Writer : Bakri Baharom bkiub@yahoo.com.my / www.polimas.edu.my / 019-488-1430

Designed and Edited by : Azlida Ahmad (PTSS)

01 May 2014

The proverb, 'Time and tide wait for no one', is very true. Before you know it, a third of 2014 is over. Going through April is always 'special' to me ever since some years ago. My father passed away on 25 April 2008 after a 3-month battle with lung cancer. Now, it has been 6 years to the date. What has happened within the period? The country has gone through its 13th General Election (2013), of which I volunteered to be Deputy Returning Officer (RO) for Arau Parliamentary constituency. I have been moved from POLIMAS (Jitra, 2009) to PBU (Penang), back to POLIMAS (2010) then to PTSS (Arau, 2011) and back to POLIMAS (2013) once again. Well, it looks like my 'Centre of Universe' is at POLIMAS. The number of polytechnics has been increased to 33; Pagoh in Johor is the latest. The nation is striving hard to achieve Advanced Nation status by 2020; through numerous blue-prints, Blue-Ocean-Strategy (BOS), KPI, etc. but to remain moderate (wasatiah) in our conduct and approach. The second Penang Bridge, which is the longest in South East Asia at 24 km, was opened in February 2014. Of course the disappearance of MH370 (2014) remains the most historic not only for Malaysia but to the world which defy all efforts to be discovered. However, in the Almighty we put our trust and persevere to soldier on.

Our prophet, Muhammad (pbuh) passed away at the age of 63. To my late father, any age beyond this is considered a bonus.

In my hometown, the current oldest individual is 92. Moving around actively, he would turn up quite regularly at the local coffee shop. I remember my great-grand-father, Kassim, who passed away at 104 in the early 1980's. His elder brother travelled all by himself to pay his last respect. So, whether you live 'short and sweet' or otherwise; each one has some stories to share, and each one would leave some memories to cherish. My late father did not leave any private jet, yacht or made-to-order designer car. He did not leave behind a world best seller, any big foundation or commanded a million followers. However, he left behind few small items which were part of his life. He bought a few items for my mother and his children that remain eternally. In this installment, I will share some items we remember him most for.

1. ‘Seluar Jerut’ and Sewing Machine

My father was quite old fashion. He had never worn briefs like we do. I have surveyed that those who live in his era practised the same thing too. They call their version of man-brief as Seluar Jerut. Normally, they wore it lose. The material was made of cotton known locally as 'Kain Jalur' which had simple stripe motive. The same type of cloth was used to stuff 'kekabu' (scientific name is Ceiba Pentandra) as pillows and mattresses. We used to grow some trees in our village. Seluar Jerut did not have any zip, button or stretchable rubber-band but a piece of cotton string similar to a shoe lace. The length of this Seluar Jerut drooped down above the knees like the current professional boxer shorts. My mother used to sew the Seluar Jerut using a manual Singer sewing machine bought when my father served as a teacher in Ulu Melaka, Langkawi, Kedah. According to my mother, it was bought in the early 1960's. We brought back the machine to the mainland in 1966. My mother continued to use the machine to make fashionable clothes at the time such as Baju Biku, Baju Kurung Kedah and Bandum Pesak, to name a few. I remember my aunty; Robiah Hamid, neighbours and my mother would often talk about making Hari Raya clothes and curtains especially towards the celebration day.

Usually, as soon as my father reached home, he would put on Kain Sarung and keep his

Seluar Jerut. At times, he would lie down on his 'Lazy Chair' wearing his favourite Seluar Jerut. The

briefs came in different colours, and he had up to about 15 pieces at any one time. Whenever they

became worn out, my mother would make new ones. The design was simple and easy to make.

Now, we still keep about 10 pieces in the wardrobe. I had never seen my father anywhere near the

sewing machine. I guess he considered sewing to be a woman's job and man should keep a safe

distance from it.

