Time in a Bottle

Untukmu (1982)

2012-01-24T18:48:00.000+08:00

I really do miss this song. I have not heard it for ages; I can only imagine. I tried to remember the melody - I thought I was too good not to remember. After all I thought I remember every single of his songs.

I tried, but I could not. Only the first para make sense to me.

[sigh] Do I have to buy a new vinyl to listen to this song? Where can I find the song in cyberspace?

This song is a great song, written by Syed Haron, the song writer who wrote 'Hujan'. But it was never good enough for any compilation of Sudirman's songs. It was just one too many, I guess for someone with his stature.

C'mon, EMI, can you just release all his albums on CD? No need to compile, no need to select. Just take all, and I am sure it will be sold out in no time.

UNTUKMU
Lagu Syed Haron
Lirik Syed Haron

Ku rindukan kedinginan hujan
Dalam kesejukan salju
Yang membekukan tubuh ini
Yang membekukan kalbu ini
Di masa begini ketika sendiri
Semuanya terbayang kembali

Untukmu aku rakamkan
Sebuah kisah rindu
Yang kini mencengkam
Untukmu aku dendangkan
Sebuah lagu kembara
Di rantauan

Kesunyian kekosongan rasa
Dalam penitian masa
Yang menyesakkan tubuh ini
Yang menyesakkan kalbu ini
Fajar yang menyinsing
Di tempat yang asing
Embun pun tak terasa hening

Untukmu aku rakamkan
Sebuah kisah rindu
Yang kini mencengkam
Untukmu aku dendangkan
Sebuah lagu kembara untukmu

PS

Before you start thinking that this is a typical love song; think again. According to Sudirman, "UNTUKMU merakamkan rindu mereka yang jauh tehadap tanah air dan yang dicintai."

Aku di Sebuah Pulau & the state of Malay literature

2012-01-23T11:52:00.000+08:00

After attending another (never-ending) meeting one Monday last month, I decided to reward myself with a trip to the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka bookstore. My auntie MakCak (Maznah Bab) was one in the first batch of staff in DBP (formerly known at Balai Pustaka with its first office in JB in 1956), which celebrated its 50^th anniversary in 2006.

I went in hoping I can find some books that I used to read when we were kids. I didn’t put too much hope, for we are not known to appreciate our literary treasures, unlike in the west. I remember when Anwar Ibrahim was the DPM, he made a remark about the state of literature in Malaysia; I remember this well because it struck a chord with me then (now, very seldom Malaysian politicians would be able to strike a chord with me. In most instances I would vehemently disagree with them. We practically have nothing in common!) One can easily go to MPH or Kinokuniya and one would be able to get the many editions of say Shakespeare, and Tom Sawyers, and the many classics of English literature, from the abridge to the actual manuscript. But one would have to hunt down high and low for Malay classics.

I went to the info counter and asked if she knew where I can find books from the 70s. The answer was negative. I gave a few titles and she punches in her computer; again the result was negative. Hey, I am talking about the DBP HQ here ok, not some small bookstore in in rural Dungun! These people are not giving it their best shot at all, as if their potential customers like me are disturbing their leisure hour.

However, I found a 1988 manuscript of Malays traditional song notes for the piano; Akmal has given it a try and I think it was beautifully arranged by Ooi Eow Jin, Alfonso Soliano and the likes. This is rare. We have all kinds of classical books and piano notes from Symphony No.5 to Concierto de Aranjuez, but no, we can’t find the notes for Mak Inang, or Sri Mersing until today. Especially for the piano.

That was not the only joyous moment for me. As I went browsing, I saw this book that sounds familiar “Benda Ajaib di Bilik Tertutup”. I was elated. The book is a sci-fi short story for children, which was first published in 1969. I think I read this book while I was in Std 5 given by MakCak. It was a nostalgic moment for me, for I love that book and the stories in it quite a bit then, and it nurtured my love for science. The ‘benda ajaib’ is actually a rocket that the narrator’s brother was building in secret much to the chagrin and curiosity of the narrator, and other stories included a machine that one can drive up and down a coconut tree for picking coconut. Yes, simple stories for a simple kid from a much simpler time then.

More were to come. Ahad was another novel we all used to read; Ahad being the acronym for Amin, Hassan and Dahlan who were all born on Sunday. Its story was set in the 50s. How Yusof has three sons all born on the same day is for me to know and for you to find out. The three brothers were sent to different schools - English, Malay and religious schools. Aku di Sebuah Pulau is another short story book that was published in the 70s that I bought that day.

I lamented to the chashier on some books I could not find. She turned to a lady standing near me by indicating that I should be asking her. “Surely,” I told her, “DBP should have SUBOH, but I don’t remember the author anymore.” “Atan Long,” came the reply. It was quite immediate. Yes, Atan Long, I remember him now, while grinning from ear to ear. Now I have found someone in the know about Malaysia’s literary scene. She promised to look for it. Suboh was probably set in the difficult 50s (me think), and told the story of a teacher who was posted to the interior, and had a room at the ketua kampung’s house, courtesy of him of course. It was the story of his trial and tribulation and he later on fell in love and eventually marry his daughter. What else? But it was well written I must admit and this was one novel that kept me occupied during the years of no TV!

I remember that there is another cover, an abstract painting of the new
day dawning. It is a perfect cover for the book.

“How about Hikayat Seri Rama?” I asked her, “It was after all published by DBP and edited by one Onn someone.” HSR is the Malay version of the Ramayana, complete with the prophet Adam included in the story (when Maharaja Rawana was given kingdoms in the sea, earth, heaven (tujuh petala langit), and on land for him to rule); I guess to make it more palatable to the (muslim) Malays. It is an epic of a story which included the love story of Sri Rama and Sita Dewi. Rawana obviously was head-over-heels over Sita Dewi and wanted to make her his Queen, and hence he abducted her. One should read about all the battles between Rawana and Sri Rama, with the help of his brother Laksamana and monkey king Hanuman, and his monkey soldiers. Gegak gempita! The battles, I must say, made Star Wars movies look like childplay!

Instead of answering me, she looked at me and asked me, “Encik mengajar di mana?” Mengajar? I smiled back and told her I am not a teacher or a lecturer. I just love those books that I have read when I was a kid. And one need not be professionally associated with the literary world to read and love those books. I was taught to love books – Bapak and Mak had made it a culture in our family.

(She also invited me to attend the poem recitals to be attended by Dr Koh Tsu Koon on some Ma Hua literature. Ah well, she is over-estimating my interest and capability in literature!)

I also remember the many books I read as a kid, at my nenek house in Aulong. Si Pitak was one. I tried surfing; Si Pitak is out of stock at Amazon. I can barely remember his story though, but to me, Si Pitak was our Tom Sawyer. One can really be amazed by his many adventures (or he could be our Tin Tin actually – Didn’t I tell you, one could find Tin Tin and Asterix easier in KL than Si Pitak?). If anyone out there knows where I can get hold of Si Pitak, Suboh and Hikayat Seri Rama, please let me know.

Tags: malayliterature, suboh, novel

Friday May 4, 2007 - 10:09pm (SGT) Permanent Link | 0 Comments

Hot tea in a glass, anyone?

2012-01-22T21:09:00.003+08:00

So I have a confession to make - I am an addict, and I am at wit's end trying to rid it.

On teh tarik, that is.

I can’t live without teh tarik. Even at this age where I should be reducing my sugar intake, I can't say no to it. I have to have teh tarik for breakfast, teh tarik for lunch, teh tarik for tea and of course teh tarik for dinner. Crazy, am I not?

Of course I have tried (to reduce my sugar intake, that is). "Teh tarik kurang manis satu," I told the mamak. It makes no different though. They would serve you with the same teh tarik that has the exact sugar content. You are just trying to make yourself feel good by asking for the kurang manis version.

Even if the mamak uses less sugar, it makes no different to your body after the two helping of roti canai. You know what would happen to the carbo and fat in your roti canai, when your body process it, so it is useless to be asking for teh tarik kurang manis!

What makes the tarik special? It is after all only tea, sugar and 'condensed milk'. I have tried it with fresh milk or powder creamer. Nah, it is simply not teh tarik. It has to be prepared using 'condensed milk'.

Does the chemistry change in the process of ‘tarik-ing’? I would like to think so, but I have no evidence to support my claim. I think the process of aeration would dissolve more oxygent which enhances the taste. Couple with all those wonderful particulates suspended in the air, especially if it is done in KL, it tastes better.

Tarik lagi panjang lagi sedap. Kalau boleh tarik tepi highway or tepi jalan, my goodness, tasty brother.
Exhaust kete and especially exhaust bas dan lori, semua masuk dalam teh tarik!

I am being sarcastic here just in case you didn’t notice.

Of course I think it is the cooling effect (during the tarik-ing process) that makes teh tarik so drinkable compared to other piping hot hot-drinks.

Indonesians don’t know teh tarik. They all live and die on teh botol (Sosro) or teh O. Nothing wrong with that, but it doesn't have the ummph of teh tarik (AKU MUSNAHKAn KAU! Teringat arwah Mahmud Jun from the Boh tea advert fame in the 70s). There used to be one restaurant near Sarinah in Jakarta serving teh tarik – Restaurant Pak Dollah, but had never tried them.

Teh botol for the Indonesians - they don't know what they are missing in life!

In 2005, I spent 3 weeks in in Lake Charles in Louisiana. I dropped by at the regional office of Farris Engineering at Baton Rouge and was introduced to the secretary there as someone from Malaysia. And you know what her response was?

She said, “Is that the country where people drink (hot) tea in a glass?”

What more can I say about teh tarik?

EPILOGUE

This article was written in 2007 when I was hot on teh tarik. After a friend mentioned that I am practically drinking palm oil every time I have my teh tarik, Well there is no such thing as condensed milk anymore - it is mostly creamer made from palm oil. So I decided to switch to teh o, like the Indonesians, and if I have my craving, I will have teh tarik with real condensed milk rather than creamer!

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Tuesday October 2, 2007 - 06:41pm (SGT) Edit | Delete | Permanent Link | 0 Comments

I am simply exhausted!

2012-01-21T17:25:00.007+08:00

Twenty one days into the new year and I am already wishing that we are at the end of the year again.

Instead of having the full year to get through, like we are right now.

Don't get me wrong; I have reasons to rejoice. REasons I would not reveal for now. And they are real reasons for rejoicing for anybody.

Especially me!

But at this moment, I am too tired to be rejoicing to be honest. I feel like a zombie. I have been working non-stop since 10 December 2012, and it has been six straight weeks. It is not like it is a five-day week that we are talking here; it is practically seven-day week - straight, 12-14 hour day and inclusive of traveling up and down the East Coast Highway on a weekly basis.

No christmas holidays, no new year holidays and obviously no CNY either.

Come the weekend, I would be staring down two computers - as if one is not enough. Most of the time it would be lying down on the carpet in my living room; many a times it would be up in the office. Deadlines came and went; and the work is still not done. It keeps on piling on the table. The delivery seems to be like a blackhole - it will eat anything you deliver and wants more.

It probably want your souls too.

I am not really complaining though. For an employer like me, having jobs are God-sent gifts. Keeping everybody busy with work is heavenly as a boss. I don't have to worry about anybody busying themselves on FB and not on some productive work that would generate income.

1110 NASA Road 1 Houston TX. From the small window in my (then)
office, I can see the NASA HQ with the Saturn V rocket (of course they don't
have the shuttle in Houston). This office was only10 mins from home which is located
in front of the lake. Hence I did not mind then working for 12-16 hour day.

But somehow I thought I should keep on reminding myself that I do not wish to have 1999 all over again. Then working from an office in front of NASA HQ at NASA Road 1 in Houston, we worked 7-day week, 12-hour day for three straight months. In the beginning it was fun; but as we approached the deadlines, the pressure was on, and it was taking the toll on me.

There was so much the body can take, and mind you, that body was 13 years younger then.

I am certainly tired - no, make that exhausted, but I also do know that the work is not yet done [sigh]. There are more to come, so the pressure is still on. The job is certainly giving my brain a good workout, but it is the body that could not take it anymore. I certainly do not want to live through 1999 all over again, but at this stage of my life I certainly do not have too many choices.

I certainly hope it would not end though, not for the staff anyway. They can keep on working; they are still young anyway.

It is just the boss who needs the time off!

EPILOGUE

And I thought once upon a time I would like to be a boss with people working for me (instead of me working)! What went wrong with that vision? [sigh]

And I am so tired that it has taken the toll on this blog. I have not been updating it. Two entries in 3 months are what what I envisage when I took up blogging years ago.

Teluk Lipat dalam kenangan?

2011-12-27T21:33:00.012+08:00

I certainly hope that it is not the end of Teluk Lipat.

I saw in the news last night on the severity of the erosion at Teluk Lipat caused by the relentless monsoon winds and waves. It didn't surprise me at all. I have seen it all before - the winds and the waves, that is; but to be honest, I have not seen such erosion when I made Dungun my town.

In hindsight, I must say I have seen it coming over the years when I was there, but surprisingly no one had done anything to mitigate it. Obviously as an armchair critic, it is easy for me to say, but for a state flushed with wang ihsan, I am sure they can find the money to mitigate the erosion.

Teluk Lipat holds many memories for me. It is the place I normally went for my jogging in Dungun. It is my favourite place, despite the fact that it is tough to sweat while jogging at Teluk Lipat due to its windy condition. But then again, it is to be expected since road is just next to the South China Sea, so you tend to get constant breeze from the sea cooling you down.

I had never complained about it. It would not make sense anyway. After jogging for a couple of kilometres, I would only need to sit inside the car, wound up the windows and definitely you would be sweating inside the car. It didn't bother me then that it would probably leave the car smelling with my own sweat. It is a 13 year old dad's car anyway. I am sure by then it would have more than the family's share of sweat!

Sorry I digress.

Actually, then I thought the benefits of jogging would be in the sweat. I love the feel of it when I get the whole shirt wet in my own sweat. It is a great feeling; so when I didn't get while jogging at Teluk Lipat, I thought something was missing.

But I found a way to get me sweating and hence continue to make Teluk Lipat my jogging track.

Until much later I was told that the benefit of jogging (or exercise) is to raise your heart beat, rather than the sweating. Aaah, well. I was bad in biology I guess.

Sorry I digress again.

After many minutes inside the car, catching my breath and sweating, I would then walk to the stalls nearby at Teluk Lipat and enjoy my share of that Terengganuan delicacy. With the wind caressing your face and hair - piping hot keropok leko in your (right) hand, and a glass of teh tarik in your left hand, fronting the sea and occasionally the Ganu meks or ITM gals passing by as sweet candies for the eyes, what else could you ask for?

At times I do wonder what I was doing in the land of keropok leko, away from my favourite hometown of Taiping, but surely that descriptions in the previous paragraphs would alleviate any home sickness that I may have felt during those years.

No, I was not jogging when I took the pic. I must have just returned from work - I was
still in my office attire, and wifey and I must have decided to enjoy the breeze at Teluk Lipat.
When you were in such a small town like Dungun, and living just next door to the
beautiful beaches of Terengganu, would you be visiting the malls or the beaches.
Ooops, sorry. there were no malls then in Dungun!

Then I had lived only 2-3 minutes by car from Teluk Lipat, though our kampung house did not face the relentless monsoon winds - not directly anyway, but another good friend of mine Zai aka Zainuddin Rahim (a former school classmates and house mate in Perth) had a nice (wooden) government bungalow in the vicinity of Teluk Lipat. I had always been envious of him to get that privilege.

I wish it was mine.

I love slow driving at Teluk Lipat from one end to another. It is at least 5 km in length; even then it was a tad too far for me to jog. Just wind down the windows - forget about air-conditioning. And don't worry about driving below speed limit. You can just act local; everybody does that there in Dungun. They will not honk at you for driving at jogger's pace.

Life is like that; when you live near the sea.

Teluk Lipat dalam kenangan. It started at POint A and ended up at the ITM campus.
The road is called Jalan Pantai Sura. I am not sure how they got to name it Teluk Lipat.
Lipat, Lepat, I dont know; the road is a straight road anyway. On the other hand, if you were to cross
Sg Dungun, soon you will arrive at the most beautiful beach in Malaysia - Pantai Teluk Bidara,
immortalized by Kopratasa in their classic Keronchong song.

Condolence to Aya

2011-12-24T08:27:00.012+08:00

A dear friend of mine lost her mom last night.

I had met her mom only once; and that too during a Raya visit to their home in Assam Kumbang Taiping. I thought she was a very soft-spoken and friendly lady, not unlike her daughter(s), I guess.

While I can still visualize her on that Raya day, inviting us to eat at the table and chit-chatting with us, I don't remember any specific. Years must have passed since that visit and typically I would have forgotten about it. But for some reasons, she is someone I would remember - not necessarily from that Raya visit, but more through her daughter actually.

From my interaction with her daughter, whenever the subjects of parents would appear in our conversations, and whenever I would relate the story of my own father, she would be able to tell me on how my father would walk from Taiping train station to our house on the night before he passed away. That story is an urban legend for our family; but we had never thought that someone outside the family would also know.

And especially her.

And how would she know (since she herself was away in the US when it happened)?

Her mom, of course.

Her mom obviously had related the story to her for her to remember that. I was surprised to be honest; but it was a pleasant surprised. Pleasant since her mom knew the story too.

I am sure she has many other good traits; perhaps not unlike our moms and other moms in the world. And knowing how she turned out, I am sure her mom would have done a great job with great.

When I invited her to visit a dear teacher of ours who was battling cancer a month ago, she responded by saying that she only has weekend to go visiting, and that all her time after office hours during the weekdays were occupied with visiting her mom daily.

