Alfatihah utk Long

 My eldest sister, Hajjah Rokiah passed away at 4 am at her daughter's home in Putrajaya. Nik and I were at Banyan Tree Hotel. They tried calling me at 4.26 am but i tak dengar.

Woke up to kak ngah's text, long not good. Kebumi di Semantan. I thought she was telling me her wish. Then saw Sal's message. She died at 4 am dgn mudah. We rushed to Putrajaya after a rushed bfast sbb van jenazah wld leave for Raub at 9.45 am. Nik said we wld do a late checkout. Tak sempat to pack.

Jenazah mandi, kapan, disolatkan di surau near ummi's plc. Sempatlah i tolong sikit2 and sempat kissed her and thanked her for her kindness since we were small. As kakak sulong, tjawab dia berat.

Im too sad to write more. Whn Im calmer, i will continue.

Alfatihah, Long. 

Z got Rob

This is a belated entry on Z's nikah to Rob on Sept 22. The date was received a wee bit late. They had to run here and there (6 different places) to get their documents for the nikah. Without complete documentation, no nikah date. Imagine the two flying back to KL not knowing if the nikah would take plc/not cos' no guarantee they would get a nikah date sebab takut penuh. And they only had 3 weeks tolak 2 weeks quarantine. 

Selangor is particularly difficult to marry. Things could have gone digitalised, right? A month after their nikah, sijil nikah belum dapat. Hadoi Selangor! They could have just issued it after the nikah right? Sekarang macam2 jenis gadget ada. 

I'm glad it's all over. The pandemic might be here for a while longer so maybe we did the right thing doing the nikah although many of our family members and friends were not able to share with us the joy.

Takpalah. Asalkan  hubungan mereka sudah halal now.

Gugurnya sebutir mutiara IMAN

 Kak Am passed away yesterday at slightly after 4 pm. I received a poster from Prez Abim of her demise. I thought it was a condolence on the passing of her husband 2 months ago but a small print in the takziah poster said on her return to rahmahtullah. I had to read it many times before I forwarded it to my IMAN network. Semua terkejut sebab we never knew Kak Am sakit.

She died of cancer. Late stage and it had spread to her liver, usus, stomach which she didn't know till a couple of days ago. Betapa mudah and how she didn't have to go through all those painful treatments.  Kak Oni kata itulah God's mercy on her. Dengan tumour yang besar, Kak Am masih kuat ke sana sini working for the ummah. Tanpa dia merasanya.

I wanted to tunggu kat kubur je but masa tu jenazah belum sampai so I bergegas ke masjid Mujahidin in Dsara Utama. Jenazah dah selamat dimandikan dan dikapankan. I just sat at one side sbb dah tak sempat nak ambik wudhu and cari kain telekong. Anggota IMAN lain duduk jauh so could not make it.

Mlmnya we did virtual tahlil. Very emotional mo for all. I'm glad we could verbalise our grief as we spoke of Kak Am's good deeds and how she inspired us in her kerja-kerja amal.

Dato Osman Bakar told Kak Oni: perginya sebutir lagi mutiara bagi kita semua.

Semoga Allah ampunkan Kak Am, menerima semua amal-amal baiknya dan menempatkannya di kalangan para solehah.

Alfatihah for Kak Am dan rakan-rakan IMAN yang telah pergi Saba, Aldila, Che Nor.

ASA fraternity

 ASA and I went a long way. I think I was its Vice President twice..when Prof. Nuraihan was President and when Prof. Aziz Bari was one..if tak silap. It seems so long time ago. I love its fraternity. We have done much together, the river projects, the pitching projects with Dr Amani and gang. I have wonderful memories which I must record and capture here as I get more and more forgetful with time.You need to probok-probok me to get my stories out.If not tenggelam macam tu je.

Yesterday was funny. Dr Addy macam biasa, probok2 saying now that Menteri MOHE dah letak jawatan, he nominates me as Senator to replace her. Haha. Lepas tu sorang demi sorang joined in the jest and supported the motion. Lawak but I played along and gave my strategic planning not only for the country but more for IIUM. Kata orang, sayang anak, sindir menantu? Gitew. Haha.

Addy tanya, banyak ke duit nak buat macam2 ni? I said duit monopoli parti I kan banyak? Haha. Nice to be silly sometimes.

The talk we did on Sharif 's prog katanya triggered similar discussions in the US panels. Bagus le if Kirp, Dr Fachrudin and Jeff and I managed to do that.  We had fun doing it anyway - talking about entanglement of religion with technology and how that affects our economy and overall social wellness. Tajuk tu I yang bagi. Something I feel strongly about.

Alfatihah Dr. Khamsiah Ismail

Dr Khamsiah Ismail passed away today hari Ahad malam Isnin at 8.35 pm. Text anak dia I dapat sejam lewat because I was busy marking fyp dissertations.

