Fadjar Menjinsing - Glorifying the beauty of the new day dawning

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

Kenang-kenangan Hidup

Prologue

So my youngest two siblings want me to write about their bapak. I don’t blame them. They didn’t get the chance to get to know their bapak like we the elder siblings did. We spent nearly 20 years with him, while my youngest sis, for one, for barely for 8 month.

It is not easy writing about him. For one he is no longer with us. He can't defend himself in my writing for sure - not that he needs to defend himself. On the other hand I don't want to paint him like a saint that he becomes so unreal, even when he is a very religious person. But his exploits in the course of discharging his duties and 'amanah' would make him nearly a saint, especially vis-a-vis today's morale standards.

Another bro wants me to write more on Taiping, another topic close to my heart. I have a story on the Tekah airfield aka Taiping Aerodrome (in Assam Kumbang Taiping), where Sukarno & Hatta had landed in the 40s; another on a writing by one colonial officer in the 1900 beautifully describing Taiping after-the-rain that had me jumping and screaming “That’s my Taiping; that’s the Taiping I knew.” Yes, I have been wanting to write about both topics – it is in my mind all the time.

But where do I begin?

I am as clueless as to where to start as Pak Lah clueless about managing this country. No joke. Just relying on my memory and not talking say to his sister MakCak or his brothers PakLang and PCYa, I found it hard to recall all those memories of him. May be I don’t want to, I don’t know.

The life and Times of Hariri Bab

Bapak was born in Kuala Kangsar in April 1936 and went to Clifford School. The house they lived in was a row of government houses right in the middle of KK, which front the school. The house is more like a rumah berek on a stilt. Two room and a living room and you go down (and out) to the kitchen and another room, with an open space in between to dry your clothes. Of course in 2007, that row of houses is no longer there. It is now a bus stand and a new township for KK.

We had our chance in 1979-1982 (??) perhaps to re-live what he and his sibling went through living in the same row of houses. I remember coming back after SPM and that night after my arrival, I slept from after magrib till the next morning and felt like I had waken up from my death.

It was the most beautiful sleep I had ever had.

Sorry, I digress.

The Bab family in their KK home in the 50s
with their grandmother. Their mother had just passed away.

I don’t recall much of his life in KK to be honest. Life was difficult for the 8 sibling without a mother since 1947, and with a dad with a newly married wife (Tok Bab re-married after 3 months), it was not an ideal environment to excel. Tok Bab was a technician with Telekom and I am sure his pay in those days was peanuts.

But he played cricket a lot at a field near the house (not too far from KK's wet market). He had told me stories of his cricket exploit when I came back from summer holidays, but not having caught yet the cricket bug myself, I didn't give his stories much thought. Ah, well, those were the colonial times, I guess.

Bapak with PC Wan (on the left) at Bukit Bendera. This was probably taken in the 50s(??)

But he passed his senior Cambridge exam. Senior Cambridge, from my understanding, is the O level of the olden days, and going by the number who would passed SC, I think it was probably like getting a degree today. And during those days not many would have reached that level. I don’t know why he didn’t go on and further his studies. Money issue? Qualification issue? I had never asked him.

But upon passing, his eldest bro Zainuddin Bahari Bab (PakLong), who was then working at Utusan Melayu (which was then owned by the Ishak’s brothers – Aziz Ishak to bapak is Pak Jed) asked his friend for help for a job in the government sector for his brother Hariri. I remember this story well, as told by PakLong.

“But he is overqualified for the job,” Pak Long was told, “ I am not sure whether he would last there.”

YOu read it right. He was overqualified for the post.

“Trust me,” PakLong reassured, “I know my brother and he will not leave.”

Bapak at a field expedition in Batu Gajah (??) in the 60s.
This was his first job - and his last.

Leave he didn’t and Bapak died in office in 1984 in Taiping.

For as long as I can remember, bapak was a settlement officer (SO) at the Land & District office at the various towns in Perak (Taiping in the 1960s, Batu Gajah up to 1968, Lenggong from 1968-1972, back to Taiping (1973-1978), Kuala Kangsar (1978-1984) and then back to Taiping (1984)). Obviously he had gone up the ladder from being a junior officer to the most senior SO.

