Friday, December 31, 2010

Congratulations Malaysia!


I am glad that I spent my younger days in the 60s, 70s and 80s. Those were the days of The Beatles, the Vietnam War, Hippies, men landing on the moon, Muhammad Ali (who called himself The Greatest), P. Ramlee and to a certain extend the golden years of Malaysian Football.

Since the end of the Soh Chin Aun-Mokhtar Dahari-Arumugam-Santokh Singh era I had not followed Malaysian football. Once in a while names like Azman Adnan and Akma Rizal propped up but they were soon forgotten, at least by me.

The 70s and early 80s were the peak of Malaysian Football. We qualified for the Olympics twice and won the bronze medal in the Asian Games once. Winning the gold medal in the SEA Games was just a formality. Those were achieved by our footballers who were amateurs. In other words they did not play football for a living.

Likewise reception by our citizens were at par with the rise of our national football standards. Fans flocked to our stadiums whenever our team were playing. When games were telecast live on television there were less traffic jams on the streets.

The funny thing was Malaysian football plummeted down when our players started playing football for a living. It started with the semi-pro thing and continued when they were full professionals. This was in stark contrast to teams like Korea and Japan which improved tremendously once their players turned professionals. Before, our national team were at par or better than the two mentioned national teams. But until now we can consider ourselves lucky if we beat Thailand or Singapore.

Interest among the public towards our national team dropped too. It was a rare occasion to see a stadium half filled when our national team was playing. There were more fans watching the state teams playing compared to the national team. I myself did not bother to watch them playing on television.    

So it was a relief that our national football team won the Asean Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup two days ago. We beat Indonesia 4-2 in aggregate, after winning 3-0 at home and losing 2-1 away. It was fitting too, since Malaysia also won the gold medal in the football competition of the last SEA Games held only last year. At last there is hope in our national football after being in the doldrums for more than two decades. Suddenly Safee Sali and Khairul Fahmi Che Mat are becoming household names like Mokhtar Dahari and Arumugam more than twenty years ago. By the way does not Safee Sali look a bit like the late Mokhtar Dahari?

But we should not be overwhelmed by this victory. Our record in reaching the semi-finals were not impressive. In the final group game we had to depend on others to reach the next stage. It was Indonesia that gave us a favour by beating Thailand. It is ironic than in the final games we did not return Indonesia's favour.

I just hope that this victory is not just a flash in the pan. Remember Denmark in the Euro 1992 competition. They did not qualify for the final stages held in Sweden and had to replace the qualified Yugoslavia at the last moment. But the totally unprepared Denmark team won the tournament. The same can be said about Greece during Euro 2004. 

Still this is an achievement for Malaysian football. We won the AFF Suzuki Cup with players barely assembled since a few regulars were injured. Our players were born and bred in our own country and not naturalised with names like Gonzales and Bennet. Our coach is a citizen of our own country and not a mercenary. 

With that I say "Congratulations, Malaysia."

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

"Remember me?"

Yesterday I received a friendship request on Facebook from somebody with the question (in Malay) "Remember me?" Unfortunately I don't remember him but from reading his profile I guessed  that we could be related. After being confirmed friends I replied his message by telling him I cannot remember him but guessed that he is related to me. He replied that of course we are related and he mentioned a few names that I should know. Unfortunately too I don't recognize many of the names he mentioned although all are related to us and some had died. By the way this man is two years younger than me and we originated from the same kampung.

How could this be so? First of all although we were from the same kampung we stayed about three kilometers apart. My primary school was only about 1.5 kilometers from my house and walking to and fro school was fun. But he had to walk or cycle 4.5 kilometers if his parents wanted him to study in the same kampung school. So a few boys and girls staying in the same vicinity of his home went to a school in a different kampung instead. This school is about 6 kilometers from their viciniy and they went to the school by bus. So I did not mix with this relative of mine in school.

I could had mixed with him in secondary school. But fortunately for me and unfortunately for our relationship I was selected to enter a fully residential school outside the state. Those six years in secondary were the best years of my life. I found friends from all parts of the country and many of those friends are still in constant contact with me.  

