The Watch

Father's Day came and went.

It was like any other day. I seldom celebrate one. Since it became popular with the advent of internet and the social media, I never got to celebrate one as Bapak died nearly 30 years ago. Once I received a card done by Akmal,  for which I am thankful. 

But it was never a big day for me.

And perhaps never will.

But this year, while I was conveniently out of the country that Sunday and subsequently only returned two days later, I was presently surprised with a present from my boys.

It was a watch. An expensive one at that, if at least for my standard.

It is a beautiful watch. That's for sure.Picture taken by the Boys.

I have not had one since my last watch went kaput many years ago. It was then a present from my brother Kamal Ismadi. 

As I have said it in the social media FB, you know that you relationship with your children has reached an inflection (Google it; if you have to study math in school, you would know it!) point if you receive gift from your children that you know you would not have to eventually pay for it.

For that reason alone, I am not big on getting present from them earlier in their lives since I have no wish to have to pay for my own present that I did not select but have to pay! Huh. ;)

Arif obviously has a career of his own now and for the past one year has been paying for his own meal, even though he still live at home with us. For that I am pleased, but still, no way I could not take pizza on a daily basis, like him.

Historically, the most expensive watch I had would cost at most say a hundred ringgit. I got a watch as a present when I did well in the SRP exams in 1978. Bapak bought me a watch which I had worn until my working days in Kerteh in the late 80s when I decided one day to take a dip with it in the South China Sea during a picnic (at the beautiful Teluk Bidara).

After all it says, Water Resistant.

But apparently not Sea Resistant.

And soon after, it stopped working for me. Aah, well. I guess I don't understand English that well.

I am not sure when I stopped wearing Bapak's Omega watch. He had that for life - bought it when he started working and never had to buy another one till his last breath, I guess. But trust me to break it after a few years.

Wish I still have that Omega.

However, my first ever watch was when I was in Std 4. I had wanted a watch so much that one day Mak bought me one. It was a simple one with a leather strap, but loved it to death that watch. She gave it to me in the presence of Mak Cak (my auntie) in the 1071-house in Aulong Taiping, so I thought that it was Mak Cak who gave it to me.

I had never asked her, but I believe she was the one who bought it as immediately after I thanking Mak Cak, and as I moved away from them, she turned to Mak and smiled, "Orang lain yang beli, orang lain yang dapat nama."

Mak did not say anything, except she smiled back. I guess seeing her son happy with the watch was good enough for her.

There was another watch that I bought in 1990 in Jalan TAR, Kuala Lumpur when I went there for training. I had just received a cheque for RM75.00 from the New Straits Times for an article that I wrote for them. I am not sure now whether it was for the Sport Section where I could be berating FAM or BAM, or whether it was for a milder column called First Person.

It is not important now since now my writing had deteriorated and I had to write for free in my own blog as no one else would want to pay for me to write or pay to read my nonsensical writing.

Like this one.

I guess that RM75 watch with an engraving denoting the article's title was the most expensive watch I had had for a long, long time.

Until this Tissot came  along.

In a couple more years and a few more Father's Days, I could expect a four wheel on my porch, courtesy of the two boys may be.

Can I start thinking about one of the German marquees? ;)

EPILOGUE

And here is what I got from Akmal in 2007. Thanks Mai, much appreciated. I guess he should stick to his day job as the family's default pianist. Hahaha..

Hope to get one song as a dedication soon! ;)

Alfatihah for my Bapak and tok Bab and tok Adam.

Bapak and I in our home in Assam Kumbang in 1964

Have you ever really loved a woman?

Prologue

This was written way back in May 2007 - for mother's day, and posted in my now defunct Yahoo 360 blog. Now that Mak is no longer around with us, I thought I should re-post it here. And yes, Mak had read it; I am sure she was amused, if not embarrassed of what I wrote here.

I did not write this just because I wanted to eulogize her since she is no longer with her. That's too typical, and I am not a typical son. I wrote this as a tribute when she was healthy, alive and kicking, so to speak, and she had read them - may be at my sister's.

And we did talk about this entry in 2007.

