ANTIDOTE 3 : NOSTALGIC JOURNEY TO JENIANG
'College Centennial Banquet'
When I received the formal invitation to attend the ''College Centennial Banquet ' on 25th. July 2008, at Dewan Seri Negeri, Wisma Darul Aman, I suggested to my wife, Zam it would be nice if we could persuade our veteran Collegian, Pak Chik Mat, Zam' uncle to attend. Pak Chik Mat told Zam he would like to attend the dinner but the entrance fee was quite costly. Furthermore the dress code of the night was quite troublesome. The entrance fee was RM 100.00 per head. You could also reserve a table of ten persons at a cost of RM 1,000.00, RM 3,000.00 or RM 5,000.00 per table. The placing of the tables was based on the amount of payment that has been reserved for the table. The more costlier the price of the tables, then the nearer it would be to the VVIP table.
With positive response from Pak Cik Mat, Zam then contacted Abang, her eldest brother enquiring him whether he would like to attend the dinner. Abang or Dato' Shamsul Bahari Salleh Khir is also a Collegian of both the premier shcools i.e. Sultan Abdul Hamid College, Alor Setar and the Malay College, Kuala Kangsar. He agreed to sponsor one table of RM 1,000.00. He would like also to come with his son,Jan and and his younger brother, Nari. Pak Chik Mat and Pak Adik, his son were very delighted with the good news. Pak Adik bought himself a new black jacket that could go along with his Nehru collar white shirt. As usual, the unpredictable Abang told Zam on that very afternoon i.e. 25th. August 2008 that he would not be able to attend the dinner. Pak Chik Mat also could not make it because of health reason.
Zam who was the self proclaimed organizer instantly organized a new strategy to fill in the vacant seats. For the night's dinner, Zam managed to bring along Wan Mansur (her brother in law), Mek Tet (her youngest sister), Amalina (Mek Tet's daughter), Yazan (her cousin), Pak Adik (Razif), Nalin (her nephew), Shahir (her nephew), Marini (my daughter in-law) and Shiwar (my son). Ten of them were seated together in the table numbered 48 which was located in the RM 5,000.00 payment zone. I was very honoured with the arrangement of the organizers since we only paid RM1, 000.00 for the table. Ezman (my youngest son who is also a Collegian) who has paid RM 100.00 for a seat was seated at the back of the hall together with his friend and some of the College teachers. As I was left without a seat, I managed to join with Dato' Kadir Jassin's (Berita Publishing) table number 60 which was located adjacent to table 48. When the food was served we then realized that we really missed our favourite food lover and also a genuine Collegian that is Mr. Farli (Mek Tet's son).
As the dress code for the dinner was lounge suit, Wan and Yazan wore jackets borrowed from me. Both of them looked very impressive with the borrowed jackets. They enjoyed their dinner tremendously especially Marini and Amalina. Both of them managed to have their photographs taken with our former Prime Minister, Dr. Mahathir and Dr. Siti Hasmah. With so much enthusiasm, Marini managed to send the digital images to her father on that very night. Deep in our hearts, we were very thankful to Abang for his generousity which enabled us to have the opportunity to attend the dinner.
Yusuf Chong, My Schoolmate
As I was chided by other Collegeians for not wearing a SAHOCA tie, so I bought a SAHOCA tie which cost RM 50.00 a piece. I went to the men's toilet for the purpose of changing my tie. In the toilet, I bumped into Yusuf Chong who was the designated master of ceremony for the night. As I have problems with my arthritis left shoulder, I asked Yusof Chong for assistance. While he was fumbling with my shirt's collar, I asked Yusuf Chong about his background. He told me that he was from Kampong Lahar, Jeniang and studied at Sekolah Menengah Tunku Abdul Halim, Jenan. He was born in 1947 which was one year younger than me.
Since he was from Jeniang and a year younger than me, then I thought surely we must have gone to the same primary school that was Sekolah Melayu Jeniang. When my assumption was confirmed by him, fond memories of our school days in Jeniang cascaded down my mind. I think it was over 50 years that I have managed to find some one who could share similar experiences during our primary school days in Jeniang. I could not show to my children about the school because the school is no more there as it was wholly swallowed by the Sungai Muda.
Yusuf Chong did remember our chattering Headmaster, the late Pak Wan Othman and his beautiful daughter Wan Aishah who was then in standard III. Then there was our most energetic teacher Che Gu Wan Hassan Wan Din who hailed from Jitra. Both of them were very dedicated to their job. Che Gu Wan Hassan even coached me for my Special Malay One Examination. I told Yusuf Chong what a small world was it when I found out later that Wan Aisyah has married my classmate, the late Haji Omar Don.