Bapak as a settlement officer in his Pejabat Tanah office

But the next step of the hierarchy eluded him. I remember that in the 70s he went to Ipoh and sat for an examination for promotion, but he didn’t get the promotion to ADO (assistant district officer). I don’t know why, I believe that may be it has something to do with his health; may be he didn't pass the interview, may be he didn't play the office politics well, who knows. He had stone in his kidney and hypertension, and especially in the 80s when it was at his worst, in some way I am glad he is not an ADO or DO.

While he was a government servant through and through, he never encouraged any of his children to seek a living with the government. "Enough that I am one," he said, "I expect you to work in the private sector." I think he can see it in the future, perhaps the private sector would be more rewarding. Except for one lecturer and one teacher daughters, we have basically steered away from the government sector (i.e. two out of thirteen).

He put emphasis on education for his children. “I have nothing to give you but a good education,” that was his mantra ("Bapak tak ada apa nak bagi kat anak-anak kecuali pelajaran.") I would get that small talk practically every time I came back from boarding school. He is right, he knew he didn’t have much to give his 12 children (excluding one adopted daughter) in term of worldly wealth. And he knew that the only way for the family to progress is through education.

That he went all out to get it for us. Nothing was spared in his pursuit of that objective. Even if he goes broke getting us there - which was most of the time.

While I don’t like to talk about other people’s salary; notwithstanding my own bapak, I know what he earned then was peanuts. And to support 13 of us was a burden to him but he carried it all in the spirit "They ain't heavy, they are my family." He had never had luxury in his life. No new cars for him throughout his life – the Morris Minor (AD 8479) was a second hand.

My brother and I riding a bike in the compound of SK Sentul
in Kuala Lumpur in 1967. IN the background is the Morris Minor  AD8479.

When he brought the 'new' car home in Batu Gajah, we asked him while he was taking us for a spin, “kalau kereta baru, kenapa dia buruk?” I don’t recall his answer – he probably took it in stride like that Burung Murai dad. He drove that car for nearly 20 years till he sold it in the early 80s and bought a second hand Opel Kadett (AW2002).

That was the car that we had a breakdown in the middle of the night in the early 70s that he had to ask us to wind up the window just in case if a tiger were to pound on him while he was out checking on the engine; at least his wife and kids were safe.

Oh, and you know what was his fav car - The Puegeot. I remember that he wanted it so much that a couple of times the salesman was at our house in Aulong. But he knew he could not afford the car, so in the end he resorted to buying an old Opel.

And still no aircond for us then.

He didn't get to taste living in his own house until the last week of his life.

That’s the kind of dad you have, Zali, Aisyah.

He would sit and read the books with us at night at our government bungalow at the edge of Lenggong. “Goodbye Aminah, goodbye Mei Ling, I’ll see you again tomorrow,” said Ali - we would read along (that was from a Std 1 book). That’s how he cultivated the love for books in his family. He would spend the time with us, and not just give a directive “Pegi baca buku!” like yours truly to his kids nowadays.

……….to be continued

Epilogue

If you want to get to know your bapak, listen to these two songs. We used to listen to this folk song by The Brothers Four & Theme from A Summer Place by the Percy Faith Orchestra in the early 70s on vinyl. Yes, the vinyl is still with me and safe in my collection. For some reasons everytime I listen to these two songs, it reminds me so much of him.

This is the ori vinyl (EP) from the 60s that is still in good working condition. There are two songs on this side - Theme from a Summer Place and Greenfields.

This song was a very popular song in the 60s. Even Peter, my associate was stopped on his track when he heard this song one day on my notebook. He is just a couple of years younger than bapak.

The lyric is so poetic. I for one knew the lyric by heart, ever since I was in primary school. For he was our Greenfields & our Summer Place.

If you want to listen to the recorded version of Greenfields, click here. Otherwise click on the youtube below for the live version from the men themselves - the Brothers Four.

Once there were green fields, kissed by the sun.
Once there were valleys, where rivers used to run.
Once there were blue skies, with white clouds high above.
Once they were part of an everlasting love.
We were the lovers who strolled through green fields.