She told me that life was not that bad as I had written. Aaah, I am sure I was not exaggerating, but it was just Mak's way to trivializing of what she had gone through, or she enjoyed doing what she did that it was not even a chore for her. Not the way we (men), or kids of my generation, would think.

I am sure she took things in stride - the goods, the bads, and the uglys. All and sundry. No question asked. No holds barred.

Nonetheless, I knew at time, things were difficult. So it is a credit to her to be able to hold the family together. I can never think enough of her.

Mother’s Day Special

I wanted to write a proper essay mother's day essay for Mak - perhaps an award-winning one (in my dream obviously), but looking at my schedule, I am a bit tight for time (and talent I guess). Normally I would need a week to write - well, actually an hour to write, if I have the materials ready in my head and in my heart, and another week to incubate it. As this project in Kerteh is sapping whatever remaining of my energy, I asked a sister of mine for help. Instead, I got a response that says, "Well, why bother with an essay, when she is better off with deeds?"

Well, thank you so much for reminding! I told her.

Mak when she was growing up. The first picture was taken in 1954 when she was 15. 
 I think she would give (seniwati) Saadiah a run for her money. Strict and strong willed are how 
I would described her as a mum. She's a Minang, that's why.

With help or otherwise, I needed to write. It set me thinking hard for the next 3 days. I was trying to write an essay that culminates her childhood in Port Dickson and Mersing – my maternal grandfather Adam Chemana, a Minang from Tasik Meninjau, was a custom officer, so he would be stationed near ports. Sure we have heard many times of the childhood days when we were kids, but trying to put them onto paper, I found my memory failing me, I think I would need to interview her be able to write properly.

This one was taken in 1960 in Johor Bahru when she was 21. 

But how do I broach the subject? Mak, tell me again your childhood day sebab Aman nak tulis about you in my blog. Nah, it is not fun that way. One need to be subtle to get the best stories. In hindsight, it is just as easy for me say to give her some money; take her for a holiday, or doa for her. It is much easier to go and buy her chocolates or flowers, and write a greeting card to her. It didn't require much effort on my part. It does not require looking at her eyes, and say, Mak, I love you so much, with all of my heart and you mean the world to me. This piece, while it is no masterpiece, had me thinking about her for the past week or so.

Mak is one woman who gave birth to 12 children, raised 13, almost singlehandedly. It was at the age when there was no washing machine, and no gas stove or microwave. Early in the morning, there will be ‘kain setimbun’ (a pile of dirty clothes) to be washed, not to mention all the soiled lampins. Definitely there was no pampers then. Sure, she got help during her many confinements but that's more of an exception than rules. You know I can’t handle even a sebaldi of my own shirts and trousers when I was schooling. It was hard work and in the end I would revert to the dhoby at maktab. How many times did I ‘rendam baju’ and conveniently ‘forgot’ them? Boy, it smells, and the water would even turned jelly-like. No, don’t get me wrong, I am not a pampered person. It is just not fun to do the laundry then.

In the 60s and 70s, it was only the kerosene stove for her. If you don’t control the fuel properly, you will soot the periuk and at the end of the day, it will be another task to scrub them away. Fortunately our lives then were a bit modern compared to many still using woods as the fuel. I am sure when she growing up, she would help nenek cook using woods. When she needs to blend anything, it was also the batu giling and batu tumbuk; blender was only introduced in our home in the early 80s.

She was married to Bapak in 1961 in Asam Kumbang
Taiping. I don't know how they met, but I believe
bapak was living nearby, while working for Pejabat Tanah Taiping.

And for all the chores she had to do, she still managed to cook cookies for us. In Aulong, she loved to bake bread (or kuih lopeh) early in the morning. It will be fresh bread for us for breakfast before cycling to school in Taiping. In Lenggong, I still have the vivid memory of her grinding the rice to produce the rice flour for kuih lompang, while we kids watched or helped out occasionally.

I am not saying that our lives (or hers) were full of hardship all time. On the contrary. I am sure she had fond memories of her childhood in Port Dickson and Mersing. Bapak as a government officers brought enough food to the table. I don't remember not having much food on the table at any one time. The food sumptuous, and thanks to her cooking, delicious. It didn't become a thin teen due to her food - I became a teen due to the less than edible Dewan Makan food mainly. 

