Our Pillar of Strength

~ Mom's Journal ~

My daughter said if I were to have a pet, it would be the ants. Well, that is one aspect that she remembers about me. My mind started thinking about my parents. Their love and sacrifices, guidance and protection and all other acts of kindness will forever remain in my heart. While a mother is more approachable due to her gentle disposition, a father normally looks upon as a disciplinarian. With some sharing of memories with my sisters I would like to write a little bit about my father. Our father, Our Pillar of Strength.

This is a photo of our late father during one of the days when he went outstation.

1963: Our father in Seremban

During childhood, I remember the time when our father sent all of us to different schools. Yes, he allowed us to choose whether we wanted to attend the Malay or the English medium schools. He would then wake up early to ensure that we reached schools well before the bell rang. If any one of us was taken ill, normally due to fever, he would come and checked to see whether we have taken our medication. He would gently press our forehead to relieve the headache that accompanied the fever. He did not say much but we knew he cares. He then proceeded to send the others to schools.

We stayed at a few houses one of which is the house at Hill Road.  The houses here have a similar design. They are old bungalow houses with central entrance doorway. There are verandahs on both floors and many windows to provide a good ventilation.

The house at Hill Road

Sometimes a house was left unoccupied.

Then it underwent restoration and became a museum! This is the Muzium Warisan Sejarah Kuala Lipis which was opened in 2011. The Hill Road is now known as Jalan Bukit Bius.

Muzium Warisan Sejarah Kuala Lipis

Ok a small trivia on one house at Hill Road. Please allow me to go back to our schooldays. Our house was about 2km from schools. There was no school bus in the 1960s, only public transport or walked to school. Our father diligently sent us to school rain or shine. Education was very important to him. When school time was over he fetched all of us then only he proceeded to have his lunch and went back to the office to attend to his work. He drove a car of the Peugeot or the Ford brand.

Old faithful Ford Cortina

Our father came to Kuala Lipis in the 1948. During school holidays we get to go back to our kampong in Kerdau, Temerloh. We would go to our grandmother’s house at Kampong Paya Rambai. Sometimes she took us to visit our cousin at Kampong Panchor where our father used to live. I remember my sister would walk delicately on the wooden Paya Taram bridge especially when the paddy fields were flooded with water. 

The Paya Taram bridge

Towards the end of school holidays, we would travel back to Kuala Lipis by train. It was always a happy sight to see our father’s smile as we get off the train.

As we girls became teenagers we would read storybooks like the one below:

Barbara Cartland paperback books

Our father would just smile and told us it was ok to read them to familiarize ourselves with the English language. He noticed that we read other types of story books too. Okay… I know we read comics like “Beano” and “Dandy” and the satirical “Mad magazine” but I could not remember what other types of story books that we read. It certainly was not the version of the Twilight series or the Harry Potter fantasy series. Perhaps our father also noticed that we need a more diversified reading materials. He always made available the New Straits Times newspaper to encourage us to read more serious stuff that happened in and around the world.

Anyway, it was nice to lose ourselves in another era where the ladies wear beautiful Victorian gowns and the men handsomely attired in a gentleman’s suit. Although or because they had uncomplicated story lines we did not pay much attention to the stories.

We also read Malay novels like “Salina”, ‘Siti Nurbaya” and the popular book by Hamka,  “Dibawah Lindungan  Ka’bah”.

Hamka: Di Bawah Lindungan Ka'bah

As we grow older and a bit wiser we look at the title like “Journey to Paradise” from a different perspective. Gone are the naivety as a teenager. On its own, the title “ Dibawah Lindungan Ka'bah” also has a significant meaning. As we continue to live our lives we hope the journey taken by everyone will end well.

Incidentally, before the arrival of e-book and Mr. Google, parents would buy Encyclopedia for their children and grandchildren.

To continue where I left off, let’s move back to the 1960s and 1970s. When we left primary schools some of us went to the boarding schools. Apart from the 10ringgit monthly allowance provided by our schools, our father would also send to us a monthly allowance of 20ringgit. In his letter, he wrote the figure as 20ringgit but we can be sure to find small notes of 2 or 3ringgit on top of the 20. I remember he said, “Don’t give just enough, give a little bit more”.

