The day Tuan Guru became tok kadhi

I remember the days when we used to sponsor the top guns of Malaysian politicians of the alternative kind.

As members of the Monash University Islamic Society (MUIS), we used to be active politically and were very politically aware. The weekly usrah, where we learnt the religion (and politics), and of course the cricket or badminton games shortly after - we look forward to all these each Saturday.

But the highlight of it all, in hindsight, was the fact that we used to sponsor Malaysian politicians from the alternative camp even in those days.

Who said Malaysian students are a pampered lot, are not patriotic and would only know how to party?

I remember the 3 years in the 80s, we had sponsored two top guns from Al-Arqam, whose name escaped me at the moment (definitely not Abuya). The previous years we had Allahyarham Haji Yusuf Rawa, then President PAS and Wan Mutalib Embong, and the year after Al-Arqam, we had Haji Hadi (now Datuk), then third in line to Haji Yusuf Rawa and Allahyarham Hj Fadzil Noor and Mustapha Ali (now Datuk).

Before you start thinking that we students had too much money, let me assure you that as a registered body at the university, we received grants from the Students' Union too.

Beside, unlike ministers from the establishment, they would be staying at students' house and we would take turn to cook. Definitely they weren't expensive at all.

While I don't remember the details, I remember Almarhum Haji Yusuf Rawa as a soft spoken person. His English though was very good. I remember too Wan Mutalib Embong as being a good translator during the ceramah we organized for the benefit of other Malaysians students at Monash.

But I remember the year we had Haji Hadi and Mustapha Ali well too. At one stage, we even had a young Lim Guan Eng at our centre to discuss the details of the logistic of having Haji Hadi giving a speech at the university for the Malaysian students. Lim Guan Eng then was the president of the Malaysian Students' Association at Monash (he was studying economics, I engineering).

I must say that Lim Guan Eng then was so soft spoken and very unassuming that I was doubting that he was the son of the fiery Lim Kit Siang. I would not have thought he would have made it far in the context of Malaysian politics, but he had proven his worth; being jailed for trying to protect that Malay girl in Malacca, and of course for becoming the secretary of the DAP.

At the talk by Haji Hadi, we were practically ready for anything. We were strategically placed to protect him. Not that we were expecting anything - just in case. I remember seeing him looking down on the rostrum when he was speaking, so I thought he has a script to guide him.

But he was only playing with his watch!

I must say the highlight of his trip, from a personal perspective, would be the fact that Haji Hadi became a tok kadhi that week by marrying off two of us brothers (both Dr, one in medicine and another in engineering) to two of the sisters. I remember it well, because I was the official photographer on that occasion. I believe the two grooms were very satisfied of my picstures then, but since they had given me the camera for me to take pics with, I didn't have any copy at all.

I wish I have a copy of the pictures from the occasion. I have lost contact with the two grooms then (Dr Rainey and Dr Dzahar); otherwise I would be posting them here, just to showcase the PAS president in a very different and rare role.

That of a tok kadhi!