Green fields are gone now, parched by the sun.
Gone from the valleys, where rivers used to run.
Gone with the cold wind, that swept into my heart.
Gone with the lovers, who let their dreams depart.
Where are the green fields, that we used to roam?

I'll never know what made you run away.
How can I keep searching when dark clouds hide the day
I only know there's nothing here for me.
Nothing in this wide world, left for me to see.

But I'll keep on waiting, ‘til you return.
I'll keep on waiting, until the day you learn.
You can't be happy, while your heart's on the roam,
You can't be happy until you bring it home.
Home to the green fields, and me once again

And this one by the Percy Faith Orchestra - Theme from A Summer Place

The story of Asmara Terkenang

You know, I have a profound dislike for male singer to be singing song originally sung by female singer.

For one, I hate the version of Unbreak My Heart by Il Divo. To me, the song is owned, and only owned, by Toni Braxton. And with its melodramatic melody and lyric, I would never be able to comprehend or tolerate this song by any male singer.

Yuck.

When Aman Shah starts singing Asmara Terkenang, there was no Youtube and internet. Obviously Klasik Nasional is a non-entity in 1980. So there was no way we would know about the original song by Neng Yatimah. Then again, digitally remastered was not something we would know by then, so unless RTM has a fantastic record player, we would not be hearing this song on air.

It was late 1980. SPM was done with  - we were waiting for our next posting I guess. With nothing else to do, I would listening to the radio mid-day that day. We didn't have too many choices of radio station I guess.

It was airing Asmara Terkenang by Aman Shah. I thought it was lovely original song by him. I was humming along when I overhead the conversation between Mak and Bapak, who were resting in their room. (Yeah, our government quarters, right in the middle of Kuala Kangsar town, is  a wooden barrack house, so you would hear every squeak in the house, so to speak.)

Bila ku ingat, bila ku kenang

Bila ku ingat, bila ku kenang

Masa dulu kita berdua

Merayu berbisik hidup bersama

Hidup bersama

Sungguh lama tak nampak rupamu

Tetapi tetap aku setia

Aku setia

"Ton, sapa nyanyi lagu ni?" I overheard bapak asking Mak.

"Budak baru, tak tau pulak sapa nama," jawab Mak.

"Ni lagu lama kan?

Turut serentak dalam hatiku

Turut serentak dalam hatiku

Dengan segera engkau menjelma

Menghibur hati yang sangat duka

hatiku duka

"Lagu Neng Yatimah, isteri Jasni,"

There was only silence after that. I guess may be by then I was concentrating on the song on the radio. Bapak perhaps had satisfied his curiosity on Asmara Terkenangl perhaps this song was something from his childhood days. It was an old song, and not a new one as I had thought that day.

I had enjoyed both song. I love the Aman Shah version. The violins were excellent; the trumpets and the horn section was not intrusive. Lovely combination.

Only yesterday I saw the actual version of Neng Yatimah on Youtube, and I was touched. I didn't realize that Mak Neng was still alive amongst us. She was the wife of the composer, and singer Jasni. I thought it was romantic of him to have given the song to his own wife to sing.

Lucky her. And him too, I guess.

If you want to read more about them and how they got married, do go to Wiki. I thought it was a romantic story - a knight in shining armor, so to speak.

May Allah bless the soul of Jasni and Moga Allah merahmati dan memberi kesihatan kepada Mak Neng Yatimah. And not to mention their daughter Roseyatimah (of Pendekar Bujang Lapok fame).

Shall we wait for her death before we honour them?

EPILOGUE


So what is my point here?


NOthing much, I guess. Just to highlight that I love Asmara Terkenang. That we should reward all our veteran singers from the 50s and 60s now, rather than when they are dead. That even bapak was touched in some sense by this song, and that I would remember their conversation 31 years on!

Selamat Hari Merdeka

This merdeka day, I am reminded of those who died in Bukit Kepong (1950), those who died elsewhere during the emergency and those who fight for the independence. Moga Allah merahmati mereka dan dimasukkan kedalam golongan orang-orang yang syahid.

This is taken from website http://pkukmweb.ukm.my/~knam/data/Peristiwa_Bukit_Kepong.pdf. You can even download and read about Bukit Kepong at your leisure.

