Minah Gadis Dusun

Let's digress a bit from the hot in the collar political climate which had been sweeping the country since the Parliament was dissolved last 20 April 2013... Let the politicians from the political divide do their job...A s for me, come 5 May 2013 I will vote and my "undi" is "rahsia" but it will surely for a better future of Malaysia ... I want to reproduce a lyrics from an old 60s song entitled "Minah Gadis Dusun". It's an Indonesian song originally sang by Titiek Puspa. To those who were in the 50s and above might be familiar with the name of the singer and the song. Titiek Puspa is also known for a popular duet song of "Dunia Belum Kiamat" with her husband, Mokhsien. "Minah Gadis Dusun" was re recorded again and sang by another Indonesian singer, Safia Putri Melati and of course the sound arrangement was better than the original 60s song ... The lyrics were about a girl named "Minah" who went to the big city from her "kampung/dusun" but could not stay long in the city as she has to be back to the "dusun" to be with her soul mate ... or may be the city life is not suitable to her ... However, she did indicate her willingness to go back to the city perhaps some other day .... The lyrics go like these: "Inginkah kawan tahu siapa daku, Minah gadis dari dusun di gunung, Jauh daku berjalan menuruninya Hanya ingin menjenguk indahnya kota Amboi indah dan megah kotamu kawan. Rasa daku mimpi di dalam syurga, Jejaka dan gadisnya tampan dan cantik, Gedung tugu dan mobil oh amboi amboi. Tapi maaf kawan Daku tak tinggal lama, Kekasih hatiku rindu menanti. Tunggu saja kiriman hasil panenku, Daku orang dusun pandai bertani. Hanya pesan ku kawan Jaga negeri mu. Sampai berjumpa nanti Salam manisku" And moving forward about 20 years later, an Indonesian band "Dloyd" came up with a catchy song "Aminah & Lydia" . It's a contrast of "Minah Gadis Dusun"... "Aminah & Lyfdia" actually a song about a young "gadis desa" who is known as "Aminah" who went to the city and glamorously changed her name to "Lydia"!!!! Sounds familiar, I guess ... Any other "Aminah" whom you might know?

The nostalgic years of "Kak Yong" Tengku Mariam ....

I was driving the other day and over Radio Klasik - hey I am 50 years old and could be considered as "classic" anyway - a very familiar voice ... Yup it was Kak Yong's voice indeed!!! After all these years, she's back but as a guest of Radio Klasik... For the Gen Y, Kak Yong might not be a familiar figure or rather familiar voice so let us walk through those nostalgic years when Kak Yong was a "juru hebah" at RTM... Her real name is Tengku Mariam Tengku Laksamana Nasir but was overwhelmingly known as "Kak Yong". It was her nick name in a popular radio program entitled "Permintaan Apa Itu" over RTM. The program was on air from 1977 until 2002. Kak Yong initially was paired with another "juru hebah" Noramin (Busu Noramin) until 1980 and later was paired with Abang Chik (Zainal Abas), Abang Bul (Hasbullah Awang). It was basically a program meant for kids with songs like "Kain Pelikat" (Anuar Zain & Elina) and "Sakit Gigi" (Shahril). I remember every Saturday at 9.30 AM, I would turn on radio and listened to the program intensely. Although it was meant for kids, it was s popular that Kak Yong even received post cards "permintaan" from adults all over Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei not to mention Malaysian students who studied overseas. Normally, they will send a postcard wishing happy birthdays to their "adik" or "anak saudara". Some even made calls to Kak Yong .... Those were the days when radio was not adulterated with endless and aimless "verbal diarrhea" of the current "juru hebah" ... ooops sorry!!! now they called themselves "DJs" a sure overrated title I would say. Back to Kak Yong, I really missed her "keanak-anakan" and lifely voice over the radio and I smiled when she said over radio " Kak Yong ada berlakon drama tapi dengan suara ni Kak Yong tak bole jadi heroin!!" and she laughed with her "trademark" laugh .... It really made my day as the nostalgic years of Kak Yong was the order of the day .... To Kak Yong, thanks for those wonderful 25 years of "Permintaan Apa Itu" .....

How "Lembu" made the police job easier ......

I have been keeping a certain clip of an NST Southern Edition for quite some time ... It was about a report on how "lembu" assisted the police in solving the loose end of a crime ... I thought of posting the news in my Blog earlier but hesitated due to the sensitivities of anything to do with "lembu". Some people might "menyinsing lengan" and "angkat kain" when the word "lembu" is mentioned .... At least one particular lady had done so .... But what the heck!!! It began when the Johor Baru police crippled a syndicate specialising in stealing dairy cattle, goats and buffaloes in Johor with the arrest of 22 members of the syndicate. The police also recovered 71 animals but was facing difficulties on how to return the animals to their rightful owners. It was decided that the 71 "lembu" were put at an identification parade after their ear tags were removed. It was reported - it's not me, NST reported - that the police could not believe their eyes when each "lembu" walked towards its owner when its name was called out.... This is an interesting example of an innovative "Rakan Kop" program I supposed. The morale of the story is please do not underestimate the creature we called "lembu". It's proven here that "lembu" could solved a crime ....... perhaps "lembu" might be a lead to an unsolved criminal activities ..... Till we meet again ....

What's in Store after the Parliament is Dissolved......