After secondary school I found a job and I had to spend one year in Kuala Lumpur for my training and another year working in Kelantan. Then I returned to Seremban, got married and settled down. Although I am staying quite close to my kampung, my wife is from another state and this is another reason why I was sort of estranged from my own relatives. 

So it was small wonder that when he asked the question "Remember me?" I had to be frank and replied "No."   


Friday, December 24, 2010

Aziz Bai

Aziz Bai berbaju gelap dan bertopi hitam.

Sekali sekala dalam hidup kita, kita berjumpa dengan insan yang tidak boleh kita lupakan. Serupa juga dalam hidup saya. Saya telah menceritakan serba sedikit mengenai Bang Saad dalam pos saya sebelum ini. Kali ini saya akan menceritakan tentang seorang lagi insan yang juga tidak dapat saya lupakan. 

Bukan saya seorang sahaja yang tidak melupakannya, tetapi ramai lagi. Insan yang saya maksudkan bernama Aziz bin Sulaiman tetapi antara kami dia dikenali dengan nama Aziz Bai sahaja. Aziz berasal dari Kelantan dan sama bersekolah dengan saya di Sekolah Dato' Abdul Razak, Tanjong Malim, Perak. Sekarang sekolah ini sudah berpindah ke Sungai Gadut, Seremban.

Dari gelarannya Aziz bukanlah 100% berbangsa Melayu tetapi dia amat pupolar dengan kami yang keseluruhannya berbangsa Melayu. Mungkin kelainan ini menjadikannya begitu. Cuma ia popular kerana kenakalannya. Sesiapa yang seangkatan dengannya tetap mengingatinya walau pun selepas meninggalkan sekolah. Tetapi saya tidak mahu menceritakan secara terperinci mengenai kenakalannya. 

Aziz junior setahun dari saya. Ia juga tinggal di asrama lain. Itulah antara sebab saya tidak mengenalinya secara dekat dan tidak tahu secara terperinci akan kenakalannya. Yang jelas ialah Aziz juga seorang yang mengharumkan nama sekolah dalam bidang sukan. Antaranya dia menjadi johan lari pecut 100 meter peringkat sekolah negeri Perak (kawan-kawan terutama Muhammad Abdullah A, tolong sahkan).

Kelebihannya dalam bidang sukan juga menjadi faktor ia tidak dihukum oleh pihak sekolah kerana kenakalannya. Kalau dalam filem karaktornya boleh diibaratkan sebagai 'anti-hero', buka 'hero' dan bukan pula 'crook'.

Seperti saya Aziz tidak berjaya meneruskan pelajarannya ke peringkat tinggi. Selepas keluar sekolah ia memasukki pasukan Polis berpangkat rendah. Saya mendapat tahu kenakalannya juga dibawa dalam kerjanya. Saya mendengar cerita pada satu hari Aziz yang bertugas sebagai seorang Polis Trafik menjadi sebahagian dari pasukan 'road block' Polis. Kemudian seorang pemandu kereta yang sama sekolah dengan kami menegurnya. Aziz kemudian berborak panjang dengan kawan kami ini menyebabkan kawan ini resah kerana menahan lalulintas di belakang. Tetapi Aziz tidak peduli dan berkata 'Dia orang boleh tunggu'. 

Selepas keluar sekolah Aziz tetap terus berkawan dengan kawan-kawan sama sekolah kami tidak kira apa pangkat kami. Dia akan pergi ke pejabat dimana kami bekerja dan terus berkata kepada penyambut tetamu, pegawai keselamatan, penyambut tetamu atau pembantu persendirian bahawa 'Cakap pada boss awak Aziz Bai nak jumpa'. Sudah pasti Aziz dibenarkan masuk dan berjumpa dengan kawannya.