Alfatihah.

Djuwita on the gramophone

All the aches of long distance travel has been forgotten, hearing the soothing voice of Djuwita on my now-working-again gramophone.

As I have mentioned before, I do have a collection of over 300 vinyls (let me qualify my statement in saying that I am the custodian of this collection) and my most coveted vinyls would be the 78 rpm ones. Many of them are rare. While the records are not dated, unless if bapak had signed and dated it himself, so we we would never know when they were actually rleased, but I do believe that they would be 50s or earlier. Miss Maimoon, Miss Dinah - many of us would not have heard or remembered them.

But tonight, as I was trying to get my gramophone going again, I saw a vinyl that set my heart skipping a beat.

It is Langit Biru by Djuwita. I didn't know that we have her in our collection. See how bad I am with my record keeping, the pun was unintentional!

The trip to Jalan Surabaya has been worth the effort.

Enjoy this song - never mind the dusts on the gramophone. It has been sitting there on the table for too long, neglected until tonight. You won't find it in Youtube and you will hear it like you would, if you were listening this song when it was first release.

For the record, I do have a better CD-like quality and it is sitting in my car. For once, let's hear the song like it was supposed to be listened, so to speak.

I have also earlier blogged about Langit Biru.

Just for the record, this song was written by R Maroeti while Djuwita was accompanied by Orkes Dendang Kelana under the direction of R Maroeti. The vinyl was released by The Indonesian Music Company "Irama" Ltd, and it was recorded and made in Indonesia.

Could this be the same R Maroeti who wrote the song Indahnya Alam sung by Sudirman? A quick check on Youtube confirms my suspicion.

EPILOGUE

I just got this from the net. It can be found here.

Djuwita

Nama asli Djuwita adalah Deetje Moningka, lahir di Jakarta sebagai anak Kemayoran tahun 1933 dari orangtua asal Minahasa. Ia mulai menyanyi pada 1944, sebagai anggota paling muda dari orkes Empat Sekawan pimpinan Jahya. Penyanyi paling laris dan paling mahal pada 1957 sampai 1958, karena lagu Indahnya alam yang dicipta oleh R. Maroeti khusus untuknya, mencapai penjualan terbanyak dalam sejarah musik rekaman Indonesia sampai tahun 1960. Pada tahun 1957 saja tercatat sejurnlah 4.517 buah piringan hitam - suatu jumlah yang fantastis pada waktu itu, mengingat bahwa alat elektronik berupa pick-up hanya dirniliki oleh kalangan masyarakat yang terbatas sekali.

Pada 1955 ia masuk orkes Dendang Kelana pimpinan R. Maroeti, setelah merasa kurang sukses dalam rekaman kroncong iringan orkes yang dipimpin oleh Adikarso. Ketika Usmar Ismail membuat film Tiga dara, suara Djuwita-Iah yang berada di balik mulut Chitra Dewi, menyanyikan lagu-IaguSenandung lagu lama, dan Cita-cita membumbung tinggi. Dalam lagu tema Tiga dara sendiri, Djuwita menyanyi bersama Elly Srikudus dan Siti Nur Rochma. Kedua nama penyanyi yang terakhir men-"dubbing" untuk suara Indriati Iskak dan Mieke Wijaya. Selain Tiga dara yang termasuk film laris itu, Djuwita juga menyanyi pada beberapa film untuk lagu tema, misalnya Kroncong Kemayoran, dan Djakarta di Waktu malam.

And this is Malaysia's answer to Djuwita. I think it is more of a tribute to her and R Maroeti. Never mind that Sanisah Huri is actually Singaporean.

Obama in Jakarta?

I would always have weak knees everytime I am at Jalan Surabaya. It surely feels like I am a kid in a candy store; I just could not make up my mind of what I want to have. If I have my way, I would buy the whole candy store myself.

But then again, I also knew my limitation and my limitation has always been financial.

It has been more than a decade since I last went to Jalan Surabaya. I just could not juggle up my time every time I am in the city, as Jalan Surabaya shops tend to close earlier than the end of my normal appointments.

So after more than a decade of absence, I decided to go there this week and look for the gramophone needles. I used to have the spares, but I guess I must have lost them or misplaced them, and not knowing anywhere else to buy in Kuala Lumpur, I headed to Jalan Surabaya.