I honestly did not realize the severity of her mom's conditions then, but she still volunteered to visit Cikgu Wari during weekend. The going back and forth between work, home and hospital (on a daily basis, and during peak hours of KL traffic), I would say, reflected her commitment and love for her mom. She did all that without fail, so I am told by another friend, and I guess she was there until the very end last night.

I am not sure I would have her strength do it for months, to be honest.

Good on you, Aya. I am sure your mom is lucky to have you as a daughter, then again, I don't think she was simply lucky. She had done a good job bringing you up too.

Moga Allah mencucuri rahmatNya keatas ruh ibunda tersayang dan dimasukkan kedalam golongan orang-orang yang beramal solleh.

Alfatihah.

The Friday Sermon

2011-10-28T20:13:00.018+08:00

To be honest, I didn't follow thoroughly the Friday sermon this afternoon. This time the khatib was talking about the roles of the Islamic scholars, and that their seemingly esteemed position in the society is fast spiraling down in society's eyes.

I have no excuse actually for not following the sermon. It was after all a multimedia sermon, so it was complete with power point presentation of the sermon, supposedly it was easy to follow.

Typically.

But I was, this time around, seated closer to the back of the main hall, so I had a tough time reading the points shown on the projector. May be I need new glasses! Honestly I think very highly of a multimedia sermon - I think all mosques should be doing it every time, all the time and at Masjid Saidina Osman, I seldom, if ever, fall asleep, never mind the topics.

Practically the first point of the sermon talked about how at this moment, the society at large is belittling the ulamaks, and that set me thinking hard as to the reasons why, and hence I was drowned in my self-thought (and self-indulgence), rather than listening intently to the sermon itself.

I remember the 80s when I was a student at Monash. I was (reasonably) active as a member of MUIS (Monash Uni Islamic Society) and every year we would invite some prominent personality or organization from Malaysia during the term break.

Religious Centre, Monash University.
A hang-out area for us students in those days,
other than the library and the student union of course!

And during one year we had invited someone from al-Arqam - I have forgotten the name of ustaz and all the sermons he had given to us then, except for one conversation we had with him during one lull period.

He was lamenting about the situation in Malaysia, about how the society mistreated the scholarly pursuit of the religion. "Ustaz," he was many times asked, "anak saya SPM dapat grade 3. Nak masuk universiti tak boleh. Boleh ustaz ngajar dia supaya dia dapat jadi ustaz?"

"Kurang-kurang jadi orang berguna."

I am sure the youth of today would not have any idea of third grade in SPM.

Or in another situation, the parents would be thinking if his sons aren't good enough to be engineers or lawyers, he would be grateful if they would be religious teachers!

"Allah, dah tak pass universiti baru nak belajar jadi ustaz. So," according to this good ustaz, "how can Islam progress as a society if the religious teachers are those of third graders and drop-outs?"

An ustaz who would know well how to read the quran, but knew little else outside their trade.

I am not trying to belittle the ulamaks, the scholars or the religious teachers. They are doing their parts in this worldly world; the parts that I am lacking as a person, so don't misconstrue with this piece of article. I am only reminiscing the conversation we had in the mid-80s, and thought it is one of the reasons of the predicament that we are facing today.

The good ustaz, then to me, had a very good point. We need straight As students to take up religious studies, but at the same time not limiting to purely religious knowledge only. We need engineers, economist and bankers to be student of religion. We need professionals in the scholarly pursuit of Islam. Islam is a way of life, hence we need religious scholars who know economics, engineering, medicine, philosophy, finance and other so-called worldly pursuit. We owe it to ourselves to do that, and not only admit weak students into our religious institutions, someone who eventually could not handle a scholarly debate with the society at large.

And the same goes with our tertiary institutions too. We need high quality students to take up teaching posts at our university. We need the best of our students to move on to PhD level and teach the next generation of engineers, doctors and professionals. Only then our universities can prosper, and move to the next level - and we would too as a country.

What say you?

Somebody amongst nobody or nobody amongst somebody?

2011-10-24T18:47:00.006+08:00

Which one do you prefer?

After working for nearly two years at Perak Hanjoong Simen, I got an offer to work for a local black gold company.

Yes, that was the break I was hoping for. All my student life I was hoping that some big black gold companies would come a-knocking and hire me. But instead for nearly two years, I was bathing in cement dusts!

Not much different between the two pictures, if
at least in term of uniforms and helmet!

But I was comfortable there. They made me Head of Packing House with view that I will take over the clinker plant once I am ready. For a novice engineer, I was not keen as I knew I was not ready. But there was only five of us local process engineers then and there were three Korean section heads and one Korean Manager. It was too early for me to eye their positions obviously, but I guess we were kinda important in the hierarchy of things in the organization.

Every time we passed by the security, they would salute us as if we were big-shots, never mind that we were only small fries in the ocean. It does not matter to them either that most of the time, I would actually walk pass them since I would take the Taiping-Kuala Kangsar bus to work.

They would salute me nonetheless.

Some other times I would take my father's old Opel to work.

They would still salute as if I was driving a brand new three-pointed star.

At the office, I can even drive the locomotive if I wanted to, for the locomotive was under my charge.

But in late 1987, I got an offer to work at a much bigger organization, and while I did not hesitate to accept it, I was apprehensive about it. I told me my sis that at PHS I was somebody and now I will be nobody again.

Her remark then would be that currently I was somebody amongst the nobodies, and soon I will be nobody amongst somebody!

She was right of course and then again there was the money factor involved too obviously.

So I went from the cowboy town of Padang Rengas with two rows of shop houses on the both sides of the road to a non-existent town a.k.a. fishing village of Kerteh within two weeks of October twenty five years ago.

What have I gotten myself into?

At least Padang Rengas people made proper curry, while in Kerteh they even put sugar in their curries!

Oh dear!

Coming to the office, we would normally be checked for stuff we brought in (or out). The securities would not salute you anymore; you would have to salute them if you want them to let you in.

Not quite, but close enough I think.

Once I was caught taking pictures in the office compound - the camera was confiscated and we had to plead to the security to return our camera - we didn't get a permit to take photo in the first place. I thought we only need permit to take photo in the plant, so I didn't realize the office is considered an extended part of the plant.

That show how my importance in the new job.

LIfe as an engineer in late 80's Kerteh. We were not engineers who
sat around in the office writing file memoranda, at least not
while taking pictures! I even had scrapers with me to take
samples of deposits during the turnaround and inspection.
Hard working me! Hahaha.

But I realized the examples above are only artificial way to see thing and it is not the most utmost importance in my life as an engineer. They are only true in a remote and individual office complex as noted above, and is not applicable in a public office towers in a typical setting in Kuala Lumpur. Here in Kuala Lumpur, we are more anonymous, and as long as one has the parking card, you would be let in.

At Dayabumi, no one would know what car I drive, or if I drive one at all!

You can really be anonymous which is why, in many ways, I prefer life in the big city.

Even till today.

But that was more than 25 years ago. In any case, the title is no longer true. It has not withstood the tests of time.

For me now, I am nobody amongst nobody!

Belasungkawa: Ahmad Jais (1936-2011)

2011-10-12T20:10:00.014+08:00

I once asked Ahmad Jais, "From the hundreds of songs that you have recorded, which one is very close to your heart?"

Suddenly he lowered his gaze, and paused. He didn't answer me immediately, unlike the question before. There was silence in the air - a queasy silence. In fact the pause was an extended one, such that I felt uncomfortable about it. May I had asked a wrong question. He had been so chatty up to this point.

He had recorded over a 100 songs in 15 albums. Most of his songs are a hit, and if you were to buy his EP in the 70s, you would not regret it. All four songs for each release are halwa telinga, every time, all the time.

Then he looked up at me - I was waiting with bated breath, and he said, "It would have to be Sejak Kita Berpisah."

I knew most of his songs as I grew up with many of them, and I am talking about the late 60s and the early 70s, even though I was practically a child then. But I didn't know this song. I was expecting him to say Diambang Sore and the likes. I looked at him with a blank face and suddenly it occurred to me and I blurted out, "Isn't that the Kartina Dahari's song?"

Yes, Sejak Kita Berpisah is a favourite keroncong song of mine, and I thought it was Kartina's and no one else's.

He looked at me in bewilderment. "No, no, it is a copyright control song," he explained. "It means the composer is unknown."

I didn't have the heart to ask him why he picked that one up, over the hundreds of other songs. But my imagination were running wild with speculation, and I left it at that.

Apparently he recorded the song in 1966, while Kartina Dahari recorded the keroncong version in 1969.

We went on to talk about how much royalty he picked up during his heyday. "It was a miserable two cents per song!" he exclaimed. How ciput it can be, and I guess I can imagine (real) life as a singer, glossing over the glamourous pictures as shown on telly and magazines.

Yes, and I thought too that I could be multi-millionaire by running my own company! ;))

That Dato Ahmad Jais for you, ever willing to share his stories to this busy body. We were chatting over at the changing room for artist at Dewan Perdana FELDA in 2006. I managed to get into that room by virtue of Arif performing on the same stage with him.

I told him of the many EPs in my collection. Unfortunately I didn't bring it with me for him to sign. I think it was Mak who bought many of his EPs, so we would listen to them whenever she played it. Most of his song are really lovely. Until today, I can relate to them. Nak Dara Rindu - beautiful, Gelisah - well, dark, very dark. I love Budi Setahun Segunung Intan, a duet with Kartina Dahari too.

Moga Allah mencucuri rahmat keatas ruhnya. Amin and Alfatihah.

Dato Ahmad Jais posing with Datin Orchid Abdullah
at the rehearsal at Dewan Perdana Felda in 2006 for
the retirement party of the FELDA DG.
Alfatihah to both Dato and Datin.

Two generations apart, and two-size apart! The kids with the master singer
and composer. He had written many songs. Once on stage, while practicing
with the ghazal band, he wasn't pleased with the key chosen, so he called
for Arif, "Tukang piano, tolong bagi A." So Arif rushed to the piano
and hit the key for him. Tukang piano - sounds so much
like a PRamlee's movie!

The kids outside Dewan perdana at the end of the party with Dato seen
on the right in his white pants and shoes!

Fadjar Menjinsing - Glorifying the beauty of the new day dawning

2011-10-03T12:00:00.005+08:00

A song long before Cat Steven's glorification of the new day's breaking - he must have heard this song/lyric before he wrote Morning has Broken. ;))

And who said beautiful songs have to be about 'love'?

When we were kids, bapak (or Mak) would always play this song at night. I guess coming from a family with no television in the 70s, listening to songs would be our form of entertainment then. Then it was the vinyl and this song is one of his favourite.

We were kids; we listened to whatever he or she was playing!

But this is one song so smooth and soothing and I found it so very relaxing when listening to it. It is best to listen to this and other songs in this album late at night or very early in the morning. In other words, dikala dinihari.

It is like calm before the storm, I guess.

You would not find this anywhere else. I tried looking for it at Jalan Surabaya, and while I do find similar cover, I could not find the vinyl again.

So I am really treasuring this song and album.

Siapa tak Kenal - Fadjar Menjinsing

Emmy menjanjikan Fadjar Menjinsing, sebuah lagu pudjaan kepada alam indah, dikala matahari terbit dan langit diudjung dahan.

Lagu ini berasal dari tahun 1943, tapi berkat warna suara dan pembawaan Emmy jang halus kembali memperoleh kelembutan dan kesegaran yang wadjar. Satu lagu pudjaan jang baik tidak boleh tidak harus memiliki sifat2 demikian.

Fadjar Menjinsing (Jahja) - Emmy dengan Orkes Lima Serama

- Kata2 dari album "Siapa tak kenal - Fadjar Menjinsing"
The Indonesian Music Company Ltd

Fadjar menjinsing, kemerah-merahan
Ayam pun ramai berkokok, menyambut alam nan elok

Burung berkicau, berlompat-lompatan
Embun menghias berkilau, di-pohon dan dahan

Alam ria dan gembira, menjambut sang suria,
Alangkah indah sanga suri, di Timur bercahya

Hatiku riang, menantikan siang
hari yang gemilang datang, membawa harapan

Janjimu, kini jadi kenangan saja

2011-10-02T10:28:00.003+08:00

Aah, Janjimu. What a song! Sad, and melancholic; just the way I'd like my songs to be.

I once wrote in my blog pleading that (Datuk) Khatijah Ibrahim sing this song (for me) in her concert. I was pleading to no one, actually - I was more like talking to myself, as it was only published in my blog, and no one - as far as I am concerned, reads it.

A couple of days later, one of her brother commented and told me that she (Datuk Kathy) has actually read it and thank me for my support. That was in July 2008. You can read about it here.

And sure enough, in November she sang the song in a medley. I blogged it here.

You don't ask someone her stature and they'd be willingly respond and comply, but she did just that. Thanks again, Datuk.

Mind you, had I asked for her to sing say Ku pendam sebuah duka, or Tangisan Hati, it would be no request at all. For sure she would be singing her signature songs.

But Janjimu is something else. Not many, unless you grew up in the 70s would know this song, and yet this was the class anthem for many.

Janjimu

Kini jadi kenangan saja

Kau berdusta

Hidup ku kini jadi sengsara

Remuk luka
terguris hati nan suci
cintaku setia
kini kau mungkiri janji

Berlinangan airmata

mengenangkan kembali

segala kisah asmara

suka duka ku harungi

Kini ku sendiri

Tiada lagi kau bersama

kurasa sepi
membawa hati duka lara

Ku mengerti

Kita tidak bersua lagi

kini kau pergi
meninggalkan ku sendiri

I have not heard this song for years, beyond the fact that the song has been playing in my mind for years. The last time I heard this song, albeit in half, was in the November 2008's Kathy's concert.

Not many knew this song; it was not one of her most popular song.

But for some reason - and I remember it vividly, this song song seems to the class anthem for Pasteur 5 '80. I mean, (Datuk) Kathy has so many great songs by 1980 - Ku sangka siang kiranya malam, Tangisan hati yang derita; all those sad and melancholic songs that were our cultural standard in the late 70s and 80s, but nothing beat Janjimu to many of my classmates then.

Especially this blogger.

I remember it well, as I had the lyric of this song on the cover of my file; written in beautifully crafted hand-written font (even if I said so myself!), that a few of my classmates asked me to write the lyric for them which I did on a Pejabat Tanah Taiping's letter head that I took from bapak's possession.

Then of course we had no internet and there was no way we could search for lyric unless we wrote it ourselves or from magazines.

It puzzles me to this day on the reason why song were not popular on the airwaves but left an indelible mark on many of us in that class high up in the then new building of MRSM in Pengkalan Chepa then.

One thing for sure, it is a beautiful sad, melancholic song.

I guess I was the only one taken back to 1980.

But one can't find the songs in her compilation albums, and no one has posted it in Youtube until recently.

Enjoy.

The Classic (Malay) Pantuns

2011-09-26T20:35:00.003+08:00

Can you recognize the classic (original) Malay pantuns? Yes, for some, not for the others. For sure I would not be able to translate this into English the way George A Fowler did.

Pandan Island lies far out at sea
its sight by Angsa Isle conceals
However broken the body may be
Kindness is always the balm that heals

In the meadow there is a spring
surely you may use it to bathe in
if many years my life doth bring
Then surely, too, we will meet again

The sun moves west in a sky so blue
soon the cattle must come home
It was so very long I looked for you
why, oh why, did I ever start to roam?

Whence comes the lowly leech?
From the paddy field to the brook
Whence comes the love's speech?
From the eyes falls to the heart's nook

Excerpt taken from the classic Malay Indonesian novel, Sitti Nurbaya, written by Marah Rusli, and translated by George A Fowler.

National Anthem - The Australian Experience

2011-09-25T21:22:00.009+08:00

There has been a lot of debate and discussion of late on the Malayan/Malaysian history.

Apparently a lot of agony and anguish - made-up or real, were generated during such debates, depending on which side you are on. I would not want to add on to the debate, but just would like to give the perspective of another nation, which we share some similarity and history.

When I was a kid, I was told by Mak that our national anthem was taken from the Perak anthem. Obviously we were proud of that fact and honoured, but without internet and youtube, there was no way we would know then that even the Perak anthem was taken from Terang Bulan which was taken from song from Seychelles. Apparently it happened when Sultan Abdullah of Perak was exiled by the British and he was taken by the song.

Similarly, there have been many debates on our Jalur Gemilang, previously and lately. I remember the reading a news report that when our PM (TDM) first went to the US (in the 80s?) - during his early days as the PM, he was indeed asked as to why the Malaysian flag looked very much like their Star and Stripes. Honestly, I don't remember his answer anymore, so it can't be that memorable.

Australia went through similar predicament much earlier than us; not on the flag, but their national anthem.

The Australia's national anthem booth in 2005 in Canberra

I remember the debate in the 80s if Advance Australia Fair should be their national anthem. Obviously many thought that a more popular tune that seems to represent (fair dinkum) Australia would be Waltzing Matilda.

Even then, and especially now, I would be able to humm Waltzing Matilda and have no clue about the melody of Advance Australia Fair. Waltzing Matilda would be more Australian to a foreigner like me, and would be get my vote along with Down Under (Men at Work)!

Apparently the original Advance Australia Fair was written Peter McCormick, a Scottish-born song writer and was first performed in 1878. It was originally sung as a patriotic song and not as a national anthem.

Up to 1974, God saves the Queen was Australia's national anthem. in 1973, the Whitlam government decided that Australia needed a new national anthem to represent Australia with distinction, and started a competition. On the recommendation of the Council for the Arts, none of the new entries were felt worthy enough, so the contest ended with the suggestions for Advance Australia Fair, Waltzing Matilda and Song of Australia.