I have posted earlier on what will almost certainly happen once the Parliament is dissolved and once PRU13 is coming nearer .... I will write about it again anyway. The lists are as below: 1. Obviously, there will be lots of "ceramah pilihanraya" every night from the dissolution of Parliament right up to the midnight before the voting day. Thousands of supporters of political parties wil attend these "ceramah" - hopefully all them are registered voters; 2. Illicit sexual videos alleging certain politicians will be freely distributed or uploaded in YouTube etc. In one of the earlier GE, I found one nicely wrapped in an envelope and ended up in trash because it was a trash!!!! 3. There would be news of political parties' members "jumping ship" to the opponent side claiming that they have lost faith in their political parties. If we read the mainstream media, the favorite target would be PAS and PKR. I have been reading this news since I was in my lower secondary - mind you it was in the 70s - and going by this rate of "keluar parti" PAS by now has not even a single member!!! 4. Vacant lands will be "vandalised" and "penetrated" by the rough edge of the "gigi" backhoe/excavator where politicians wearing a hard hat doing "upacara pecah tanah" for this or that "projek untuk rakyat"!!! Since these politicians are only doing this once in 5 years, somebody who is familiar with the "dynamics" of the machine will be standing beside the politicians turned "driver" for the day. The trick is "pecah tanah" first and just leave the land unattended for the next 5 years for "upacara meletak batu asas". This time the polticians will wear a hat hat, a glove and put a single "bata" with cement mortar!!!; 5. The most pitiful and confused "creatures" would be the "balai raya/dewan orang ramai", perhaps "kedai 1 Malaysia", Kilinik 1 Malaysia", the "jambatan" or any concrete/steel structures on a land which have to painstakingly tolerate the "majlis pembukaan rasmi" & "majlis potong riben". Anybody who cares to check the record might find out that these "majlis" had been carried out during the previous GE ..... 6. All the "X Men" Malaysia version will be given wide coverage in the electronic and printed media with vile "abuses" towards their former political parties except for those who had jumped to so many political parties resulted in him not knowing or even remember which political party he actually originally belonged to!!!! 7. Lastly, those universities/colleges professors cum part time political analysts will come up with their commentaries on anything about politics ... and yes!!! these professors will use bombastic words/phrases which are only understood by them ... The above are my predictions of what will happen from now on. What might not happen or most likely not happen? Well the MB of Pahang will most likely not show the "isyarat lucah" to the public as he might not even be listed as a GE candidate and Datuk Seri Samy Vellu will most likely not being fielded although he was reportedly as saying " I am a winnable candidate!!!" I myself would savour this statement as the #1 pre election funniest joke unless along the way somebody else would overtake him and being the PRU13 "Maharaja Lawak"... Let's wait and see whether my predictions are correct ....

The "Gong" had been sounded!!! Finally Parliament is Dissolved ....

Today at 11.30 AM, RTM had broadcasted live over RTM from the Prime Minister's Office Putrajaya an announcement by the YAB Prime Minister that: 1. he was granted an audience before the Yang DiPertuan Agong and the King had consented to the dissolution of the Parliament effective today; 2. This is where I need verification - the PM said Parliament is dissolved effective " ... hari ini Rabu 3 April 2012 ...". I might heard it wrong anyway; 3. The PM gave his undertaking should there be a change of government after the PRU 13, it would be a peaceful and "tertib" transition; 4. The PM also took the opportunity apart from announcing the dissolution of Parliament to "kick start" the election campaign by promoting the just "dissolved" government of the day by telling that it has "worked hard" for the "rakyat" for the last 5 years; 5. In a spirit of camaraderie and team work he was flanked by the YAB Deputy PM and all his cabinet Ministers which effectively had been "dissolved" and turned into a caretaker government [The process and legality/convention of caretaker government is another matter altogether]; 6. YAB PM also urged all head of State Governments to seek audience with the respective Kings/Tuan Yang DIPertua Negeri to dissolve their respective DUNs so that a simultaneous General Election could be held through out Malaysia. My take on the announcement is ....Except for the error in stating the date - which I am not sure as I was at first listening over the radio and after that over TV - and the "kempen pilihanraya yang tidak sepatutnya" the YAB PM was generally calm in making the announcement and his Deputy was a bit "restless" sometimes ... "tak cukup tidor agaknya" ... So people, the "gong" had been sounded and the war drum had been beaten!!! After this, it's like a juggernaut wheel as it will roll on without stop until the D Day i.e. the voting day. Do exercise your right and vote the candidate of your choice .... Till we meet again .....

An Instant Democracy in 10 Minutes.......