2. Wrist-Watch

In 1963, my father was again moved to a primary school in Pulau Tuba, Langkawi. From the jetty in Kuah he had to catch another boat ride to the island. The journey took about an hour then. The school he was posted to was actually the only school there, built to cater the small number of inhabitants. The school consisted of only a single-storey block of 6 classes, standard 1 to 6. There were two government quarters next to the school. The nearest to the school block was reserved for the principal, Othman Ahmad, while our family occupied the other house. At the time, my younger brother, Basri was only 2 years old, while my 11 year old elder brother Azizan lived with my grandmother in the mainland, Tunjang. Throughout my father's life, I see that he made lots of friends and no enemies. He made it a point to be closely acquainted to the local imam wherever he lived. In Ulu Melaka, it was Hashim, and while in Pulau Tuba it was Borhan Rejab. He continued to be close to Borhan Rejab until his demise in 2007. Unfortunately, my father could not visit him when he was terminally ill at Hospital Kuah, Langkawi. So, he despatched me on his behalf.

BAHAROM BIN HAMID

Pulau Tuba has always been special to me. The 3 years of our stay there brought a lot of memories. I went to school a year earlier at the age of 6 and repeated in the same standard one in the following year. Sometimes I would spend the night at the imam's house to collect mangoes early the next day. He has two daughters; Aishah (deceased also in 2007) and Che Amah who were in their teens then. Many a time I joined the girls' grandfather, Rejab, to catch crabs by the sea. Sometimes I would play by the seaside, watching the fishermen returning with their catch.

My father partnered with his two friends to buy a boat and fishing net. One of them was known as Mat Diah. During weekends, he would 'disappear' at the sea catching prawns. The most sought after type of prawns at the time was known as 'Udang Kaki Merah' (literally Red-Legged-Prawn). It fetched a very high price of about RM10 per kg then. Compare it to the price of the local mackerel (kembung) which were sold for RM0.30 per kg. In 2014, the same fish in my hometown would sometimes cost RM10 per kilo. Now, I am not sure whether that kind of prawn still exists. If so, the cost could be in the hundreds per kilo. There was a time my father's group hit their jackpot. After dividing everyone’s share, he was RM300 richer. He bought himself a wrist-watch. It became a part of his life treasure for which he wore until the end of his life, a period of about 43 years. It was a semi-automatic Seiko. You need to at least wear the watch for a while or move/shake it for a few moments every day or it would go dead. I noticed he was very proud of the time-piece as he would relate the story to his friends in our neighbourhood.

3. Motorcycle and Gold Ring

My own family with two daughters and a son moved into our new house in Tunjang in 1998. It is about a kilometer away from my parents' home. My son, Fazli who was at the time 5 years old, started to get close to my father. One reason was that most of his grandchildren are girls. The rest of the boys lived in other towns. At 63, he was occupied looking after his 1.5 acre durian orchard after retiring at 55. So, my father would always drop by my house to fetch Fazli to join him. Being a boy, he always enjoyed the company of his grandfather. When my father was down with cancer in the early 2008, he stayed with us for a few weeks. From time to time, we took him to the General Hospital in Penang to see the consultants as well as to undergo chemotraphy. Until the day of his demise, I would say that my son was his closest grandchild of all. With the social skill passed on, he learned to tackle relationship with the other elders equally well too.

My father never owned any car. In fact, he had no interest to drive at all. He only had a motorbike licence. Upon returning to the mainland in 1967, he bought a second hand Vespa from my uncle, Shaari. It was a blue 150 c.c bike bearing the registration number PG 6021. He rode the bike to his school, Sekolah Kebangsaan Siputeh, also known as Padang Sera which is about 10 km from home. Instead of riding pillion on the Vespa, I used to stand in front holding the middle part of the handle. It was really fun. After many years, my father sold the Vespa to our relative in Hutan Kampong. He acquired another underborn bike, 70cc (KJ 9678) from my elder brother, Azizan. He used the bike for some years before disposing to another uncle, Hashim, who live in Air Hitam, Kedah. He bought himself, a brand new 100 c.c Honda Cub in 1995, with registration number KAJ 6310. The machine served him well until about 3 months before his passing. Everyone agreed that the bike should not be part of his will to be distributed among his own children. It should be given to his grandson, Fazli in return for his care of the grandfather over the years. Really, the appreciation is worth more than the actual value of the bike at RM1,300. It is equally true for a gold ring my father bought years back for RM600. He presented it to Fazli, for the reason of which only the grandfather and his grandson knew about.