Macam biasa it took me a while to process the news.Mula-mula tak tau nak rasa apa, cakap apa. Then macam biasa I frantically looked for those who knew her to cry together. I have lost all who would pick the phone at a ring.Kawan2 lain pun habis tak sihat and biasa tidur awal.By then I was sobbing. Akhirnya Prof Noraini picked the phone and empangan terus pecah. Dia pun belum dengar cerita sedih ni. Pastinya dia tak tau head or tail.I kept hearing her saying what? apa? I had to say the news twice.

Then she sensibly said we would all go too, sabar dan pray that she will be placed in jannah.

IMAN, WPRU, PERAK groups semua kenal dia. Semua sedih.

It will take me a while to get over this. Please sedekah alfatihah for Dr Khamsiah Ismail,a good academic, researcher, counselor, a good friend, a good human being.

Dari Allah kita datang, kepadaNya kita kembali.

Loved ones fall sick

 Covid cases hit almost 10k now. We are doing wrong things. If we were doing the right thing, the number would hv gone down.

My niece was down and we thought we would lose her but alhamdullilah, she pulled through berkat rahmah Allah. And now, one of my good friends, Dr. Khamsiah is battling with covid. We all pray tht she will come out of it. 

I suddenly feel very sad. Sadness is an understatement. When leaders are stupid, this is where we are. We die, one by one. Greed does not kill. Stupidity does. 

5th wave?

 Bad times to do any prediction: scientific or otherwise. But it is not that the country lacks intelligent people. We have plenty but why O why, we are where we are now?? 

I think the way out would be any of the following:

1. Undur secara terhormat dan undi balik kerajaan yang berhak.

2. Be inclusive - dengar pelbagai suara dari pakar-pakar and act on them.

3. Let go..jangan nak control semua benda. Kita tahu satu-satu jalan keluar ialah memperbanyakkan vaksi dan membuatnya at a super speed. If that is NOT happening, you tell us apa masalah sebenarnya. Is it money? Is it supplies? Once kita tahu apa masalah sebenarnya, kita boleh fikirkan jalan keluar bersama.

JANGAN BODOH SOMBONG. That can kill the whole nation.

Covid 2021

 We were busy coping with covid in 2020 when it hit in March. We thought things would ease up in 2021. It has been over a year but looks like the 3rd or 4th wave will be more deadly. India has shown so. But look at how we seem not to learn from whatever Allah is trying to tell us. Kebodohan terus berlaku. Bila bodoh, kita juga sombong. Makin bodoh, makin sombong. Semoga kita semua dilindungi oleh makhluk jahat.

Pls be clever, observe your SOPs.

Gik, Gaa, Gupo

 Abg Tik and family came to dinner. Ziad had kindly offered to cook maqlubah and drove all the way to deliver 2 huge plates. Alhamdulilah, we all had fun talking and eating.

Abg Tik mentioned Gik, Gaa, Gupo (pronounced Gupont mcm Dupont bunyi French!) I wrote to David kot2 these were Dutch names. Not at all, kata dia. Haha. So I asked Afi... Nama Rao ke. Not at all. Lorr.. Orang asli ke? Haha. David said mungkin nicknames. Possible.

We enjoyed our company over dinner. Got to knw my cousin and 2nd cousins closer.

The food was delicious.

                                                              Syrian chicken maqlubah

                                         

                                                              Syrian lamb maqlubah

Berakit-rakit ke hulu, berenang-renang ke tepian

 ...bersakit-sakit dahulu, bersenang-senang kemudian.

A phone call to Mak Tam Melah in Kg Jasu, Ulu Sungai gave me another image of old: orang dulu berakit 3 jam membawa barang dagangan seperti buah2an (rambutan, langsat, ciku, etc) dari Ulu Sungai ke Tanjung Malim melalui Slim River. Balik jalan kaki via Jalan Penarikan (jalan hutan). Makcik Melah pernah berniaga macam tu. Wow. Itu selepas merdeka but now jalan tu dah semak samun (jalan rakit). Sayang. I would have wanted to berakit 3 jam to Slim River.

Mak Tam Melah ajak pi rumah dia. She will cook asarong Ulu Sungai yang famous tu.My cousins semua melompat for another mision.Siap nak cari ayam hutan. Hamboi! Kena tangkap perlilitan nanti baru tau.One cousin said since many tak makan ayam, cari la rusa. Haha. Boleh berangan. Kalau kat Ithaca, rusa bersepah2 sampai they have to shoot sebab jadi nuisance dah. Hai, I wish.

Cicit Menteri Hassan di Slim River

 So the 4 of us took a day trip to conduct my research tracing Rawas in Slim River. Kg Pasir to be exact.Ghaz drove his Vellfire. Sedap la Kak Ngah and I tidur kat belakang tu mcm naik plane. 

Shareh also drove on 'work' all the way but arrived a bit late. By then, we were already served lemang dan rendang ayam and other kuih muih. Cicit Menteri Hassan from a different wife. We suspect his first wife but we can't really tell.