Apart from having instant noodles, normally an instant 2 minutes noodles Malaysians had been pleasantly introduced with an instant democracy ..... The prime news on 22 March 2013 were focused on the announcement by the "Courteous" cum "Internet" Minister that RTM (read as "Radio Televisyen MALAYSIA" - it has to be in capital letters as "Malaysia" means ALL OF US!!!!) would allow all political parties including the Opposition Parties to have a 10 minutes slot on air explaining their election manifesto... I bet the following comments would appear in all electronic and printed media, be it from the opposing sides of the political parties, certain academicians cum "part time lobbyists including from the small fraction of the "mentally impaired historians" in the Majlis Professor Negara (MPN)and so on: 1. Politicians from the government of the day, including the "Internet" Minister will say that the 1o\0 minutes air time slot shows that democracy is thriving and breathing healthily in Malaysia. This just shows that the government of the day is being fair to all political parties as they are being given a fair and equal treatment in airing their election manifesto. All of them would appear to be mentally hypnotised by issuing somewhat similar comments - just like their comments every time when the YAB PM had finished the yearly tabling of the Budget with a monotone standard comments: " Belanjawan tahun ini adalah belanjawan rakyat..." Another slightly different comment " Belanjawan ini adalah bukti kerajaan sentiasa memikirkan kepentingan rakyat jelata ..."; 2. The few selected academicians from the MPN will echo similar view as per No. 1 but will try their best to differentiate themselves with the politicians under No. 1 by using superfluous academic "big words" like " Ini menunjukkan iltizam kerajaan dalm memperkasakan (not that "Perkasa" yea!) serta membudayakan proses demokrasi ...." whatever that means!!! or quoting quotes from the Athens/Rome era. There might be a possibility of them comparing our latest instant product with those in Communist China or other autocratic states not realising that even in China they changed their Premier every 10 years!!!! 3. Those from opposition will surely say "What can we do in 10 minutes?" or commenting that " It is inadequate as the government of the day has 365 days minus 10 minutes in bragging about their manifesto with BR1M, TR1M, SL1M and so many 1s!!!!" 4. Not to mention the "Listen! Listen! Listen! Lady" who will of course consult the animals before issuing out her comments; and 5. Last but not least, the "great Old Man" who always wants to be different and might most probably say " Apa pun kerajaan buat ... apa nama .... pembangkang tak akan hargai. Pembangkang hanya tahu membangkang saja, dia tak tahu mentadbir negara ...." My dear Sir, that's what "pembangkang" is all about anyway and your comments/statements have come in full circle over the years .... My comment? ... Well at least it's 8 minutes longer than the "2 minutes instant noodles" and there is no such thing as an instant democracy!!! .... Till we meet again .....

Remember "Ali, Tong Seng, Ah Moi, Ramasamy and Salmah?

All of a sudden, I recalled when I was in Standard 1 way back in 1970,there was a Bahasa Melayu textbook with the main characters namely Ali, Salmah, Tong Seng, Ah Moi, Ramasamy and Kumari. I will tell you why my being so nostalgic later .... Ali and Salmah are siblings so as Tong Seng and Ah Moi as well as Ramasamy and Kumari. The texbook even had pictures of these characters ... Salamah with her long hair and the pony tails and her "baju kurung", Ali wearing a songkok while Ah Moi and Kumari wearing the good old days dark blue uniform ... In the textbook, these multi racial characters went to school together, they play together and had their "adventures" together ... There was an incident of Ramasamy climbing a tree to save a trapped cat but he ended up trapped and could not go down.His friends managed to get help and Ramasamy was saved by the "orang kampung" ..... It's a simple and ideal multi racial story for us in the primary school though I have to state here that 100% of my classmates were Malays .... Well, there's nothing wrong being an idealistic anyway. Each one of us should emulate the traits Ali, Salmah, Tong Seng, Ah Moi, Ramasamy and Kumari - they learn, play and having fun together. By the time, I finished my Form Six there were so many textbooks which I had to "digest" and I would say those textbooks made sense to me ..... The textbooks had somewhat gave me the idea of how to be at least a good and civil member of our society. Fast forward, in 2013 last week I was frowning and frowned hard I was when Tun Mahathir was reportedly as suggesting the 180 pages biography of our PM's wife to be made as a textbook in schools ..... He was quoted as saying the RM150/ (Note: RM here denotes "Ringgit Malaysia" and nothing else!!!) biography could be served as guidance for generations 100 or 200 years from now ...... Given a choice between this RM1.28 per page biography and the texbook about "Ali, Salmah, Tong Seng, Ramasamy and Kumari" ... I would definitely opted with my eyes open the latter!!!!! Have pity on our kids please .... Till we meet again ......

Light and Free Flow Posting ....

Amidst the hot news on the Sabah being intruded, the following news which appeared in the SUN 1 March 2013 edition really caught my attention ... It was reported from Lima that a leading Peruvian football club, Alianza Lima is considering the possibility of giving its players Viagra during matches played at altitude in the local championship. It was the club doctor who explained that Viagra could help improve the physical conditioning of players at altitude. The club's coach said that if result showed the male potency pill enhanced on field performance (read as playing football!!!!)then "the club would use it". The club's doctor, Dr. Blacido further explained that Viagra helped the heart pump more blood, thus allowing better oxygenisation without it falling foul of anti doping measures. it is also reported that a Brazil football club, Gremio had already use Viagra for matches played at altitude. Hmmmmm..... this is interesting!!!! This is what we termed as "multi tasking" of Viagra. The only thing there might be a day when the noble intention of improving the sport via Viagra would be abused ... Well, what say you FAM? Perhaps a good option to improve our Malaysian football world ranking, I reckon... The second news is from Jakarta ... A tragic case of a murder by a mother who drowned her 9 year old son in the bath, claiming she was worried that his "small penis" would affect his future. She was reported to have drowned her son in a bathtub filled with water then dressed him and laid him on bed before surrendering to the police. I have no comment on this Jakarta news but my heart goes to this little angel....... The third news came from thousands of kilometers from Jakarta where it was reported that a Union boss in New Mexico embezzles to pay for plastic surgery. A Ms. Elba Esther Gordillo, who is the head of Mexico's teachers' union and one of the country's most powerful union has been charged with embezzling USD$200 million to fund a lavish lifestyle of shopping spree and plastic surgery. Apart from plastic surgery and shopping spree, the 68 year old also used the "ill gotten" money for acquisition of real estate and artworks. This what we called "Harapkan pagar, pagar makan padi" and if she is a teacher - she might be (if she is a fully employed union staff)or she might not be a teacher - the "perumpamaan" would be "Kalau cikgu kencing berdiri, anak murid kencing berlari" .... Till we meet again .....