Father in a pensive mood.

Much later as we graduated from the University, he would send a letter to congratulate us.

A letter from a father

Our father treated his children equally. It was alright if we did not perform well in our studies. We tried our best and ready to move on.

My sister, Halimah, recalled the following memories about our late father. We addressed our father as “Apak”, the short form for “Bapak” which means father. The term “Arwah” refers to someone who had passed away hence “Arwah Apak”. Back then it was also common to have nicknames for girls such as “Manja”, “Wok” or “Intan” which means beloved daughters.

Memories of days gone by….

When we resided at No. 91 Residency Hill, Kuala Lipis, our neighbours were of mixed races. Hence, I had Chinese friend name Han Sow Chan from the Han’s family, an Indian friend whom I called Charo @ Shanty, a Bengali friend (unfortunately I have forgotten what ‘Kaur’. However, I remember she had a brother name Darshan Singh. I wonder where they are all now...) Anyway, that made us a complete solidarity foursome.  We stayed in the same community, played together, and went to the same school.  Many a time my friends would request a lift to school, and each time too arwah apak would obliged, without a sigh, nor complaint. My beloved late father was so pure at heart. How I wished I could inherit his sincerity…(May Allah SWT bless his kind soul.)

During my school days, I was never a bright student. On one occasion I showed arwah apak my end-of-year examination result. Arwah apak looked, and while signing the report card, he commented:  banyak corak batik ni wok (my nickname). “Corak batik” meaning blue markings mixed with red markings thereby presenting  a ‘colourful’ impression. However, arwah’s tone was never filled with despair, nor anger. The wonder of apak, a very tolerant father…He knew, and very much aware of his this one particular daughter’s academic limit!

Upon completion of my secondary studies, I migrated to Kuantan, Pahang, leaving behind my beloved so-called ‘sleepy hollow’ hometown Kuala Lipis. I remember then, sitting in the back seat of the car, while driving arwah apak said; ‘Nanti, bila dah dapat kerja, JANGAN minta naik gaji. Terima je apa orang bagi.’ Basically, he advised me when I managed to get a job, DO NOT ask for an increase in salary. Just accept the amount given by the employer.

At that particular time, I had not the slightest inkling of what lies beyond the super visual statement. Only many, many years later, when my religious conscience got the better of me did I realized that that was TASAWUF. Believe only in Allah the Almighty, Al-Baasit (the Extender of Rizq), Al-Wahhab (the Giver of all things); and never to seek from fellow human. May Allah SWT bestowed His forgiveness and mercy, and reward arwah apak with His Jannah…ameen. 

My sister’s memories ran true to our father's concern for his children.

Times passes by. Our father would be happy to know that all of us had discharged our responsibilities reasonably well by providing decent education opportunities to all our children. Whenever possible we try to instill a sense of responsibility in our children by encouraging them to care for one another.

My eldest sister and her children

My niece and her parents, precious moments

My daughters

As we move on, we also remember that our father places a high value on time. He would teach us to be disciplined. For example, in his letter, he would gently informed us that a certain item or document had to reach him on time. He would use the phrase “on or before a specified date”.

A reminiscence

It is not possible to recall all memories. As aptly put by my eldest sister, Siti Halijah, old memories are fading slowly. We will, however, never forget our father’s love and kindness as he quietly let us go to build our own families. We certainly miss him and his du’a as he left us with “Salam doa dari ayahanda”.

Blue Sky

~ Mom's Journal ~

“Langit Biru” or Blue Sky.

“Langit Biru” is the title of a song that was recorded in 1956 and sang by a singer named Djuwita. Surprisingly, my daughter, DL, likes this song too. It has a beautiful melody that leaves a fleeting feeling…

This is for you, DL with much love from mak ~

“ Langit yang biru oh tetap birunya…”

The sky was not always blue but the journey was always beautiful. We travelled that winding road for almost 3 years. You presented us with a wonderful result. Congratulations, my dear DL and thank you, my dear Ekeen for your sisterly love towards DL.

