SIBLING SERIES 9 : COMING OF AGE

Haji Yaacob's descendants on the balcony of Hajjah Rodziah's former house at 21 B, Lorong Kampung Pisang, Bakar Bata . The house has been demolished and a new family house was built by Abang.

With Astro and all the other facilities that make our time flies without even we realising it. Five of Salleh Khir's grand children whose ages are nearer to each other has grown up in no time. During their childhood days, the five boys (Nalin, Ezman, Alin, Lan and Farli) were very closed to each other and their holidays were filled with never ending jokes and laughters.

Among the five Nalin is the most confident of them all. He is a natural born sportsman who can excell in any sport he participate. However he is more at ease as a rugby player which is in fact his life line. At a tender age where the other four were struggling with their studies, Nalin was already fending for himself and he was already firmer on his own feet. Nalin has survived in this challenging world through his contacts with his rugby fraternity. Although Nalin looks tough physically, yet Nalin is very respectful to his elders. He is at ease with Abang or any other uncles and aunties. In response to the call by the government for the Malays going global, Nalin has taken the challenge by going down south to the Land of All Blacks.

The innocent baby face Azira

The present innocent motherly face of Azira

Azira who is a little older than the five boys has also grown into a global lady. Gone were her painted face days while watching football in Shah Alam Stadium, she is now a docile lady with her beloved Bimo. In fact she would become a mother in a few months time. I think she has enough of her global exposure while accompanying Bimo in the land of Obama. Like mother like daughter, she is not a talker but she is a very good listener. She lets her music and her academic achievements talk for her in a much louder voice. We sincerely hope that she would get a talkative child who would make their home more noisier while Azira would be the first PHD holder among the Salleh Khir's grand children.

With Allah's blessing, Bimo and Azira would have a boy by next June. As a global lady, her beloved Ibu would join Azira to assist in the historic moment of the family. Ibu would be with Azira for the whole month and by that time Azira would have another title to her credit i.e. Azira the Jamu Master.

Alin

Azira's youngest brother Alin has grown up into a blue blooded Malay who appreciates Malay culture and consume Nasi Lemak. With his culculated silent Zapin moves, he has grown into a well disciplined lad who has yet to get the confidence of MAS to fly an aircraft. With his qualification of Robotic Engineering, Alin does not require physically the MAS plane to fly but instead he can easily teach the robots to fly for him. So for the present, please do not regard your students as robots but at the same time he must also not be too close to the girl students. I think Alin must has misunderstood Dr. Mahathir's Look East policy.

Ezman

With his S.Jibeng looks, Ezman looks very confident to face life. With his high level of self disciplined and very motivated to become a somebody, Ezman has proven his critics wrong. He has passed his Accountancy diploma and still busily pursuing his ambition to become an accountant through OUM distance learning. He is not a natural sportsman who cannot kick the ball straight like his nephew Afiq. Apart from frequenting the karaoke, Ezman has also the ability to play the flute which he is aspiring to play with Azira at the organ and Lin at the drums. We hope Abang can provide the opportunity for his nephews and nieces to show off their musical prowess.

Wan Mohd. Fazli and Mazlan Khusairi

Mazlan has graduated with a diploma in electronic engineering and he is a working man in Penang. When ever we are in Penang, Lan Bulu will be there to accompany us. If he is cleaned shaven, Lan is a handsome chap from Bollywood and in no time I think Ani will get a new menantu. Farli has also graduated with a diploma in Business Studies and he is now pursuing his degree course in UITM Shah Alam. By the way Farli is the joker of them who can create jokes out of nothing and he is very good at mimicking others especially Pak Teh Khalid's utterance of 'nak balik dah aih'. By the looks of it, Balakong Selangor would be nearer to Alor Setar in the near future.