Tempat Jatuh Lagi Dikenang

I guess it goes without saying, and there is no need for me to complete the above saying.

Welcome friends from SRJK(I) Lenggong, and thank you for having a space for this blogger even when he didn't complete his childhood education at Lenggong. I guess as I have said in the 'rumah', I have been reminiscing alone in my blog on the many aspects of my life; and I must admit stories from Lenggong have been quite significant in my walking down memory lane albeit alone.

I guess with the creation of a "rumah" for batch 70-75, he is not walking alone anymore(much as I hate using the slogan from the arch enemy of Man U)! ;-)

Let me summarized some entries related to our school, Lenggong, our teachers. I have to say too that I have not included many stories that involved us all. It is tough trying to remember those years on my own - alone. Just click on the entry below.

1. Kisah Tiga Cikgu

2. Senjakala

3. Ceritera Cikgu

BTW if you don't remember me , read the following entry on the subject - not that it will make any difference, anyway!

4. You don't remember me, do you?

Feel free to browse the mind and thought of RahmanHariri through this blog - not that it would have any bearing on anyone, or anything.

Dunia tetap berputar, with or without his blog!

Oh and please, take what I say in those entries with a pinch of salts. I tend to look at those years with myopic eyes and views.

EPILOGUE

Anyone has the pic of Class 3A (1972)? I remember us taking the photo, and I remember coming back during schoolholidays in 1973 to pick up the pic from Cikgu Faridah at her house in Kampung Sira. But that pic is long gone.

The Eagle has landed - in Houston

Well actually it was the Big Bird (and not the eagle), and it was summer yesterday in mid-winter Houston.

Nonetheless Houston, we don't have a problem with the weather. It is no different from evening weather in Kuala Lumpur. But being crammed in the small seat with over 400 other passenger in a Big Bird (a 747) like herd of cows was something I don't really enjoy at this age. But I don't have a choice I guess. I am not willing to pay for over the nose business class seat as I don't have a super rich parents to pay for the tickets.

Today's high is 73, at least 120 F higher than Alaska - according to the news, and it feels like summer while driving from Bush Intercontinental through Beltway to NASA Parkway (right in front of NASA Space Centre). I thought my winter clothing in my bag would be useless, taking up precious space and weight, especially when returning.

But the cold front from North is coming tonight and this weekend it will be low 40s as the high. 

Now we are talking!

Should I be heading to Conroe Factory Outlets tomorrow?

In the meantime, I nearly did not find the NASA souvenier shop, the half price bookstore; but Putt Putt car racing is still around. But no NASA ice cream, Arif, Akmal; they ran out of stock. I think it has been out of stock since our Malaysian space tourist Sheikh Muszaphar went to space! :-)

I have the pics, but no cable to upload. Internet at this cheap Microtel is FREE, and damn fast. Much faster than what I had seen in Malaysia. What ever money can buy!

Blast from the past - SRJK(I) Lenggong

I would never have thought that I would see some of them again in the full glory of childhood, if only in pictures.

Unfortunately this blogger was not in the picture. He presumes that the pic was taken after he had left this school for King Edward. As far as he is concerned, there is only one picture that he is aware that would have him in the pic; the one in 1972 which he had lost.

Lokman, my best friend from those years invited me to join the batch of 1970-75 SRJK(I) Lenggong and he downloaded the above pic from their yahoogroup chatroom (without approval, he must add). No, he is still awaiting approval to be a member and he doesn't believe it would be a problem as he was a full fledged member of the batch for 3 years.

(Mind you, young readers, the I in SRJK(I) does not stand for India, and no, he didn't attend a Tamil school!)

Except for Cikgu Hizam, and perhaps Ng Kok Ngai (now Dr), and Lokman, he would have difficulty recognizing the faces, but he remembers all the names that were mentioned by Lokman three years ago when he met him.

He is anxiously waiting for another time travel to the early 70s. How he wish for a digital camera then.

EPILOGUE

I am traveling tonight to Houston for a quickie meeting. Houston was a city we used to call home in the late 90s, and the kids remember their time in school there much as I remember my time in this small town of Lenggong.

The idea of 20 odd hours cramming at the back of the plane is not too appealing to be honest. I am bringing in Hamka's Di Dalam Lembah Kehidupan, Memoir Abdullah CD and a book on Umrah and Haj. Then again, who knows, I might spent my time watching tons of movies on the small screen.