But I think perhaps her greatest challenges started after bapak’s death. She was 45 and it was only 8 months earlier she had given birth to her 12^th children. From her other 12 children, only two were working and their earnings were meagre. The rest were either still in school or uni, or in the cradle.

Life must have been difficult then. Fortunately we didn’t have pay anything for the house – Bapak was prudent enough to have it insured. I don’t remember the part immediately after his death that much as I was away at the uni. She had to be a strong-willed woman to bring up everybody. And it is a credit to her I don't remember much of the challenges immediately after his death - I think she shielded them from all. We only had to do our part in studying hard for our degrees!

Twenty three years on, except for her youngest daughter who is still completing her degree in aeronautics, everybody else is independent. It is not my intention to flaunt anything here and there is nothing to be flaunted to be honest (we are an ordinary family with an extra-ordinary mum), but her next door neighbours would always be envious of her. She had been to Mekah a couple of times, and she had been around the world, practically. Sure no family is perfect, and hers too has her own ups and downs, but hey, that’s what life is all about. If I can achieve a fraction of what she had achieved with my own family, I would be grateful.

This is the real thing. This is the very batu kisar that Mak bought while we were living in Lenggong. She bought
it from Kedai Pak Lah for I think RM27. With this batu kisar she would grind the rice to make us
kuih lompang and many other tasty kuihs. I vividly remember us kids sitting around the batu
kisar while she was grinding the rice. Of course we helped out pouring water during the grinding
process. (No wonder my first job with Perak Hanjong Simen involved grinding clinker into cement!)
It is now sitting happily in my garden as an ornament and a reminder of tasty kuihs that she used to make. Below is the lesung which mak gave me for safekeeping in my house. They are in my display cabinet in the living room. Both
the lesung bowl and arm are still intact and in working order. They are treasures from my past.

After all that has been done, there is still much left to be said about her and to her, especially from this writer, for he is not known to open up his heart to saying his feeling that often. I believe that mak would appreciate this as much as other material gifts that her daughters would buy for her on this special day. This one is from your son; from the depth of his heart.

"Mak, I love you so much."

Epilogue

I know it is not about paying tribute for just one day in a year. Neither would mere words be able to repay her for carrying me for nine months, and bringing me up. More would need to be done while she is breathing. I know that. But as human, we are not infallible and many times we forget. This piece is a reminder to me.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all a Happy Mother's day tomorrow. May be Cikgu Dr Fatanah, Aya, Shema, Jaghah, all my sisters who may be reading this. I am not sure I know all my audience (if any!), but whoever you are, have a good Mother's Day. Not forgetting the mother of my two children, Sarah.

Tags: mak, mother'sday

Saturday May 12, 2007 - 10:42pm (SGT) Permanent Link | 6 Comments

The Day The Music Died

Today, twenty years ago, the music died on me. 


It came as a shock, and though rumours had been abound, I had refused to listen to them. Although I knew that it was forthcoming, still when the day came, I was stunned. I grew up admiring him and adoring his music and boy, did he come out with some everlasting songs and music in his lifetime. 

I was only 13 when he won the 1976 Bintang RTM singing competition, singing Seruling Bambu and Big Spender and he made a big impression on me. Of course all the boys at MRSM KB who was watching (at the tv room above the Dewan Makan) had a field day with the latter song, due to the double meaning of the title of the song. Double meaning never ceases to amuse men! Or boys in this case, and everybody would go around, screaming, “Hey, big spender!”

When he released his first EP Teriring Doa, I had no hesitancy in buying it (though on second thought, I think that probably it was Mak who bought it at my request). I think it cost her RM1.75 for the EP – big money those days, mind you. Now, many would claim to be his fans, but not many would be able to claim to have his original vinyl from his first release – long before he became very big with his releases in 1980. 

The songs were great premonition of what the future holds for him. The title song is great but I especially love the song “Suratku Yang Ini” – in this song, a girl is reading up her letter, telling his boyfriend/lover/husband about how frustrating and confused she is with his ‘immense’ love. She sounds so frail in this song – all the more reasons to really love this song. (Being the incurable romantic that I was, huh?)