May be I do know a bit more about Jakarta than Kuala Lumpur.

So this bapak sold me ten pieces of the needles, while trying to entice me with his record collection, especially a 78 rpm vinyl consisting of two Minang song, which I thought is quite interesting, but declined it due to the fact that I was going to travel quite a bit and did not wish to have such fragile stuff with me.

But then I stopped at this shop, and I got rambang mata.

There was so much there - not that I have not been at this end shop before. I guess being in Jalan Surabaya rekindled my interest in everything old (and black I guess). There are just too many to write and many of these records are best listened on an old gramophone.

While I was browsing, he kept on coming up with old Indonesian collections. I kept on declining, informing him that the price is a bit too steep for the shallow pocket of mine.

Then he came up with his last throw of the dice.

Oh my, collection of Hasnah Tahar and the Sri Guntang Orchestra. He knew immediately that my face had lighten up when I saw the Hasnah Tahar album.

If the other collection he was selling for 200K Rupiah, for the Hasnah Tahar, it had doubled up to 400K! He must have seen the glint in my eyes. I thought that the songs in the Hasnah Tahar's vinyl are excellent, and a must have for my collection. But as I have mentioned before, my travel would not permit me to add on this fragile vinyl to be taken with me.

NOt at that price anyway.

And I need to have a strong mind to bargain with him and get at least a 50% discount.

But I do know my weaknesses.

Siapa Tak Kenal - Penghibur Hati, and Hasnah Tahar and Orkes Bukit Siguntang albums sitting on the rack. Don't you all dare buy these albums from him. I am hoping that the price will drop when I started to speak Indonesian and not bring with me my SLR the next time. He knew this time around that I was a tourist and tried his best to get the most out of me.

By the way, after doing my deeds at Jalan Surabaya, I saw Obama at a field in Menteng. Menteng is the suburb he used to grow up at.

Obama is an anak Menteng, as this poster indicated.

This picture (poster) is a bonus from Jalan Surabaya.

I'm a fool to want you

I was mesmerized when I heard the latest Chanel No 5 advert.

You read that right! When I HEARD the advert. On the telly, mind you.

It is to the tune of a familiar song that caught my attention, though the vocal is not a voice I am familar with.

Don't get me wrong; I thought it was a catchy advert. The scene and scenery was breathtaking to say the least. It is the stuff romance is made of - the Orient Express, the tunnel and the arch bridge. I should not comment much on the actor/actress or the models, if you must, in it. The model was not up to my standard, to be honest, but then again, what do I know about casting, right?

It is also stuff murder is made of - Agatha Christie's style.

Here is the advert again.

But what I would like to highlight is this is one song I have been listening to at night, coming back from the harsh working environment at Perak Hanjoong Simen in mid 80s, and I have known this song from my uni days circa 84-85. Her voice is so soothing.

The orchestra, helmed by Nelson Riddle, was fantastic and Linda Ronstadt's voice was simply awesome and full of bodies. I can listen to this over and over again 25 years on. How I would melt over and over again if she would sing it for me! ;-)

The arrangement showcased the voice beautifully. YOu can immersed yourself in her voice, and yet still able to listen to each one of the instrument; the piano, the viola, the horn section. Wonderful.

I'm a fool to want you
I'm a fool to want you
TO want a love that can't be true
A love that's there for others too

I'm a fool to hold you
Such a fool to hold you
To seek a kiss not mine alone
To share a kiss the devil has known

Time and time again, I said I'd leave you
Time and time again, I went away
But then would come a time
When I would need you
And once again these words I have to say

I'm a fool to want you
Pity me I need you
I know it is wrong - it must be wrong
But right or wrong,
I can't get along
without you

But here is the version by Billie Holiday as used in the advert. She sounds so painful to be honest though it is a pleasure to listen to her too. While I have always been a fan of Linda Ronstadt, I would give credit to Billie Holiday for this 1950s version. The arrangement is great too.

She sends shivers down my spine. She sounds like she was in pain. Frank Sinatra has a hand in writing this song though his version to me is forgetful.

