TUMPAT OLD FRIENDS

This blog is long overdue, way too long overdue.

6 classmates from our vintage (?) of GEST (Government English School Tumpat) had a short reunion over lunch several months ago. It was on occassion of Rita visiting KL to see her parents. These were my primary classmates, who generally remained communicable with one another.

WEE BENG GEE

Now must call Dato' Wee. Soon to be retired senior Police Officer. Used to be attached to the Malaysian Police Contingent in Songkhla, Thailand. I used to frequent his spacious bungalow in Songkhla for overnight stops during my motorcycling forays into Thailand. He's one of the active one initiating get-togethers amongst classmates.

Recently hosted a wedding for his daughter, who now resides in USA. I guess we know where he will end up after retirement - touring the golf courses in US.

RAZAK MOHD

An athlete and sportsman in his heydays. Razak is the the unofficial secretary of this loose gathering of classmates.

Lives nearby in Kelana Jaya and already a datuk. Notice the spelling!

AMNOI (RITA)

Came to Tumpat in Form One (I think), daughter of the OCPD R.N. Walker who got transferred to Tumpat City. As kids, we had always been scared of the police. With her as classmate, we went to the OCPD quarters to play! What a 360 degree turn. Then she later stayed with the Headmaster, Mr Ragavan.

We have not lost contact with her inspite of her living in Germany for a short spell of time and later in beautiful Chiengmai. In Chiengmai, my family visited her in her nice bungalow. Now she lived in Songkhla, where we used to visit her

ANG LIAN LIAN

An ardent adventurer, following the footsteps of her husband. Once, she traced or attempted to trace her roots in China. I believed she had a stint working in UK, hence her current English-speaking accent, which is a pleasure to listen to for kampong folks like us.

She had trekked in Nepal, gone to South America, done China, covered Borneo and God knows where else.

KAMARUDDIN ABU BAKAR

A man with a very positive outlook, inspite of some challenges he faces. Always laughing, a good friend to be with, especially when you feel down.

Owed a fair bit to this man for suggesting my youngest daughter to study in Dublin, where 2 of his daughters are currently studying/working. My daughter is now pursuing her ACCA in Dublin and had just recently been offered a job. Thanks a trillion Din.

Like Lian, also a traveller. Currently residing in South Africa, following his wife who works with the Malaysian foreign service. Used to stay in New York for several years when his wife was transferred there. Prior to that, I believe he followed his wife to India.

RAMLI ZAKARIA

Notice I don't have Ahmad in front of my name. Back in the school in Tumpat, I was known only as Ramli. The "Ahmad" came later, after I furthered my studies in RMC. Fully retired but currently enjoying sharing whatever experience I have with the younger generation.

So there we are. Hope to keep meeting them and many others in the future.

IN PASSING

A flurry of events happened these last few weeks.

On 20th July, I celebrated my 30th wedding anniversary.

A day later on 21st July, I have gone through 57 years of good life. Alhamdulillah. My youngest daughter penned in her blog her growing up experience with her dad – a birthday gift of sort to me.

Then, a participant in my training program, who later became a special friend, presented me with his e-book “Menunggu Puncak”. It’s special. Firstly it’s his story of his conversion to Islam. Secondly, he promised completion and delivery of the book on my birthday, almost a year ago. And he delivered, on time, true to his goal setting target. I’m touched.

Sadly a day later, on 22nd July a close friend was called back to the Lord. Allahyarham Zubir Zainal Abidin, popularly known by us as Kutu Zoob, drowned while challenging himself in his first ever International Triathlon in Port Dickson. The news came as a great shock to everyone who knew Zoob, a strong athletic guy. To date, I’m still recovering from shock as I flip through fond memories of Zoob in my archived cycling photos. Good-bye my friend, we will always remember you as the great challenger.

Closer to the heart are the turn of events and the sudden twist of fate. While I celebrate and rejoice, others mourn. While I mourn another friend’s passing away, life passes on. And we all continued on our journey, most times in haste and seldom stop, to smell the flowers and to be thankful to God Almighty for all the blessings.

Semoga Roh mu sentiasa dicucuri rahmat, Zoob

PASSING MOMENTS

I have not been blogging for quiet a while. The fingers have been heavy, and the lazy bones were working full time.

A classmate, the late OP Tham Yew Kong passed away peacefully. Together with a group of about 20 x-RMC boys, I attended the funeral at Jalan 222 funeral parlour. I have not had the opportunity to meet late OP Tham ever since we left college. Some of my Kutu friends did visit him in hospital. I did not make it, somehow. So, when I receive the news of his passing away, I have made it a point to say farewell to another fellow classmate.

I knew Tham as a great sportman, who excelled in all the sporting events at RMC. He was the Captain of the College Badminton team, of which I was a team member. He was also a classmate, though he entered College one year earlier than us (Kutus). He played too much, too often and therefore did a re-sit of the SPM. But he was still a loveable guy.