Pok Nik, Al Arqam & Me ....

It's been quite a while - actually almost two decades ago - Al Arqam movement had been disbanded and declared as an illegal movement by the Government of Malaysia. The ban came at the height of the movement when its founder Allahyarham Ustaz Ashaari was said to be the most influential man in this country. Al Arqam's tentacles had spread out and reached at almost every strata of the country - the civil service, corporates & private sector even the media - with tens of thousands of followers and sympathisers. This post is not about Al Aqrqam per se ... I do not want to delve into whether Al Arqam is an "ajaran sesat" and so on as for a mere mortal like me I am not in a position to make any judgment except Allah the All Mighty... As a mere mortal, I wish to share with you my experience with Al Arqam ... The first encounter was in the late 70s when I was in Form 4 and the encounter was kinda like a very "santai" and quite humorous. It was a Friday at the "Stesen Bas Besar", Ipoh, a group of us met and planned on our "rock concert excursion" over the weekend at the Perak Stadium. It was a "double act of head banging" from the top rock/blues groups, Sweet Charity and the Blues Gang. We met at the Stadium that Saturday night and had a hell of head banging session and at one time was practically chased by the FRU as some of us tried to go near the stage at the center of the "padang" including a friend of us ... let's call him " Kid" (it's not his real name anyway)... Come Monday, we were - five of us - were "lepaking" at the "Stesen Bas Besar", Ipoh after school session still "rockingly" chattered about the rock concert but Kid was not to be seen and I guess it went on for that whole two weeks. On the third week, Monday, we nearly fell from our bench at the "Stesen Bas Besar", Ipoh on seeing a young lad wearing "jubah hijau" and clean white turban ... It was Kid indeed!!! To my astonishment, I saw a handsome young lad with a radiant face ... It could not be Kid right? It was indeed him ... My friend, Yang being the most outspoken from us said "Eh Kid!!! Ko ni kan? Last 3 weeks kita baru jerr pergi konsert Sweet Charity kan? Balik ke pangkan jalan ke?" We, including Kid ended up having a good laugh and we spent another hour or so addressing each other "Ana & Anta" at the bench before parting good bye. Kid hugged each and everyone of us at the amusement of those at the Bus Station ... That was the last time we saw Kid and that hug was the warmest and best hug I ever had .... Moving forward, it was Year '83 when I encountered with Jemaah Al Arqam ... I was at ITM Shah Alam and my dorm was at Perindu 3. I I really could not recalled how may of us were at the dorm but I do remember there was a guy from Jemaah Tabligh and the rest, about 8 of them were all from Jemaah Arqam with me as the only "non alliance" individual. I spent a solid 1 semester with these guys ... The Al Arqam group was led by a guy from Kelantan, Nik something - could not recall his real name - hence the nick name "Pok Nik" and there was a guy called as "Wak" a Johorean and the rest from Melaka, Perak and Selangor. They really took care of me well as my being the most junior at the dorm. I could still recall Pok Nik will without fail for that 1 semester - except when they went to Sungai Pencala for their gathering or "Usrah" - draped me with blanket at night when I went to bed. Pok Nik will also said these words without fail whenever he draped me with the blanket "Ana kesian tengok Adik Fauzi ni tidor tak berbaju - jauh dari kampung Ayah Mak dia". I knew because most of the time I was still not sleeping when he draped with the blanket but had to pretend to be sleeping anyway .... Pok Nik and Gang always asked me , in a polite way of course to join them for their group Usrah. Those days the ITM Jemaah Al Arqam's Usrah was normally held at one of the hostels which was located outside ITM at the vicinity of the "Bulatan ITM" Section 2, Shah Alam. I being a "Non Alliance" guy of course always politely rejected the invitation with a smile. However, I did attend a "ceramah" session held at an ITM Lecture Theater one particular night ... That evening Pok Nik and Wak approached me and told me that there would be a ceramah by the top guns from Al Arqam at the Lecture Theater. As always I just smile ... somehow or rather either out of guilt feeling for being constantly rejecting their invitation or out of curiousity, I put on my faded jeans and black T Shirt and my "selipar Jepun" I braved ny way to the Lecture Hall. Upon reaching there, I hesitated at the door because I noticed if I were to enter that Lecture Theater I would be the only one without wearing any Jubah or turban and of course the only one not wering jubah and "purdah"!!! All eyes wre focusing on me and to my surprise my Al Arqam dorm mates who were there approached me from their seats and each of them hugged me so tight and led my hand to sit beside them in the Lecture Theater... I could see the happiness and satisfaction in their faces .... After the "ceramah" we walked back togethher to Perindu 3 and Pok Nik and Gang made "Projek Haram" i.e. made tea and masak Maggi - we were not allowed to "masak" at the hostel - ... Tell you what that was the most "sedap" teh and "Maggi" I ever had in my life not to mention the hug from each of the 8 of my Al Arqam dorm mates.... I wonder where are they now ... Kid, Pok Nik, Wak and the rest. My Allah bless all of you ...