A nationwide opinion survey was done in 1974 and Advance Australian Fair came on top.

In 1976, the Fraser government reinstated God save the Queen as the national anthem.

In the 1977 referendum on various issues.Advance Australia Fair received 43.29% of the vote, defeating the three alternatives: Waltzing Matilda (28.28%), Song of Australia (9.65%), and the existing national anthem God Save the Queen (18.78%).

Advance Australia Fair, with modified lyrics from the original, was adopted as the Australian national anthem on 19 April 1984 by a proclamation by the Governor-General Sir Ninian Stephen,^[8] on a recommendation by the Labor government of Bob Hawke. [Wiki]

But I still love Waltzing Matilda. It is as Australian as the kangaroo and billabong!

Can we do it in the Australian way? A lot of debate and discussion were held in Australia in the 70s and 80s, and practically everybody has an opinion on this, and obviously no one agrees with everyone else, especially the politicians.

But no one accused everyone else as traitor for wanting to change the national anthem. No one demanded that ISA be used on their opponents. As far as I remember it in the 80s, it was a proper and educated debate, though I am reasonably sure that a lot of emotions were generated during these debates.

There were many Australian royalist (if I may term them as that) who would want to keep God Save the Queen as the anthem, and I am sure as many Australian who would want to have the Australian identity in their national anthem.

Can we have a debate on what's constitute Malaysia's national anthem and national flag please? If Negaraku and Jalur Gemilang are the proper anthem and flag, then so be it, even though it may be derived from a song in Seychelles and the American flag respectively. If we want to find one that could represent Malaysia with distinction, we could do a nationwide survey or referendum and even hold competition if we could come up with better anthem or flag.

Is it too much to ask of us?

EPILOGUE

Such is the environment in Malaysia that I am a bit unsure if I should even be bothered to post this entry. Would I be labeled a traitor for even mentioning it, or would someone call me to be incarcerated into ISA, nevermind that Najib is thinking of abolishing it. I am not saying one way or another, but I am asking all of us Malaysians to look at how our Australian counterparts handled their diversities in opinions and came out unscathed, if not stronger, as a country.

There was another movement in Australia even in the 80s. The movement calls for Australia to become a republic instead of having the Queen as the constitutional monarch. Please read about it here. Again, no one calls for the citizenship of these republicans to be revoked!

Squeaky wheel gets the oil

2011-09-24T21:19:00.007+08:00

By nature, I am a quiet guy.

Tried very much to stay off the limelight, never one to hog them.

I normally would pay my bills without batting my eyelids. At times, I would even pretend that I was expecting the sum of the bill, even though upon reflection (later), I knew I had been conned, or at the very least, cheated. So I tried very much to protect myself, noting and making mental calculation before going to the cashier to pay my bill.

I have a car - 3 year old car last Sept 11. 2011. The warranty expires on that day, eventhough my mileage is only 74,000 km (as opposed to 100,000 km, as it is on the basis of whichever one is earlier).

I sent my car for its 70,000 km service in July 2011, when I was told that the engine oil was leaking from 3 places - the valve cover, the oil pump and another location which I have forgotten. I was also told that since this is considered normal wear and tear, it is not included in the warranty of the car. Nothing major I guess, but apparently it was going to cost me over RM1,200.00 for this repair work, in a any case.

I tried to argue that it should be considered under the warranty programme, but the service advisor was adamant that it is not.

Not wanting to make a scene, I told them not to bother and would decide later what to do with it.

I had thought that once the warranty is over (in two month's time), I would send the car to my favourite mechanic (and not to the official make workshop). I was sure it would be cheaper.

And I had not bother getting it done, until I started smelling like something burning coming from the car.

By then, it is urgent to get it done.

So I decided to call the official workshop to get the details, so that I could get my favourite workshop to work on it. By then, the 3-warranty was definitely over.

Talking to the service advisor, I decided to make a fuss over the phone.

1. Being the most expensive car I had bought in my entire life, I told him I was surprised that such model and make would have problems such as oil leaking, while my other cheaper cars would trouble free (at least no leaking). My RM26,000 Saga which I bought in 1989 did not have the oil leaking within 3 years, and it was multiple-fold cheaper than my present car.

2. The car, while it is 3 year old by Sept, has very low mileage (i.e. only 74,000 km in 3 years)

3. The car is fully maintained by the car maker itself.

4. The problem was found to exist while the car is under warranty (i.e. in July 2011), even though I decided after the warranty to send it to the official workshop.

So when I brought the car in a week's later at the maker's workshop, I was told that the repair work would now be considered under the warranty program, and hence I would not have to pay for it. I was surprised, but thankful.

It pays to make noises or create a scene, so that they would not take us for granted. On what basis did he tell me earlier that it was not under warranty and two months later, changed his tune, I am not sure.

Personally I would prefer if the conditions of a car's under warranty are clearly spelt, so that there is no misunderstanding. We have to protect our right as consumer.

In another incident, after Friday prayer last week, I decided to buy some dokong. Thinking I could get 3 kg for RM10.00, I was taken aback when I was told that the price is RM5 per kg. "What? I thought it should be 3 kg for RM10.00," I told the seller.

Without batting an eyelid, she reduced the price to RM4 per kg, so I bought a kg just to satisfy my craving for dokong while walking to the mosque earlier.

I didn't try to bargain, I was only telling her as a matter of fact.

Conclusion?

Squeaky wheel gets the oil!

It does not pay to stay quiet, and not make a fuss in doing business in Malaysia. They would try to get out from their responsibility if they could help it. They are hoping that all Malaysian consumers are indifferent to their rights.

Di Bawah Lindungan Kaabah

2011-09-22T21:03:00.016+08:00

PROLOGUE

The original's cover of the novel, as I remember it.
Taken from Idris Talu's blog wo permission,
with apology

It is one of Dr Hamka's darkest novel, much darker than Tenggelamnya Kapal van der Wijck, or any of the short stories in Di Dalam Lembah Kehidupan.

And it is the most expensive movie in Indonesia.

I read the novel when I was in primary school - heck, I read most of Dr Hamka's novels by then, so in a sense, when I was young, I lived and breath all his sad, and most melancholic of stories. Mind you, not all, were love stories, if you know what I mean. His story lines were more diverse than typical Malaysian novels, nowadays especially.

I tried looking for the novel in my library, but somehow I could not find it. It is not the thickest of Bapak Hamka's novel. In fact it is one of the thinnest, so it could be the reason I have difficulty in locating the movel. In my mind too, I believe I could finish the novel in less than one hour, and thought I should pen my thought for this entry after I had re-read the novel.

To me, while I was captured by the twist of fate of Tenggelamnya Kapal van der Wijck, I thought the fate of the two lovers in DBLK were worst off. While I was captivated by the described beauty of Sitti Nurbaya (by Marah Rusli, and her suffering in her forced marriage the old but rich Datuk Meringgih, I thought that Zainab suffered the most through her marriage to a man deemed more suitable than Hamid by her parents.

I am not sure why to be honest, just the way the stories was told from the two lovers' perspectives. May be because the two were too fragile in characters, that we have no choice but to drown our sorrow with them.

As I have mentioned, the novel is a bit too short for one to develop the characters and give it more depth - not unlike those of short stories, but then again it had developed to such an extend that I was aggrieved when Hamid was banished.

You should read the (love) letters between them - it is sad, and melancholy and they had basically given up on living. She had become a 'walking skeleton', someone devoid of life.

At least, that's how I remember her and the ending of her life.

I may be wrong, but without going through the novel, after 40 years, I can still imagine her agony. And I don't want to relive them, or in a sense, I even dread re-reading them!

Di Bawah Lindungan Kaabah - The Movie

Apparently, it was released in Indonesia last Lebaran and that it went to No 1 for 3 weeks. I would not have known about it had I not read the Jakarta's edition of The Straits Times. Apparently, it has been released in Singapore yesterday.

Apparently too, it is the most expensive Indonesian movie.

I guess I am not into movies nowadays and hence this escapes me.

So I am all excited and at the same time too, I have mixed feeling. I remember all too well reading the Count of Monte Cristo (Alexander Dumas) when I was in F2, and yet disappointed with the TV series, starring one Richard Chamberlain and totally disappointed with the movie version. I think somehow one can beat the novel version of TCMC - we were all left to our imagination then and I can many stories are best left to the imagination.

I can imagine him in prison trying to chisel open the wall in order to escape, and his friendship with Abe Faria. My heart beat faster as he sneaks in into the casket of his best friend, and escaped. I can only imagine the beauty of the girl who stole his heart, whom he eventually lost out due to his vengeful bitterness at the end of the novel.

How sad, I thought.

So I am all excited and at the same time too, I have mixed feeling. I remember all too well reading the Count of Monte Cristo (Alexander Dumas) when I was in F2, and yet disappointed with the TV series, starring one Richard Chamberlain and totally disappointed with the movie version. Yes, the TV version was a better one, and I thought Richard Chamberlain did a great job as Edmond Dante, but still it lacks the emotional punch from reading a novel. I think somehow one can beat the novel version of TCMC - we were all left to our imagination then and I can many stories are best left to the imagination.

We can only imagine the beauty of the leading girls in the novels (Sitti Nurbaya, Zainab and Mercedes), I don't think the leading girls in the movies would live up to my standard (of imagination). If they are beautiful in life, I thought that the girls in the novels are a hundred time more beautiful than the actresses in the movies.

But I am told that the sets for the movie (DBLK) are lavish, if not spectacular; from the authentic Minang roofs in the village to the water-wheels, and the uniforms worn by the train operators in 1920s Sumatra. It should be real enough to me, and I hope to see a replica of the grand mosque in those era.

This movie can only live on in that era. Anything else would make a mockery of the novel by Buya Hamka.

It looks like movie set of an epic to me, to be honest, and for that reason alone, I would love to see the movie.

1920s Minang town. Love the scene, though it looks
like a bit unreal to me.

I wish they would leave the set behind and make living museum out of it.

A real working waterwheels in a Minang setting

Zainab - of course when I was younger, I thought
the Zainab in the novel is more beautiful than this actress. Sorry,
Laudya Cynthia Bella - you are pretty but you can't live up to Sitti Nurbaya's beauty for sure.

I am prepared to be disappointed in term of character development - I have to feel their pain for me to be totally absorbed in the story line and feel the pleasure of watching this movie - any movie, for that matter; and I do know many can't lived up to my standard, but I think the set may make it for me - just may be.

You know what we did last Merdeka day?

2011-09-15T23:33:00.018+08:00

Ok ok, so I stole the title from the Jennifer Love Hewitt's movie.

While waiting for our esteemed guests - the Mahmoods, to arrive for a second day visit, the kids and I decided to head to Port Weld. Port Weld is not a destination that we would frequent to even when I was living in Taiping. I thought that there was little to see in this Chinese-based fishing port/town. As with many fishing ports, it is a bit untidy and smells.

I knew exactly where I would be heading on the Merdeka day.

Kota Ngah Ibrahim in Matang!

How apt it is to be visiting a historical figure at this time and age when so much debate and emotions had been conjured. I hknew of his existence for the longest time, since his name is always in the history book as far as Malaya/Malaysian history is concerned. It's Ngah Ibrahim this, Ngah Ibrahim that, Long Jaafar this and Long Jaafar that.

But I have never been bothered - until 31 Aug 2011, that is. Well, he is not a hero in my eyes, but we had a spare of a couple of hours, so why not, right?

And I would like to know the mainstream version of history, and judge things for myself.

Partially blue sky on 31 Aug 2011, and on the second day of Syawal.
Surprisingly the Ngah Ibrahim Fort - now a museum, is open.

The house that Ngah Ibrahim built. If he can live luxuriously like this in
the 1800s, I certainly know how the Malay peasants live
in those days. I am sure this house of his is located right in the
middle of the Malay kampungs, just like the Mat Deros' mainsion.

The fort from the back/side. As I have mentioned, Taiping is
very green, and if we are lucky to get blue sky, the picture
can be stunning

The man who started the gold rush in Taiping. Eh I mean
the tin rush. This is Che Long Jaafar

Long Jaafar was descendent of the chieftain of Lubok Merbau in Kuala Kangsar, which is about 45 mins or so from Matang or Taiping, and was sent to Larut Matang district, I presumed by the Sultan, to manage the district. In 1848, he opened a tin mine in Klian Pauh and brought in the Chinese to work in his mine.

Apparently, he is a multi-millionaire and a well influenced guy. Click on his picture to read his bio in more detail than what I have written.

And the man who lost it all - Ngah Ibrahim

Upon Long Jaafar's death , his son, Ngah Ibrahim who took over as ruler of Larut. To protect his wealth, he built his house surrounded and protected by a fort, which is later known as the Ngah Ibrahim Fort. He brought in more Chinese workers to work, and they are divided into two different clan - Ghee Hin and Hai San.

And it is because of the clashes between these secret societies that led to the Pangkor Treaty and the starting of the the British colonialization in Perak and Malaya. The person who asked for their 'help' is none other than Ngah Ibrahim.

Let me say this:

1. First the job is inherited. It can be passed down to one's son. I wonder if my former job at one oil's organization can be passed down to Arif?

2. He is so rich, that he built a fort to protect it from his fellow Malayans, I would think. Who was there then? Malays mainly, with his Chinese workers. There was no British yet in his early days of administration. He is probably worse than the owner of the Mat Deros' mansion. At least, the mansion owner did not build a fort!

3. I am sure his fellow 'citizens' are poor but lazy Malay buggers, who prefer to idle their time away and not work in a mine, eking a living. Malays are known for that and perhaps would prefer to enjoy themselves at a pub and discotheque. Otherwise they would be underneath some trees, and would disturb some Malay lass passing by.

4. And to protect his wealth, he called in the Brit and the whole country was then ruled by the colonials. Is he a hero or what?

Dan jangan lah kau Jebat bermaharaja-lela di sini. Eh salah
century la, Dato Maharaja Lela wasn't even born yet then. Pity him,
to be honest, even his own race has disgraced him!

I pity Datok Maharaja Lela. I am sure he is a rich man too as he derived his income from tax collection, and is a high ranking office in the Sultan's court. But he did the right thing and started the war against colonialism by murdering the man below.

I wonder what's his role in the getting the Brit in in the first place. Was he opposed to it? Was he in favour, but later on realized that he had sold his own soul and country? I am not sure but I am sure I need to read more history book.

All because of this Mat Salleh

And because of the treaty in 1874, we practically handed over this
country to the British. So the Union Jack would be flying
in the tropics

So it is death to Dato Maharaja Lela, and Sultan Abdullah
was exiled to Seychelles. You don't know where Seychelles is? YOu know
the 'she sells sea shell on the sea-shore. That is where Seychelles is!
Hahaha.

While Ngah Ibrahim still sleeps comfortably in his room in this
comfy bed

And still have an office to collaborate with the colonials

While many were lucky enough to still be living, if they are not sentenced
to death, even if it only in this small cell at a penitentiary.

Only the elites get to go to school

or ride a bicycle - otherwise you walk.

As I was reading the plaques and the information boards inside the museum, I was left wondering. The rich and powerful feudal leaders of then Malaya would invite the foreign Chinese workers to work in the tin mine. What's the difference between those feudal leaders then with the current breed of politicians who would bring in foreigners from the world over, on the pretext that Malaysians did not want to work the menial jobs, and then give them IC and citizenship?

Our current leaders are only following what our fore-fathers did - they are great teachers. This time around, they brought in the Indonesians and Bangladeshis, and start giving them IC.

I wonder too if the peasant and poor Malays then were so choosy - like the Malays today, that they refused to work in the muddy estuaries to look for tin, so much so that you had to import foreigners from outside?

I am not questioning my fellow Chinese citizens' right as at 2011. History has been made, and there is little we can change what transpired between the local leaders prior to Merdeka day in 1957. We have to live with each other and make the best of it. We have to live as Malaysian now.

But as a citizen, I am compelled to question the 2.4 million illegals currently in the country and in no time, they would be accorded citizenship.

History never repeats - so says Split Enz, a popular NZ group quite popular in 80s Australia. It is a beautiful song.

They are certainly wrong.

Those who fails to learn from history are doomed to repeat it, that's a more credible saying attributed to Winston Churchill/George Santayana.

Inilah Melayu - Melayu yang jual negara dia sendiri. Tidak perlu kepada pertolongan penjajah dalam hal ini. Even then, especially now. We are the expert in this area.

I felt so ashamed, as I left Kota Ngah Ibrahim, and trotted off to Port Weld with a heavy sigh.

Didalam Lembah Kehidupan

2011-09-13T20:23:00.012+08:00

I read this book when I was in primary school. Many times over, I must admit and it never fails to set me thinking about life during those days.

At the very least.

And most likely I would read it 'dengan mata berkaca.' Don't get me wrong, I don't think I cried. Haha, I would not like to admit it, I guess, but I would admit that tears did fall down my cheek on many of the short stories written by the late Hamka.

Or at least, I would sigh (a very heavy sigh) at the sad ending of each and every one of the stories.

Last Ramadhan, while on my extended Raya leaves, with nothing much to do other than answering emails and making phone calls, I decided to go through the book all over again; story by story, and page by page, line by line, word by word.

And I ended up again, after 40 years, with tears falling down my cheek.

And very depressed! In a very good way.

Actually I felt sad but relieved after reading them - after all these years.

Aah, Prof Hamka, he is a (master) story teller, and he certainly knew how to prick our conscience.

Actually, you are talking about short stories here, about 12 altogether and being short stories, he didn't much time to develop the character and build up the story line. Sometimes, it may seems a bit superficial, but actually it is not. It is a fast-paced story line - it can only be expected as you would need to tell stories that span a generation or two and finished it in less than 10 pages.

