SIBLINGS 75: THORN AMONG ROSES

Final checking by Noriah to ascertain the acceptable amount of fruits
the Monitor's car

With the bigger capacity of his car's boot, Ana must be the happiest of the lot because the bigger amount and assortment of fruits that would reach their destination in Suka Menanti

Beaming with pride for the very fruitful outings to Pelubang

To have a superb 70 year old body like me, my advice to you, "Consume as much as you can but later on must also work like a horse to commensurate with what you have taken."

Mr Perumal happily collecting the fruits for the take away by his wife's former students while enjoying the delicacy of serawa pulut durian specially prepared by his wife


COLLECTIONS OF MR PERUMAL'S ASSORTMENT OF ANTIQUE CLOCKS

SOBEHAH'S SON'S WEDDING IN SUNGAI PETANI ON ON 25.06.2011

At wheel chair bound Sobehah's son wedding at Sungai Petani on 25th. June 2011

When Zam asked me to accompany her to one of her schoolmate functions, I was quiet embarrassed because I would be the only thorn among the roses. Either my thorn would pierce the roses or on the other hand, the bunch of roses could choke me to death. That was why I kept to myself during the first few meets because I might expose my weakness of talking a lot which might pierce the eardrums of the roses.

As time passed by, I began to adapt myself well with the roses. Not all the roses voices were sweet and soothing to the ears but not all were thundering to the ears either. However with the fusion of both of the extremes, then there were harmonious melodies to the ears and full of warmth to the heart. Apart from that, I was also not the only thorn among the roses but there were also other unfortunate thorns that has survived among the roses.

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Zam’s schoolmates are very active in their schedule or unscheduled activities. Their activities were well-oiled because of the efforts of their vocal and active coordinator who could spit fire. Whether you like it or not, she is the live wire of the gatherings. Being a single mother and a teacher by training, unconsciously she is the monitor of the group that has successfully provided the glue and grease to the organization. With her zealous efforts, the activities of Zam’s schoolmates has blended cohesively which has the ingredients of solidarity and sustainability among their schoolmates

Now, I begin to enjoy their gatherings because the monitor herself could smother the beatings from others while at the same time she expects others could smother her spitting fire. For now, I do really feel at ease with these kinds of arrangement but I would be always on the alert that I might be caught with sudden surprises.. Insya Allah

On Saturday, 26^th July 2011, we have a very fruitful visit to Mr. Perumal and Miss Soomchit’s orchard mansion at Pelubang. As usual, Zam’s classmates brought along their home made varieties of foods. The visit was very fruitful indeed because it was at the right time and the right place together with the right hosts of Mr. Perumal and Miss Somchit. The magnanimous pair made in heaven made us ashamed by letting the flood gate open to us with the total freedom of picking any fruits of our choice regardless of the types and quantities.

Mr. Perumal himself plucked the ripe fruits such as rambutans, mangosteens, dokong and durians. We rendered our helping hands by consuming them and bringing his collection of fruits to our cars. It was the most pleasurable tasks for us and deep in our hearts we were really hoping the magnanimous pair would invite us again for the next fruiting season. However our day dreaming was shattered to pieces when Mr. Perumal informed us that he wanted to put up for sale their much loved mansion together with the orchard.

Their British Cottage Architectural mansion on the sprawling two acres high tech orchard embodied their life long ambition after their retirement from their services. Both of them has reached their epitome of success and they have enjoyed their life to the fullest and they have reached their plateau of nirvana. Their magnanimous deeds has also brought joy to the lucky receivers including their former students. As age has outpaced them, both of them has decided to move into another phase of their life. They has decided to move back to the town with a smaller space of home which would be within their physical capacity to manage efficiently.

Along his journey of 70 years of life, Mr Perumal has also acquired another life style which was colleting of antique clocks from the four corners of the world. Mr. Perumal is not just like any other antique collectors, but he is also a master craftsman in clock repairing. He in not a stingy clock repairer but he has also rendered his skills for a good cause.