#KL112 HKR Part II

This is just a short posting on the statement made by the Home Minister, Hishamuddin Tun Hussein regarding the #KL122 HKR rally ... He was quoted as saying the crowd who attended the rally did not represent the majority of the Malaysians population of 28 million ... Your Excellency Mr. Minister Sir, on the issue of "majority of our 28 millions population" let's ponder the following points: 1. Out of this 28 million, we have to knock of about 10 million of those age below 15 years. We have to abide by the Akta Perhimpunan Aman anyway which forbids those age 15 years of age from attending any rally .....; 2. That leaves us with a figure of 18 million i.e. those age from 16 to 64 as per the National Census conducted in 2010; 3. However, the most important factor in determining "majority" in a politically democratic state is the number of registered voters ,,, As at 4 June 2012, it was reported that 13 million had Malaysians had registered as voters; 4. Consider this i.e. the result of the popular votes secured by BN in PRU 12. In Peninsular Malaysia, BN only secured 48.1% of the popular votes ... Only to be saved by the votes in Sabah and Sarawak making the tital of 51.2% popular votes for BN as a whole .... The question is, does the above what Your Excellency meant by "the majority of the 28 millions of Malaysians."?

# KL112 HKR

Much has been said about the recent rally on 12 January 2013 known as KL112 organised by the opposition PR and supported by various NGOs country wide at the Stadium Merdeka ... Statements had been made from both political divides commenting from the number of turn out right up to comparing the rally to that of the Arab Spring ... Let's go to the statistics ... A Maths Professor estimated - using his Maths formula - came up with a fugure of 700,000 while the police somehow or rather "tersilap kira" by pressing the calculator button twice hence changing the figure from 80,000 to 40,000. The organiser of KL112 claimed the figure was at 500,000 while the rest estimated the number at between 100.000 to 200,000... The issue is what's the actual figure? Now let's do some hard facts here: 1. Stadium Merdeka can accommodate maximum capacity of 33,000 and judging from the crowd, this was easily achieved; 2. This 33,000 has to be added with another estimated about 20,000/"berdiri" who sat on the green... mind you the 33,000 crowd were not watching a football on the "padang" played by 22 people plus 3 match officials!!!! 3. The estimated total number of 53,000 crowd in the stadium then has to be added with double that figure due to them not being able to enter the stadium .. this crowd swelled from outside the stadium right up to the old Chinese temple at the vicinity of the Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall Jalan Maharaja Lela with pockets of them at the vicinity of the Masjid Negara. Another group swelled from outside the stadium right up to the vicinity of Jlan Sultan area/Stadium Chin Woo.... The result is the crowd was easily at the figure of 100,000 or so .... Just imagine this, this 100,000 surely must have their parents - OK, let's take half of that number - or they must have their "adik beradik" or "saudara mara" ... voila!!! the number will swelled and bloated even further .... Next, let's go to the report by the mainstream media ... "Mingguan Malaysia" in its report the next day at page 13 posted a picture of a Malay family (3 of them) draped in DAP flags with a caption below the picture which read as " Sebuah keluarga berbangsa Melayu bangga menyarungkan bendera parti DAP semasa berarak ke Stadium Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur, semalam".... I bet the Utusan reporter must have spotted the opposite scenario where the Chinese were seen waving the PAS flag and draped in PAS flag ... Somehow or rather these were not published by Utusan whose majority of its readers are Malays .... The Sunday Times in its headline the next day front paged several pictures, one of which depicting a Chinese lady with her head lurking towards a certain direction - presumably at the crowd/rally while both her hands appeared to be ready to shut the (door) grill of her shop ... Again this is misleading as what I witnessed was the opposite ... At least 2 elderly Chinese couples waved from their window of their shop house with thumbs up along Lebuh Ampang plus another 3 Chinese couples along Jalan Sultan and not to mention those shop/stall operators alomh Jalan Sultan/Jalan Petaling ... Shame to the mainstream media .....

Are We a Pessimist Lot?

Yesterday while having breakfast, I overheard a guy at the Cafeteria where I worked uttered the Malay proverb "Sedangkan ulat dalam batu pun boleh hidup!!" Apparently, he was arguing with his friends on how to survive financially when almost all "barang naik".... This makes me wonder is the "peribahasa" denotes a pessimistic approach towards life or the opposite. The positive aspect of the proverb is that how the "ulat" has to work hard to "hidup" in a "batu"... On the other hand, it is more towards an attitude of apathy or "tidak apa" attitude ... Perhaps our elders those days had their reasons in coming up with these pessimistic proverbs. One of which is "kais pagi makan pagi, kais petang makan petang" which need not be analysed using special mixture of chemicals or litmus test or even being sent to the court of law for interpretation!!! It's a crystal clear pessimism to the highest level. Other "peribahasa yang sewaktu dengannya" are "seperti habuk di atas tunggul" and its synonym "seperti melukut di tepi gantang". These two proverbs are normally used to show how a person's existence is of no significance towards others or in "bahasa pasar "ada pun serupa macam tak ada"!!! Those are the proverbs, there might be more ... What about our "pantun"? The only "pantun" which I could think of is a "pantun" from the film entitled "Seri Mersing" where the hero, Nordin Ahmad said: " Kajang Tuan Kajang Berlipat, Kajanag Hambang Mengkuang Layu, Dagang Tuan Dagang Bertempat, Daganag Hamba Musafir Llau" The pantun does have a pessimistic colour in it but I would be more inclined to say that it's a "Pantun Budi Bahasa" as we, the Malays are known to be courteous lot ... Just like the proverb "Masuk kandang kambing mengembek, masuk kandang harimau mengaum" ... Lastly, the National Laureate Shahnon Ahmad wrote a novel entitled "Ranjau Sepanjang Jalan" , a story about husband (Lahuma) and wife (Jeha), slogging hard at their "14 relong sawah padi" at "Kampong Banggol Dedap". They have no son but seven (7)dauhters. They were faced with so many "dugaan" ... their "padi" were destroyed when attacked by "ketam" and "burung tiak" and even "air bah" ... If that is not enough a "dugaan" Lahuma the husband was taken ill after his feet "tertusuk onak nibung" which led to his death. Jeha was left alone mending the "sawah padi" and due to the tragic death of her husband and pressure of hard life, she went mad .... If this is not pessimism, I do not know what it is .... I will leave this post with another proverb " biarlah enggang dengan enggang, mana nak sama dengan si pipit" .....

