my two kids and one of my fav niece in front of Iskandariah.

I would love tracing back the path we took and take some photos. I am sure more hills have been cut for yet one more housing development, but I am keeping my fingers’ crossed. Kuala Kangsar and Taiping are pretty much sleeping hollow. May be I will still have my chance!
Anyway, back to the song, there is another song that I remember singing during a scout’s jamboree at the Padang, in front of the school in Lenggong. I think it is a Kedah folk song.

Tunang dia dok pi tang mana
Dok tengok tak dak
Cuba hang tengok
Cuba hang tengok
Depa suruh hang pi tengok di kedai
Tu dia, dia dok mai
Tu dia, dia dok mai
Dok mai, hang kata tak mai
Dok mai, hang kata tak mai

What were us kids, in a remote town near the Perak River and Tasik Chenderoh, just 50 km from the black area of Keroh, near the Thai border, in the early 70s - when the communist insurgencies were still rampant, doing, singing a Kedah folk song? And for that matter, singing about someone else's fiance at that? I don't have the answer, but I know it was fun - the song was catchy and funny.

How about a Siamese song then since we were that close to the border? Sure, we were taught that too!

Sawasdee Te Chan
Rama Po Chan
Tekap Chan
Sawasdee

I told you I am an overpaid time traveller!

EPILOGUE

Originally Posted at Time in a bottle
Friday February 16, 2007 - 07:48pm (MYT)