God knows what I will do.

Hope to return safely to KL in one week's time.

She is 70 years old

Today Mak celebrates her 70th birthday.

She had just returned from a holiday in Hong Kong with a sister of mine, so I guess it would be a quiet birthday for her today.

I guess I am also running out of time to write another entry on her as I am heading to a place we (the family and I) used to call home. It is home coming of sort; the difference this time is I am heading there alone.

Anyway, Mak, I know you deserved better after bringing up 13 children, and I will do my part to ensure that you get what you deserve, if only from me.

Unfortunately I can't speak for all others.

The day I was a Pembawa Tombak

In my lifetime, I have seen a few royal burials.

And I was personally involved in one!

Seeing the last telecast of the burial of the Yang diPertuan Besar Negeri Sembilan, I am reminded of the many royal burials that I have seen - mainly on telly, I must say. Sultan Perak's (almarhum Sultan Idris) burial in 1983 if I am not mistaken was live one that I saw; I was back for the holiday and living in Bukit Chandan, in the royal town Kuala Kangsar, I could not escape it.

The royal burial of the Yang DiPertuan Agong (almarhum Sultan Salahuddin), quite recently; I remember watching it on the tele, though I could not remember (without surfing) the exact year.

But of course the special one would be the royal burial of an incumbent Yang diPertuan Agong, Sultan Yahya Petra, the Sultan of Kelantan in 1979; it is something this blogger was personally involved.

I remember that night, the principal (MRSM KB) came to our dorm and asked us to assemble around 20 of us to be part of the Pembawa Tombak Jajahan who would accompany the hearse from Balai Besar in Kota Bharu to the royal mouseleum in Lundang(??), and this blogger carried the Tombak Jajahan Pasir Putih.

We were asked to wear light coloured baju melayu for the occasion.

The blogger with the tom-tom-bak! He is 3rd from the left and other MRSM friends behind him. The front two in the pics are soldiers from the PPH Pengkalan Chepa - our neighbour, I think. Li, maso ni aku lebih tinggi dari mu, hehehe...jadik aku dok kat depan sekali, depan mu.

I remember queueing and the march to the mouseleum. We thought we would have to follow the footstep march of the army personnel carrying the hearse and of course it was ackward for us for we were not trained. Later on, one officer told us to march 'normally'.

Certainly I don't remember how far was the march, but I thought it was a good few kilometres, and of course it was televised live on TV. I am sure I was in it, but of course I didn't get to see myself on telly!

As part of the official entourage, we were allowed quite close to the grave actually, if my memory serves me right.

Looking at the royal burial of the head of Negeri Sembilan, I could not help but wonder how we could be involved in the royal burial of an incumbent Yang DiPertuan Agong in 1979 (31 March to be exact). To me it was an honour, and as a schoolboy to be part of the royal hearse is something I would remember for the rest of my life.

Of course, I must say the next 40 days was difficult as it was official mourning period for Kelantan. No music at all; quite painfully for us teens then, and mind you, we don't have the private radio stations then as alternative.

At the end of the mourning period, we were all invited to a majlis tahlil at the Balai Besar and were treated to sumptuous dinner. I remember meeting and shaking hands with the then MB who conveyed the royal thanks to us.

Moga Allah mencucuri rahmatNya keatas ruh almarhum Tuanku Jaafar dan almarhum Sultan Yahya Petra, dan seluruh muslimin. Amin.

The Jannatons

Prologue

GEORGETOWN: Lebih 400 ahli keluarga keturunan Datuk K Jannaton yang dikatakan antara orang pertama membuka Pulau Pinang, berhimpun pada majlis perhimpunan keluarga itu buat kali keempat, semalam. Majlis itu yang berlangsung di Dewan Budaya, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Minden, di sini, turut diserikan dengan pelancaran jualan buku dan laman web mengenai sejarah Datuk Jannaton.

Presiden Jawatankuasa Ahli Keluarga Keturunan Datuk K Jannaton, Rahmah Aziz, berkata perhimpunan dwitahunan itu diadakan bagi mengeratkan hubungan silaturahim sesama keluarga selain mencari ahli keluarga lain.Katanya, perhimpunan secara besar-besaran keluarga itu pertama kali diadakan di Ipoh pada 2002, disusuli acara kedua di Taiping, Perak pada 2004 dan ketiga di Kepong, Kuala Lumpur, dua tahun lalu.