Who am I to question the master of the 'Malay' story teller, anyway?

Anak Tinggal, Anak Dapat, Anak yang Hilang - even by the title you would know it would be a tearjerker. Bonda Kandung and Isteri Yang Tua would take you to sacrifice of the weaker sex. In fact, most if all would have women element in the story and the hard lives they led during those times.

Honestly, at times, I would question the wisdom and the reasoning of the characters in the story. At times, it seems illogical. But that's the beauty of them all. I guess we are reading stories of nearly a century ago, and I can't imagine lives during those era, other than what I can read from Hamka's novel (and those of other prominent Minang author like Marah Rusli et al).

Call it fate, call it a twist of fate, call it anything in fact, but while it may seems unreal today, it was too real in the last century. And we can only be thankful for the life we are leading, irrespective of the shortcomings - perceived or real, and I am sure I had many.

I believe this short story is one book that should be in every home and library and should be read by every youngster and internet-era kids in this country. Then one would know the struggle of our fore-fathers in the previous century.

I had thought that I had seen all, and that at this age, at times, my conscience is numb. It really would take a lot for tear to fall, but it didn't take long whenever I read Hamka's novel.

"Keburukan orang yang telah meninggal itu terkubur bersama jasadnya, dan segala kebaikan tergambar kembali diangan-angan orang yang hidup, tak sebuah juga yang dapat dilupakan."

- Isteri yang Tua

Had I not read this book during my innocence days, I would think that life in the olden days was only about death. Life, in this book, was not about living, for every story would contain death, many times over!

"Sebab itu harus lah diingat oleh dua orang yang bertemu, bahawa pertemuan itu mempunyai warna perak, yang terbentang disebelah Timur dipagi hari. Dan perpisahan adalah berwarna merah, terbentang disebelah barat di senjakala. Warna perak diwaktu fajar, adalah lambang pertemuan yang indah. Warna merah disenjakala adalah lambang perpisahan yang gundah, warna air mata daripada darah!"

- Anak yang Hilang

The stories in Didalam Lembah Kehidupan

1. Pasar Malam
2. Encik Uteh
3. Penjual Ais Lilin
4. Anak Tinggal
5. Bonda Kandung
6. Gadis Basanai
7. Isteri Yang Tua
8. Anak Yang Hilang
9. Malam Sekaten (Bulan Sabit dan Kayu Palang)
10. Anak Dapat
11. Cinta dan Darah
12. Disuruh Meminta Ampun

Raya doloe-doelo (1970s) - Kepala Kuih

2011-09-11T09:01:00.017+08:00

I remember Rayas in the 70s very well, for I was a school-going kid by then, and hence I could really enjoy them, and more importantly, remember them to be writing them here.

I am of course talking about Raya in Aulong Taiping.

With Taiping as our home (again), there was no reasons for us to have to travel to meet up with our grandparents. Most likely we met up everyday, and definitely we were able to join in in the preparation for the auspicious day itself, and not only during the Raya itself.

In 70s Taiping, bicycle will be our mode of transportation for us kids. With bapak then still owning the old Morris Minor, and with so many of us (perhaps 11 or so), it would not fit in anymore at one go. We were then old enough to be celebrating Raya on our own with our friends.

I would remember visiting friend's house in Aulong, namely Zaki's and Zulkaperi's. For some reasons, I remember better visiting Zul's house, which fronted the laterite road in Aulong. His was a wooden house with big compound. I am sure we would have done the visiting as a group.

I do remember too visiting some houses in Aulong, and to be honest, I don't really know them (too) well, or perhaps only the parents would know each other. But during those times, it was not an issue. We were in celebratory mood, and there was no such thing as Assalamualaikum Kids then.

There was no such derogatory term then, and every kids were welcomed with open arms.

Duit Raya was perhaps on our mind. Let's not talk about seringgit or dua ringgit and especially sepuluh ringgit; it was unheard of at that time.

It was more like sekupang, or dua kupang, or if we were lucky, we might get lima kupang.

Man, were we rich then!

But perhaps our hearts and minds were much cleaner and purer then, so not a word of ingratitude would leave our mouths. No comparison between houses too. We were there to celebrate raya, we ate the kuih and drank the cordial drinks, and anything else would be a bonus. They made our day.

But then there was this culture, quite rampant then, especially amongst the well-to-do. Of course the table would be filled to the brink with cookies (beyond the ketupat and lemang, obviously)

TYpical kek raya in the 70s - not unlike this one, is meant for your eyes only.
Don't bother asking the host to cut a piece for you. (Taken from the internet
without permission, with apology)

But the head of the table - amidst all the cookies, you would find this wonderful and beautiful-looking cake with all kinds of icing and decorations. It is unlike cakes in the new millennium - then most were elaborately and richly decorated.

And typically untouched!

You can eat anything on the table - the hosts would be more than happy if you could finish everything on offer, but they would not offer you the cake!

Apparently it was just for decoration, and show-off, if I am allowed to say that here; and for us kids then, we can all be terkebil-kebil lah watching the high-sugar content cake, wishing the host would offer us some. At that point, we didn't see anything else; we can only see the cake with longing eyes. To know exactly how we felt then, you must know the economic conditions of the 70s (as compared to the present) and the fact that there was close to nil bakery shops. Cakes were not a norm then; not at Hari Raya especially.

There was definitely no Secret Recipe then - not that we could afford to buy if there was one, anyway.

You can of course have a bite of the cake, if you are willing to put a ringgit bill on the table, and the host then would be happy to cut you a piece!

Raya doloe-doelo (The Eighties)

2011-09-08T21:01:00.009+08:00

Raya in 1983 - the boys

Raya in the 80s are typically celebrated alone in my lecture hall at Monash.

Don't get me wrong; we would hold Solat Raya most likely at the Sport Centre as the praying room at the Religious centre would be too small to hold all of us at one go, even if we were to borrow the next door room from the Buddhist Society.

Yes, each major religion is accorded their own room with the Chapel at the centre of it, obviously. You are talking about Australia here and not Malaysia, so Islam and other religion had to play second or third fiddle. And after the solat, we would disperse to attend lab/lectures at our respective departments.

No kuih raya, or lemang on the 1st of Syawal. In fact, no one of my friends would even know of the existence of Raya in my department - well, sort of. It is business as usual for me.

But this entry is not about raya at Monash. I am too lazy to scan the old pictures from my album, so I would write an entry with ready-made scanned pictures.

Honestly, I am the last person who should be writing about this as I was not around, but being someone who like to write, I am sure bapak would have written me letters about raya celebration at home.

Alamak, budak-budak assalamualaikum dah datang!
Bukit Kerajaan 1983 - the road leading to our house, and the kids enjoying
themselves. I am reasonably sure they are only posing for this picture ;-)

In the 80s, Kuala Kangsar was our home, and by this time, we lived in the government quarters at Bukit Kerajaan, next to the Kuala Kangsar OCPD's house and the Malay College principal's house. We were in esteemed companies.

There was this one year (1981) that we Perakians celebrated Raya a day earlier than the rest of the country. The then Sultan Perak, Sultan Idris Shah decided to declare Hari Raya a day earlier (Aug 2) than the rest of the country; I believe after the Keeper of the Royal Seal had declared Aug 3, 1981 to be the Raya day for Malaysia.

It was a bewildering time for us. And living in the royal town itself would cause a great dilemma on whether to follow the Sultan, or the rest of the country. To make matter worse for us, Bukit Kerajaan is just a stone's throw away from the palace (which is located in Bukit Chandan).

That year, he (the Sultan) decided to follow the falak calculation, and because "ketupat dan rendang dah masak, alamat basilah kalau esok tak raya." Apparently people had been expecting the next day (Aug 2) to be Raya day - so they decided to start cooking Raya dishes, only to be told by the Keeper otherwise. It seems that the other excuse would be that he (the Sultan) refused to let his subjects fasting on the 1st of Syawal!

But bapak would not have any of these; the rationalization seems illogical to him, so the family - perhaps the only family in this royal town to be fasting, in solidarity with the rest in the nation. Yes, we were visited by many guests, and they were all treated as if it was Raya day, but were politely informed that the family is still fasting.

The boys enjoying themselves during Raya 83

I am not sure where Bapak and the kids had their solat raya - perhaps he performed the takbir and solat at home.

Apparently we were even visited by our cousin's family from Bagan Serai on the very first day. Wak, Mak Ngah, AbgNet and the rest of the family visited Bukit Kerajaan, and I guess they would have been surprised by the non-celebration at the Hariris. However, obviously, they were served raya dishes ( I guess whatever that was available, though I am not sure if it include ketupat, lemang and rendang or not.) Obviously they perhaps would be too embarrassed to eat in front of fasting persons, but bapak would not have anything with it. He would encouraged them to eat and eat and act as if he was celebrating one himself.

At least that what I was told by AbgNet when he read this entry.

These pictures above were taken in 1983, with the kids celebrating Raya day in Bukit Kerajaan in Kuala Kangsar. It was odd to say the least; for I don't think I would like to experience this in the new millennium. It made mockery of a religious festival, although to be honest, thirty years on, we have not really come to any close to settling the argument - one way or another.

The picture is bad, and this turned out to be our second last
Raya in Kuala Kangsar and the second last raya with bapak. There was another
raya in 1984 in KK, before moving back to Taiping.

Bersongket and bersampin and an attempt to
tie teh sampin ala P Ramlee. You should watch how
P Ramlee did it in Madu Tiga - to tie the sampin that
is (and not to marry three wives) LOL
He made it too easy!!

Our first Raya in Taiping and without bapak (bapak died a week
or so before this Raya Haji. I had the privilege then to take
this picture as I had taken an extended leave of absence from
my classes due to bapak's demise. This is Aug or early Sept 1984 ,
or 10 Zulhijjah to be precise.

Could this be Raya day with the patriarch Tok Adam? He is all dressed up.
Can you confirm AbgNet please? He passed away in 1986, so this could be sometime
in the 80s too.

Raya doloe-doelo (1967)

2011-09-06T21:54:00.014+08:00

Arif has uploaded the 2011 Raya pix at FB, and as the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. So that's a 64K-word entry (with his 64 pix), much longer than what I could ever managed; I guess I would be able to delay my entry on Raya 2011.

But an entry in the NST last Sunday attracted me as it has pictures of Malaysian celebrating raya in the days gone by. So I thought I should try and do our own personal raya entryt from the sixties to the 80s.

This is definitely Raya in
Assam Kumbang. No songket then for us
but my sampin was knotted ala P Ramlee!
This could be 1968 or 69.

When we were kids, we lived in Batu Gajah and later on moved to Lenggong, but I think we had never failed to return to Taiping for Raya. I think most of the time, we would be staying over at our nenek's house in Assam Kumbang (read Beautiful Houses of My Soul).

I think most of us looked forward to celebrating raya at our maternal grandparent's (as opposed to our paternal's) as there were more kids there. My uncles and aunty were not much older than us and we knew they would be playing all kind of fire works d came Malam Tujuh Likur, so it would be a pleasure to just sit and watch the fun. And perhaps joined in some of the fun.

I remember the ones that come with the parachute. They would target the coconut trees and when it exploded at the top, the parachute would open up and fall back with a small figurine.

No, no coconut would drop because of the explosion. The explosive is not strong enough!

I am not too sure if duit raya was a culture yet then. May be it was, but definitely we didn't get the green packet then. We would get raw cash - pure and simple and most likely in coins, and we knew exactly what we would be getting, the very moment the right hand of the giver started moving towards ours!

After the solat Raya, we would be in our best dress, ready to go
a-visiting. This is still at Nenek's house in Assam Kumbang
most likely in 1967 with our Aunty. MCKam, MSu and Ksham
must have gotten their hair cut at the same saloon.

Raya in Taiping was not only about the Hariris. It is actually about the Adams as depicted here by the family of PC Zain, Mak's younger brother taken on Raya day. I am not sure if he lives nearby or if all of us were cramped up at Tok Adam's house. I have no recollection at all.

The young family of PC Zain bin Adam
in Assam Kumbang

During this year (1967), the Raya morning we would be in Taiping, and from Taiping, we would then moved on to Kuala Kangsar to visit our paternal grandfather. Taiping and Kuala Kangsar then was not that far away, but we need to climb the hilly Bukit Berapit and as the road was single lane, we might have taken more than an hour to reach the destination. May be it is more like one and half hour.

If nenek was more well known for her dodol, then at Tok Bab's, we would be looking for the dried agar-agar. His was crunchy - dry on the outside (with the sugar precipitating out) and juicy on the inside.

And here we are in Kuala Kangsar - Talang to be precise on the
very same day the picture above (in Taiping) was taken. You can see
by the shirts and dresses we were wearing. Tok Bab is standing
with Pah and Mak and MCMiah in the background.

What do we look forward in Talang? PC Mat was a slightly older uncle and he was the only one, so it was not as much fun as it was in Taiping. But we look forward to the many magazines that Tok Bab would subscribe, so our time would be spent on reading I guess. (I remember our fav then - Kulop Kecil, Kulop Besar. Don't laugh - the title was innocent enough then, and it is a wonderful adventure cartoon series.)

But then again, on Raya day, even that would take a back seat too, as we would be going to the neighbouring houses for Raya, and a next door house has a peculiar door. The door was not vertical on the wall, but is laid horizontally on the floor!

I think the house is still intact, but I am not sure about the door.

And typically too my uncles and aunties from Kuala Lumpur would be back in KK. Pak Long and family - eldest son of Tok Bab would normally stay at his father-in-law house in KK and typically too Mak Cak and PC Wan would be around.

So after Talang, we would be visiting Pak Gam's house, also in KK - say about 5 mins from Talang, on this side of the polo field.

More rounds of duit raya, I guess.

I am still dressed in my cowboy suit that Raya and the rest of the clan
including Mcak and PC Wan and a rare pic of Bapak on the
right with his (fav) son! See how poorly dressed bapak is compared
to his children. I guess kids come first for him.

I guess back then we knew nothing more than to enjoy the day. We have no commitment and no responsibility, so life was easy enough. We have no idea on how difficult it was to cook the cookies that we all enjoyed so much - then there was no kuih tunjuk.

We knew Raya was about visiting, and Raya was about families. Nothing more, nothing less.

Raya '11 - Romancing the Ekspres Rakyat

2011-09-04T10:09:00.020+08:00

I am not sure about you, but train travel spells romance for me.

Don't get me wrong; I am not talking about the Orient Express, nor was I talking about love and meeting anyone of the opposite sex on a train, though at one time or so in my life, I was hoping that Sheena Easton would be singing the Morning Train for me! ;-) Mind you, the maharajah taking the train in (Colonial) India would not come into the picture either.

Our trains are less spectacular than that in Europe - and perhaps India, but they are ours anyway.

And unlike driving, or taking the bus, train ride is not just a mode of transportation. It is a way of life of the days gone by. Way back to the year when James Watt designed the steam engine that would allow rail travel in Britain.

No, this is not the steam engine James Watt built
though it surely looks like one, hahaha. This is
a diesel engine still plying the peninsular for KTM. Honestly it should be
in the museum already, but amazingly it is still doing the job

Long before roads were available for travel in Malaya, we have had the Taiping-Port Weld track. That was way back in 1885 - that's more than a century later. And the schoolchildren in remote part of Kelantan would take the train to go to school even today, and to make it more interesting, this was way before train/LRT became a way of life for people in the Klang Valley.

Typicaly, train ride would cross the country side and the view can be spectacular, especially if the train needs to climb a mountain (as in Bukit Berapit in Taiping) as there would be tunnels and it would ply the route on the edge of cliff, and ravine and you would be clinging onto your dear life.

In Europe, the view of a train crossing the arch bridge can be majestic. It is beautiful.

Our bridges are not as spectacular unfortunately. They are typically made of steel instead, but still it can be good view if you can catch them crossing the Perak River.

This is of course not Sg Perak, It is one of the smaller river in the
Kinta Basin. I believe we crossed over the Perak River at dusk.

My only dream now is to ply the Vancouver-Calgary trip and cross the Rockies in a train. I was told the Chicago-Seattle train ride is equally spectacular.

One can buy a car; heck you can even buy a plane, but I have never heard anyone buying a train for one's private use.

So it was on this premise that I decided to take the train back home for Hari Raya. I thought I should try to relive the 70s again with our yearly train ride to and from Taiping. It was the romance of the 70s that lured me to this trip, and out of the blue, took a long and extended office break.

With the help of my new BlackBerry, of course!

This is the driver of the Ekspres Rakyat, South bound to
Singapore, departing on time at 1430 hours from KL

In some ways it was just like old time. The train was one hour late - as usual. KTM simply could never get this right, after all these years. To be honest, their Indonesian counterpart, despite the lack of modern facilities, run their train with clock-work precision.

Or at least for the 10 times or so train-rides I have taken to and from Jakarta to the various parts of Java.

M Nasir wrote of the same thing way back in the early 80s; that the Ekspres Rakyat was already late.

Sorry, I digress.

It was an hour late for my train; I knew I would not be able to enjoy the tunnel at Bukit Berapit.

I am not sure where this is and what this is, but somewhere in Perak,
I guess. Hahaha.

Beyond that, of course trains are all air-conditioned now, and one need not have to fight for one's seat no more. There is no more fans dangling from the ceiling providing much needed respite for the weary passengers. There was not any need for that. I miss those coaches.

I miss the feel of wind in your hair as one sneak a peek over the open windows, and being able to see the coaches through the open windows as the train snakes across the countryside. It is a long and winding track down the length of the Malay peninsular. I long to see the food vendors on the track converging on our coach and melodiously announcing their food for sale. "Nasik lemak, mee goreng, karipap" would be a typical sales pitch and it was pleasing to the ears of hungry passengers.