Good bye my friend.

FREE & EASY IN SURABAYA - DAY 4

THE MUD BATH IN SIDOARJO (7th May 2005)


It was on the 3rd day of our trip. A scene we never expected, more at home in a movie screen, not in real life. But, it was real life. And lives have died too in this calamity.



The location -- in Sidoardjo, at the outskirt of Surabaya, roughly 20kms away from the city. It was one fateful day in May 2006. A company drilling for gas didn't hit paydirt, but instead pierced a layer of strata and sludge (mud) has been spewing from a crater ever since.








The disaster left 8,000 people homeless. The mud flow had submerged homes and farms which had caused untold damages. According to reports, thousands of concrete balls had been thrown into the crater, hoping to stop the mud flow. However, mud continued to flow out. An embankment built to surround the crater had also failed. Efforts to cap the crater seemed hopeless.




As we drove through the buried village, we felt an eerie silence. Pungent smell from the emitting gas filled our nose and the smoke could be seen from a distance. We just could not believe what we saw.

Judging from the construction and layout, the buried area would have been, once a planned housing estate, something you don't see very much here.

I was informed too that what was once hectares of padiland, were now hectares of dried mud, several metres deep. Such is men's greed.

FREE & EASY IN SURABAYA - DAY 3 (Part II)

THE "REYOG" PERFORMANCE (6th May 2007)

You need to google search "REYOG" to get more details of this masked folk dance found in East Jawa (Jawa Timur). There is a distinct similarity with Johore's Kuda Kepang folklore, at least in the use of the kuda kepang by the dancers.

From my quick and short reading, this folklore dance is a mix of Bali and Javanese culture. The centrepiece of the dance must be the Singa Barong - a mythical half-man and half-animal figure. It has a tiger's head and surrounded by peacock feathers.



The Singa Barong is the devil to be captured and though I didn't witness the whole dance, I believe the dance climaxed with the capture of this Singa-Barong!

I was pretty fascinated with the traditional musical instruments of flute, gong, gendang and cymbals, reminding me of the Silat in Kelantan.


The girls on their kuda kepang would have gone through many practise sessions as they danced and swayed with the classical and enchanting sound of the serunai and the ensembles of gongs and gendangs. I was lucky to have the benefit of this performance across the road of the hotel where I stayed.







The warriors equally performed a great show, "fighting" each other in pairs.


At close-up, they do look menacing!

FREE & EASY IN SURABAYA - DAY 3

PASKAS (6th May 2007)

Indonesians are great at acronyms. "WARTEL" is Warong Telephone. In the cyber age, they now have "WARNET". Yes, you guess right. It stands for Warong Internet, or Internet Cafe. JATIM stands for Jawa Timor. I haven't heard though of JARAT for Jawa Barat or JANGAH for Jawa Tengah. Anyway, their use of acronyms can fill pages and pages. But what is PASKAS?

Well, PASKAS stands for PAGUYUBAN SEPEDA KUNO AREK SURABAYA. "Sepeda" and "Kuno" we know -- "speda" for bicycle and kuno for "classic". Paguyuban? Well, it stands for Persatuan and "arek" stands for teman. So, if you read my blog often, you are my "arek":-) and I'll belanja you teh tarek.

PASKAS therefore is a group of friends in Surabaya who shares the common love for antique bicycles.

So it was very early morning on Day 3 of my visit that I met a group of very friendly Indonesians who shared a common love -- bicycles. My destination today was Kota Madya, a stone's throw from my hotel. As I walked out of my hotel lobby, I was already greeted with activities on the road. Jay walkers, cyclists and joggers were all heading towards Kota Madya. Made up of individuals, families with kids, young and old it was a great sight to see an active population having one common love for health.

An old man was resting on his bicycle, in batik and songkok, head nodding in tune probably with Keroncong Kemayuran plugged to his MP3. He must have travelled some distance to come to Kota Madya.

Another gentleman, as classic as his bicyle was doing some stretching excercise before a ride.


A group of younger and not so young cyclists were having some early carbo-loading and offered me a piece of Indonesian kueh which I can't refuse. Everyone was enjoying the morning.


I was enjoying the photographic opportunities and the warmth of the Indonesians. I was enjoying the sights of youths enjoying the weekend outing, and families out for a day of fun with little kids. I enjoyed watching the petty traders enjoying brisk business, selling food and drinks, and toys.

More so, I was enjoying scrutinising the classic bicycles that the owners proudly exhibited. If you have a bicycle dated 1945 or earlier, you are an "arek" of PASKAS. The President of America was there too! Mr Kennedy proudly showed me his 1936 Simplex, a bicycle imported from the Netherlands. He insisted that his picture be recorded in my blog. No problemo Mr President Sir!