DL, you still have far to go, plan realistically, the sky is the limit.

The Women's Institute Club - Part I

~ Mom's Journal ~

Members of Women’s Institute Club

Growing up in a small town my siblings and I often watched our mother went out with some of the aunties in our area to attend the Saturday weekly cooking class.  It was held at the Women’s Institute Club. We didn’t know it then but apparently the women’s organization, the National Association of Women’s Institute in West Malaysia (NAWIM) was formed in 1952 and concerned with social welfare matters. The organization catered to rural Malay women with the objectives of raising their standard of living, improving their knowledge in home economics and encouraging women to work together. The organization’s activities included organizing nursery classes, setting up co-operatives , undertaking food catering, providing foster homes and keeping livestock (cit. Saliha Hassan, Meredith Leigh Weiss, 2004, Social Movement Malaysia) .

Keeping livestock? I remember food catering for special functions but not keeping livestock. As for co-operatives, there was a monthly gathering of a group of ladies for an activity called “main kutu”. I think it functions as an informal co-operative activity back in the early 60’s. The ladies were supportive of one another whereby if any one of them faced a financial crisis the other members in the group would allow her to get the lump sum money first. The others would then queue patiently for their turn at the end of each month. It normally comprised of a small group of 10 or 12 people with small monthly contributions of about 30 ringgit per person.

The practice of “main kutu” has ceased as it is now considered illegal under the Akta (Larangan) Kumpulan Wang Kutu 1971 [Akta 28].

  

As for weekly cooking class, members with good cooking skills would take turn to demonstrate and teach the class. Our mother was one of them. I found my mother’s recipe book with a compilation of almost 100 recipes. A must have recipe would be the traditional Malay cuisine recipe of “Ayam Percik”. Ayam Percik is a delicious, sweet and tender grilled chicken splashed with coconut milk gravy to keep it moist and full of flavour.

Ayam Percik

Ayam Percik recipe

Apart from the traditional Malay recipes there are also many spritz cookies recipes. Spritz cookie has a rich buttery texture that is tender crisp. “Spritz” is a German word for “spritzen” meaning “to squirt”. Our mother would use the Spritz Cookie Press to squirt the cookie dough. Spritz cookies contain the basic ingredients of butter, sugar, eggs, flour and vanilla extract. The cookies may be presented in many shapes such as circles, squares, ovals, rings and pretzel-like forms.

Spritz Cookie Press

Various shapes of butter spritz cookies

Other than the famous traditional cookie called “kuih semperit” our favorite cookie is the wreath shape spritz cookie. It is vanilla flavoured butter cookie topped with green sugar crystals and decorated with slices of almond. My brother Azam said, this cookie is also known as "Kueh Telinga Awang". Let's just say he knows the origin of this name.

Butter spritz sugar crystals

Spritz cookies recipes

We were too young to join the WI Club so we joined the Brownies (Girl Guide Club) at our school. We wore brown uniform with tangerine necktie.

Brownies (Girl Guide Club)

Sekolah Kebangsaan Wan Ibrahim, Kuala Lipis, Pahang

Time flies.

Balik Kampong

~ Mom's Journal ~

Eid al-Fitri or Hari Raya Aidilfitri is a celebration by all Muslims across the world. It marks the end of fasting in the month of Ramadan. This year Hari Raya Aidilfitri falls on Friday, 1 Syawal of 1436H or 17^th July 2015. "Balik kampong" or home coming is a word synonym with people travelling home to be with and to celebrate the occasion with their parents and other family members.

A kampong house is normally quite spacious and has ample parking space to accommodate everyone returning home. In our case parking is from the front porch right to the back door where the open air or dry kitchen is located. The open air kitchen is where we normally boiled “ketupat”, “bakar lemang”, cooked “rendang ayam”, “rendang daging” and other delicious dishes for the Hari Raya celebration. The cookies are prepared beforehand. Our late mother would bake 10 to 20 types of cookies during weekends or after she came back from the office throughout the month of Ramadan. To ignore that heavenly smell of freshly baked cake and cookies when you are young and fasting proved to be quite challenging. But then again fasting is a test of faith and willpower.

