ON HIS MAJESTY SERVICE : 7 - Dr. M

This picture taken during my service as the Kubang Pasu District Officer in 1991 at the District Officer's Official Residence located across the road to the Kubang Pasu Fire Department. I was posted as the District Officer of Kubang Pasu on the 1st January 1990 and managed to survive in Kubang Pasu for 4 years until February 1994. It was a very grueling 4 years experience as in those years, the District of Kubang Pasu was a test bed for you. Kubang Pasu Parliamentary seat was represented by the Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir. While the Jitra State Legislative seat was represented by the Menteri Besar, Dato' Seri Osman Aroff.

There would be a very hectic arrangement whenever the Prime Minister would drop for any official visit to the district. Sometimes it was a surprise visit whenever his personal representative, Haji Saad Hashim wanted to torture us. However due to the closed knit relationship that we have between the district officials, with the grace of Allah I can proudly say that we have managed to pass the tests with flying colours. I was lucky to have an able deputy Haji Hashim Pak Long, Haji Amiruddin from MADA, Hamizan from JKR, Haji Sadri from the Agriculture Department, Haji Din from LPP, the late Fadzil from the Veternary Department and also other very able district head departments. With those young and high sprited officers solidly behind me, no wonder I could face any onslaught towards me.

Prior to the D day or the briefing session, we would spent the whole night preparing the briefing texts. We would do a run up whereby we would try to forecast what the Prime Minister would inquire during the proposed briefing session. If we were lucky, our forcast were perfect and then we would have a very satisfying briefing indeed. More often than not, our forecast would only achieve a score of not more than 50%.

We managed to survive the ordeal of high risk briefing because my deputy, Hashim Pak Long would use his witty craft to squeeze some prior informations from Haji Saad on what the Prime Minister would highlight during our proposed briefing. It was very easy for Hashim Pak Long to get the prior informations because Haji Saad's weakness was that he like to be praised so that he would be seen to be a very important link in the district political and administrative structure. Whatever it was, I must also be well equiped with knowledge and facts so that I could stand the rapid fire salvo from the Prime Minister himself. In front of the Prime Minister, no matter how well prepared you were, yet you would feel only like a tiny fly that could be whipped of easily.

Another effective tool we used against the Prime Minister was through his stomach. We did a through study on the likes and dislikes of the Prime Minister on the menu table. To our astonishment, we found out that Tun Dr. Mahathir does not take fish. However he likes fried salted fish i.e. ikan talang cut into small pieces. Another of his favourite was yam cravy @ sayur keladi. Tun Dr. Mahathir also likes buffalo meat i.e binasusu for cicah air asam. The air asam instead should be milder and not too hot in taste. With these informations, I would assign Pak Ya, the Penghulu of Gelong to specially hunt for the various raw materials from all over the district.

Luckily for me, my wife's auntie, Mak Teh Gayah is a good cook specialising in the sayur keladi dish. Every time Tun Dr. Mahathir came for any official district visit, the sayur keladi would be there waiting for him. He liked the sayur keladi very much so much so that he would take more than one bowl at a go if ever Dr. Siti Hasmah were facing the other way round. In fact Tun Dr. Mahathir used to refer me as the Sayur Keladi District Officer.

In looking after the well planned dishes, we have also our misgivings. In one of the lunches prepared for the Prime Minister, my staff served the Prime Minister with a wrong dish of air asam which should be not too hot in nature. The staff instead served the Prime Minister with the too hot air asam while the not too hot air asam was served to the Menteri Besar who likes a very hot air asam. Consequently, I was scolded by both the Prime Minister as well as the Menteri Besar.

One of Dato' Seri Osman Aroff's favourite dishes was raw beef kerabu which his wife was the only cook that could prepare the dish. Her raw beef kerabu was so well prepared that we would not realise that the beef was raw when we consumed it. In one of the lunches at a kampung, without my knowledge, Dato' Seri Osman Aroff served the Prime Minister with the special dish, raw beef kerabu. Without suspecting any thing, the Prime Minister took one spoonful and immediately he realised that the beef was raw. He did not swallow the whole piece but instead gave a tongue lashing that we were too lazy even to cook the meat. It was the first and the last that we ever served the Prime Minister with raw beef kerabu.

During the short break for lunch at the Disrict Officer's Residence, Tun Dr. Mahathir was always in relax moods. His relax moods would always made us braver to share jokes with him. He would always teased us that the KCS officers should be more exposed and broad minded and should not behave like a frog under the nut shell. He used to remind us that we would not have a good future ahead of us if we continue to be like the frog under the nut shell. If ever I were to be a Federal Officer, he would surely send me to Kundasang District, Sabah. Whatever it was, I would always treasure and respect him for his fatherly advice.