On the insistence of his former SAHC , Dato’ Noraman Raffee, Mr. Perumal has repaired many Mosques’ grand fathers’ clocks around the vicinity of Alor Setar. Although he is willing to part off with his much beloved mansion on the sprawling orchard at Pelubang, Mr. Perumal does not has the heart to part with his life style of collecting of antique clocks. As such, apart from Miss Boonsoi Somchit, his collections of antique clocks would faithfully follow Mr. Perumal into another phase of his life. For all of us, we do really wish that Mr. Perumal and Miss Boonsoi Soomchit would remain in their heavenly orchard so that we could pursue our fruitful endeavours to Pelubang for many many years to come.

SIBLINGS 74: MANGLI MAN

Forlorn Pak Teh on 13.07.2011

Bandaged toes with the iron rod support

The guilty cabinet sliding door

Bandaged again on 27.07.2011

He is a very simple minded man who strongly believes that the Malays cannot do anything properly. If the traffic light went haywire, he would automatically blame the Malay engineers who could not do their jobs properly although it got nothing to do with any of the Malay engineers.

He would always blames others although he himself misinterpreted the newspaper reports. He would grumble why was a prominent figure was very stingy in refusing to donate to the fund @ dana because he has misinterpreted the word DNA. He would blame the judge for closing the case whereas it was actually the DPP who has closed their case for the prosecution .

It was fun for us to provoke Pak Teh when he was reading the newspaper because he would move into a tirade on the subject that he himself was confused. Although he has touched double seven yet he is the same Pak Teh that we are fond of. He is a very impatient man who cannot wait on anything. He does not listen to any advice that does not suit him. His famous quotation whenever he wants to leave our houses after his brief visits, his famous quotation authentically imitate by Farli:

"Nak balik dah haih."

His strong will power is legendary and we admire his degree of abstinence from foods that would increase his glucose reading the next morning. However he is always soft belly on his favourite food. When it comes to Chicken Chop, he would deviate from his principle whereby he does not care a damn whether his sugar level would rise the next morning.

It was indeed a nasty morning for Pak Teh on 12 July 2011. His impatience has barked back at him when in his rush to close the sliding door of his home cabinet, the cabinet sliding door was derailed and fell on his left toes. He refused to seek medical treatment although being asked by Mak Teh. He only agreed to seek medical treatment the next day, when his left foot swelled and he could not stand the pain anymore.

After his left foot was x-rayed, the medical doctor reaffirmed that one of his toes has suffered a fissure. His left toes was bandaged with an iron support beneath the toe concerned. He was advised to rest for two weeks and he must walk with the aid of crutches. His toes would be x-rayed again in two weeks time to ascertain whether the toe concerned has healed or otherwise.

Being an impatient man, Pak Teh could not endure the temporary immobility even for a short period of time. The feeling of boredom and itchiness on his bandaged toes. drove him to remove the bandage. He did not rest on his laurels but instead he wanted to show his prowess as compared to Kamal who use to remove his cemented plaster of Paris on his multiple fractured legs a few years ago. As compared to Pak Teh, Kamal knew the fatal consequences of his action and he would stay put in his house. Pak Teh wanted to show prowess and as such he would ride on his motorbike to his favourite rendezvous such as at my house or at Mek Tet's house.

Seeing him without his bandage riding his motorbike on his own, I advised him not to do that because he himself would loose in the end of the day. He would suffer in the end because the healing process of his fissure injury was through complete rest without any more load burden on his injured toes. His curt answer to me was that he was very mangli (accustom to) to fractures because he has experienced a few fractures before. I told him that the incidences has happened in those days when he was young and vibrant in health. It was naturally much speeder in the healing process during those years as compared to the present diabetic man of 77 years.

True to my words, when he went for another x-ray on his toes on 27 July 2011. the medical doctor confirmed that his toe has not healed properly. As such, the medical doctor again bandaged his toes with an iron rod support and advised him strongly to restrict his movements for another 14 days. When I visited him on the 28 July 2011, Pak Teh was a very coy person indeed. Otherwise I would be his scolding target for giving him a wrong advise. That was what happened to a stubborn man who has boasted on his mangli attitude. Perhaps, after this unkind episode, he would shred off his mangli attitude into infinity. Insya Allah.