There was no need for the buffet coaches and the meals were freshly cooked and they were all home made.

They have killed romance out of rail travel. It was a bit sterile for my liking.

But I guess life moves on and waited for no one. Especially sentimental guys like me. This is one guy trapped in time, and he was hoping that everything else would too.

Still, despite the shortcomings, I thought it was a relaxing journey. I need not worry about the traffic, I need not worry about Kancils hogging the right lane, driven like they are the Ferraris.

The views from the enclosed windows are not views that I have seen umpteenth of times while driving up and down the highway. May be I did not get to enjoy them that much, while I was concentrating on the wheels, but I have seen them all. While I would not say it was getting boring, but it could be getting stale. The train, on the other hands, tends to snake its way through the backyard of the country, so you get to see views seldom seen. You see people chatting, people waving to us on the train, sometimes as if they had only seen the train for the first time in their lives - even as their backyards faced the railway tracks.

With the completion of the North South highway in the late 80s, one could now travel the length of the country - from Thailand to Singapore, without seeing anything! They only had the destination in mind, so they missed out on the adventure along the way.

Cooking up a storm, but I know I am safe in the train. It may rain cats and dogs,
but I need not worry about them. Alhamdulillah.

Now, the trains would let you see everything and laid bare to you everything this country has to offer. You would see the peninsular the way it is supposed to be seen.

To be precise, the way it is. There was no pretension. There was no prop up for the tourists. It is an honest view of the way we were, and the way we are.

The blues, the reds and the greens going against the dark grey clouds

I remember the old days when the train would stop at practically all stations. Behrang, Malim Nawar, Tapah Road, Kota Baharu (in Perak, mind you), Chemor, Enggor, and Kalumpang are some of the stations that had become extinct in the face of modernization of the train and the advent of the express train. Some are so small that you would not call them a train station - a 'halt' would be more appropriate.

And yet the train stops by to pick up, at times, a singular passenger!

All onboard and ready to depart

As kids then with no sense of time, we would be happy to stop at any station. It was an eye opener for us, seeing things and lives beyond our hometown.

To cherish on what we have, and to be in awe of what we don't.

A relaxing time for the KTM staff on the other side of the track. This is Batu
Gajah (new) station.

The train stopped by at Batu Gajah station, but it is a nondescript steel structure with no soul. I saw the old Batu Gajah station as it pulled away from the new station - it was abandoned and soon it would be in ruins. My heart sank; Batu Gajah is always special for me. It is also an old town, not unlike Taiping, and it is a town we grew up in.

I love this country side view, not unlike of Taiping. Big raintrees and green
padangs would dot the town. I'd like to believe that this is Batu Gajah. May be.
Unfortunately the pix was cut in the middle by the pole

As we started late from KL - late arrival of train from South, we were informed that breaking of fast would be at 1927 hours in the vicinity of Sg Siput. Originally the train is supposed to arrive in Taiping right at breaking of fast time, so luckily I had brought a bottle of mineral water and Kitkat, just in case and it turned out to be my saviour.

Kuala Kangsar station at dusk. I had many stares for having my
big camera and taking pictures of all and sundry. "Abang, abang ambik
gambar apa?" a teenager once asked of me. "Gambar nostalgia, dik," I replied,
truthfully. "Abang is on a nostalgic trip."

We arrived in Kuala Kangsar station at 1945 hours - I was hoping to see the old KK station, but just like Taiping counterpart, it is now a construction site. As day had turned into night, I could not recognize the KK town and its surrounding. The train supposedly traveled near my grandfather's house in Talang, but I have no clue when it did that during the trip.

So as the darkness of the night started to engulf the peninsular, we missed out on the Bukit Berapit tunnels. I tried to, but could not make head or tail of the near pitch black of the night and tunnels.

I had lost the ultimate experience of the peninsular rail travel. You would know that the train would be approaching a tunnel as they would have switched on the yellowish menthol bulb dangling from the ceiling and soon after the day would turn pitch black save for the dim yellow light.

It was an exhilarating feeling and it is stuff romance is made of.

I arrived in Taiping at 2030 hours and had my proper meal of mee rebus at the train station. No Aya, the mee rebus here was mediocre at best. Good enough to fill up my empty stomach, but not good enough for second helping on another occasion.

Then only it occurred to me that this is no longer the 70s. Time had stood still for me, but time waited for no one.

With a heavy sigh, I made my way out, and started walking towards Sri Kota.

Taiping at last. I decided to have my meal first before proceeding home and
by that time (about 2115 hour), there was no more cab left. I thought, "Am
I going to do what bapak did 27 years ago (12 Aug 1984) and walk home?"
Bapak did it because he thought the cab fare, at RM2.50, was a ripped off.
As I was walking towards SriKota, near the TNB station, I saw a cab
and paid him RM8 to take me home.

Raya '11 (Eve) - Menziarahi Pusara di Tekah

2011-09-03T11:21:00.007+08:00

It is a departure from normal Raya entry.

I thought I should just highlight something that should be a reminder for me (and for all of us).

Cemeteries!

Typical Malay cemeteries in Malaysia are not something worth remembering, beyond the memories of our departed ones. It is typically unkempt, and just like our orchards, it is normally cleaned up once a year, just before Raya day or on Raya day itself.

So this Tekah Malay cemetery is a breath of fresh air. It is green and well-kept. Not yet perfect as at the Taiping War Memorial at the foot of Maxwell Hill, but moving towards that direction.

A view of the Tekah Muslim cemetery with the
(new) Tekah Mosque in the background.
This is facing North.

The view of the graveyard facing South

View facing East. The maintenance crew is working overtime
on the last day of Ramadhan 2011.

They only allow the the tombstone and carpet grass
on the newer section of the graveyard.

Like this one. Immaculate.

There is a directory there if you have forgotten the whereabout
of the grave of your loved one. #136 is the grave of my uncle
PC Usop.

And this is his grave

A row of tombstones at the Tekah cemetery

I seldom would visit the graveyard on Raya day itself. I prefer to do it the day before - cleaning up, read the quranic verses and perhaps just chatting with the departed one. I thought by doing it the day before, I would have more time to be there without worrying if anyone is one the way to visit us.

So as a compromise, I sometimes would visit the graveyard before the Raya prayer itself.

Bapak's grave is in the older section of Tekah
cemetery, so it is not as green as the newer ones. It is still
well maintained.

Arif in a solemn mood at his grandfather's grave.
Of course he had not met him as bapak passed away
long before I was married

My grandfather's grave

The older section of the Tekah cemetery with bapak's
grave in the foregound.

The Tekah cemetery, just a stone's throw-a-way from the Taiping Aerodrome is a major graveyard for Taipingites. For me, there are at least 5 graves that i would be visiting every year, and I am sure many of us Taiping would have friends or relatives buried here.

They are bapak's who died in 1984, Tok Adam in 1986, PC Usop in 2002, Mak Ngah in 198x and Pak Long in 198x - all from Mak's side of the family, except for bapak obviouly. But I can't seem to find the last two as the pohon Melor that demarcated the two graves (they are side by side) are no longer there.

As I have mentioned before, it is well kept and well maintained. One of the better cemeteries in the country, that's for sure.

Alfatihah untuk semua penghuni-penghuninya.

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri

2011-08-24T12:47:00.001+08:00

Since I would be going on a 'pertapaan', and not have access to the net, I would like to wish everybody a happy and safe Raya.

Enjoy this performance from the boys, The Brothers Two. It is a beautiful and meaningful Raya song, and I think Arif and Akmal, as usual, did a good job with the arrangement and performance.

Merdeka '11 - Pertemuan di Taiping Aerodrome (SGN-TPG)

2011-08-20T07:41:00.025+08:00

Taiping Aerodrome in Tekah, Amelia Earhart and Sukarno Hatta.

Five seemingly unrelated names, you might add, and what do they have in common?

Tekah is place where nenek and I used to go to, multiple of times, looking for pucuk paku. Yes, we did that in the early 70s. I would bring her to this place in Tekah at the back of my bicycle in the 70s. There were abundant of pucuk paku and it was so easy to pick. No need to go to the pasar to buy and it was the freshest pucuk paku one can get - in the wild!

God bless nenek (Bulan).

In the old days of the 70s, we would always be in awe of Tekah, for this is the place where Taiping Aerodrome is located. With train as our affordable, and romantic mode of transportation, it would never crossed our mind then to fly (for sure we could not afford it), and the Taiping Aerodrome was the nearest thing for us to gawk at the flying thing.

What many of us didn't realize is the importance of Taiping Aerodrome in the history of Malaya and Malaysia. It is the oldest airport in Federated Malay States, and was built by the British in 1929 (Wiki) for non-military purpose and can accommodate Fokker.

Mind you, it is an airfield - not an airport per se, hence to us Taipingites, it is called an aerodrome, eventhough if you were to google it, the name airport would be used. But as far as I can remember, on the roof of the aerodrome building, it is written as Taiping Aerodrome.

As we approach Merdeka day, and with many of us still too lethargic to fly the national flag, I would like to reminisce the importance of Taiping aerodrome in the nation's history.

Source Wiki

Do you know that Amelia Earhart, the famous American aviator stopped by in Taiping for refueling in 1937 enroute to Singapore (from Thailand) on her ill-fated round the world flight attempt?

I am sure the world would have heard of Taiping by then - may be in the footnote of history. It was 7 June 1937. Bapak would have been one year old, and Mak would not have been even born!

You can read all about Amelia here.

But the most important event in the life time of Taiping Aerodrome happened on Aug 12, 1945 - that is just over a week today 66 years ago. Obviously, this is not mainstream history, so it did not get space at all in our history books, and nothing to remind us in the newspapers or telly.

But it is history that needs to be told.

Sukarno and Hatta, the founding fathers of Indonesia had a stop-over in Taiping Aerodrome. They had just met the Japanese Army Commanding Officer Marshall Tereauchi in Saigon to discuss the independence of Indonesia, and they returned to Jakarta on 13 Aug 1945.

Soekarno and Hatta in Taiping in Aug 1945 - source Wiki.

Mind you, Indonesia declared independence from the Dutch 4 days later. For them to stop over in Taiping just before declaring independence shows the importance of this meeting ("Indonesia pasti merdeka sebelum jagung berbunga.").

The meeting was arranged by non other than Ibrahim Hj Yaakub, the Malay nationalist and founding member of KMM (Kesatuan Melayu Muda). KMM, for the uninitiated, was formed in 1938 in Kuala Lumpur by Ibrahim Yaakub to protect the Malay's right and gain independence from the British.

So it was not UMNO who first 'fought' for independence of Malaya! Much earlier, and if not it were not banned by the British and Ibrahim himself was thrown in jail, we might not have UMNO.

In the meeting with Soekarno (with Dr Burhanuddin Helmy in attendance), Ibrahim told him that the people of Malaya are ready to join the Indonesia for independence under the banner of Indonesia Raya. Unfortunately, the Japanese lost the war within the next two days, and Soekarno was not ready to fight with two world powers then (the Dutch and British) and declared independence on their own - without Malaya, on 17th August 1945.

Please read here about the details of the meeting in Taiping.

I guess there are always two sides of a coin. In hindsight, some may say that we were lucky not to have joined the Indonesia for the Greater Indonesia nation. But who are we to say one way or the other. If only there is a parallel time track that we could observe as an independent observer, then we could say which one would have been better for us. Current political climate in this country is not better than that of our neighbour, and the nation's wealth have been plundered many times over since Independence anyway by our kulit sawo matang brethren.

If you can call them brethren!

Please read about Kesatuan Melayu Muda here. And about the Malay nationalist Ibrahim Hj Yaakub (born Temerloh Pahang, died in Jakarta in 1978) who was buried in Taman Makam Pahlawan in Kalibata.

Anyway, I do not wish to write about the politics of Malaya/Malaysia, as my blood pressure would boil.

Hahaha. That's my laugh to lower my BP! ;))

I took these pictures in 2007 - Raya 2007 to be precise, with my then Olympus bridge camera. It was not the best of pictures - it was a cloudy day in Taiping, and it looked like it was going to rain. But I post it here anyway as an addendum to this entry.

Tekah Airfield, looking West. There was no housing complexes
here in the old days, so it was more saujana mata memandang
than this.

This is my padang lalang as in M Nasir's song. Not because of the lyric, more so for the fact that it was a padang lalang. This place is unlike any other place in Taiping. Here, it is saujana mata memandang if you were to look West. It is flat, and from afar, it is full of lalang (wild grass).

Look at any other direction and you will know that Taiping is hilly.

Tekah Airfield, looking East and the Maxwell Hill mountain range

Another view of the airfield, with the building in the background.

Here is the aerodrome main building. It is made of wood and hence it is now in dilapidated.

It is now in dilapidated state, unfortunately. I think we are a nation
lost on her history. We would like to erase anything that
is not mainstream. The winner takes all.

The radar tower?

Where is the history society? Where is the Jabatan Muzium, the Kementerian Warisan? Where art thou? History could have changed its course on 12 Aug 1945.

I do wish time had split on that day, and that there are independent parallel time with loops and branches, so that we could observe the what-ifs had an Aug 17, 1945 declaration took place, and how this country would be in 2011.

One track just the way we are experiencing it,
and another track is for what could have been. It is multiple lines running
in parallel, and with another branch ahead, the lines
might join sometime in the future.

Taiping Railway Station - the end is nigh? - Part II

2011-08-15T18:17:00.011+08:00

There is not much to see in the old railway station of Taiping,
but my friend and fellow Taipingite Aya can see his dashing dad waiting
for her at this station. I can see bapak, mak and all us taking the train to Penang
in the 60s. I still remember the trip to KL in the 70s, and how I rode my bicycle
along the Taiping-Part Weld track to this station carrying with me MC Bumah's
wedding suitcase that was left behind by mistake. How relief and thankful she
was in seeing me with that suitcase!
This station got character and it is alive!

So there is a hive of activities at Taiping Railway Station nowadays.

The old building is still intact, but it is in dilapidated state. The officer there told me that if it were up to KTM, in no time it will be torn down. But apparently, my fellow Taipingites, there is still hope.

Especially for sentimentalist like me, and you!

Apparently Jabatan Muzium wants to take over and preserve the building as it a historic building. I guess they could gazette the building to ensure that it will withstand not only the test of time, but to me, more of the greedy power of politicians and their cronies seeing a prime land for development and making millions of ringgit into their pockets.

As eloquently put forward by my friend Aya, in response to Part I entry, "It is an iconic building; being the first railway station in the country and should be preserved. It is heritage to me as Taipingite."

We all have too many memories stashed somewhere at Taiping Railway Station. I am seeing the ghosts of the family past at this railway station.

I tried surfing to see if there is a plan and drawing rendition of what would be Taiping Railway Station which I presume will be competed in two years' time. But to no avail.

Why weren't we Taipingites consulted over the masterplan of the Railway station? Is there a masterplan in the first place?

NY Grand Central Station

Ipoh Train Station

Will it be as iconic and majestic as KL Railway Station or will it be as non-descript as KL Sentral? Will it have character like Ipoh Train Station or will it devoid of character as in KL Sentral? Will be have a grand dome like Flinder St Station in Melbourne, or will it be squarish as in KL Sentral?

Flinders St Station, Melbourne - the station I used
to frequent to everytime we went to downtown Melbourne

Tanjung Pagar Station

Nondescript Sentral Station - why can't we be
more imaginative in building our station and then
naming it correctly? This station is devoid of character
and it is a dead place.

I have no idea to be honest, if Taiping station will end up like her counterpart in Ipoh, Singapore or Melbourne. Or will be designed by someone who have not been to the grand station of cities well known for its history, and know only how to design matchbox building? To me, the architects of KL Sentral have no knowledge of train and its history or have no passion in his profession!

Taiping is an old colonial town; many of her buildings were built by the British. Many of them might not be Moorish in design, but I want a train station that would blend into other colonial building of Taiping. The characteristics of Taiping have to be preserved. As I have suggested before, Taiping should be declared a Heritage Town by the government!

I don't welcome the unimaginative KL Sentral Station as Taiping Grand Station.

But here is the construction taking place right now.

I can't imagine.

I cannot imagine what kind of structure that will come up.

Hmmm, not very promising, I must say

View from the bridge. You can see the red-roof old railway station
next to the construction site

Looks squarish to me, no?

Personally, I think the location is unsuitable. It is right at the junction of the Aulong/Assam Kumbang flyover, so I can imagine the traffic it would generate. That flyover is an old flyover and it is an el-cheapo flyover built by Lim Kheng Yaik (it is not compliment, ok!) and I think it would not survive the heavy pounding of the construction next to it and not the increase traffic.

I demand a stop work be issued to this project until Taipingites can review the master plans.

Taiping Railway Station - the end is nigh? - Part I

2011-08-14T19:07:00.011+08:00

Prologue

I decided at the very last minute (sahur Friday) that I will have my bukak puasa with Mak that eve (12th August). So I told Arif that we may leave office early that day so that we can make it by iftar time. But at the same time, I was planning to give away some iftar meals to be shared around at the office and was told that it will be ready by 3 pm.

But in the end it reaches the office by 4.15 pm.

So we rushed out of the office by 4.25 pm, reached the Bukit Lanjan queue - eh I mean, hiway, and drove like a F1 driver and had a pit stop at Changkat Jering to buy some cold drink, and reached Sri Kota by the azan KL time. Phew, fortunately my Ferrari Enzo was willing! ;))

So I had my iftar with mak on the night that bapak returned from KL via train and walked from train station to home, while his son and grandson 27 years later were comfortably driving. We had sahur early that Saturday morning on the very same time bapak had her hypertension attack and passed away.