Mr Kennedy, minus the J.F. initial

So, what about these classic bicycles? I enjoyed looking at the components. Let me start with that comfy thing you place your sensitive butt on -- the saddles. Leather was the thing to go, the only material to go those years. To soften the rigid steel frame of the 1940's and 1950's, springs helped soften the ride. So, here they are, the leather springed saddles of yesteryears.

This must have been made from crocodile skin!

I noted a bicycle bell that required some G-force of your palm to ring. It didn't ring. It cried out a loud "BONG". I believed it didn't come with the bike, but invented by the classic owner.

Mr Kennedy proudly showed off his 1955 bell with a European motif on his 1936 Simplex bike.

What about panniers? The leather panniers on some of the bikes made my recently purchased fabric pannier looked cheap in comparison.

And the trusted dynamo to generate electricity for the night cycling.

And the locks to ensure the safety of the bikes.

The chain cover to minimise chain maintenance

And if you got to carry something fragile for your wife, do invest in a shock-absorber rack. I do hope you can still find them at Boon Foo.

Aiya....I have overstayed. Mem is waiting in the hotel for something more "interesting".....to her. I better leave. "Pak....saya sudah kelewatan ni. Bisa pinjam sepeda kuno mini bapak?"

FREE & EASY IN SURABAYA - DAY 2 (PART II)

THE LAMONGAN ENTOURAGE (5th May 2007)

They came. Almost the entire family. 10 of them -- my maid's husband, her 3 daughters, 2 grand-daughters, my maid’s brother Supatik(whom I've met before in Malaysia) and his wife and daughter, plus the driver. We were outnumbered 1 to 5. We checked out of the hotel, bundled our luggage in the van and off we went, heading for Lamongan 75kms away. In the heat of the day, we were sweating but fanned by the breeze coming through the slit window of the van. No air-conditioning. We would endure.

Several photographic opportunities but felt quite a hassle to hop on and off, especially when the day was heating up. Missing my bicycle badly! We endured on. First stop at a kampong for a quick visit to my maid's third daughters' house. A simple one, bare except for a few old settees. Husband a trishaw puller. I can sense the difficulties of this family's life. Very simple couple, obviously with no excess baggage. Probably slept better than most famous and rich in Malaysia.

The family of Purweni

We continued on. I sensed Supatik having difficulty to suggest where to bring us sight-seeing. Differing interest. We obliged their hospitality when the van stopped several kilometers before their kampong. Gua Maharani. We would visit this Gua. Quite a big crowd of locals were here on this Saturday weekend. Within 15 mins we finished the tour.

where else....Gua Maharani

Where next? The ala-Sunway Lagoon a few minutes away from Gua Maharani. Probably one-tenth the size of Sunway Lagoon. The extra was its location, by the sea. Stayed there and performed Zohor prayers in a new mosque located within its complex.


Then, off to my maid's kampong. Lamongan where my maid came from is a fishing port and the biggest in JATIM (that's Jawa Timor). Lamongan boasts a fishing port which was not there on my first visit long ago. My maid's husband is a fisherman. Today he didn't go out to sea, because we were visiting. On our earlier trip, we didn't get to meet him as he was at sea. The visit back then was a surprise. In the words of my maid, "bagai bulan jatuh ke-riba".


We had lunch at the house, lavish spread by their standard. They had gone out of their way in hospitality. We felt a little bit uneasy but I guess they had been waiting for this day of our arrival. The house, just like the houses of the average Indonesian fisherman, was small. Packed with 4 adults and a few kids, the living room doubled as sleeping quarters for the night. A tiny fan helped fanned some breeze on a hot day. We endured and we would forever be thankful for our good life.


The fishing village had seen many changes. There was now a fishing pier where deep sea fishing boats brought in the catch. The boats - rainbows of color, almost all with same design.

So, how did the fishermen make sure he won't be in the wrong boat? The flag. They flew different flags and I believe that's their identities. I noticed what looked liked a Swiss flag too!

the Swiss flag?

And the catch. What a catch. I had never seen so many sting-rays in my life. The rays were huge too. Even dead they look dangerous. I had always been glad that I had never stumbled upon any during my scuba-diving days.

the sting rays, by the hundreds

Preserved fish was also a thriving business. We visited one cottage industry processing preserved fish. Women folks were packing them in neat little rattan baskets, after they were cleaned.

A large boiler boiled and cooked the fish before they were preserved for sale. Pray that no one trip and fall into the boiler.

after cleaning, packing

into small baskets

and stacked

...to be finally boiled to perfection

We had made our intention known that we would return to Surabaya. After Maghrib, we endured another 75kms ride in the packed van back to Surabaya. The whole family wanted to send us back to Surabaya! Again, we were outnumbered 5 to 1.

Hingga bertemu kembali........