SIBLINGS 73: ABANG 65

Pablo Picasso, the famous Spanish painter once said:

In life, if throw a ball.

You hope it will bounce back ,

So you can throw it again,

You hope your friends will provide the wall.

As for you Abang,

We are not worried at all,

Your countless friends will provide the wall,

Creating fun in playing the ball.

However for you Abang,

We will always stand tall,

To provide you the wall,

Nevertheless in the real world,

You are always the stone wall,

For us to throw back the ball,

You are also the solid wall,

That always break our falls.

We will always treasure your solid wall,

Happy birthday to you Abang,

From your siblings and all,

Who are mostly crumbling walls,

For you, sixty five is nothing at all.

Sincerely from

Zam, Nami, Nari, Ani and Mek Tet.

Tuesday 19^th. July 2011

REMEMBERANCE 90: DOWN DURIAN LANE

Din was my classmate in the Religious class at Sekolah Melayu Padang Perahu in the late fifties and I have not met him since then. Surprisingly, I bumped into him when I wanted to buy a cempedak fruit from the fruit stall in front of the Jitra Hostpital on Saturday 16th. July 2011. It turned out that Din was the owner of the stall and when I descended from my car, Din gasped asking me whether I was really Pak Tuan Syed Zain, his school mate. When I affirmed that it was really me kicking and still alive. The he just hugged me reminiscing of our missing years. As a farewell gift, he even presented Zam with a good quality cempedak as a remembrance of our friendship that has gone missing for 50 years.

The fruit stall owned by Din

Cempedak of friendship

KACANG HIJAU THE LONE SURVIVOUR

DURIAN KACANG HIJAU

Lot 360 at Kampung Kelubi is the hereditary land of my paternal grand mother, the late Ku Puteh bin Ku Saad. The land was bequeathed to her together with her two older sisters Ku Minah and Ku Jiwa. On my late grand mother’s share of the land which is adjacent to Lot 361, apart from the other fruit trees such as rambutan and jack fruits, there were three distinct durian trees which bore three different types of durian species.

I will be touching 65 years of age in August 2011 but as far as I could remember, the three durian trees were already old trees that has reached their peaks of growth. In the late fifties onward, if ever our school holidays coincided with the annual fruiting seasons, my cousins and I would merrily flocked down to Kelubi. We would be picking up the ripe fruits as much as we wish. However the grand finale of the enjoyment of the fruiting season would surely be the experience of picking up the durian fruits in the pitch of the nights during our stay at our grand parent's house.

According to my own judgment that was also verified by the other cousins, the best grade durian was the definitely of the Jantung species. Jantung durians were bigger in size and in the shape of the heart. Secondly followed by the Kepala Gajah species which were a little bit smaller in size than the Jantung but there were instead in the shape of elephants' heads. Lastly it was the Kacang Hijau species which were the smallest in size but with a very greenish in colour of the skins likened to the green peas. That were the logical reasons how the three type of durian species ended with the glamourous names.

As we were always spending our nights at Kelubi during the fruiting seasons, we could even recognise the different sounds of the falling durians during the night. Jantung would surely be the loudest because of its sheer size while Kacang Hijau would have lesser decibel than the Jantung or Kepala Gajah. Naturally enough, we would clamour for the sound of the Jantung durians. Those who were wide awake has an advantage over those who were in deep sleep through out the night. At the rumbling sounds of the fallen Jantung, those who were awake would rush out and they would finished off the durians on the spots before the heavy sleepers would even realise it the next morning.

For me, who has abstained from consuming durians for the last eight years, I did not even visit the three durian trees in Kelubi during those periods. I did so because I was afraid that the visit might increase my temptation of consuming durians again. Apart from that, it would also bring back nostalgic memories that we used to share among the cousins. Nowadays the level of closeness among the family members has deteriorated tremendously among the fourth generation Kelubians. I sincerely pray to Allah that our relationship among the family members would be glued stronger if ever we could organize another scheduled family gatherings among the fourth and fifth generation of Kelubians.