The Kampong House

Arrival of family members

It has been a long while since we last “balik kampong”. In the normal tradition of celebrating Hari Raya, the first Hari Raya would normally starts with the Hari Raya prayer at the mosque. Thereafter visits to relatives and friends houses. There was no fancy electronic device then. Television programmes are not really attractive but some programmes are everlasting. The Dragon Ball series is one example.

A Dragon Ball pose

We also took advantage of the Hari Raya holidays to visit places in our home town. The Residen Hill Rest House remains a favourite. It is strategically located on the highest hill top. The winding road leads us to a beautiful Neo-classical design house of white and maroon colours. This house was built in 1922 for the first British Resident, Sir Hugh Clifford. It became the official residence for his successors. After independence, there was a time that it was left vacant for almost 20years. It was later converted to a government rest house. An interesting feature is the balcony. The Resident must have stood there in a baronial manner looking down at their conquest. History is to be preserved to remind us that our fore fathers fought relentlessly to give us an independent country and a sovereign nation!

The Residen Hill Rest House built in 1922

We took some photographs to remind us of the passing of time.

At the right end of the Rest House

A common architectural design in colonial building is the arched balustrade. It creates an aesthetic value while being functional at the same time. We could feel the fresh, cool and clean air as we sat in the living room. It was a relaxing atmosphere.

At the corridor adjoining the living room

We then wandered into the front lawn. The garden is planted with the common tropical garden plants. Landscaping is kept to the minimal. We found the mushroom structure to be a perfect place to sit and pose for photographs.

At the garden

After sometime, we left the Rest House and continue our trip to town. It brings us to Sungai Jelai or the Jelai River. From where we stand, to the left is the river and to the right is the row of shop houses of the old town centre.

Overlooking Sungai Jelai

There are many villages along the river. There used to be many boats plying the river in the 1960s. During Hari Raya people from the villages would come to town by boats or by train to visit friends and relatives or to watch movie at the “Paradise Theatre”, the only theatre in town. The railings around the theatre fronting the main road are the place for the boys to “bertenggek” or perched or hang out and wolf-whistled at girls walking along the main road. I think most people from Kuala Lipis have memories about this well-known meeting place. I remember on one Hari Raya day, the famous Hindustani film “Sangam” was on show.  It’s a tear-jerker story so many people came out from the theatre in broad daylight with red eyes!  Malu jugak lah... (yes, quite embarrassing).

Paradise Theatre closed in the 1990s

The festive air and celebrations bring much joy to everyone. Kuala Lipis, a sleepy town comes alive. The mode of transportation has much improved with highways and better road conditions. Nowadays the river is quiet and peaceful. Only if we are lucky we get to see a boat carrying passengers or goods along the river.

There used to be “Rumah Rakit” or Houses on the Rafts along the Jelai River. In 1971 the big flood caused the river to rise, higher than the place where we stand, and submerged part of the town centre. The houses on the rafts should be able to float as the river rises but it was a big, massive flood, the occupants must have been terrified and fled to safety. With more development and modern housing, those houses on the rafts have ceased to exist. The river bank is now covered with lush green bushes where nature has taken its course.

The river bank of Sungai Jelai

The bridge seen in the photograph was actually constructed in the late 1990s. It was built to link the old and the new town centres. The new town centre is built on the other side of the bridge of Sungai Jelai, it is towards the left side of the river. I used to wander what lies on the other side. Apparently there were only acres and hundreds of acres of jungle land. There is much opportunity for development. Meantime, at the old town centre, it is good to see that the steps going towards the jetty has been upgraded for better safety of the people who still need to travel by boat. It is also of historical value.

Photo from Arkib Negara : Sungai Jelai

Sungai Jelai : Year 2000

Another interesting place which we would stop to visit is the Pahang Club. It’s a throwback to the colonial past. It was built in 1907 and became temporary residence for Sir Hugh Clifford prior to the completion of his official residence in 1922.  Another piece of history said it was the first building built by the British in Kuala Lipis way back in 1867. It was said to be the place for happy hours for tin miners, planters and British administrators. Pahang has rich mineral resources like the gold mine in Raub and huge rubber and oil palm plantations. The long, cool verandahs of the Club must have been a comfortable place to sit, drink and exchange stories well into the nights. Later we also heard that it was also a place for socialite partying even after independence.

