I took three days off to conduct my Rawa research in Raub. Our RA drove and I mcm mem besar ke sana sini with my notebook, going from kampong to kampong, house to house talking to Rawas.Any Rawa who might help me find Tupin Aishah.
The best award went to sch principal Hassanudin Isa who kindly gave me everything I needed to know about Rawas in Raub and nearby kampongs.It was his hardwork with his team.Just like that - take this and this is now your amanah, he said. Sebak dada ku sebak! He said he was also entrusted to hold the salasilah and was told to hand it over to someone bijaksana.I said who? He said you. MashaAllah what a scholar! May Allah bless him and his team who worked hard on tracing roots. It's not for vainglory.We knew that.
So Fatin and I went from one tipoff to another on day 1...sampai ke Ulu Sungai in which it's believed the first Rawa landed from Perak melalui sungai (or from Slim River). We found Rawas who looked like my uncles..god, it was like coming home! Between Batu Talam and Ulu Sungai, I found roots of my grandma and her sister Gik.Both were daughters of Menteri Hassan who married Tupin Aishah so Tupin was my grandma's mom via Tengku Muda Tanjung Alai.Gik married Keria via Tok Perak's route.Tok Perak was Tengku Ali who left Sumatra cos' he didn't want to fight over the throne cos' his youngest brother wanted to be king.Well, that's a version.I heard the other versions too...lari from Belanda for defending Islam against adat.We'll double check sources as we dig deeper.
I finally spoke to childhood neighbours yg tak pernah bercakap cos' we were all shy-shy.Spoke with Rosli Jalil and Azam Hussein.Our parents are long gone but now we connect and speak of roots. Lawak juga Rawa2 ni semua. And kind - Azam brought me to meet his old relative who had memories of Tupin Aishah...in her old age.But I need to double chk that it was really her and not Tupin Zainab cos' there were many Tupins.Teh Salim said he was school friends with one of my uncles - Pak Teh Jamil.The routine was go to school, makan at Tupin's stall depan sekolah..pi mandi sungai, solat then ngaji in the afternoon.What was she like, I asked.Kind, he said.Was she beautiful? Cantiklah agaknya masa muda, Teh Salim said, laughing. Then I knew she was in her zaman senja.But still independent cos' she had a business.This before WW2, okay? I'm proud of my moyang.She knew how to find her own happiness.Her story will be central to the novel I hope to write.Haha...berangan lagi.
Early findings, Rawa Raub were ulemas/imams and penghulus.Rawas love to lead. I met two families whose roots were panglima : Panglima Daud and Panglima Umar.Tok Perak brought with him hulubalang..some said 30 people..others said 300. They first settled in Bidor Perak and won the Perak's ruler's heart after Tok Perak offered to get rid of the pirates.The name Tok Perak was bestowed on him by the grateful Sultan.Nama benor dia Tengku Ali.Nanti kita double chk source ni.
I will have to go back to Raub to speak to a few key people.And from there to Temerloh and Kuantan to check on Rawas in those places.They went as far as Kelantan.As deep into the jungle, running from themselves!
That explains the silence.Barat mau erase sejarah Rawa sbb mrk melawan.Rawa mau erase sejarah mrk kerana takut.Takut apa? Musuh mereka di kiri kanan but musuh within is worse than anything else.More later.
P/S as i was interviewing someone, anak dia cakap are you the blogger? I said I-Glass? He said yes.I asked how do you knw about the blog? He googled Rawa, he said :)) Nice to know.
The best award went to sch principal Hassanudin Isa who kindly gave me everything I needed to know about Rawas in Raub and nearby kampongs.It was his hardwork with his team.Just like that - take this and this is now your amanah, he said. Sebak dada ku sebak! He said he was also entrusted to hold the salasilah and was told to hand it over to someone bijaksana.I said who? He said you. MashaAllah what a scholar! May Allah bless him and his team who worked hard on tracing roots. It's not for vainglory.We knew that.
So Fatin and I went from one tipoff to another on day 1...sampai ke Ulu Sungai in which it's believed the first Rawa landed from Perak melalui sungai (or from Slim River). We found Rawas who looked like my uncles..god, it was like coming home! Between Batu Talam and Ulu Sungai, I found roots of my grandma and her sister Gik.Both were daughters of Menteri Hassan who married Tupin Aishah so Tupin was my grandma's mom via Tengku Muda Tanjung Alai.Gik married Keria via Tok Perak's route.Tok Perak was Tengku Ali who left Sumatra cos' he didn't want to fight over the throne cos' his youngest brother wanted to be king.Well, that's a version.I heard the other versions too...lari from Belanda for defending Islam against adat.We'll double check sources as we dig deeper.
I finally spoke to childhood neighbours yg tak pernah bercakap cos' we were all shy-shy.Spoke with Rosli Jalil and Azam Hussein.Our parents are long gone but now we connect and speak of roots. Lawak juga Rawa2 ni semua. And kind - Azam brought me to meet his old relative who had memories of Tupin Aishah...in her old age.But I need to double chk that it was really her and not Tupin Zainab cos' there were many Tupins.Teh Salim said he was school friends with one of my uncles - Pak Teh Jamil.The routine was go to school, makan at Tupin's stall depan sekolah..pi mandi sungai, solat then ngaji in the afternoon.What was she like, I asked.Kind, he said.Was she beautiful? Cantiklah agaknya masa muda, Teh Salim said, laughing. Then I knew she was in her zaman senja.But still independent cos' she had a business.This before WW2, okay? I'm proud of my moyang.She knew how to find her own happiness.Her story will be central to the novel I hope to write.Haha...berangan lagi.
Early findings, Rawa Raub were ulemas/imams and penghulus.Rawas love to lead. I met two families whose roots were panglima : Panglima Daud and Panglima Umar.Tok Perak brought with him hulubalang..some said 30 people..others said 300. They first settled in Bidor Perak and won the Perak's ruler's heart after Tok Perak offered to get rid of the pirates.The name Tok Perak was bestowed on him by the grateful Sultan.Nama benor dia Tengku Ali.Nanti kita double chk source ni.
I will have to go back to Raub to speak to a few key people.And from there to Temerloh and Kuantan to check on Rawas in those places.They went as far as Kelantan.As deep into the jungle, running from themselves!
That explains the silence.Barat mau erase sejarah Rawa sbb mrk melawan.Rawa mau erase sejarah mrk kerana takut.Takut apa? Musuh mereka di kiri kanan but musuh within is worse than anything else.More later.
P/S as i was interviewing someone, anak dia cakap are you the blogger? I said I-Glass? He said yes.I asked how do you knw about the blog? He googled Rawa, he said :)) Nice to know.