However on the 3rd. July 2011, as the result of a strong insistence from Chin who begged me to think more about the needs of Zam and the children, finally Zam and I went back to Kelubi. By the time we arrived at Kelubi in the late evening, Chin has already packed for me a sackful of durians of the Kacang Hijau species. When I enquired Chin about the other species, Chin told me that the Jantung and Kepala Gajah species has met their demise a few years ago. The demise of Jantung was because of aging whereas the demise of Kepala Gajah was because of the unscrupulous clearing of the land adjacent to the tree by our neighbours in Lot 361.

The failure of the fourth generation Kelubians to protect and maintain the sustainability of the fruit trees has a direct impact on the fifth and sixth generations of Kelubians. As such, I really felt deep remorse for failing to pass down the pleasure on enjoying the fantastic tastes of the two mighty durians of Jantung and Kepala Gajah to my children and grand children. With that sad episode , the pleasure of waiting for the falling sounds of the two mighty durian fruits remains just a pleasant memory among our fourth generation Kelubians which cannot be shared physically with our younger generation of Kelubians as the mighty Jantungs and Kepala Gajahs has gone forever.

SIBLINGS 73:LINCUP CAKES

A pharmacist in training as well a as a successful baker in the making.
Congratulations to Lin for producing cup cakes in conforming with the dietary requirements of the pharmacist which are very compatible with the needs of the diabetic of your elders. Salute to you and also to the Brass Band of Sultanah Asma 2011

REMEMBRANCE 89:BASIKAL LASAK HURU HARA

Is Zam is really admiring the array of bicycles or rather she is anxious or tense worrying about Jim's involvement in business

Popular demand of the day, fixies

An array of different types of bicycles

Jim briefing Zam on the running of his shop

Hung up ready to be sold

From left: Jim, Adli and Aisyah

Nana really despises cat in the house.
I was really baffled how the children could hoodwink Nana in letting the cat to be a permanent residence of the house

Bicycles waiting to be repaired at Nana's house

My son in law, Jim who is an ardent extreme sports enthusiast finally has achieved his dream of opening a bicycle shop of his own. Jim or Nazim is the founder member of Huru Hara KLIA Cycling Club which has actively organising cycling events for its members throughout the year. Even before opening the shop, his residence at Taman Persada Damai, Bandar Enstek, Labu, Negeri Sembilan was like a bee hive since his neighbours especially the young ones flocked to the house for bicycle repairs. Since cycling has become a graze now, Jim took the golden opportunity to meet the demands especially mountain bikes and fixies.

When Zam and I was in Putrajaya on 12^th. July 2011, we took the chance of visiting Jim’s Kedai Basikal Lasak situated at B19-G-15 Cempakapuri 3 Putra Nilai, 71800 Nilai Negeri Sembilan. As he has received tremendous responses from cycling fanatics, Jim has got to replenish his stocks of bicycles two weeks ahead of its actual schedule. When Zam and I visited his shop on the night of 12^th. July 2011, Jim looked very happy and contented as compared to his somber mood previously.

REMEMBRANCE 88: KAFE SELERA ALOR STAR

Business License to operate a restaurant

Restaurant's Logo of Brinjal

Darus with his Jaguar Sport Car at Kafe Selera Alor Star

The advantage of having ample parking lots beside the restaurant

The tranquility at the Hilton on 12.07.2011 as compared to Saturday 09.07.2011

It only needs one policeman to keep the peace at the Hilton's front

British tourists flocking back to Kuala Lumpur

Very knowledgeable Victhern, the smiling driver

The Famous Chot Golek (left), a SAHCollegian of 1957 chatting with Idrus while Zam was at the back ground

Chot Golek's daughter (second from left) who was responsible in bringing Chot Golek to the Kafe Selera Alor Star

Amira attending to Idrus

Amira putting rice on the plate

Amira whistling away happily while carrying her duty as a cashier

Customers waiting to be served

Ad inquiring the needs of the customers

Ad has perfected the finely skills of optic allusion that would make the quantity of rice served looks much more than the actual volume

Ad frying mee for Zam

With proper attire, surely Ad would easily passed as a competent original Mamak mee

Although most of the ladies in our extended family from Kampung Kelubi, Hutan Setali or even Jejawi were in born chefs par excellence to any commercial chef in Kedah or Perlis, yet only two of our family members were actually involved in commercialising their in born culinary skills.