Let's 'Belajar Sejarah"

I "balik kampung" over the weekend and found some interesting facts on our nation "sejarah" from a "buku sejarah" entitled "Exploring Sejarah" "Terbitan Oxford Fajar" for "Tingkatan 2 KBSM" written by Zamri Zakaria. It's about Haji Abdul Rhaman bin Abdul Hamid also known as Haji Abdul Rahman Limbong, a religious teacher who spearheaded the farmers' opposition against the British rule in Terengganu between 1921 to 1928. He was known as Haji Abdul Rahman Limbong due to him regularly went to Limbong, Kemaman to "mengajar ugama." In 1921, the British introduced "Pas Kebenaran Membuka Tanah" where any clearance of land for agricultural purpose would be taxed at "50 sen". In 1922, 43 farmers cleared and opened an agricultural land in Kuala Telemong and refused to pay tax to the British. they were arrested and charged in Court. Haji Abdul Rahman Limbong acted as their lawyer and argued in Court that "Tanah adalah milk Allah dan bukan hak negeri" leading him to win the case. In 1925, a group of about 300 to 500 farmers gathered at Kuala Telemong to cultivate on 200 acres of land belonging to Tengku Nik Fatimah and 400 acres of government land. The then Sultan, Sultan Sulaiman was urged by the British to take action against the farmers. In 1928, the British threatened to take action against farmers who refused to pay agricultural land taxes. On hearing this, about 1000 farmers protested in Marang, Kuala Terengganu and Kuala Berang and declared war against the British. In the process, they occupied a police station and government buildings in Kuala Berang and flew red flags. Intense war erupted at Padang Kachong where 12 farmers were killed and Haji Abdul Rahman Limbong and several other Malay leaders were arrested. Haji Abdul Rhaman Limbong was the exiled to Makkah by Sultan Sulaiman, obviously at the advise of the British, on charges of instigating the state of Terengganu's farmers to an act of war against the government. Below is the translation of the exile order: " Perisytiharan Buang Negeri Haji Abdul Rhman Limbong, 12 Zulhijjah 1346, Bilangan 1295, 1346" Ketahuilah sekelian rakyat-rakyat dalam negeri Terngganu dan jajahannya, iaitu dengan hukum dan titah perintah DYMM Sultan Sulaiman Badrul Alam Syah kerajaan Terengganu telah mengeluarkan Haji Abdul Rhaman bin Abdul Hamid (Haji Abdul Rhman Limbong) dari dalam negeri Terengganu dan jajahannya oleh disyakkan dengan sebab-sebab pengajaran Haji Abdul Rahman kepada pihak rakyat-rakyat menubuhkan gerakan menderhaka rakyat-rakyat kepada Raja dan kerajaan Terengganu." Maka bagi sementara Haji Abdul Rahman belayar ke Makkah diserah dia di bawah jagaan kerajaan Selat demikianlah adanya." There you are and Haji Abdul Rhaman Limbong was not the first to be punished due to due to act of war against the British colonial rule then ... In Perak, Raja Ismail was sent into exile to Johor while Sultan Abdullah and Ngah Ibrahim were sent into exile to the Seychelles Island. Meanwhile Dato' Maharaja Lela, Sepuntum (Si Putum), Dato' Sagor and Pandak Indut were hanged in Taiping on 20 June 1877. All because of their role in acting against the British imposition of new tax rules in Perak by killing the Perak First British Resident, J.W.W. Birch. My take on the above and on this "Tingkatan 2 Buku Sejarah" are as below: 1. The Perak incident were led by the "Pembesar_Pembesar Perak" and whether you like it or not, their action was motivated more on "self interest" as opposed to a mere "guru ugama", Haji Abdul Rahman Limbong; 2. The "Buku Sejarah" did make a cursory note on the role of the left wing independence fighters such as Burhanuddin Helmy, Pak Sako and the "Kaum Muda" But most important of all, at least kids nowadays "belajar sejarah" pertaining to local historical events/persons unlike when I "dan teman-teman yang sewaktu" was in the school those days ... We learned about David Livingstone, the Scottish explorer who explored Africa and Alexander the Great (this was when I was in Standard 5 or 6). In the secondary school, we traveled in a time machines almost half the world and got to know with Romulus & Remus, the twin brothers who founded Rome, the Spartans, The Moghuls and to China and met with Shih Huang Ti and the Han clans ,,, no!!! no!!! not Shahrukh Khan or Saif Ali Khan but Genghis Han & Kublai Han. How lucky are kids nowadays ......