4. Pen Knife and Gun

My father acquired a 1.5 acre piece of land at the foot of Bukit Tunjang in the early 1970's. The previous owner was actually our relative who desposed it to someone else in Kulim quite a distance from our place. Upon learning about it, my father went to negotiate with the new owner, paid him some compensation, and from then onwards the durian orchard was his. He took his new vocation very seriously starting 1990, the year he retired as a school teacher. He was also appointed as the treasurer in the 200-strong orchard owners in the area. His effort paid off when he won The Most Beautiful Orchard competition in Kubang Pasu in the year 2000. Until a few months before his demise, the durian orchard was always in his heart and soul.

5. Handwriting

My father is right-handed, just like everyone else in the family. While he was still serving, I noticed he would always write using Kilometrico ball-point pen. He wrote and spoke only in Bahasa Melayu; never interested to pick up any other foreign languages; English, Thai nor Arabic. In the old days, you could become a primary school teacher as soon as you finish Standard 6. However, the system was different then. You would be retained in the same level until you get through an examination. My father said our system now is like a 'frog' where a pupil/student will 'jump' to the next level, irrespective of the result. During his generation, you need not go to school at the age of 7. Any age is fine. He related a story where he dared not pass by certain classes because the 'pupils' were very much more a senior when he first became a teacher. If I recall it correctly, he told me that the original Bahasa Melayu consisted of only 4 words initially. The words were: besi (iron), kayu (wood), batu (stone) and babi (pig). I think he was only trying to pull my leg.

At one time, there were a total of 80 durian trees. He also grew a few Petai, Dukong and Cempedak trees. The distance of the orchard from my father's house is about 3 km, so his Honda came in handy. As a farmer, he would be use different kinds of tools for various tasks which include parang, cangkul, axe, saw, sickle, digger, etc. However, there was one small item that was special to him; a small pocket knife. He always carried this knife in his pocket whenever he visited the orchard. What is the purpose of the knife? It was used to cut strings, to test the ripeness of the durians, to cut off banana leaves and to tie long bamboo poles to bring down the Petai in the trees.

If you were a farmer, it would be common to carry any of the above tools. Should there be a road-block, the police would

understand why you need them. However, if a youngster were to get caught with a knife in his pocket, he would have a lot to explanation to do. In my village, it is typical to see the elders with big sharp knives in its holder, hanging from their hips especially in the morning when someone holds a feast. Hopeful, no one runs amok.

For many years my father owned a gun. He acquired it from our relative in Air Hitam. In our country, to legally possess a gun does not come easy. You have to apply for a licence and it normally takes quite a while to be approved. The authority will check your background, cross-check with the head of the village and other references. Above all, you need to prove that you own an orchard and there is real threat from 'pests' like bats, monkeys or wild boars. My father was quite a good shooter. Sometimes he would join his friend, Mahadevan, to shoot fruit bats. However, when there was no one at home, he had to keep the gun at the nearest police station. As my father was getting old, he offered the gun to his children but no one was interested. So, he sold it to someone in Jitra for RM2000.

Until close to his demise, he liked to write. He kept proper record of transactions, accounts, friends’ and relatives’ names and contact numbers. Whenever my mother asked him to buy groceries; he would diligently write the items on a piece of paper. With that habit, he would not miss anything. In terms of writing, I would say his handwriting was above average; legible but not as elegant as my elder brother’s (Azizan), younger brother’s (Basri) and my auntie’s (Robiah) handwritings. By the same standard, he would have beaten my wife’s (Zarina), my son’s (Fazli) and even my own. In the old days, the school actually offered a subject on writing but I doubt we are still doing it today. With the wide usage of computers and tablets, our handwriting skills could only be getting worse. Some people say, our handwriting reflects our personality but I am afraid I am not in a position to judge my father's handwriting.