As time was not on our side, we ended our memories of Jeniang with Yusof Chong demonstrating to me the supposed walking style of our present Menteri Besar, Dato' Seri Ustaz Azizan Razak. When he asked me whether his steps were correct or otherwise, with confidence I told him that it was the correct walking style of the Menteri Besar. I hope that it was the correct walking style because I was not even sure about the correct steps either. Later in the night, Puat, my wife's cousin told me that Yusof Chong has manage to imitate the correct walking style of the Menteri Besar.
Our Rented House in Jeniang
Coming back to my nostalgic journey to Jeniang, I enrolled at the Standard III class at Sekolah Melayu Jeniang at the middle of 1954. My Forester father who has just completed his Forestry Course in the Malayan Forestry Research Institute in Kepong was transferred to the Forest Range Office at Jeniang in January 1954. In early 1954, I stayed with my uncle in Jitra together with my late untie Mak Su (my late auntie, Sharifah Zaharah) as I continued my schooling at Sekolah Melayu Pusat, Jitra.
As I was having some problems with my stay in my uncle's house, my late auntie and I moved over to her elder sister's house which was at the Drainage and Irrigation quarters at Batu 13, Kamunting, Jitra. I still remember that both of us did not possess any proper luggage beg, so we just bundled up all our clothes into our pelikat sarung and batik sarung respectively and we walked through the rubber estate to Batu 13, Kamunting. In those days, there was only one room at the DID quarters. We used to sleep in the living room under each individual mosquitoe net. I stayed at my auntie's house for a few months as my father decided to bring me back to Jeniang after my second term school break. Then, I continued my schooling at the Sekolah Melayu Jeniang.
When my late father was transferred to Jeniang, he rented a traditional house belonging to the late Mak Wan which was situated at the outskirt of Jeniang Town. Since there was no water supply at the house, we have got to carry water for domestic use from the Muda River which was about 120 meters from the house. For our convenience, Mak Wak built a bamboo raft moored at the river for our use. My late mother did all her washings at the river. For domestic use, we have to carry the water back to the house.
I did enjoy the routine of bathing at the river. You must always be on the alert if you bathe in the river. After you have submerged and emerged again, you must look downstream for any human waste that might come into your way. The river was in fact for multiple use that was for domestic use as well as for sewage purposes. We used to call the floating human wastes as bobby traps.
In the middle of the year, my family moved to another rented house in the town centre of Pekan Jeniang. My father rented a shop house cum dwelling house belonging to a taxi driver by the name of Pak Awang. The second rented house has piped water and toilet facilities. Naturally the toilet was of the traditional type that was by using the bin for the waste which was cleared daily by the Town Board employee. It was a very convenient arrangement as the house was adjacent to the school compound. I could even go to the school in time even when the school bell rang for the commencing of the morning class session. .
Emergency Rule
In 1954, the whole nation i.e. Malaya was still under the Emergency rule. Jeniang was in fact under the food rationing program. Jeniang was a restricted town where the whole town perimeter was fenced up. The Government imposed daily curfew whereby it was unlawful for the town inhabitants to move outside the town perimeter at night. Eighty five percent of the total town inhabitants were Chinese. We would not be able to differentiate between the ordinary citizens and the communist sympathizers among the Chinese as all of them looked very friendly to us.
In those days, there were a lot of security forces movements in the Jeniang and its vicinity. Jeniang was in fact surrounded by jungles. You could even hear gunshots at nights coming from the jungles south of the town when there were skirmishes between the security forces and the communist terrorists.. After 7.00 p.m. the two main gates of the town were closed and the town inhabitants were not allowed to move out from the town. If there were any breach of the curfew, you will be shot on sight by the security forces guarding the town.
The main purpose of the food rationing programs was to deprive the communist terrorists from getting their supply of foods from their sympathizers. By these remedial actions, the government of the day hoped that it would weaken the communist terrorists' strength and capabilities. Every month, the Information Department would organize propagandas' stage show in the town centre. The show would start at 8.00 p.m. on the stage which was made up by two Lorries parked side by side. I used to follow the show every month as there was no other form of entertainment at that time.
My Ami We
One of my distance relative, Ami Syed Alwi was also a Forest Guard at the Forest Range Office Jeniang. He and his family stayed at the Forest Quarters at Batu Sepuluh Jeniang which is about two miles south of the Jeniang Town. The late Ami We was a very jovial and children friendly person. He has a lot tricks under his sleeve. During weekends, I used to cycle to his house for lunch and then enjoyed his jokes and magical tricks. He liked boosting to me that he was not afraid of the communist terrorists as he has a lot of charms with him that would protect him from any untoward incidence that may befell him.