The late Ami Hamzah from Kampung Hutan Setali was the pioneer in venturing into the business world of food. To late Ami Hamzah was idolized by his grand kids for his prowess in exhibiting his magical tricks. The late Ami Hamzah was a confirmed bachelor but he would return to Kampung Hutan Setali on the eve of every Aidilfitri. Every Aidlfitri, we yearned for his homecoming and we would always enjoy gleefully for his amusing magical tricks. Although he did not finished his primary school education but Allah has blessed him with abundant culinary skills.

He was the first among our family members who dared to venture into the world of food business. In the late fifties and early sixties, the restaurant in Kuala Sanglang where Ami Hamzah was a resident chef flourished because of Ami Hamzah’s famous fried mee and koeteow. He was a very straight forward gentleman and as such he has suffered silently as the restaurant owner took advantage of his honesty. Although he was the crowd puller to the restaurant yet he died as a pauper because the owner did not give due recognition to his vast contribution to the popularity of the restaurant.

The second family member who ventured into the food business was Kak Nab who opened a very simple restaurant in Tambun Tulang in the early sixties whereby she specialised in mee and beehoon soup. With the income from her culinary skills, Kak Nab managed to provide ample education to her children. During her ripe golden years as a single mother, she is now enjoying the fruits of her labour whereby her children are providing her with ample financial and moral assistance. After her retirement from the food business, Kak Nab has passed on her secret recipe of beehoon soup to Za who has acquired the knowledge skillfully. In our annual family gathering on the eve of Aidilfitri, the gathering would not be complete without Za's beehoon soup.

It never came into my wildest dream that in the 21^st century, another family member of ours who is a very highly educated gentleman and shrewd businessman would dare to venture into the challenging world of food business. Both of the pioneers in our family who were involved in the food business earlier did not even possess any legal approval by their respective local authority. I was very proud indeed that my cousin, Syed Izhar Al Idrus was the first in our family who possesses a valid business license to operate a restaurant at Ampang, Kuala Lumpur.

His restaurant Kafe Sajian Alor Star is situated at Blok B-G-18, Jalan 13D, Taman Dato' Ahmad Razali, 68000 Ampang serves the famous Alor Setar owned brand of nasi lemak in the like of Nasi Royale and Nasi Ali.. My brother in law Syun who is a ardent nasi lemak of Alor Setar savvy has frequented the restaurant and he has vouched on the authenticity of the nasi lemak.

With the strong recommendation by Syun, when Zam and I were in Kuala Lumpur recently we were thankful to Allah for giving us the golden opportunity to step foots on Kafe Selera Alor Star at noon, Tuesday, 12th July 2011. Even then, we were grateful with the assistance of Ad's driver, Victhern.. True to the word of Syun, we really enjoyed the rice served at Kafe Selera Alor Star. We were again taken by surprised when Ad took the pleasure of cooking for us fried mee par excellence than Mee Abu in Alor Star. My grand children also enjoyed the rice and fried mee that we brought home on the auspices of Dato' Idrus Zainol. Ad even provided us the transport back to Nana's residence at Persada Damai, ENSTEK, Labu.

Before our departure back to Labu, Ad, who was very closed to my late mother reminisced that if my mother is still alive, she would naturally complimented Ad for his endeavour by uttering her famous quotation, "Daje betoi hang Ad, mengaji tinggi-tinggi, hang goreng mee."

Adding to our surprises, we were also really amazed that Ad's favourite daughter, Amira who is on a semester break from her studies in John Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA. willingly providing her helping hands to her father at the restaurant. I raised my hat to Amira who is a modern global girl who could stoop low to be a cashier and a server in her father’s restaurant. We do really pray that her younger brother, Amir would follow her footsteps but please Che Minah do not harbour the slightest thought of following suit. I do sincerely pray that the honourable attitude and deeds of Amira would surely be blessed by Allah for the prosperity of Kafe Selera Alor Star. Insya Allah.