6. Pentalon Trousers and Old Iron

Whenever my late father went to work, he would dress smartly. He would normally wear a long sleeve shirt and long trousers. My mother said he would never wear unironed clothes. It was his habit. From the beginning of his career at the age of 18, my mother would see that his wishes were fulfilled. She carried out the task without fail until his retirement. My father bought an ordinary iron which uses charcoal which I still keep as souvenir from the past. There is one thing that many young generations would not know. The iron has no thermostat, so sometimes it gets very hot. How do you know if it is very hot? Do you wait until it cools down? No, you don't. I noticed that my mother would iron a few pieces of banana leaves. The temperature would then reduce, otherwise the shirt will burn. I think the long experience and practice made the job performed perfectly.

7. Black and White TV

Electricity came to our village only in 1975. Prior to that, we used kerosene lamp. I remember my mother asking me to buy it from a grocery shop in our village. A bottle of the fuel cost 20 sen. For cooking we used firewood; any type of wood was fine but normally the rubber-tree-wood. In my small hometown, Tunjang, there was a row of shops with a coffee shop at the end-lot. We used to call it 'Kedai Hailam or Bee Hin'. The electricity supply came to the town a few years earlier. Those who patronized this coffee shop could watch the black-white TV which was placed on a platform. What the shop owner did was to place a mirror some distance facing the TV. The rest who came to watch the TV outside the shop actually were watching from the mirror image, and I was one of them.

I used to have a friend whose uncle worked at the Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID). Sometimes, I would cycle to

his house to watch TV. After my village was supplied with electricity, my father was one of the earliest to purchase a TV set. It was a black and white, housed in a nice legged-wooden-enclosure with two shutters at the front. I remember the neighbours around our house would converge at night to watch news, films and entertainments. It was around the time that living in the village was at its best in term of cooperation and neighbourliness. The set served us all right until they introduced colour TV many years later. What happens to the old set? My elder brother took it to his home in Sungai Petani and turned it into an aquarium.

What about the trousers? If you remember, in the 1970's it was the Bell Bottom era. The bottom part was so big that it looked like wearing a 'sarung'. Earlier in the 1960's, with the influence of The Beatle, the so-called slim-fit was the in-thing. The trousers were so tight that you probably need help to take it off. During my father’s time, there was a special kind of trousers called Pentaloon. I think it referred to the type of cloth used for the trousers. From 1965 until his passing, I noticed that my father would always visit three tailors, one in Siputeh and two in Tunjang; Ah San and Heng tailors. The third is still in operation today of which I am one of its regular customers..

8. Grinding Tools (Giling and Kisar)

The Malaysian community staple food is always rice. There are probably hundreds of dishes prepared for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Just walk into any restaurant to see the variety served to customers. You will surely be spoilt for choice. The melting pot of different ethnics makes our cooking cut across the races. 'Nasi Lemak' definitely belongs to the Malays but the rest savour it all the same. Take curry is another example. It is probably an Indian food but the Malays are regarding it as theirs too. How do you prepare fish or beef curry? Should you ask my daughter, she would say, the first thing we have to do is to buy the curry powder. They are several brands in the market; Adabi, Babas and Alagappa. In the old days there were Tarbus and Rempah-O. However, my mother would prepare it fresh from various ingredients; like dried chillies, tumeric, coriander, shallots, ginger, tamarind, garlic and lemon grass. She used a grindstone (Batu Giling) like you use a blender nowadays. As the curry starts to simmer on the stove, we would add coconut milk to make it tastes rich. To extract the coconut milk, my mother used to grate the coconut flesh using a device called Grater (kukur). When I was small, I love to sit behind her, being the pillion rider on the Grater.

The Malays also have some other delicatessen called 'kuih' which are served with tea, coffee or cold drinks. There must be hundreds of 'kuih' for breakfast as well tea-break during meetings and special occasions like Hari-Raya. One of my father's favourite is 'apum'. How is it done? First you need to immerse rice in a container of water overnight to soften it. The next day, we use another type of millstone (Batu Kisar) to grind the rice. Adding water to the rice, the end result would be similar to adding water to powdered flour and stirred. When I was small, I used to help my mother turn the handle of the manual grinding tool.