I did not realize that the 'you' in this song was really a fragrant! ;-)

EPILOGUE

Listening to both I am a fool to want you and What's New, I was transported to another era and another equally haunting song, of course this remake was by Linda Ronstadt and The Nelson Riddle Orchestra. Both of song I am a fool and the one below When your lover has gone are songs from her Lush Life Album.

If only Arif and Akmal would one day produce this kind of work, I would be extremely proud. Never mind Mozart or Beethoven. That's why I thought the Lush Life album is one album I would take with me if I am stranded on a deserted island.

When Your Lover has Gone

What good is the scheming, the planning, the dreaming
that come with each new love affair
The love that you cherish,
so often may perish
and leave you with castle in air

Aah, what a voice, and what an era. Err, never mind the lyrics of both song OK. It may have some negativity in it, but I guess they are reflections of the time they were written . If I may term the 40s and the 50s as the romantic era, with apologies to the real romantic era of classical music.

Here is what I found in Wikipedia.

The album was released in 1958. Says Ray Ellis (composer/arranger), "I would say that the most emotional moment was her listening to the playback of "I'm a fool to want you" There were tears in her eyes...It wasn't until I heard the final mix a few weeks later that I realized how great her performance really was."

My Name is not Maria Bertha

Prologue

I read in the blogs recently that Natrah aka Maria Bertha Herthog, her maiden name, passed away in the Netherland recently. I think despite the passing of time, she is one name deeeply entrenched in the mind of the Malays in Malaysia for a long time, especially those who live in the 50s. I am sure many youngsters would not have inkling of her, but even for me who is more of a 60s boy, her story has always fascinated me as a child.

That image of her clinging to her (adopted ) mother will forever be etched in my memory.

Here is what I wrote and posted on March 15, 2007 about her. You can find more detail of her in the book Tragedi Nadra (or the english translation The Nadra Tragedy (Hmmm.. pejuang bahasa please take note!) and in this blog cyberpoyo.blogspot.com dated Nov 08, 2009.

Her life is full of tragedy and I really hope she will find peace with God.

Innalillahi wainna ilaihirojiun.

This article was published on the 18th May 1993. While I didn't get paid for it, I was quite happy then to get the letter-of-the-day spot in the NST. During those days, I was competing against myself in trying to get this spot, so I was reasonably prolific then. Quite a few of them were written while I was in Dungun, under the pseudonym Adrah. This pseudonym was conceived when I was in Form 2, which is basically my full name.

In the early 90s, a sister of mine who was working in KL, told me how her friend was puzzled about all those letters being written by this person from Dungun. Her friend thought it was surprising to have someone writing in English from this remote rural town of Dungun! I thought it was funny then, but I am sure people would not be judgmental in 2007.

This is one of the two remaining articles written in the early 90s still remain in my collection. There are articles that I got paid in monetary term, while for others I got paid in hampers. I wasn't looking for the money then as the salary paid by the oil giant was enough, but it was for the fun of it, and to nurture my writing habit.

While the headline and subject on hand were about Raja Bahrin and his two children, the real story that I want to highlight in this blog is the story of this Maria Bertha Hertogh @ Natrah @ Nadra. Her story has been told many times by Mak to us over dinner or while she was preparing the meals when we were kids. It was always fascinating for us then to hear this tragic human story that was Natrah.

The only reason I was following his stories was because I thought I may have seen Raja Bahrin and his then wife Jacqueline in Melbourne. May be. I don't remember exactly.

I thought I should just publish it in this blog for record.

Tags: natrah, nadra, mariahertogh

Thursday March 15, 2007 - 10:34pm (SGT) Permanent Link | 0 Comments

Merdeka '09 - The Aziz Ishak I knew

PROLOGUE

I really do not have the time anymore to blog, and I guess I need to make sure I move all my materials from my 360 blog to this one and I thought it is time I move this entry which I posted in conjunction with the 50th Merdeka Anniversary last year - posted on Aug 27, 2007.

I believe we chemical engineers do owe in many ways to this man and his vision, for without him, there might not be a dynamic industry that we can all prosper in.

The Aziz Ishak I knew

He remains an enigma even to me.