Aziz juga hampir tidak pernah tinggal dalam apa-apa program sekolah dan murid tua sekolah. Dia sanggup datang jauh dari tempat kerjanya untuk hadir di program-program tersebut. Dia juga sanggup bermotosikal dan kadang-kadang ditimpa hujan. Tetapi kerana popularitinya tidak ada antara kami akan menolak bila   Aziz Bai ingin menumpang kereta kami.  

Pernah dulu Yang DiPertua Persatuan Murid Tua sekolah kami Allahyarham Dato' Mazlan Idris menegur sikap setengah lepasan sekolah kami yang menjauhkan diri dari aktiviti sekolah dan murid tua. Dia memberi contoh kepada Aziz Bai yang 'daif' (sebutan Allahyarham sendiri) tetapi sanggup datang dari jauh untuk aktiviti sedemikian. Ini betul-betul memberi peransang kepada saya.

Di dalam aktiviti kami, Aziz tidak malu-malu bergaul dengan kawan-kawan lama yang sudah jauh berbeza taraf hidup mereka. Tetapi bagi Aziz dalam aktiviti begini kami semua sama. Contohnya gambar di atas. Di antara dalam gambar itu ialah seorang mantan Setiausaha Kerajaan, seorang mantan Timbalan Ketua Menteri dan seorang mantan Datuk Bandar. Gambar diambil semasa kami meraikan kampus baru sekolah kami di Sungai Gadut, Seremban. Di waktu itu Aziz tinggal di Mentakab, Pahang.

Tetapi itu semua hanya tinggal kenangan sekarang. Aziz Bai meninggal dunia beberapa tahun selepas gambar di atas diambil. Walau bagaimana pun di mana-mana kami berjumpa nama Aziz Bai sering disebut.

Al-Fatihah kepada Aziz bin Sulaiman, lebih dikenali sebagai Aziz Bai.  

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Bang Saad

Saya, Bang Saad, isteri Bang Saad dan isteri saya.

Ada orang tidak suka masuk ke laman sosial Facebook. Kata mereka pengasasnya berbangsa Yahudi. Tetapi saya sudah lali dengan cerita Yahudi ini. Pengurus The Beatles, Brian Epstein juga beragama Yahudi. Tetapi kalau tidak kerana Brian Epstein, The Beatles entah ke mana.

Ketiga-tiga ahli asal The Three Stooges, Moe, Larry dan Curly juga beragama Yahudi. Saya ada koleksi DVD penuh The Three Stooges.  Setelah melihat kesemuanya saya dapati banyak idea The Three Stooges ditiru oleh P. Ramlee. Contohnya adegan Bujang Lapok masak gulai ayam ditiru dari idea The Three Stooges mengilang minuman beer. Cara Do Re dan Mi berbincang sambil berpeluk bertiga juga ditiru dari The Three Stooges. Malah idea 'trio' atau kumpulan bertiga yang digunakan oleh P. Ramlee untuk Bujang Lapok, Madu Tiga, Tiga Abdul dan Do Re Mi juga ditiru dari idea 'trio' The Three Stooges. Ada saya dengar di radio yang P. Ramlee menggunakan idea 'trio' ini kerana nombor kegemaran P. Ramlee ialah nombor 3. Salah  tu, The Three Stooges sebenarnya.

Berbalik kepada Facebook saya mendapatinya sangat berguna untuk saya berhubung semula dengan kawan-kawan dan saudara-mara yang sudah lama hilang hubungan. Baru-baru ini saya dihubungi oleh seorang dua pupu saya yang saya tidak dengar berita selama lebih dari lima tahun. Dia kurang sihat sekarang. Beberapa hari lepas pula saya dihubungi oleh seorang kenalan saya yang namanya serupa dengan saya. Setahu saya paling akhir saya berjumpa dengannya ialah pada tahun 1971.

Tapi yang paling mengembirakan saya ialah apabila dapat berhubung dengan kawan sekolah saya yang saya tak jumpa semenjak tahun 1963, iaitu 47 tahun yang lalu. Bukan kawan sebenarnya, kerana ia tua dan senior empat tahun dari saya. Saya ingat kepadanya ialah kerana dialah yang membetulkan cara saya sembahyang.