How I became the 16th "Penyelidik" in 2013 ...

I spent a whole day at the Arkib Negara, Jalan Duta on 4 January 2013 and to my surprise, Arkib Negara had been kind enough to conferred the title of "Penyelidik" ... This is big a title for me to shoulder and I would ensure I will come again to "selidik" at the Arkib Negara ... How did I become a "Penyelidik"? This was what actually happened .. I went to the Arkib Negara to do some research related to work - something about the mass illegal strike staged at my current work place way back in 1979 (I was still in Form 4 at that time). As I approached the guard post of the Arkib Negara, I stopped and got a pass in exchange of my identity card. The guard asked me "Encik nak buat penyelidikan ke?" I answered with a simple "Ya, saya nak pergi ke Dewan Penyelidikan". The guard then mentioned about I would be given a "Pas Penyelidik" to which I just nodded my head ... When I reached the counter at the Dewan Penyelidikan, I was asked to fill in a Form and my name was registered and voila!!!! in not even half an hour after I entered the Arkib Negara I was appointed and given a pass with my name and the title "PENYELIDIK" and it's in Capital Letters as if affirming "look here guys!!! This guy is the "Penyelidik" and do not mess around!!" Upon cursory look at the Pass, I noticed that my "nombor pendaftaran" is 00016/2013 so I assumed I am the 16th "Penyelidik" honourably appointed by the Arkib Negara in 2013. Not bad though not able to be in the top 10 though ..... I went into the "Dewan Penyelidikan' and asked for the Sraits Time (S'pore), the NST and the Star newspapers for the year 1979 from the months of February until April of that year .... I managed to find what I looked for but two (2) news in 1979 during those months really caught my eyes, apart from the Iranian Revolution when Khomeini was back to Iran from his exiled conutry, France and the fall of Idi Amin of Uganda .... The two (2) news were: The Star dated 7 March 1979 had a headline read as "Students on Rampage" ... This is news to me. It states that 1,500 students of Sekolah Menengah Maxwell, Kuala Lumpur went on rampage during the 7.30 AM school assembly when their suspended Head Master bid them "farewell". Apparently, the HM Mr. P. Nadarajah was suspended on alleged of 3 charges of falsifying documents in relation to the salary claims of three teachers. The 1, 500 students refused to go to their class rooms and shouted in unison "We want Nadarajah" for 2 hours. Some of them apart from shouting were reported to go on rampage, banging the doors and furnitures as well as scribbling messages on the wall with 50 teachers watched helplessly. It was also reported that the Head Master left hurriedly soon after with the acting Head Mistress, Madam Jeanette Lim locked herself in school. On 8 March 1979, the STAR reported again as its headline which read as "Maxwell pupils back in class" but not before they booed the Ministry of Education Officer, one Encik Mohamad Diah who gave them a "ceramah perdana" at the morning school assembly. Was Madam Jeanette there? Yup she was ... I cared not to copy down the details as the news on 7 March 1979 is a real news to me compared to the 8 March 1979 report. Slightly more than a month later, The Star on 20 April 1979 reported that "450 Students of MARA Vocational Institute at the Kampung Pandan campus, Kuala Lumpur demonstrated over strict disciplinary rules in force in their campus. They were against the strict ruling of the campus administration in only allowing them to go out twice a week and to be back at the campus by 6.30 PM. In their mass protest they locked out the campus for more than 5 hours by shutting the main gate from 5.30 AM. On 26 April 1979, the Star reported "MARA College closes down" and again I did not copy down the details as it is not news material and it was an "easy way out" .... There you are the early months of 1979 were an eventful months with lots of manifestation of emotion or a manifestation of support and/or protest by students as young as in the secondary school right up to college students and not to mention those in Iran ..... It was really a busy first day for a first time "Penyelidik" for me and I promise Arkib Negara this .... Your "Penyelidik" will come again - this time I have to take a few days leave - to "selidik" the history, the cause and pattern of manifestation of one's or a group's emotion in Malaya/Malaysia .... Till we meet again ....

Mak Buat Bedak Sejuk ....