At the very same place.

I didn't plan it that way, it was by chance to be honest.

The End is nigh? Part 1

So after visiting my cousin on Saturday morning and with nothing else to do between then and iftar time, I decided to visit the Taiping Railway station. I had thought that I want to take the train back home for Raya this time around - for old time sake. I was thinking of taking an early leave/break from work, and return to Taiping on my own earlier than the rest of the family.

Arif is going to be the main driver home, while I will enjoy my train ride. Yay!

My train ticket to Taiping this Raya - for old time sake!

Last train to Taiping, figuratively speaking, I hope.

The track (left) has been
barricaded to denote construction
site

So for one last time, we took picture of my hunting place for Beano and Dandy comics, a place would normally go to whenever we had the opportunity to go on vacation to my auntie's place in KL.

Nothing has changed since the 70s, but there is now a hive of activities on the railway station. Not of commercial activities, but of construction activities.

We are at a point of no return. Progress is coming to Taiping Station, albeit 40 years too late. In fact, I think it was forty years too soon.

So I thought I should be enjoying it while it lasts. I have tracked the Taiping station in previous entry. It is here.

I had a chat with the ticketing officer and was told in no uncertain term, if it were down to KTM, they would have the train station torn down in no time. The maintenance is not something they cherished doing.

I am not sure if I should be sentimental about it, to be honest. While I am all for conservation, the building is in dilapidated state and it is a bit non-descript, and I am not being brutal.

It is not something to be in awe.

Anyway, history is history, and there is little I could do, but to capture it in pictures. All pictures were taken by Arif.

The railway track of Taiping (looking North/East)

The inner side of the Taiping train station looking South/West

The outerside of Taiping railway station looking North/East
(towards Taiping station)

The toilet! It is the only concrete building
within the Taiping station

The 'gudang' in front of the station. It is a normal view
for us in the 70s while waiting for our train. How long
will it lasts?

All pictures were unedited, except for the watermark.

Puasa doloe-doloe - Mencari Kerja

2011-08-07T07:36:00.030+08:00

1986 was the year I managed to - for the first time in a decade - fast at home.

From the mid-70s onwards, it would always be in Kota Bharu. I would be coming home to Taiping only for the Raya, and in the early 80s, I would be fasting away from Malaysia. No chance even to come back for Raya.

In Perth and Melbourne in the 80s, fasting was easy I think for the simple reason that it was performed during the winter season. The hours were short and it was cold enough for you not to feel the agony of doing away with food for the less-than-12 hour odd duration.

But in 1986, my body systems got a shock of their lives by fasting in the mid-summer Malaysia.

Ideally since at that time I have not found a job yet, I could fast in the cool comfort of a ceiling fan room in my house. I could even sleep in the afternoon, and no one would bother me. Afterall, I think after 5 years of mugging at the tertiary level, surely I deserve to take some form of break, right? ;))

I believe it must be circa May or June in 1986.

But I had a big task at hand then. No one would pay me to lying idle and with the scholarship money cut off, I had no choice but to quickly start applying for job.

In hindsight, 1986 was the worst of time to graduate since we were at the height of the (worst) recession ever seen in Malaysia then.

But I saw an opening at the FRIM (Forest Research Institute of Malaysia) as a research officer, and they wanted chemical engineers. I knew nothing about wood, but I do know a bit about basic engineering processes, such as drying which would be used in wood process. So I thought it would be the break I needed.

May be I saw the ad a tad too late, but there was no way I could post the application through the snail mail and reached the proper hand in time, so I had no choice but to deliver it in person.

On the very last day!

From my auntie's house in Ampang, I took Bas Mini No 23 and headed to Lebuh Ampang.

It was nearly noon in the middle of the fasting month.

May be I had to wait for 10 mins or so for the Bas Mini that would take me to Kepong. I don't recall anymore - mini busses were quite efficient during those days compared to RAPIDKL. Normally there would always be one around, ready to take you anywhere. I had never been to Kepong before and I guess I must have asked strangers on how to get there. There was no Prof Google then, so for sure I can't be asking him. There was no way I could afford to take cabs then as an unemployed.

Upon reaching Kepong, I think the bus stop right in front of the guard house of FRIM. I am not really sure to be honest, but most likely. But the office is another mile inside. It was a sprawling office complex that would still be intact today as it was in 1986.

I am sure I would have to walk from the guard house on the left,
to the cluster of the office blocks (red rectangles)
on the right to deliver my application. What I am not so
sure now is whether I have to walk from Kepong town to FRIM.

No doubt FRIM is quite shady with big trees, so the long walk to the main office was not as bad as I thought it would be. After passing my application to some stranger in the office, it was another long walk back to the main entrance to catch another mini buss back to KL and this was the journey that I would remember for the rest of my life.

It probably took me at one and half hour to reach Kepong and about the same time to reach back to Ampang. The walk at FRIM would probably be 10 mins each way at the very least.

Coupled with the fact that on a hot day, I was perhaps drenched in my own sweat and was definitely in need to replace my bodily fluid.

But it was in the middle of the fasting month and I can only watched all the stalls selling drinks along the way and especially at Leboh Ampang, and yet were not able to even sip a drop. I was beginning to seeing things that were not there.

"I wish I could drink something. I wish it was not fasting month. Keep your cool. You'd be rewarded in the hereafter; or on the short term hopefully you'll get the job and start earning a living."

Taken from internet

There was too much temptation in KL then. The roadside stalls were selling everything in the open, especially the cool drinks. The air tebu, the cincau, the soyas; all the drinks that would quench my thirst.

Anything your heart desires. Anything that would only increase your craving.

Everything that could tempt you were available.

I could only look and yearn for the forbidden drinks. I wish, I wish, was all I could mutter, and tried to lower my gaze.

I guess I survived that day. Probably melepak and melepek selepas tu in my Auntie's house while waiting for iftar.

Nowadays it is not too bad. I seldom bother to walk or shop during Ramadhan. Even if I need to do that, I would be driving. The malls are now airconditioned - except for may be Jalan Masjid India, so the temptations are much less.

The drinks to me was the biggest temptation to fast in KL, due
to our hot weather. Taken from Internet

Just for the record, I did not get the job at FRIM. Heck, they did not even call me for an interview. May be I didn't have a strong cable. Actually, I didn't have any. May be, I don't know.

May be I was not qualified enough in their eyes.

But life is like that. I guess it was part of my destiny; perjalanan hidup yang telah ditetapkan - the qadha and qadar Illahi. I have no regret of my own professional life's journey which includes not getting a job with FRIM.

This is only a reflection of the very thirsty day I had to endure then during the fasting month of 1986 in order to secure what I thought would be my first job.

Let's have a Mecca Mean Time

2011-08-04T16:25:00.003+08:00

Prologue

First published on Dec 13, 2007 at the now defunct Yahoo 360 blog. I thought since we are in Ramadhan, I would renew my call again for us to have a Mecca Mean Time. Every year, we would fight amongst ourselves on the date of end of Ramadhan, and we would look pathetic to not being able to come to conclusion even the simplest of thing.

Mecca Mean Time

Things have been getting a bit hectic here in remote Toronto.

Toronto - the KL slang for Tronoh - is located in the middle of nowhere, somewhere in the middle of Perak. For some reasons, someone decided to locate a branch campus of Universiti Sains Malaysia here in the early 90s, and later on Petronas took over this campus and made it their own. I have been stuck here getting my daily doses of the modern rendition of the Van der Waals equation of state.

Never mind; it is not my intention to be talking about classical thermodynamics. It is enough that I have to work with it; I don't want to be writing about it.

While waiting to drive to Tronoh yesterday, someone told us that the Eid-ul Adha had been changed to the 19th. I thought the Royal Keeper of the Seal had announced that the Eid will be held on the 20th; so I was a bit surprised and confused. Apparently the confusion arises due to the fact that the Saudis announced later that the Haj will be celebrated on the 19th in Mecca.

Can we not as a community decide properly a universal date for our religious festivals and activities?

Of course with Malaysia sitting on 101 East (+8 GMT) and Mecca in the +3 GMT means that Malaysia is 5 hours ahead of the holy city of the Moslem world. In other words, Malaysia would see the new day five hours ahead and based on this should be celebrating the Haj earlier than our moslem brethren in Mecca.

However this is not the case and it looks a bit odd that a country further east which should be seeing the dalylight earlier would be celebrating a new holy day a day later.

This is one of the many occasions we moslems had to endure oddity in our religious lives and we have no one to blame but ourselves. As the United Kingdom grew into an advanced maritime nation, British mariners kept at least one timepiece on GMT in order to calculate their longitude from the Greenwich meridian, which was by convention considered to have longitude zero degrees [Wikipedia]. The centre of the universe is now in London. If we moslems had the foresight to have MMT (Mecca Mean Time) instead, then Mecca would have become the centre of the universe and that all of our religious activities throughout the world would be dictated towards Mecca.

In this case, I am advocating that the MMT be the 180 degree longitude (unlike the GMT), and as far as the moslem world is concerned, Mecca would see the first dawn of daylight daily, all year round, in as far as our lunar calendar is concerned.

There would be no way that any other location would be celebrating the Eid earlier than the two holy cities of the moslem world. We would not be celebrating Eid on two different days in any part of the world; and would stop us from becoming the laughing stock of the world. As if we could not figure out how to determine the date of the holy days.

Eventhough the world revolves around GMT/UTC, I don't think there is anything wrong for us Moslems to have our own invinsible time convention of MMT. By moving the location of the longitude 180 degree to Mecca (and let's redefine it as the 0 degree longitude), we could revolve our religious activities based on this new time standard.

From what I know, the locations of the international dateline and the so-called GMT are arbitrary. While it has became the norm and accepted as the standard (and should not be changed), I see no reasons for us not to adopt MMT, just like we have a second (lunar) calendar for all our religious holy days. It is just an imaginary line.

In other words, since the time standards are arbitrary at best, we should have no qualm celebrating anything after the dust has settled in the capital of the moslem world, irrespective what international time and date said.

The MMT is to the moslems what GMT is to the universal date and time.

What say you?

Ramadhan '11 - Selasihku Sayang

2011-08-01T20:23:00.002+08:00

Aah, first day of Ramadhan. Typically the hardest, at least for me. By 8 am, I was already craving for food. By 11 am, I was sleepy and I was yawning excessively.

And hungry.

(Mind you, I was in the comfort of an air-conditioned office, and was practically using only a few brain cells. Other than that the only bodily movement would be my fingers excessively punching the keyboards.)

Alhamdulillah, so Ramadhan is here again.

What do I expect to achieve this Ramadhan? I hope to be maximized my ibadah in the month of Ramadhan. More solat including terawih, and more mengaji Qur'an.

And professionally I hope to accomplish more work i.e. get more work done during this month.

Well, work is also an ibadah, right? So even if I stay at work until bukak puasa time, I would be in ibadah, just as if I would be performing my solah and zikir.

I have told my boys and girls at work, the only reason the office would close early (an hour earlier at 4 pm) is that we don't have lunch hour. It is not because that we would be working less, or that in Ramadhan, things would slowly come to a halt, as everybody is hungry.

They can take break for their zohor, but nothing beyond that please.

Yes, I certainly would like them to reach home in time to break their fast, but that is not the reason we close early during Ramadhan. If we work hard in the non-Ramadhan, we should double the effort during Ramadhan!

It is certainly not the time for us to take afternoon naps!

Anyway, while food should be taking a backseat during Ramadhan, in reality the reverse is true. Stalls sprouting everywhere to cater for the whim and fancy of Malaysians breaking the fast. Yes, I do frequent these stalls during Ramadhan, I have to admit, but I still prefer home cook. Pasar Ramadhan are typically manned by the amateurs looking to make a quick buck or two - make that thousands buck or tens of thousands, so it is typically not worth it.

I look forward for some sweet tidbits during Ramadhan. For a family of four, with the boys typically not into conventional food, it is not worth it for us to cook all the food that we ear.

There are two simple things I would enjoy in this Ramadhan month eventhough one could still find them off Ramadhan I guess.

Buah kabung with syrup. Take it cold.

Aah, heavenly.

It is really cooling at the end of the fasting day. It has that effect on the body.

I have no idea where this buah kabung comes from. Surfing the net, I found this pic. Thanks to those who upload the picture.

Another drink I love to have during Ramadhan is selasih. Again you have it with syrup. Similarly like the kabung, it is also cooling to the body.

Aah heavenly. This selasih seed may look
like telur katak, but it is really lovely to drink with.

Welcome back Malaysia

2011-07-24T08:29:00.010+08:00

At last, they are back.

For sure this time around.

I was wondering if something was wrong somewhere and with the euphoria they were generating, I thought something was amiss. As if they were hit by a tsunami, and the Japanese nuclear radiation leaks might have affected them.

I saw some of the normal Malaysian traits in the match against Taiwan, and of course in the match against Arsenal. And I was beginning to see what I was used to see in the 90s.

One of the traits would be to play like schoolchildren; with due respect to all schoolchildren in this country. All Malaysian footballers since the very late 80s had been taught this skill and nowhere else. They were taught so well that we were top in that department then.

And now they are back.

Welcome back and welcome home, Malayan Tigers.

Normal service has resumed from FAM.

PS Can we tarik balik all the awards and rewards that they didn't deserve even the last time or do they need more since the last time tak cukup? ;-)

PS2 And we call ourselves champions of South East Asia?

PS3 I think I spoke too soon about us winning the World Cup! Huh!

Durian and the Theory of Gravity

2011-07-21T20:47:00.001+08:00

Oh kome, deghoyan udah luruh

Aaaah, the fruit with the smell from hell, and the taste from heaven...

So...the durian season is here again, eh? Stalls are sprouting out everywhere in KL like 'cendawan lepas hujan'. Good la. I love the durian but for the fact that my two kids hate the smell [1], I have not bought any for the past decade or so. As far as the durians are concerned, the car and thehouse are off limit. We are never to transport them in it, or bring one home!

Of course like many true blue Malay guys, having a durian orchard for my retirement years is something that is always on my mind. It is in the Malay guys' psyche I guess. Tranquility while waiting for the heavenly durian to fall! [2]

Many years ago, I was that close to buying a piece of land in Batu Kurau for that purpose. It didn't work out. I should have. Every durian season I am reminded of that African proverb that says "The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago." [3]

Of course Batu Kurau and Bukit Gantang - make that Taiping, are well known for quality durians. I believe they hold the Pesta Durian Bukit Gantang every year - we may just missed it this year (1 July?). They are all coveted by the durian connoisseurs from all over.

I love having pulut with kuah durian (sticky or glutinous rice with durian gravy) for tea. Someone just told me of another version of this. Hers is pulut with (slightly) 'salty-ish raw santan and (raw) durian' all meshed up to make a thick gravy - uncooked mind you. The durian would still have it textures, unlike its thinner cooked durian gravy counterpart. Hmm... yummy..sounds "durilicious" to me. High cholesterol though, I was warned.

We only live once, I retorted.

How about gulai tempoyak, and of course the tempoyak (fermented durian) itself? Perakians are supposed to love all these dishes. Dodol (durian). Lempuk. Wajik (durian). Bubur kacang durian. I can even find durian ice cream in Houston. In Jakarta, durian drink too.

I used to drive one car full of Mat Sallehs from Kuantan airport to Kerteh. We dropped by at Kijal, which is noted for its durian in Terengganu for their first initiation of the king of fruits. One guy luvs it, the others can't handle them at all. "Taste like a cement paste," one Japanese friend Oiwa-san would tell me. I doubt it that he has tasted cement paste before. I think he was saying that based on his sight and touch senses - the texture is much like a paste. He is better off not liking it though - a single (frozen) durian fruit would cost something like 10K yen in his home town Tokuyama.

I dislike Thai durians...no, no dislike is too mild. Actually I hate Thai durians. They are not durians at all with little smell and production-like sizes (I think them as mutant in term of their sheer size). Many Thai types would give a bitter after-taste compared to our mostly sweet after-taste. It is more fun with kampung durians. One can never know what to expect - it is like opening a treasure chest. Taste from one tree will differ from another, and since typically it may be of many different sizes, one can have the best of many worlds in term of taste. Give me kampung durians anytime, or give me no durian at all!

Hey, anyone remember this funny song from Mr Os? It is a catchy song in the Perak dialect released circa 1986. I thot it was very well written. I luv the part in that you have many relatives during the durian season (who would disappear as soon as the last durian falls)! Yeeah, and when it come to menebas, batang hidung pun tak nampak!....hahahaha..Os Os...sebijik deme bagi..

Click here to listen.

Oh kome durian dah berbunga
Moh kite minang anak dara
Anak dara anak dara Bota
Teman jumpa di padang tenggala

Oh kome deghoyan udah luruh
Lebih baik cepat pegi suluh
Lambat sikit kome dapat habuk
Kalau tido jawabnya tinggai pokok

Duit deghoyan yang tua nak ke Mekah
Yang muda gatai nak menikah
Musim degohyan ramai sedara mara
Bila menebas seeko tak nampak muka

Footnote

[1]. I remember that Arif would scream and cry whenever he came into smelling distance of the durians. "Busuk, busuk," he would cry. He would get upset if his mom were to touch the durian flesh - he knew that's the very hand that would prepare him his meal. Akmal is less adverse to the durians, though he does not like them either.

[2]. I wonder why we didn't produce a great scientist who would come up with the theory of gravity while waiting for the king of fruits to fall. Then it occured to me that we might have, had he not been killed by the falling durian while sleeping under the durian tree. So that was the end of Isa Nasution (a North Sumatran) and it was then left to an Englishman named (Sir) Isaac Newton and his falling apple! Ah well...