Then one night, while he was having dinner at his quarters, suddenly he heard some knocks at the front door. When he opened the door, he was astounded when he was confronted by three armed communist terrorists. The leader of the group asked Ami We for some rice and salted fish. Ami We went cold and without realizing it, his trousers were already wet. After getting the rice and salted fishes, the terrorists moved away into the night without injuring any body. After the incidence, Ami We did not brag any more about his prowess but he was still the jovial Ami We with a lot of magical tricks that could entertain the children. We really missed him after his demise at his home in Pokok Sena where he spent his retirement days.
My Leisure Time At Jeniang
I remember when my late father bought our first radio when we were in Jeniang. It was a bulky radio with the brand name of Erreas. The radio source of power was from a car battery as there was no electricity supply in the town. To locate the perfect radio signal, we used to place our radio aerial as high as it could be. As such we could see a lot of bamboo poles strung with radio aerials all over the town. I was very proud indeed as the height of our pole was the highest in town. Naturally as a Forrester, my late father could get the best bamboo pole from the jungle.
There were not many entertainment programs from Radio Malaya at that time. The air time was also very limited and most of the radio programs were for propaganda purposes against the communist terrorists. There were also very few Malay songs being aired at that time. So we use to hear repeatedly P.Ramlee, Jasni, Nona Asiah or R. Azmi's songs which I could even remember all the songs' lyrics until today. Another interesting radio program was the 'bangsawan di udara' penned by the late Hashim Amir Hamzah. When the program was on air in the evening, most of the house wives would be glued to their radios as Zam was glued to the TV for the Rosalinda series..
During weekends, I used to cycle with a few friends to my classmate's house in Kampung Chemara. My classmate whom we called Pak Lang was the son of the local Imam, the late Haji Din. Pak Haji Din was very magnanimous and as such we were very comfortable at his house. Pak Haji Din's house was located in an orchard farm full of fruit trees such as durians, mangosteen, rambutans, langsat and others. His house was strategically located near the Muda River. Before retiring to bed at night, we would proceed to the river bank to place our fish traps for the night.
During our stay at Pak Haji Din's house, we used to wake up early in the morning and enjoyed ourselves bathing wantonly at the river. Apart from recovering the fishes caught in the fish traps, we would also wonder upstream along a Sungai Muda tributary looking for fresh water prawns (udang galah) and snails. We would end up our adventure before noon and brought back our catches for Mak Haji to cook. We would then have our lunch after the Friday prayers. Then off again to the orchard farms looking for ripe fruits that suited our likings. We really enjoyed our stay at Pak Haji Din's house in Kampung Chemara.
If we were not in Kampong Chemara at the weekends, my friends and I would be spending our time bathing in the Muda River just behind our rented house. There were two durian trees on the state land in front of the Jeniang Police Station which was located on a hillock near our bathing spot at the river. During the fruit seasons, we used to compete with the policemen for the durians. As we were more agile then, we used to out run the policemen in getting the durians that dropped from the trees. With such an interesting weekly outings, no wonder time has passed so fast without us even realizing it. Day in and day out, I was already sitting for my Special Malay One Entrance Examination at the end of 1955.
Special Malay Class Examination
I was very fortunate that I passed the examination with flying colours and hence I was offered a place in the Special Malay Class One at Sultan Abdul Hamid College Primary School in Alor Setar. In 1956, I was the only student from Sekolah Melayu Jeniang who was offered a place at the SAHC Primary School. My father brought me to the headmaster's house and also to Che Gu Wan Hassan's house to offer our deep gratitudes to them for their unselfish guidance that paved the way for my success.
Later in 1968, when I was in my third year at University Malaya, I met with Che Gu Wan Hassan who has enrolled as a fresh undergraduate at the same university. A few years later, I again met Che Gu Wan Hassan at the Jitra Police Station when one of my distance relatives has severely slashed his younger brother's hand at my birth place, Kampung Hutan Setali. As a token of respect to our cordial relationship between a teacher and his pupil, we managed to settle the matter out of court. His brother then moved over to Baling where he turned into a new leaf by becoming a very pious man.
When the day for my registration at the SAHC Primary School arrived, my late father chartered Pak Awang's taxi for the day. After bidding farewell to my late mother and my sister, Hindun we then proceeded to Alor Setar on Pak Awang's taxi. It was my first journey to Alor Setar and I was very worried that I would be left alone at the Hostel to fend myself in Alor Setar.
saturday, 26 july 2008
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