Semasa saya di sekolah rendah di kampung saya ada menghadiri kelas agama petang. Ustaz yang mengajar bernama Sulaiman dan kami memanggilnya Lobai Leman sahaja. Dia sudah meninggal dunia sekarang. Dia juga mengajar kami cara-cara sembahyang. Tetapi sebenarnya saya tidak pernah mengamalkan ajarannya di rumah.

Saya hanya mula sembahyang apabila masuk ke sekolah menengah, iaitu Sekolah Dato' Abdul Razak (SDAR) Tanjong Malim, Perak, sebuah sekolah berasrama penuh. Apabila melihat kawan-kawan lain sembahyang, saya pun mula mengamalkannya sambil mengingati apa yang diajar oleh Lobai Leman. Di sinilah saya masih ingat seorang senior yang sebilik dengan saya membetulkan cara saya sembahyang. SDAR dahulu tidak mempunyai masjid seperti SDAR Seremban sekarang, apa lagi surau. Oleh itu amalan seperti sembahyang diajar oleh senior kepada junior di bilik sahaja. 

Berpuluh tahun telah berlalu dan saya masih ingat akan bimbingan senior saya ini. Sampai namanya pun hilang dari ingatan saya. Cuma saya tahu ia berasal dari Pahang. Tetapi terima kasih kepada Fecebook saya dapat menghubunginya. Saya memanggilnya Bang Saad sahaja.

Oleh itu bila mendapat peluang saya pun berjumpa Bang Saad. Bang Saad berasal dari Temerloh, tetapi sekarang menetap di Kuantan. Rupanya sudah banyak berubah. Dia tidak lagi memakai cermin mata kerana matanya sudah dibedah dan dimasukkan kanta baru. Jika saya terserempak dengannya di mana-mana sudah tentu saya tidak mengenalinya. Tetapi dia masih sihat dan masih cekap memandu kereta. Gambar-gambar lawatan saya ke Kuantan dan Pahang ada di sini.

Terima kasih Bang Saad kerana layanan yang tidak dapat saya lupakan.

Monday, December 13, 2010

Program berkhatan beramai-ramai tahun 2010

Seperti tahun lepas surau saya mengadakan program berkhatan beramai-ramai untuk anak-anak kami. Juga inilah kali pertama program ini dijalankan di surau bar. Sembilan kanak-kanak mengambil bahagian, tiga darinya adik beradik. Inilah berita bergambar yang saya dapat ceritakan.

Seorang bapa membawa anaknya datang ke surau.

Ketiga-tiga adik beradik ini dikhatankan bersama. Yang sedang makan itu bapa mereka.


Menjamu selera dahulu di kantin surau.


Kemudian kami berpindah ke dalam surau.


Tuan imam mengetuai doa selamat.


Sebahagian kaum ibu dalam surau.


Ini kanak-kanaknya.


Tuan imam menyampaikan cenderamata.


Bergambar ramai.


Mencuba penyembur air.


Kanak-kanak disembur air.


Kemudian menaiki kenderaan.


Lagi menaiki kenderaan.


Mereka sudah sampai di klinik.


Inilah kliniknya.


Menunggu dalam klinik.

Kanak-kanak pertama selesai dikhatankan.


Tak sakit pun.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Uda

Two days ago I received a request from somebody to befriend me in the social network Facebook.  It was from a second cousin of mine from whom I did not hear for quite some time, more than five years I think. We call him Uda.

Uda is the short version of  'muda' which means young. In Negeri Sembilan the title is normally given to any one brother or sister from the fourth sibling onwards but never for the first, second or third. It is not the same in the state of Melaka as I see it among my wife's family. My wife's sister, a third sibling, is called Mak Uda by her nephews and nieces. In Negeri Sembilan, she would be called Mak Lang. 

When Uda alerted me with his friendship request my memory went back many many years ago towards another person also called Uda. 



Me with the late Uda. He was wearing my specs and I was wearing his coat. This photo was taken in 1969.

