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.