When I first met him I was just a little kid. He had driven all the way from KL to visit us in Lenggong in the days when there was no North-South highway (or may be he dropped by while on the way to KL from Penang, who knows). Of course it helped that he has his chauffeur with him. For us kids in the late 60s/early 70s, with bapak having just an old Morris Minor, we looked at him in awe (especially for having a driver) and the fact that mom told us that he used to be a minister.

I don’t recall much of that encounter, beyond the fact that bapak asked the driver if he would like to have lunch together with us on the main table and the answer was a polite no. Oh, and I remember him complimenting mom's dishes during one lunch with mom cooking gulai tempoyak. Mom's gulai tempoyak is very different from typical tempoyak dishes as it is cooked with coconut milk.

The Hariris on the veranda of Tok Jed's bungalow
in Batu Maung in 1967. There is another shot a few mins
later with the ship moving to the right side of the frame.

Of course before that encounter we had been many times to his house. We had attended his daughter’s wedding at his sea-side bungalow in Batu Maung Penang. It is located on top of a hill and from the veranda, you can see the open sea, with ships passing by in the horizon (batu Maung was at the southern entrance to Penang Port). 

Us kids in our cowboy shirts and the kolam ikan
in Tok Jed's house in Penang

We kids used to enjoy the the kolam ikan inside his house. And when you are tired with the fish pond, you can practically walk down hill from the house and within 5 minutes you would be at the lovely Batu Maung beach. When you are hungry, there are many stalls selling laksa Penang, perhaps for a few cents.

Laksa after a dip in the sea at Batu Maung. It is must have
been to hot (as in temperature) for Mak, while the three of us
enjoying our meals.

The wedding that we were attending at his house.

Yes, I do remember the details, as they were quite well documented by a series of photos taken by bapak and the subsequent holiday the family took in Penang that year. Unfortunately, the pictures were stolen from our family home in Taiping. (Fortunately the thief had returned some of the pics, and hence I am able to update this entry in Aug 2011.)

That was perhaps in 1967, a couple of years after he was incarcerated under ISA (arrested during the month of Ramadhan 1965, released more than a year later in 1966). He was under house restriction until 1971.

Fast forward to 1986. I had just returned from Melbourne and armed with an engineering degree and still looking for a job, my sister and I paid him a visit at his house in Taman TAR in Ampang Jaya. We had our small chat with him and his wife Tok Chah over some tit-bits.

“So, you just came back from Australia? Which university did you go to?” he asked me.

“Monash,” I replied proudly. He didn't bat an eye lid. “What’s your degree in?” he asked back.

“Chemical Engineering, Tok Jed,” I replied, hoping to impress him with big technological words.

“Oh really?” he sounded very surprised. Now I got his attention.

All of the sudden, he stood up, and left the table. We were puzzled, but continued our conversation with Tok Chah.

He came down a minute later with a book. While browsing the book looking for the right page, he said something that will always etch in my mind.

“Tok is the first one to advocate University Malaya to set up a chemical engineering department, and now I am proud to have a ‘grandson’ who is a qualified chemical engineer!” he announced.

He showed me the content in the book to emphasize on his point.

I was of course overwhelmed by the fact that, after his many years of fighting to improve the education level of the Malayan to take over all aspect of the British administration, and getting sack for it, I have been a fruit of, no matter how small, his struggle for the nation. Sure, since his time, Chem E department had been set up at UM, and I guess many graduates would have walked passed the door by the time I graduated from Monash in 1985.

He was the nation’s first agriculture minister under the Tunku cabinet of 1955. He loved it so much that he rejected a move to the Health Ministry. He knew he can contribute a lot in this low-key but critical portfolio – unlike many today who would think that the agriculture ministry spells the death to their political ambition, when many of the Malays were peasants and farmers. He wanted Malayans to take over running the fertilizer plant, which was so crucial to the nation economy.

He autographed the book for my sister and I, and gave us a copy that night. I of course had read the book inside out and knew what he went through in his struggle for the betterment of this country. (However, I have lost that copy, which according to the The Star is still banned in this country.)

While we celebrate the nation’s 50th birthday with many singing praises of our political forefathers - the Onns and the Tunkus, and very little of our warriors who literally sacrificed their lives, there are many whose names were not even mentioned in the mainstream publications, and their contributions are certainly no less than many we had been singing praise of.