After finishing my studies in a fully residential school I returned to my kampung while looking for a job. Somehow I became close friends with Uda much to the objections from my family members except my mother. They thought Uda was not fit to become my friend because of his low education. Uda's father died when he was still in primary school. After many years being a widow Uda's mother remarried. So Uda stayed with his mother and step father while his other siblings were with their own families.

Being the youngest in the family Uda was a spoilt child. Maybe this was another reason why my family members disapproved our friendship, me being spoilt by another spoilt person. Until today I am still puzzled as to why I had been close to him. Maybe after years staying in a fully residential school I needed the constant company of friends like before. 

I left the kampung when I got a job. But I still befriended Uda when I came back during the weekends though the friendship was not as close as before. It was during one of these weekends that  I received shocking news about Uda. He was getting married to a relative of his step father who himself arranged the marriage. 

Uda was only a few months younger than me and when he got married he was twenty years old. I sensed that Uda was going to face problems. Being very close to him I understood him very well. He welcomed my friendship as a way of getting away from being petted by his mother and family. Deep in my heart  I knew that Uda was not ready to become a husband or a father. 

But there was nothing that I could do to prevent Uda from getting married at such a young age. Nevertheless Uda asked me to become his best man during his wedding. My mother did not object, yet none of my family members attended my best friend's wedding. I remember seeing some of Uda's sisters and nieces crying when Uda stepped down from his mother's house to go to his bride's house for his marriage. Was that some omen? Deep inside I was crying too.

My predictions proved unfortunately true. After marriage Uda went to stay with his in-laws about twenty kilometers away from our kampung. Uda started having problems with his in-laws when his wife was pregnant with their only child. Uda had no choice except  to be separated with his wife even though they loved each other. Their marital bliss was only for a few months and eventually they divorced, although I am not sure whether the divorce came after the birth of their child, a son. To prove their love neither of them remarried after that.

Uda returned to his mother's house in our kampung devastated. Not long afterwards, his step father left his mother, rather disappointed that his marriage arrangement between Uda and his relative ended in a bitter note.

Uda's life turned for the better briefly after that. He was drafted into the army. But he did not finish his training in the army training camp in Port Dickson. There were stories that he was abused physically and psychologically there. Again he returned to our kampung a changed man. This time the change was for the worse. He was suffering from mental problems. There was a story that he sent his ex-wife a photograph of himself in army uniform. This irked his ex-wife's family that they charmed him through the photograph. I didn't believe the story, though.

Due to Uda's mental problems I did not invite him for my own wedding. So I could not fulfill my reciprocal promise to Uda that he would become my best man when I eventually got married.

Uda's problems did not end there. Not long after he returned from his aborted army training, his mother died. From then on Uda lived an aimless life made worst by his mental condition. He stayed with whoever relative who was willing to offer him shelter and food. When he passed by my mother's house he would always ask for me as to how I was doing and all that. My mother would invite him in, offered him food and sometimes asked him to take a bath. Our neighbours were shocked that my mother was willing to invite this 'Uda Gila' as he was called then, in. But to her Uda was just like her own son. 

Allah loves Uda. His suffering ended as he passed away when he was only in his forties. My mother only told me about his death months later. She knew that there was nothing I could do to help Uda. Until now I still believe that Uda's life became tragic the moment he agreed to get married at a very young age.

A few years ago when Uda was still alive my department had a joint enforcement operation with the police. Suddenly a police officer greeted me and introduced himself as Uda's brother in law (Uda's ex wife's brother). He remembered me because after his marriage Uda once invited me to his in-law's house and I stayed overnight. This police officer was still a young kid then.  I found out later that he married a cousin of my sister in law (my late brother's wife). 


Still a few years ago my mother called for an ambulance to bring my sick step father to hospital. In the ambulance the Medical Assistant said his late father was from my mother's kampung. When asked further by my mother, he said he is Uda's son. Even though he never knew his father his upbringing was taken care of by his mother's family.

Alfatihah to Uda. May Allah bless his soul.