Lunch was served. Sayur2 tanam sendiri. Duan' s bro in law supplies sayur to Pasar Selayang. Bagus betul. 

The story was they (Hassan and Lijah) got married in Kg Atok then moved to Kg Gapeh but maybe they moved bck to Pahang at a later stage. Or they never moved to Kg Gapeh but Khalijah went bck to Slim River with her young son Bakar and left her daughter Putih with her ex husband after they divorced. No one could say whether Hassan was already married to Tupin Aishah when he married Khalijah or married her after his divorce. Org tua2 yg tahu semua dah tiada. 

But we met Hassan's cicit muit on Slim River side and saw gambar one of the aruah cucus who looked so much like my wan, anak Hassan with Tupin Aishah (or nama kg nya Esah) Im told ada seorang lagi cucu Hassan (Lijah route) yg berpindah ke Pahang frm Slim River (Kg Kela, Ulu Sungai. From Slim River to Ulu Sungai is only 26km jalan kaki ikut jalan Banjaran Titiwangsa) I spoke to Opah Beom last night. Whn I go bck to Raub, inshaAllah we will go to Ulu Sungai to visit her.

We met Aki, anak tiri Hassan. Byk cerita menarik from him but he tak sempat kenal Hassan. Only stories frm his mom about him. Orangnya tinggi. Garang. Sounds like my side. :) Kata Shareh, Menteri Hassan ni berniaga kerbau dan gajah bawak dari Raub ke Perak. Jgn dia ada wife lain kat Perak, udah.Letih nak trace waris.

It was a pleasant trip. Kenal sedara2 baru. 

Rawa news updated

 Zafuan tanya apa sumber Dt Am kata Nantian Saka meninggal dalam Perang Paderi. Jadi saya pun telefon Dt Am di Rao tanya apa sumber dia. He said he asked Datuk2 Adat yang lain sekitar Tanjung Alai (aruah  Datuak Mengudum Haji Ramli dan aruah Mat Toguh, Bendaro Besar - semua dah ninggal) Nantian Saka memang seangkatan dengan Tuanku Rao and Imam Bonjol 1818 -1832.

Yang Dipertua Muda tu bkn gelaran raja but ketua agama/pemimpin agama.Raja ketika Perang Paderi adalah Raja Kenayan. Kata Dt Amran Perang Paderi sesama rawa bkn pasal agama sgt. Psl perniagaan. Yang satu niaga candu, arak; yang satu menentang. Well, to do with agama juga la kan? Puak2 Yang Dipertua Tanjung Alai kan orang-orang agama.

I asked why berahsia bagi yang pindah ke Tanah Melayu. Kata Dt Amran, the perang experience was really bitter..sedara sesama sedara reported against one another yang berperang (they were on both sides..ada yang belah Belanda would inform Belanda akan activities yang menentang Belanda yang dibuat Rawa lagi satu, etc). So mmg bila pindah tu, tak pandang belakang dah.Sumpah mereka yang berpergian was: dipakuknya ke tingkap dgn parang sambil berkata aku tidak akan pulang selain  jika bekas kayu ini bercantum semula. Sesuatu yang tidak mungkin.Begitu mereka berpatah arang.

Sebab apa Zafuan focus on Tanjung Alai ..mungkin selepas Perang Paderi, yang kembali pulang selepas keadaan sudah reda akan dapati sudah hilang 5 kampung yang berdekatan Tanjung Alai dan hanya dapat berkumpul di Tanjung Alai. Ada 7 kg di Tanjung Alai: 

Tanjung Alai, Kg Pisang, Tanjung Pauh,Kg. Tengah,Kg Pisang Ular, Tobek Atas, Pancah.

Di hilir Tanjung Alai ada 5 kg  (now dah lenyap kerana penduduknya ramai hijrah ke Tanah Melayu waktu Perang Paderi):  Tanjung Durian (kg Nantian Saka), Tanjung Goda, Kubu Gadang (yang jadi benteng Perang Paderi), Koto Golinggang dan Kg Mudik. Setiap kg ini ada raja adatnya.

On isu ramai Rawas are mistaken for being Achehnese: Penduduk asal Meulaboh  tu dulu orang Rawa. Kingdom Rawa ni dah lama. Zaman Srivijaya, zaman Majapahit (mereka jumpa gelang yang sama di Majapahit dan Rawa di kurun 14) dan orang Rawa keluar masuk Meulaboh sebab tu pusat dagang, pusat agama. Ramai orang Rawa ninggal di Acheh. Wei, no wonder rupa Zafuan macam rupa P.Ramlee when Ramlee was in 1950s.

I have to catitkan ini.Takut lupa.

I stopped writing

I quit this blog, fb etc because I felt my privacy was being compromised. But I will use this blog from time to time to keep some links which are useful for my research.

https://varsitarian.net/literary/20081116/translating_maps_through_poetry