[3]. There is a second part to the African proverb. "The second best time is today!" Now, while we can lament on the what-ifs of life, and the durian trees that we all wished we had planted a decade ago, we can still plant it right now. And that's the beauty of the African proverb as we have no one else but ourselves to blame if we didn't do it.

Nowadays economically, it may not be worth it to have a durian orchard except for the fun of it. Durian at the height of the season can be quite cheap, bordering to worthless. Especially if the season coincides with the fasting month. I do remember a few years ago, durian was so cheap, you can have a bunch of them for a ringgit!

Ohh..those fragile Japanese women

2011-07-18T21:22:00.025+08:00

Of all the countries in the world, I would not have expected them to do it. In fact, I thought they would be the last country in the world to be able to do it.

With due respect to them.

I am of course referring to Japan winning the Women's World Cup.

One of the commentators mentioned after game that Japan had the smallest team in the WC. I am not sure what he mean by that. I did not follow this world cup other than what were shown on the news daily and if there was none (on telly), than I would not know about it.

He could have meant that Japan has the smallest contingent in term of numbers, or he could have meant that Japan's team members, on average, have the smallest physical attributes in term of height and weight.

And I would not be surprised by such statistic.

I believe - and I am not backed by any statistic - that Japanese players would be the smallest physically and I don't know what possessed them to play like they did, and in the process won themselves, and their nation, the World Cup.

I have spent many months staying there - for a total of over a year, cumulatively, in their early 90s, and I must say that Japanese women, to my eyes, are the most fragile women I have seeen or met.

Much more fragile than Malay women for sure.

They are very soft-spoken and the most well mannered persons in the whole world. I have read somewhere - I think in the aftermath of the tsunami recently, that if you wish to see the Moslems at the height of the Islamic civilization, they should see just to see the Japanese. They are a first class society, and I would say that there is no equivalent society in the rest of the world.

Ours included.

Or should I say, ours especially!

I think we all remember how people would queue for their food rations in the aftermath of the tsunami and not like in US where there were heavy looting. We are no better, and we should remember the accident that happened on the hiway with hundreds of thousands of coins spilling on the hiway.

Many motorists had a field day then!

The end of our training at Tokuyama during one of my
visits there in 1988.

During my training days in Tokuyama, with nothing much to do after office hours, I would listen to Japanese music especially the traditional songs on the telly, obviously without knowing the lyrics or a single Japanese word.

Well, not quite, but close I guess.

And I love most of them. Typically of course they were sung by female singers, and I must say they sound so fragile as the songs would typically be so melancholic. I think the songs was probably about yearning for love or home or the country, I don't know. And coupled with the fact that the Japanese language is such a soft and melodic, they sound like they were in such much pain - not unlike our Asli songs, I must add, and that in turn made them so beautiful to my ears.

So I decided that I need to bring a couple of them home - the songs I mean (not the singers, as I was already married by then). But not knowing the singers, and the songs' titles were not a deterrent to me. All I need to do was bring the lyrics as I had phonetically spelt them, and sing them to the instructors and luckily one of them knew at least two songs; so I was able to then buy a couple of cassettes of Japanese melodies.

I know that's the very reason I love those Malay songs that were adapted from the Japanese song in 70s. There are too numerous to mention, but one stands out even today - Ku Ingin Bahagia by Rina Rahman.

I jokingly told my boss then, when I reported back for duty after my many trips there, that the announcement over the loudspeaker (presumably announcing on the day's event at the office, or safety announcement) sounded very much like the whispers of two lovers in bed!

Soft and romantic.

Hahaha, since this is PG13 site, I don't think I can divulge anything beyond that. I'll just let your imagination run wild for now!

I remember walking to the JGC office many times from the train station and I would be greeted by the ladies from the office. One morning, I stopped by a convenient store and while browsing for some stuff - I was so engrossed and was in deep thought (I think I was thinking of what I was going to have for lunch), I was greeted by one of them.

"Ohaiyo gonzaimas, Hariri-san. How are you this morning?"

My heart skipped a beat that morning. It was too melodic for my ears. May be I had been away for too long!

They were so soft-spoken that they spoke in whisper mode, and like they were singing. For a moment, I thought that some Japanese gals were trying to pick on me, but luckily I quickly recognized them and returned their greetings. Aah, well. ;-)

In Malaysia, our announcers sound like she (or he) is having a fight with herself in an empty room!

But in any case, good on them; the Japanese girls. We need to learn on how physicals are not a imitation to winning football matches and in this particular case, at the highest standard of football world, albeit one for the women.

I wonder how our Harimau Malaya would fare against the Japanese team in a match at Bukit Jalil.

The gals one, I mean.

EPILOGUE

What's my point really?

Well, football is supposed to be a physical game and there have been many analysts who pointed out the different physical between Asian players and their European counterparts, and reckon that Asian countries would not win the World Cup any time soon.

I am sure their analyses are no longer valid.

If the Japanese gals can do it, why not us?

What say you?

MRSM Connection and the RM10,000.00 tree

2011-07-17T23:15:00.015+08:00

This is my RM10K tree - hardwood that would be
enough for me to build my own house. Or otherwise
I was told to build a tree house here. Hmm.. mind you the root
of this tree is 40 m below this level.

If I didn't meet up with her, I am sure I would chopped down the tree and then set up a a big born fire to get rid of it. What a waste it would have been.

I did not know that it is worth at least RM10,000.00 a tree and that I could have built my own grand kampung house. Phew, no wonder some of the contractors I brought in to clear out the jungle on my land have indicated that we have nothing of value here. Vested interest, I guess.

I am sure they would be making lots of money on my behalf.

Jokingly she told me that she should have negotiated a consulting fee before agreeing to visit my jungle.

It is ok, kak, I will 'tolak' the jering and petai to you and not sell it to anyone else! You have a supply of jering for as long as you want it, and as long as the trees are bearing fruits.

My petai tree, if I am not mistaken

Actually initially I contacted another friend - a senior from school (bro Man Bachik); another agro expert who, after giving me some pointers, promptly recommended to another friend of his who is so much into farming, for the fact that her place is only a few miles from mine. I was not sure if I should; wondering if she would remember me and after more than 30 years, how do I contact someone and seek their help and opinion.

But call her I did and then I went to her farm. Self invited, I believe.

I did not bother asking her if she remembers a junior, albeit only one year difference. For all I can remember, I may have not talked to her at all. Yes, I knew a few from her batch, but I doubt if I had talked to her.

It is of course easier for me to remember her, as she was the conductor at school, orchestrating us all to sing Maktab song during our Sunday assembly.

But as we walked into the jungle that is my land, we chatted like there was no barrier of 30 odd years that have separated us. I reminded her that most likely I last met her in 1979 - about 32 years ago. But fortunately for me, time in MRSM was precious and we just continue on where we left off. I guess despite it all, we have common bonds, sharing the first five years of MRSM KB's lives.

Kak Rusilawati and her right hand man Mas Aziz are very knowledgeable about tropical herbs and trees. He would be able to tell me if the trees there are of value or not and showed me one big tree here that would be enough for me to build myself a house.

From the number of trees that he had mentioned, I believe I have enough hardwood for me to build an istana!

Dah mengah la this old man, while she is still standing - Mas Aziz is on
the right is also standing. It was while sitting here that she told me that the big tree
in front of us (as in above pic) is worth RM10K and if I do not wish to fell it,
then i should get myself a house tree and then get Arif to play
the violin on top of the tree!

Mas Aziz also showed me that I have enough rubber trees to start 'menoreh'. For some reasons, I could not recognize rubber trees in a jungle of trees, and jokingly told kak Rusilawati that I am surprised I could not differentiate rubber trees here as I can always recognize them in a rubber tree plantation!

Everybody broke into laughter.

Well, I am glad that the MRSM bonding or rather connection is strong enough for her to respond to my request for help. Apparently she had started her Suria Helang Lui farm two years ago single handedly, and I know I don't have the strength and will power to re-do what she did, and hence I sent her an SOS.

So I visited her farm and she took me on a tour; two and half acres separated by Sg Lui.

You can read her blog here.

Impressive! Within two years this farm is nearly self sustaining with all kind of herbal plants, and other tropical plants, and mineral-watered fish pond! This is organic farming with no pesticide, and everything here use mineral water from drinking water to shower and fish pond and watering the plants!

She even sold them at a pasar tani in Penchala.

Well thank you Maam, thank you very much. I am hoping she would be willing to be part of my project scheduled to be started after Raya. But irrespective, she has helped a lot, and has given me the idea and strength on how to get going and tame the jungle.

Come to think of it, I should be contacting my forrest expert from my Edwardian group too. He is at FRIM and at one time I had taken the tour of FRIM with him.

Mind Mapping

In this particular case, even though he was my senior of three years - the first batch of MRSM KB, while I was the fourth, I am sure I would have spoken to him during those years and significantly we crossed path again when we met in Perth for our tertiary education. Later on in life, we worked for the same company - the black gold company.

Knowing his credentials and background, I asked Abang Zahari aka Zahari Mohamed to do a one-day training on Mind Mapping (or as he calls it, VisiMind, or Visualizing the Mind) at our small company and to complete the attendees list, I asked my sons and siblings to join us.

Catching up on old times, while polishing my mind
and filling up the stomachs

He had wanted to do chemical engineering, but MARA refused to let him do it, so instead he took up Chemistry at U Western Australia. Three years later, I was sent to Perth to do Chemical Engineering, but I left Perth after one year of matriculation, since there was no established course in Chemical Engineering there.

Instead I went to Melbourne's Monash Uni.

But funny how things changed within a few years.

So we chatted about our career path at a national oil organization. Interestingly, he was into marketing and corporate planning, and of course later on at Eagle Aircraft and Putrajaya, while I was so into refining and simulation and everything technical.

He spent twelve of his best years there while my tour of duty there lasted 8 years.

Bro Zahari explaning a point during his course
on visualizing our mind.

Anyway, here are some pictures of the training he did for us. It was enlightening for us, as this is the first time we did some management/personal development training for the staff.

Thanks again, big bro Zahari.

Bersih 2.0 - The Tung Shin Incident

2011-07-15T22:22:00.014+08:00

PROLOGUE

I have passed by Tung Shin Maternity Hospital many times in the past.

The building is not something I would bat an eye-lid. The hospital, from the outside, look non-descript, if not unkempt. It is not eye-pleasing to my eyes at all.

It is not a hospital I would consider or recommend if we were looking for one.

And I thought it was meant mainly for the Chinese.

So when Tung Shin was caught in the cross-fire, I was amazed that there is still a private entity that would stand up to the excesses of the government, and not be afraid of the repercussion - real or imaginary. I have to salute the Hospital, especially the doctors for standing up to the truth. Initially the board did a good job, but later on retracted their statement about the tear gas.

Ah well, no one can be perfect in face of an irrational country like ours.

Here are what The Hariri Photographer saw that Saturday. This is a pictorial entry, and all pictures were taken by the Hariri Photographers - MFH. Thanks bro.

Tabik Tung Shin.

THE TUNG SHIN INCIDENT

I have been asked by someone close to me not to write or show police brutality. Even if it had happened, he wanted me to keep it to myself. This is not the first time I have been asked to keep quiet about incidents that I had seen or experienced. The same thing happened to me last year when I was in Mekah. After an ugly incident with the Arabs there, I told the ustaz that I will be writing about it in my blog since I am writer.

"Sometimes there are things that are best left unsaid," he said. And with it, I decided to keep my point of view to myself, as a marked of respect for our prophet.

But with the police (read: FRU) personally cursing "Melayu Bodoh" and "Pengkhianat" from behind their masks to the participants of Bersih 2.0, his request is not be something that I can easily abide. The sight of a Rela officer near Masjid Jame threatening four Malay girls in tudung taking shelter on the kaki lima in front of a shelter hostel at the junction on Jalan Tun Perak, "Berambus dari sini. Jangan nak tunjuk berani kat sini. Pergi la tunjuk berani kat sana," pointing to a troop of police FRU.

As if that he owned Kuala Lumpur from his dad.

I was boiling inside. But I was alone and I had reached my limit in term of leg power, and my camera memory has reached its capacity. I just want to lay down at this stage (read: sleep), and hence did not do anything to defend the girls.

I am a Malaysian first and a writer/blogger second, an (amateur) photographer a distant third, and as such I would like to show the world what we saw. Sure I have my sentiment, but the again, you be you own judge. I can't force my view upon you, but we can show the pics that were taken.

The FRU getting into their now familar formation in front
of Tung Shin.

The FRU truck and the people watching them near Tung Shin.

They are considering to enter Tung Shin. I think
by now they have decided they are going to enter this sanctuary
and a private entity.

Here they come. Slow moving in the beginning

And suddenly things becomes very urgent

The photographer was not sure if these two were going to crash onto
him on purpose. I guess his heart must have skipped a beat
or two at this stage. But they decided at the last minute to split

It is clearly they are entering a private property. You'd
wonder why the need for the mask if they are just entering to catch
those at the rally.

Looking and chasing those who attended the rally

Storming the hospital

A View of the Hospital, supposedly a santuary

Caught ya

I am sure the police weren't telling him, "Come, my dear, we'll give
you buffet dinner tonight."

And these people were trapped at the compound of the Tung Shin Hispital.
It was a dead end, and there was no escaping the police at this stage, so
they decided to arm-locked themselves, while doing takbir. If I were here.
my heart would skipped many beats for sure.

So they read quranic verses and prayed (doa), You can see them just about
to finish the doa, hoping that the police would let them off the hook and not
apprehend them. The guy in glasses seem to be crying. Honestly I think they fear
for what's going to happen next.

It is a pity that we have came to this. This is a screwed up country.

Are they all criminals?

Now the vultures are coming for the kill. Some may be wondering on why
didn't they just go voluntarily. Well, my dear, we all live in a independent
country and as free people we should be able to go anywhere within this country
of ours. Why should we not allowed to rally peacefully within it is allowed
within the constitution.

Here they come. Once the doa is done, the police moved in.

Oh no. They have no choice now but to leave it to Him.

Going for the kill

Commotion, commotion, everywhere. Tangkap, tangkap!

One down, one thousand more to go

So they decided to beat him

Let me give you my flying kick! Is it really necessary?

Two are down here.

Like their fellow citizens are criminals. He is not fighting back, that's
for sure.

We want more detainees. Our KPI for the day has not been met.

The young Malaysian not going to go easily. They did not wrong,
and they should not be apprhended.

We'll not rest until all are in Black Maria. We want all of you.

POlice going all out to apprehend the public

Testing my kung fu skill. What a privilege to become police
officers.

Police tying up young Malaysians who want to let their view known
to the government. Listen to them, listen to us. Lsten to Malaysians.

The policemen doing all their best to apprehend the public.

After all the struggle, the determined young Malaysian are all entagled
amongst themselves.

They are not resisting arrest. There is no reason in the first place
on why they should be arrested. This is a free country and
we are all free people, walking in peace.

Way to go, young men

One down -and the triumphant police. Go and cari Nurin's killer(s),
go and cari the real murderers of Altantuya, go and cari all the PATI,
those who smuggled diesel and LPG, all the tonto who monitors polices
and customs' movement, those mat rempits and those snatch thieves.

Bersih 2.0 - The Beautiful Faces

2011-07-14T18:57:00.007+08:00

Let's forget about the police for the time being, and focus on the people; 50,000 of them at Bersih 2.0. Only some samples, tak larat nk sieve through the hundreds of pictures. This may be updated from time to time, so far from the archives taken by the Hariri Photographers - ARH/MFH/MGH.

These two ladies were standing on the pavement with
the Malaysian flag, and many had a field day taking their picture
including yours truly. Good on you ladies. Somewhere near petaling Street

Chatting during a lull moment at Dayabumi

Err you know who at Dayabumi before the first face off
at Leboh Pasar Besar.

Doing brisk business. Sapa kata business rugi that day?
Rugi kalau tutup!

And the matsallehs and minah sallehs also walk with their Malaysian
counterparts. Malaysians at Bersih are violent? You ask them.

And another matsalleh with his daughter
Pix by MFH

These chinese ladies are part of Bersih 2.0 This is
1Malaysia. Pix by MFH

Tabik to this family. Enjoying the day in KL and supporting
a noble cause. Good job. Come come belaka ;))
Pix by MFH

Solat lah kamu walau di mana berada. They
closed Masjid Jamek and would not allow us to go
and pray there. So they did their prayer on the side of this
building. Macam kenal je tempat ni. Pic by MFH

The grandlady of Bersih 2.0 at Puduraya, defying
the police and saluting those who were captured by the police.

Errr..you know who at Dayabumi. Acknowledging
his bro on the other side of the Klang River

Even in wheelchair
Pix by MGH

Happy days. Young Malaysians
Pix by MGH

BERSIHkan jalan, BERSIHkan pilihanraya
Pix MGH

Even Metro TV was there. Hmm...
Pix by MGH

NO kutuking the police this time around. Well done Malaysians.

Bersih 2.0 - The Hooligan side of Bersih?

2011-07-13T12:17:00.004+08:00

I have no choice but to write this entry.

As an independent blogger, I would like to fiercely protect my independence. I can't be writing only good things about the oppositions and bad things about the government.

My last 3 entries had put the police in bad light, so with due apology to them, I would like to show the hooligans in the rally last Saturday.

Unfortunately it was not taken by the four lenses of Hariri. We can only cover so much, but this was taken by the AFP, so I hope it is independent enough for you.

Sorry if you were to conclude that this picture was foreign infiltrated.

I stand corrected, I guess.