First ever EP in 1977. From my own personal collection

His second album Aku Penghiburmu in 1978 (though he in a later album referred to it as his first) was to take him to greater height. It’s an unforgettable album, more so for the fact that I was very disappointed with Ahmad Nawab for giving his songs (Kasih, Gugur Ditangkai Madu and Aku Penghiburmu) to the late Broery Marantika when the former left EMI for WEA and Sudir had to compete with Broery for the fans’ preference. Mak being a Broery’s fan, thought that Broery’s delivery was better, while I was rooting and advocating for the newbie. On the radio, you would hear both versions being aired, competing for our attentions. It was unreal. Those were the extra-ordinary days.

Then, obviously I lived on Sudir’s songs. My siblings and I would take turn buying his vinyls, and his vinyls did not only contain great songs, but also contain his funny sketches. (He is such a good artist!) No, we didn’t have to wait until we were sure that they would become popular, we knew we were going to love all his songs! 


It was as simple as that.

Anyway, it is not my intention to list down all his songs, but suffice to say that all the songs in his albums are great song. Beyond getting great compositions from S Atan, he wrote many songs himself – Aku Penganggur, “Nilai Cintamu” and “Dimanakah Nilai Cintamu are some of the great songs written by him. Now, that’s rare in those days; no, make it even today. Most singers would be relying on the songs factory that was Ahmad Nawab.

Maya and Ana (tak dapat dilupakan) are two beautiful songs written for two girls. Maya is about his childhood sweetheart with whom he had happy memories - a song that will always remain in my heart. However Ana is perhaps more melancholic (I still melt hearing the orchestral violin, and the saxophone) – I love both nonetheless.

Some of my Sudir's LP collection

In 1980, he came out two great albums – Anak Muda and Lagu Anak Desa. Now that’s a rarity by today’s standard – that an artist is able to release two albums in a year – normally he would be lucky to have one a year. He was at the height of his popularity and creativity. I think I had memorized all the songs from those albums and would be humming his songs at every opportunity while of course preparing for my SPM. 

A best friend, Kodeq (one Madhadzir Hassan from Darwin 5), noted in jest in my autograph book at the end of 1980, in his Penang slang, “Hang ni lagi satu, fanatik sangat kat Sudirman, semua lagu dia hang suka, sampai baghah telinga aku, berlendir malah berlendiaq.” Hahaha, correct, Deq, you are 100% correct, well said! That’s me in the late 70s and nothing has changed in 2007.

I still remember that day in 1992. It was mid-day, the end of a half day working Saturday, while waiting for my bus at Central Market (I was working at Dayabumi), when The Malay Mail (they were then an afternoon edition) broke the news of his death. I was crushed but I knew exactly how an article should be written in tribute to him in the newspaper. I called up a reporter at the The Star and told her to use the phrase from the Don McClean’s song (American Pie) “the day the music died” as a title for her write-up. She did just that for an article that contained interviews with Sudir’s fans, including this writer. (Of course having the uncommon surname Hariri would prevent my full name from appearing in that article, since the reporter is another Hariri. That would be nepotism, wouldn’t it?). The title and my rambling appeared on Page 3 of The Star the next day and I had a personality change to H.Abdul Rahman. That was my two paragraphs worth of fame!

The Day After - Dad and son in a solemn mood as they reflect on life without his music at their home in Sri Gombak. On the table were the day's newspapers and his LPs. The headlines that say Sudir is Dead (Malay Mail), Sudirman Sudah Mati (Metro), Sudir Dies (The Star) had caused a furore and they had to explained their reasons for choosing such insensitive title no matter how correct the language was. I used to keep the clippings till I lost them a few years back after moving one house too many.

Newspaper reporting his death on Feb 23, 1992

That day, the music had died on me. To me Sudirman is The Music. Sure, his music lives on and will outlive me, but The Music died that day!

Alfatihah.

Tags: sudir

Thursday February 22, 2007 - 12:32am (SGT) Permanent Link | 1 Comment

Aku di Sebuah Pulau & the state of Malay literature

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?

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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tehtarik | 

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

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

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.