Majlis diserikan dengan forum salasilah Jannaton, persembahan video lawatan bersejarah ke Padang dan Batu Baru, pelancaran laman web dan cabutan nombor bertuah serta lawatan ke makam Datuk Jannaton.

Beliau berkata, ramai ahli keluarga keturunan Datuk Jannaton berjaya menempa nama di negara ini termasuk bekas Presiden pertama Singapura, Tun Yusof Ishak; bekas Menteri Pertanian pertama, Aziz Ishak; Duta Singapura, Tan Sri Wan Suleiman Pawanteh dan Hakim Persekutuan, Datuk Wira Wan Yahya Pawanteh.Tokoh lain ialah bekas Pengerusi Pertubuhan Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu (PBB), Tan Sri Razali Ismail yang juga Pro Canselor USM; bekas Ketua Polis Negara, Tan Sri Bakri Omar dan Menteri Wilayah Persekutuan, Datuk Seri Mohd Zulhasnan Rafique.

(The above was taken from Harian Metro)

I didn't attend the above gathering, I must admit. Heck, I didn't even attend the first one in 2002. A few of my siblings did attend the one in Ipoh, but I am not sure if anyone did attend this one in Penang.

I would like to get hold of the family tree to know my exact position in this lineage. Actually when we were kids, we knew of the name Jannaton as aruah bapak had named his second son - my younger bro - with that name as a family name. In fact as my bro rightly pointed out, at the first meeting, he should be given an 'award' as he is probably the only one with that ancestral name in the hundreds attending the first gathering.

I guess he has the longest name in the family - Abdul Latif Janaton Hariri.

It is fun to be able to trace one's family especially if it is as steeped in history as the Jannatons. By this I don't mean material wealth. For me, the fact that I had rubbed shoulders with many names that are mentioned in local text book is a source of pride to me, and nothing else I guess.

While Mak's side came from Kampung Haraban as mentioned in earlier entry, bapak's sides came from another Minangkabau town of Pagar Ruyung (or is it Batu Bara?), which I believe should be less than 2 hours away from each other.

But these towns, or kampungs could not have been so different, for Pagar Ruyung is the site of the Minangkabau's royalty, though I am sure Datuk Jannaton was not a royalty. I am a bit confused with the town Batu Bara being mentioned in the Harian Metro. Are we from the twon Pagar Ruyung or Batu Bara? Then again, they are probably half an hour away.

I guess I am Minang through and through as there are Minang bloods on both sides. But don't ask me to speak the Minang dialect; I can't, and I don't think I am interested at this stage of my life.

I do wonder though why I am not a good businessman, as many Minang man, whose business prowess is quite well known in Indonesia. In fact, a business acquaintence, from a state-owned oil company in Indonesia, by the name Ricki Riswandi, told me that the Minangs are known as the Jews of Indonesia.

I might have been offended by his remark, made during one of my many business trips to the refinery in oil town of Dumai, if he was not a Minang himself!

Now, if only I can get hold of the family tree....Errr, dear Zaman, are you still reading my blog? Have not heard from you since the election. Must be busy with the March election eh? :-) Would you have access to the presentation materials, the book and the family tree?

EPILOGUE

I found the website www.jannaton.net thought did not have the time to scrutinize it yet. There is a book by Aziz Ishak called Mencari Bako and I would like to get my hand on it soon.

Some people can love one another for life

Love is in the air I guess.

Notwithstanding that it is holiday season and hence the many weddings throughout the country, no one I know is getting married. But I do know someone is getting engaged this week, so I thought it would be appropriate for me to offer the couple my best wishes.

This song by Champaign I thought would be ideal. It is a beautiful love song. It was perhaps released in 1981 (or was it 1982?), and I must say I love it then and I still love this song. Actually I have forgotten this until one day last Sept when I was driving from Kerteh. It was aired on Light FM and I have not heard it for over 20 years.

It is a lovely love song. Question young couples should be asking of each other. As a matter of fact, this is also a timely reminder for married couples too. Listen well to the lyric.

Some people are made for each other

Some people can love one another for life

How 'bout us

I present "How 'bout Us". All the best on the happy day!

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