Aziz Ishak, or better known as Tok Jed (pronounced as Jade) to us, is one of them. He was just too far ahead than many of his contemporaries. While I was too young then to really know what he went through, I am glad that he had left us a memoir for us to live by. A memoir of a true patriot and nationalist, who was in the game not to plunder the wealth of the nation for his own family, but to fight for the betterment of the people. He declined all state and federal awards, and would not even use the title "haji".

He died in June 1999, and I am glad I was around to pay him my last respect.

Alfatihah for Tok Jed.

EPILOGUE

The book is titled Special Guest – The Detention in Malaysia of an Ex-Cabinet Minister by Aziz Ishak. In his book he describes in detail the irreconcilable differences with the Tunku and the events that led to his resignation, subsequent detention and release. According to a recent article on him in the The Star, the book was banned and only allowed restricted access in university libraries.

I am taking excerpt of it on his suggestion for the setting up a chemical engineering department at UM, on page 40.

Quote

In early 1962, I wrote a letter to Tunku Abdul Rahman, as the new chancellor of the University of Malaya, after a discussion with him on the need to place greater emphasis on technical education not only at Trade and Technical School level, but at Polytechnics and University level

What I had in mind, of course, were the technicians to service the industries, such as the fertilizer plant, the paper mills and those in the private sector.

I recalled in the letter that no newly independent country could progress satisfactorily unless and until its national had attained a certain degree of technological and scientific competence. I pointed out that there was a conspicuous absence of a Department of Industrial and Chemical Engineering at the University of Malaya. The continued denial of training facilities in these fields meant that the country had to import high level technician for our growing industries, which for many years to come, would be at the mercy of foreign technologists. I further recalled in the letter that I had met Sir Alexander Oppenheim, the vice chancellor of the UM earlier and emphasized that very same point.

In the letter I then stressed the fact that it was not the policy of the metropolitan powers to introduce such subjects for the simple reasons that the former colonies and emerging countries were meant to be suppliers of raw materials and therefore not to take part in the industrial development. In this case, I quoted cases of universities in India, Ceylon, Singapore and those in African territories, but in contrast to the universities of white commonwealth, courses in chemistry were provided.

To stress in my point further the reason for this was because the UM had its development controlled by expatriate officers, so that our country would continue to be merely supplier of raw materials. My letter to the Tunku closed with the suggestion that “since we are already behind time and our industrial programe has gone forward without the necessary bases in the form of university courses in industrial chemistry and chemical engineering, the following line of actions need to be taken:

o As many Colombo Plan scholarship in Industrial Chemistry, Chemical Technology to be asked from friendly countries. Training should be requested US, France, Germany, Italy and Belgium

o That the University to be asked without delay to look into the possibility of starting courses in Industrial Chemistry, Chemical Technology and Chemical Engineering at an early date

o That steps be taken to set up a Polytechnic to provide courses not now available at the Technical Colleges.

The Tunku however merely passed on my letter to the Vice Chancellor, whose reply sounded to me very much like an apology for things not done than a full realization of the urgency of the matter. It contained no indication of positive action to correct the deficiency. My comment on Sir Alexander’s letter was also sent to the Tunku.

So far I know, not even today (1976) has a full department of Chemical Technology and Chemical Engineering been established.

End of quote

I got this from a website which I believe reinforced Tok Jed’s story.

From RPK http://www.freeanwar.net/articles/190901.htm

Cancer Man also told me that Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman sacked the late Agriculture Minister, Aziz Ishak, because he had wanted the government to take away the monopoly on fertilizers held by a big British multi-national corporation. Aziz Ishak asked why the country should allow foreigners to control a commodity produced in the country that is essential to the farmers, who were mainly Malays. He was sacked and discredited.

Aziz Ishak died last year. The younger generation was not told of his noble intentions until the day he died. There was not even a footnote anywhere to register his contribution towards the well being of the downtrodden Malays.

Yes! The truth is out there, but can you ever find it? The X-Files do exist in any country, including ours.Yes! The truth is out there, but can you ever find it? The X-Files do exist in any country, including ours.