I didn't realized that the public had turned hooligans and attack the police during the rally. Even if I didn't see it with my own two eyes, I would trust AFP enough to publish it here.

Shame on him for attacking the police with bottled water. For all you know, it could contain kero and that made that a molotov cocktail.

Phuyo, ganasnya mamat ni. TRying to bantai the police truck with
the bottle. The Al-Jazeera caption says " A Bersih supporter throws a
water bottle at a police water-cannon truck." [Mohd Rasfan/AFP]

But what a minute.

Look at the bottle closer. Zoom in a bit if you must. We must scrutinize it a bit more.

It looks like an empty bottle. Errr....It is an empty bottle.

Oh no, I was hoping that it has kerosene in it and then we would have caught him red handed!

Aiyah, sorry guys. Nanti I search the net lagi..huhuhu.

Apa la bro ni..badan je besar, (nak) baling botol kosong!

Bersih 2.0 - The Story Behind the Picture (Part 2)

2011-07-12T21:53:00.011+08:00

A photographer's job is never an easy one.

One would look in awe beautifully crafted pictures, but we seldom have second thought about the conditions they were taken in in the first place. I can't recall on the number of times we were tear gassed, but I am sure the professionals have dodged live bullets in the course of discharging their duties at war zones.

My brother Fadhil, who was in the thick of the actions, was somehow pictured while on duty.

This was taken by the al-Jazeera website, take by Damir Sagolj of Reuters.

He is the guy in white, though the hero that day would be
the thousands of Malaysians braving the tyranny of police like the
guy in the picture, and those in the background.

It shows him in action. Obviously he was at the battle front, and with so many cameras covering the event, he was bound to be 'captured' by another photographer's lense.

So glamour la kejap.

But let's look at Damir Salgojl in action, as captured by Fadhil himself.

Damir in action. Simple attire, and perhaps with only
one lense on his right side. But the face can't be seen from this shot.
Taken by Hariri Photographers - MFH.

It is taken at precisely the same moment as Damir clicked his camera. So we can see the police act in capturing the protester from two different angles.

Still Damir is obscured in the picture

Now we can see him a bit better. That's a masked Damir, no wonder
he took wonderful pictures; he is fully protected. I definitely will be
buying my mask soon as I expect more rallies to be coming our way!
Hahaha, i wish it was that easy. I have to respect the pro from Reuters/AFP!

Seriously even though this entry is about the photographers - Damir and Fadhil, I pity the guy in the picture. The police was really having a go at him, and from the four pictures, it didn't look like he was retaliating.

This brother of mine, while he is no match for Damir in term of his photography skills, matched Damir in term of enthusiasm and passion, even though at times his passionate may cross the boundary; the fine line between a photographer recording the event, and as a participant in the rally.

Anyway, his passion is so much that it pains him to see the police beating their own fellow citizens, the very public they are supposed to protect (as eloquently verbalised by the lady in the entry below).

If he has his ways, I am sure he would have saved the participants from the brutality of the police.

Here is another example.

Again this is the Hariri Photographer (MFH) in action as the policemen
were trying to apprehend the public. I think he was
trying to prevent the police from beating up this guy.

Taken by another Hariri Photographers - MGH. (Zali)

I know I would not dare to cross path with the police like he did. He is right in the middle of the actions. I still wonder how he managed not to be in black maria or the police truck, but I am sure he has his way.

He said in a response to his picture being captured by Reuters, "Hati Fadhil hancur. Kalau ikut hati memang tak sanggup dah tengok peristiwa ni berlaku depan mata. UMNO menggunakan POLIS untuk memukul budak2 melayu yang setaraf anak sedara Fadhil. Budak2 ni tak melawan langsung. Kalau hati tak kuat, memang Fadhil menangis dah...tengok muka fadhil betul2...hati tengah sebak masa nih...tak mampu buat apa2."

That's him, very passionate for the cause.

I was nowhere near that during the rally. By 2 pm I lost my steam; my legs refused to take me to where the actions were, so I sat hear Kotaraya watching the actions, which will be in another entry, which to my mind was like watching a chess game by a grand master.

That's him again, but in a more relaxing post.
Taken by another Hariri Photographers (MGH) - Zali

Police brutality did not take place, according to the government. It is the figment of imagination of people bent of on causing trouble to the nation. I was there and I saw many incidents on unoprovoked attacked by the police. My bro Fadhil was there in the front line, and he came back with too many pictures and stories of police brutality.

Pictures don't lie.

Whatever I wrote on Bersih in this blog, it would be backed by the four lenses of Hariri Photographers. It is first hand information and not hearsay as propagated by the government machinery or the opposition sympathisers.

As far as we are concerned, we took pictures of the rally. We see with our very own eyes the behaviours of the participants and the response of the police.

We leave it to you to make your own judgment, after we have presented the case. If the participants were to create scene, we would say so. If we think the police has been excessive, we'll show it with the pictures.

I dislike Utusan with their seditious propaganda, and project only everything that is good about the government and everything that is bad about the opposition, but I also dislike people, from the other side of the fence, spreading rumours or half-truth stories about Bersih 2.0 without any backing and without being there themselves, with many of them just being armschair's writers and commentators.

There are always three sides to a story!

Bersih 2.0 - An Eyewitness' Account (Part 1)

2011-07-11T21:07:00.021+08:00

Prologue

"From which news media are you?" the policeman shouted at my bro Fadhil.

"I am a blogger," he replied, matter-of-factly.

"So you must be the ones, spreading lies about the police," the policeman screamed. "Get out of the way and give me that camera," he shouted as he surged forward to snatch the Canon DSLR my brother was carrying.

But my bro would not let go his camera that easily. He practically fought back, ensuring that he would hold onto his dear camera.

If the police thought my brother was an easy meat, he was sadly mistaken!

A Long Walk in the Sun

And empty hiway - no one is going,
I thought

Not unlike Bersih (1.0), this time around it was raining cats and dogs.

Unlike Bersih (1.0), it starts raining in the middle of the rally, and not at the onset of the rally.

Empty stations at 10 am

We arrived very early - around 10.30 am (Bersih 1.0 was more like 1 pm). As the train bypassed Hang Tuah station, I sensed something was not right and told my bro that we were disembarking at Puduraya (rather than our planned destination of Masjid Jame). I was pretty sure they would have closed down Masjid Jamek by then.

But there was nothing much to see at Puduraya, except that there are policemen/women everywhere, and that most roads had been cordoned off. There were perhaps more policemen than there were spectators at this stage.

This is Pudu near Petaling Street. This is at 1028 hours

There was no traffic at all. Occasionally you would see motorbike or police car. Forget about the traffic jam everybody was touting. It is heaven if you want to head to downtown.

We can sit and pose on the street. This is Leboh Pasar Besar and this is
the first battle ground an hour after this pic was taken.

So we moved from Pudu to Pasar Seni to Dataran Merdeka and to Masjid Negara, and take picture of an eerily calmed Kuala Lumpur. Many decided to take pictures sitting down in the middle of the streets of Kuala Lumpur; many tourists were walking freely and without any fear for their lives.

Dataran Merdeka -Pix by Hariri Photographers (MFH)

We were worried actually that we would not be allowed into the city. We definitely know we should not be driving. We knew all roads leading to downtown have been sealed off. I could be the pillion rider on my bro's bike as an alternative. But then we decided to take our chances and take the LRT at Bandar Tun Razak.

To be honest, if the government were to shutdown the LRT, I was prepared to walk from Bandar Tun Razak to downtown KL! It will be a good 8 km walk, but only if we have no choice.

Nothing much here except police trucks.

But with downtown KL more like 'padang jarak padang tekukur' than a bustling cosmopolitan, we were beginning to wonder if it is going to take place at all. It didn't look that way at all. From Puduraya, to Pasar Seni to Dataran Merdeka and onto Masjid Negara to Station KTM, the crowd was sporadic at best. You see people loitering around, especially with the skull caps, but too few to be called a rally.

Did anyone mention about traffic jam? No rally
and yet no traffic jam.

The police blockade, the incessant warning and threat of ISA and Emergency Ordinance must have been effective in preventing people from attending. Actually I was not too sure about it myself. If not for my bro, may be I would have stayed at home. I would not have much to take this time around - unlike Bersih 1.0 and Gerakan Mansuhkan ISA.

Our presence and preparation would be a waste.

But despite being told by the police at Masjid Negara to turn around and go to Central Market, we decided to cross the street and still head to Station Keretapi KTM.

Here they had taken truckloads of the train passengers. I would not term them as protesters yet as the protest has yet to take place. It was also here that the pakciks and makciks and adiks and kakaks loitering in the KTM compound chatting amongst themselves were apprehended by the police.

For nothing many groups of men and women, many in skullcaps
and long tudung were taken away in the truck. I did not see or
hear any protest or rally and yet...

For what? I have no idea. Honestly it surely looks like a police state to me. The passengers were taken in just because they were there and/or the police thought they have the right to take in anyone, just to prevent a rally from happening.

KTM Station under siege by the police

There was no chanting and no procession and they were all apprehended.

What a premature end, we thought. But that's part and parcel of life, and there is nothing much one can do about it.

There was not much actions here, so we walked back to Dayabumi.

On the bridge above the railway track, we heard chanting. "Ah, well, just now when we were there (at the train station, there was nothing," I lamented, "should we head back to KTM?"

And it got louder and louder.

We looked at each other; excitement filled up the air, and then I exclaimed, "This can't be coming from the station. It must be the central market! "

If you were to zoom in, you would see the procession that has just started from
Tun Sambathan next to Main post office. We were so excited to hear them,
and to see them. That is the pedestrian bridge from Dayabumi carpark
to the KTM Station and Dayabumi.

To me, it reminds me of the scene from Ali Baba Bujang Lapok, you hear the drum beating and people singing - you are not sure where it was coming from, and it was getting louder and louder. I was practically like Ali Baba - short of climbing tree to get better view.

It was an amazing feeling. Exactly what we have been looking for.

But then, I was practically cursing myself. I thought we could be everywhere, and yet we are no where near where the action was. While we were only 5 mins from CM - close enough in some respect, but not close enough in another sense. I really didn't want to miss a thing. And Dayabumi entrance had been cordoned off. So we decided to cross over to the Post Office. Practically running.

At last!

Out of nowhere, came a big crowd from behind the main post office onto the Dayabumi compound. They were chanting "Reformasi, reformasi" and "Hidup Hidup, Hidup Rakyat", and one could also hear the Takbir. We looked at each other and wonder how the group got to this big without attracting the attention of the police.

The crowd in the compound of Dayabumi. Did they riot and destroy anything at Dayabumi?
Pix by Hariri Photographers (MFH)

We went everywhere on foot and there was no crowd at all. KL looks like a dead city and now this!

For a good five minutes we took pictures of the crowd, people of all level of societies. We saw Malays, Chinese and Indian - a good mix definitely. The crowd keep on pouring for what seems like eternity.

I was conscious at that time on the enemy. Now where was the FRU? Were they going to be charging right from behind me? If they did, this crowd was going to be in trouble as the compound is narrow. I hope not, and they were nowhere in sight.

After the front leaders paused at the Dayabumi compound to ensure the crowd would be able to catch up with them (with Central Market on the opposite side of the Kelang River), the procession decided to continue walking. They were basically on a parallel road leading to Dataran Merdeka.

My bro told me he was joining the crowd; I declined and decided to cross the river and be on the other side of the crowd. I knew the FRU is waiting at the other end - we had been there earlier in the morning, I knew there would be stand off with the protesters, and one certainly need not be rocket scientist to know the outcome of such face off!

This lane between Dayabumi and the river is too narrow for my liking. It could lead to disaster once the crowd started running for their dear lives.

We could have stampede in our hands if we were not careful.

Waiting for the crowd from Dayabumi are these riot police with their
tear gas guns. Pix by Hariri Photographers (MGH) - Zali

As a veteran of four rallies in the last 10 years, I know that there is no two way about it.

On this end, are the rakyats facing off at Lebuh Pasar junction near Dataran Merdeka.
It is inevitable, but the crowd was prepared
for this eventuality. Pix by Hariri Photographers (MFH)

The face off at Leboh Pasar Besar right on the bridge was on. At one end was the rakyats, and this end the police.

Getting ready to fire. Pix by the Hariri Photographers - MGH (Zali)

And these people with the Malaysian flag are their targets.
Do you think these people have mob mentality and are bent on creating trouble
and destroying properties?
pix by Hariri Photographer (MGH) Zali

The battle right in the heart of Kuala Lumpur aptly within the vicinity of the court house and Masjid Jamek. I tried standing on the bridge's side, but I can't get good enough a height to take good picture. While I was contemplating on how to shoot my video, I heard a loud bang.

The police has fired into the crowd!

Look at the crowd composition. A big portion of them
are ladies with tudung labuh. Do they look like enemies of the nation?
Pix by Hariri Photographer (MFH)

I can see the pellets/canisters flying through the air. (Time was at 1238 hours)

My main worries then was the impact of such an object flying at certain speed if it were to hit me. It is more dangerous than the tear gas itself.

People started running for their dear lives.

Serve you right for being in an illegal rally.
Pix by Hariri Photographer (MFH)

So a part of the crowd and I ran towards Central Market to escape the gas cloud, while letting my camera running. My part of the area are quite spacious, so we have no problem escaping. I was shooting video mode this time around. I stopped at various points to properly shoot the camera.

I thought I was not in danger. I can see the tear gas cloud, and it was reasonably far from me. So many times I stop to take pictures.

I could see some people jumping onto the pavement of the river to escape. It was getting a bit too dangerous for my liking, hence I did not try to squeeze myself with the crowd at the narrow lane of Dayabumi.

But even as a chemical engineer with some knowledge on diffusion and convection, I underestimated the speed of dispersion of the cloud.

In no time, I was overwhelmed by the gas myself.

But fortunately I came fully prepared - a big bottle of mineral water and salt. In fact this time around, I distributed around my packet of salt to those affacted, and an Indian guy came over to satisfy his thirst with my mineral water.

It feels good to be able to do this very small thing.

The canister - Pix taken by Hariri Photographers (MFH)

The crowds regrouped on the other side of Dayabumi near Main post office and Jalan Tun Sambathan - where they had originally came from. It was here another bro called me and told me he was on the Dayabumi side of the river (while I was on the CM side. So now we have the four brothers with four lenses covering the protest.

With our pictures combined, I was able to write this entry with relevant pictures as we saw them. This is not hearsay, this entry is not about speculation.

More chanting, this time smaller as the group and this time the police is ready.

Pix by MFH

They had been ready at Jalan Tun Cheng Lok right in front of Central Market.

By this time, I was just an observer. I was behind the firing line at Central Market. I decided that I had enough of running and walking. More canisters were fired, one into the JKalang River and another was thrown by someone into the river!

So two canisters were wasted.

I guess by this time the crowd had been well dispersed. The second face off was practically muted. I think most of the crowd was just spectators at this point.

It was near 1 pm and the actions were limited. This was not fun at all.

We basically loitered around near the Pasar Seni station, and were getting restless.

We need to see the rally.

o to be continued
o All pix by ARH unless otherwise stated - MFH (Mohd Fadhil Hariri), and MGH - Zali
o All pix are original pictures shot by the Hariri Photographers and not downloaded from internet

Bersih 2.0 - The Story Behind the Picture - Part I

2011-07-10T23:13:00.016+08:00

I am still yet to complete my writing on Bersih 2.0.

It is a long and tedious process and it will take a few more days for me to gather my thoughts and sieves through the tons of pictures, not all of which are good enough to be published.

May be I should break it into smaller pieces, and tell the human stories of Bersih 2.0 beyond the tear gas and chemical-laced cannon water.

I saw this picture at the al-Jazeera website. You can see them here.

What could be the fault of this lady that she ought to be apprehended
by these two police officers? Did she a) kill someone and C4-ed them, b) try to get
commission from Bank Negara for the polymer notes c) steal two jet engines
from the army d) sell two submarines that cannot dive? Haha..

I like the expression - I thought she was in anguish, and I thought the composition is good.

Apparently, according to my brother Zali, there is a reason why she was caught and apprehended by the police. He was standing just next to her when it happened.

At the height of the face off, the police started to beat some of the public at the rally. She was a witness to the beating, and she was perturbed on what she saw.

"Tuan, tuan tak boleh pukul orang awam. Itu orang awam. Tuan kena jaga orang awam," she shouted, pleading for them to stop.

Initially they took no notice of her, but she was a persistent lady. My bro standing next to her was getting worried, and wanted to tell her to keep quiet.

Suddenly the policeman shouted back at her, "APA DIA?"

He then surged forward towards her with his baton in his right hand.

And these pictures below were their faced-off, and obviously the police went on to screamed and started threatening her right at her face.

You can try and put words into their conversation, and I am sure the picture by Reuters was the outcome of such face off between the public and the police. I am sure it was mainly a one-way conversation.

These pix were taken by the Hariri Photographer (MGH). Thank you very much for the hardwork. Good job.

He even had his name written upside down. Why?

In all six pictures, he was finger-pointing to her face,
trying to intimidate her.

Silap2 the one finger can become five.

Now they are ganging up on her.

Look at her facial expression in all the six pictures. Tak
payah la tunjuk terrer kat fellow citizen esp pompuan.
Dia bukan criminal pun.

And no, this was not a polite conversation. He was
practically shouting to her at close range, and I am
sure she should check her ear drum with an ENT
specialist this week.

I think there is only one way how this will end up. You can't plead and reason out with the police. We are living in an insane country at this moment. There was no way you would be able to win any argument with them.

But kudos to this lady - whoever you are, for standing up to your fellow citizen's right.