Since my mother was a housewife, she ruled the kitchen. It was her choice for she could have been a teacher herself but the women in that generation preferred to be a home maker. I do not recall at any time my father extended a helping hand in the kitchen. His responsibility was to provide with whatever tool my mother needed and to buy grocery and supplies whenever needed.

Footnote:

One of the most established co-curriculum activities in POLIMAS is Territorial Army Unit which comes under

Regiment 513 (known as Askar Wataniah). Since moving here in 1994, I noticed it has been ably led by successive

commanders; namely Captain Rahim Ishak, Major Mohamed Jamil Senawi and Major Abdul Rahman Saad. They are

assisted by a number of lieutenants; presently like Md Nasir Md Safar and Mohmad Zaki Othman; 2nd

Lieutenants Mohd

Rizal Abdullah and Mohd Khairi Shafie. Over the years the team has taken part in many

events, won many awards, conquered many high grounds, never misses the yearly Guard-of-

Honour Parade during convocation and the latest to be the champion in the 2013 MalPTAAC

VIII among Malaysian Polytechnics. For many years; Lieutenant Colonel Mustaffa Zainal

Abidin, the Deputy Commanding Officer of Battalion 3 Regiment 513 Territorial Army has

given us support in cash and in kind. Today, he has come to the end of his military career. A

farewell dinner was held on 24 April 2014 at Restoran D’Bendang, Kelubi, Jitra, Kedah to

honour this great man in green. Also present was Lieutenant Colonel Hamidi Abdul Ghalim,

the Deputy Commander Regiment 513 Territorial Army and the army permanent staff and

volunteers. We wish Lieutenant Colonel (R) Mustaffa Zainal Abidin a happy retirement.

9. His friends

ABDULLAH WAN BAHARUM AYIN

AYUB GHANI OSMAN

ZAKARIA YAAKUB OTHMAN

10. Tombstone

At the end of the day, what is left with you will be the memories. From the day you were born; the years that he took care of you; fed, clothed, guided and educated you; showering his unconditional love; sharing with you all he had; ever ready to protect you with his own life, and pray for your health and success. Your worry was his worry, your concern was his concern, and your trouble was his trouble too. Above all, he did what he did without asking anything in return. Unless you are a father yourself, you won't understand the chemistry between a father and his children. From the Almighty that we came from, to the Almighty we shall return. My dear father, I will soldier on as I promised you and take my responsibility as you once taught me. I will pass on your wisdom to my children who will in turn pass it to their children. We will meet again in the next world, for eternity, InsyaAllah (God willing).

When my father departed, I continued the bond with a number of his friends. One is Abdullah who lives in Kampung Pulau Nyior. He used to work as a gardener at the nearby secondary school until his retirement. The residents of Kampung Pulau Nyior is special. The elders prefer Thai language to Bahasa Melayu. Abdullah's son, Badrul, was active in the local Small Farmers Association of which my father was a treasurer. The other gentleman that my father used to have evening tea with was Mat Isa, a village ustaz (teacher) from Kampung Pida 2, Tunjang. Ustaz Mat Isa was very knowledgable in religious matters and his thinking were contemporary and progressive. I visited him while he was terminally ill at his house, about three years ago. He wanted to say something but no words were heard. Saw a slight movement at the corner of his mouth and little tears streaming down his eyes. He nearly made it to 79th birthday when the Almighty recalled him back. May His Soul Rest In Peace. The others are Ghani, Wan Baharum, Ayin, Yaakub etc. The first, Ghani, does not look well now but his spirit remains high. His life story is very interesting. From a normal villager, he made a fortune in the 60's, blew away the chance and back to his old self; being an ice-cream man. I always join them with some other elders for tea during weekends. At 55 years old, I am the youngest among them all.

Left to Right: Hamidi, Bakri, Mustaffa, Abdul Rahman