It was very much later towards 1980s that the Club was used for recreational activities by the locals. We can still find the snooker tables and badminton courts. Back then in 1960s my siblings and I were oblivious to the happenings at the Club as we were busy playing outdoor games like marbles or police and thieves, together with our Chinese, Indian and Bengali neighbours. There were 8, 9 or 10 of us in each family so we were a contented lot.

The Pahang Club built in 1907

At the main door

When we reached the Club, the door was closed but not locked. As we went into this rickety old wooden Club we treaded carefully to explore the dance floor. It must have been a witness to many events. The dancers would glide around the floor almost effortlessly to the sound of rhapsodic and melodic music. Their movements would be smooth and graceful.

A scene from the Waltz 1920s

This old rickety building seems to stand the test of time and history. Perhaps the Club would undergo restoration to accommodate the current social activities of the locals but at that point of time of our visit it appeared to have been abandoned. It only adds to the atmosphere of a fallen splendour.

Once upon a dance floor

Meantime, my children, children of an independent nation, posed happily in a carefree manner and with much enthusiasm. They have the freedom to walk into places that once belonged to an exclusive society.

Another place we would visit is the Kuala Lipis Government Office. Kuala Lipis was the capital of Pahang from 1898 to 1955. This prominent historical building is easily noticeable as one approaches Kuala Lipis. It was built on a hill top in 1919. It became the management centre for Pahang state. The Land Office is located in this complex. It is about 1km from the old town centre.

 Government office complex built in 1919

At the Land Office

If a person takes a bus ride from town to the office, the bus would stop at the bottom of a flight of stairs to go to the complex. Thereon one has to walk up the stairs for about 10minutes. It is quite a pleasant walk as the stairs are well spaced. As the office is quite close to town some people may choose to walk back to the old town centre after attending to their business at the office.

For my siblings and i, occasionally our late father who once worked at the Land Office would allow us to see him at the office. We would be thrilled to be able to do just that. We love to walk up the stairs and enter the beautiful building. Everyone seemed to be working quietly. There were stack of files on the tables and we could hear the sound of typewriters and the ringing sound of the old fashioned black colour dial system telephones. On the way home, we would stop by the canteen to buy “roti canai”. It was such a simple pleasure in life.

Good exercise

Almost there

At the corner of the Land Office

In 2012 the Land Office was moved to the new town centre leaving the old Land Office empty and deserted. It was strangely quiet and melancholic.

Abandoned steps

Wrapped in time

The new Land Office offers a contemporary architectural design which is a striking contrast to the old Land Office.

 The new Land Office

We move on with time. Our country has many capable leaders and administrators. We have a statesman by the name of Tun Muhammad Ghazali Shafie or his nickname “King Ghaz”. He was born in Kuala Lipis in 1922. King Ghaz was a diplomatic leader who was known nationally and internationally. Among his noble contributions are his roles in the formation of Malaysia and ASEAN.

Finally it’s time for everyone to “balik rumah” or go back home to their respective houses.

Zero Milestone

As we looked outside the window of our car, we see again the secondary jungles, the traditional villages and one particular area that we always make time to stop and rest, the “ Pusat Rekreasi Jeram Besu” or Besu Rapids Recreational Park. The rapids are reported to be both challenging and thrilling.

Jeram Besu is located on the trunk road between the towns of Raub and Kuala Lipis, about 25km from Kuala Lipis going towards Kuala Lumpur. As we step on the river bank, the Jeram Besu is a picture of tranquillity. It offers a natural landscape of small forest and young trees and we can hear the sound of chirping birds. The water flow smoothly in small waves as it sweeps over small rocks and boulders and under the canopy of trees. It continues to meander down streams as the current gain momentum.

At Jeram Besu Recreational Park

Canoeing and kayaking stuff

Jeram Besu is located on Sungai Lipis

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri everyone and Maaf Zahir dan Batin.