The other day I turned on the Radio Klasik channel and the topic for that day was "Bedak Sejuk". That reminds me of Mak making her own "bedak sejuk" when I was a kid... The process for 'pembuatan bedak sejuk" is quite tedious and it's a long and tedious process. Mak will soaked some rice with water in a small pot ("bekas/tempayan kecil") and will cover it with a cloth. The soaking process will normally takes about 2 to 3 months to ensure the "beras" really "hancur".... Mak will keep the pot somewhere at the far corner of our "dapur"... as the fermentation process come to the second month, it produced foul smell indicating the next stage of "bedak sejuk" production process is about to commence. When the rice had totally "hancur", the whitish substance (beras hancur") will be separated from the water using "tapis (tepung) halus" and poured into a small container (I used to call it " besen", orang Perak should know). The "bears hancur wiall then be poured into a coned shaped "acuan" normally from "daun" and Mak will squeezed the substance onto a thin white cloth spread on a "talm/dulang".This will be when I will eagerly assisted Mak is aqueezing the "beras hancur" as I liked to see those white small droplets took their places onto the white cloth. Normally Mak will do this at nights and would managed to complete two or three "talam". The next day, Mak will put the trays ("talam") under the sun for the "menjemur" process to dry up those small droplets. This will take about a few days and "daun pandan" will be put onto the tray so that it will be "wangi" in aroma. After a few days, it's time for me to be busy again as the next process is to detach the droplets from the white cloth into "bekas bedak sejuk". The droplets will be detach using a knife to "kikis" off the dried "bedak sejuk". This is the last process of Mak being a small time producer of "bedak sejuk" as she again put "daun pandan ricik" into the "bekas bedak sejuk". Every evening, after I had a bath - normally at 6.30 PM Mak will dressed me up in my "baju tidur jalur -jalur" with "bedak sejuk" on my face!!!! That was years ago when I was a small kid and the last time I saw "bedak sejuk" was on a shelf on a shelf of "kedai runcit" at the Little Infdia, Lebuh India .... How I missed Mak's "bedak sejuk", it's the best and softest of all the "bedak" in the universe ......

Kad Laporan Sulit Murid

Yesterday, 2 January 2013 was the day when parents became "students" ... in a state of helter skelter sending their kids especially those enrolled into Tahun 1 - those days it was called "Darjah 1"... As I passed by a primary school on the way to work today, I saw parents were running about and some of them standing outside their kids' classroom lurking their heads into the classroom... Almost all of us had that experience including myself... Today's post is not about the first day in school but about "Kad Laporan Sulit Murid"... I recalled when I was in Standard 1 in 1970, the class teacher would called us one by one to her table. On her desk was a red "kad laporan sulit" where the details of the "murid" were written, things like name, address, parents' occupation and wart not ... The best part about the "Kad Laporan Sulit Pelajar" was the part "Cita-Cita Murid"... I was a "kampong boy" and when asked by my "Cik Gu Darjah, Cik Gu Naimah what was my "cita-cita" - there were 3 choices - I unhesitatingly told her firstly I want to be a pilot, a doctor and a engineer. I ended up a "failure" as far as my three "cita-cita" are concerned .... it's way far off and off the track or rather "melencong jauh" ... There's an opportunity to achieve the "cita-cita" to become an engineer when I was at the Sekolah Menengah Teknik but it disappeared and evaporated into the sky as I "disappeared" from the classes during the two years I was there!!!! The favorite "cita-cita" among the boys were "polis" and "askar" while the girls "guru" or "jururawat". Somehow or rather, my friend Syed Hishamuddin @ "Abang" told Cik Gu Naimah his three "cita-cita" ... He said he wanted firstly to become "ahli gusti", "askar" and "polis"!!! Abang is a "lasak" boy and there was a post regarding him earlier in this blog ... Unlike me, Abang managed to become a police fpor quite a years. I was smiling in my car this morning when I recalled the "Kad Laporan Sulit Pelajar" as the school I passed by disappeared from my view ..... I wonder what were your three "cita-cita" in your "Kad Laporan Sulit Pelajar" .....

2012 .... Looking Back

It's 2013 and wishing you a very happy new year.... A friend, Jailany Jafar called me and wished me happy new year. How nice of him!!! So what have 2012 offered us, Malaysians? Just a shot post on this ..... To me, the Malaysians of the year should be won hands down by those 300,000 Malaysians - young and old - who transformed all the streets leading to the Dataran Merdeka during the Bersih 3.0 rally. In contrast, the sour grape of 2012 should go to the "Bapak Menteri Internet & Budi Bahasa" who "politely" claimed that based on his "grid calculation" the Bersih 3.0 rally only attracted less than 70,000 participants. To this, I would "dengan hormatnya" do not agree as all the roads leading to the Dataran was painted yellow on that day. By the way 2012 also saw this "Bapak Menteri" tried his luck to be a lyricist of the Merdeka Song "Janji di Tepati" which happened to be a flop and did not make it to the chart!!! I would say he single handedly caused Malaysians to be "embarrassed" to fly the "Jalur Gemilang" on their vehicles. Next medal of honour would go to the organisers of Bersih 3.0 rally amongst others S. Ambiga and A. Samad Said who braved the "threats" and barriers in organising the said rally, Hishamuddin Rais. Again in contrast, a big "boo boo" to those few Army Veterans who performed "tarian punggung" in front of Ambiga's house. On par with the Army Veterans are the so called small traders who in defiance of the local by laws "offered" "petak gerai" on the road right in front of Ambiga's house. My question is since when they have the power of the local authority - in this case DBKL - in offering "tapak gerai"? It's an act of stupidity "tahap gaban/dewa"!!!! What else? 2012 also marked a year when a particular MB was quoted as saying he dared to cut off his ear when he insisted that the participants of the "Hijau Walk" from Kuantan - ooops!!! now you know the MB already!!! - to Kuala Lumpur were not on foot but some of them "naik kereta & bas"... I think he rather chooses to cut of his ear than his hand/fingers so that he could continue making a deragotary and offensive gesture using his hands as what he did during a by election years ago.... Heard that his "biskut telinga" has become phenomenal on the eve of new year 2013 in Kuantan area .... I could go on and on but I want to be positive in moving forward into the year 2013... To Malaysians, please do make a change in 2013. To all my friends, Happy New Year!!!