Today, 9 September 2009 is Adlina’s 7th birthday. She has been pestering us to celebrate her birthday like her other friends. Adoi! Mak & Ayah tak cukup modal la nak celebrate like your other friends. Dah macam culture kat sini celebrate birthday kat entertainment centre such as Kidszone, Kidzania, Lollipop, Playground 72 etc. Holding a party kat tempat-tempat cam ni memerlukan modal JUTAAN Rupiah… Nasib baik sekarang bulan puasa, so we have a strong reason not to hold such party.
Adlina is our third child. I actually had miscarriage before having her. At that time I was 3-month pregnant. Atikah and Arfah was so happy because both of them dah 7 and 4 years respectively. They were eagerly waiting for the baby. Trip to the gynae dah jadi family event and all of us will go. So on that particular night we went to Dr D***ila clinic at Subang Jaya for my monthly check-up. When she was doing the scanning, I sensed something was wrong as she took longer time than usual to display to me the screen. Then she told me that there was no heartbeat. I was a bit surprised sebab tak pernah such thing happen to me and I didn’t suspect anything wrong with my pregnancy…no blood stain…no fall etc. She suspected that the foetus has already ‘dead’ for about a month and she was surprised that I did not feel anything. By right the dead foetus dah toxicate my blood. So she filled up and faxed the admission form to SJMC. The D & C was scheduled the next morning. By then I was already banjir with airmata coz really tak sangka it turned out to be the sad ending. The next morning I undergo the D & C. That was in end March 2001.
Alhamdulillah in January 2002, I was confirmed pregnant again. At that time I was still working with C**com in Jalan Ampang. Had a smooth pregnancy eventhough kena drive and sometimes took LRT to work. In April 2002 I took the Voluntary Separation Scheme (VSS) which was offered to all staff and mine was among the approved ones. Before going separate ways, our department sempat lagi bersukaria di Genting Highlands during Indian Filmfare 2002. Watching the premiere of film apa-tak-ingat-dah-the-title which the lead actor was Amitabh Bachchan. Nasib baik dapat room free of charge. Dapat la bawak family.
Kalau ikut calculation, I was supposed to deliver on 3rd week of September. Since it was going to be another planned cesaerian, we chose the date 9 September as it is an easy date to remember. So there it goes. On that particular day, the 3.09 kg baby was born and we named her Noor ‘Adlina Hayani. As a baby Adlina tak banyak problem. Jarang sakit. The first time she had a fever when she was a year old. Managed to exclusively breastfed her till she was a year old. Then I got a new job in KL. She was sent to the nursery along with her 2 elder sisters. There goes the normal routine…the early morning trip to school, nursery, office, nursery, home.
She is the talkative type and sometimes jadi macam baby eventhough dah 7 tahun. VERY friendly…easily makes new friend even at public places and even with different language spoken…macam ayam dengan itik still boleh main. Tersangatlah mischieviousnya. Selalu hilang kat supermarket as she will be menonong sorang-sorang ke depan excitedly…now dah kurang la…we have to takut-takutkan dia…..kalau tidak memang ikut kepala dia mana dia nak pergi.
This year’s birthday is a special one sebab nombor dia cantik…..09.09.’09….tambahan pulak Adlina was born at exactly 9.00 am…..
So this morning Hariz and I went to her school and throw a simple party for her with her classmates. Just blow the candle and potong cake and makan with them as most of them are non-Muslims. Adlina pun tak nak puasa hari ni sebab nak makan kek dengan kawan-kawan…layan jelah….so here are some of the photos….
The cake
Some of her friends
Ready to blow the candle
Blow
With assistant class teacher
Happy birthday Adlina, semoga menjadi anak yang solehah and we love you always…
On Wednesday, as usual I went to Ain*n’s house at Pondok Indah for the weekly Pengajian session. It finished at 12.30 pm. On the way home, make a pit stop at Hero Supermarket Terogong to buy banana leaves and some groceries. Planned to make ‘tepung pelita’ for Iftar. Upon reaching home, settled things up and took out the frozen kue teow and curry puffs. Nai came to pick the ‘air kapur’ for her dried cuttlefish. Then I went to the kitchen to make the little basket from banana leaves for the ‘tepung pelita’. Susah jugak nak buat…after some trials and errors, jadi la bakul tu…
While leka melipat the bakul, suddenly I felt dizzy and the surrounding macam bergoyang…ingatkan pitam…I hold the kitchen table top tightly…takut jatuh…adalah dalam 30 saat dalam keadaan tu…It was about 2.55 pm. Then I asked my helper whether they felt the same…I do not know what actually happened. They said they felt the same thing. Then I saw the water in the swimming pool dah macam ombak kat laut…siap boleh terkeluar air tu dari pool cause of the kocakan. Then I know IT IS earthquake…
I called hubby’s mobile phone. First call….unanswered…dah suspen… Fortunately, 5 minutes after that he called…Dia kata memang earthquake…semua yang ada kat office kena turun to the ground level via emergency staircase. I asked him to come back…mana la tau kang apa-apa jadi. But cannot come back sebab semua barang kat atas…in the office…and jalan semua macet total (jammed…stagnant)
When I watched in the TV, the earthquake is quite bad…7.3 Skala Richter…nasib baik tak jadi tsunami…Pusat gempa is 124 km off the coast Tasik Malaya. Tasik Malaya is about 2 and a half hours drive from Jakarta. Suspen… Anak-anak kat sekolah pun rasa and they were evacuated to the school’s field and playground.
In today’s news, the death toll dah 59 orang… yang rumah rosak and kena pindahkan dah about 5,000 plus. In Cianjur, after effect of the earthquake is the landslide…banyak rumah yang tertimbus…warga kampung tu kena pindah. The quake is felt sampai ke Bali. Read more kat sini:
Alhamdulillah we are ok…as well as other Malaysians kat sini….belum dengar any casualties of any Malaysians. Hopefully tak de jadi apa-apa. Na’uzubillah…Dugaan Allah di bulan Ramadhan yang penuh berkah.
15 years ago, at this hour I was just got my new title ‘Mak’. My first child was born at 2.34 am on 26 August 1994. At this hour also I was still sleeping soundly after a few hours in labour.
I got married in November 1993 and about one month after that I was confirmed pregnant. I can still remember that on that particular day, I went to the company’s panel clinic to ask the doctor on how to not to get pregnant so soon. The lady doctor- on- duty advice me on the how to. But she also asked me to do the urine test at the same time. So that she can plan something for me. Fortunately, when the urine test result was out, it was positive and I was 4 weeks pregnant. I was quite surprised because I didn’t expect to get pregnant so soon. But as a Muslim I take it as rezeki. It was an easy pregnancy. No morning sickness, no nausea, no vomiting and I was very healthy. But my appetite was really good. I had 2 roti canai for breakfast everyday. Memang berselera.
At that time we were residing in USJ Subang in a 2-room flat. My sister, Adik was also staying with me as she was completing her Degree in I*M. My husband was working with a plantation company and always outstation and I was working in a haulier company in Jalan Klang Lama. When hubby was not around I will take bus to work. That was our life…as we were just gotten married and we have to start everything from scratch. Buying our own gas cooker, cutleries, household items etc. Our salary were just enough to cover the expenses till the next salary…no savings. It was quite hard but we survived.
The regular check-ups were done at S*MC under the company’s expense. Sometimes we had to wait for about 2 hours plus when Dr S**i had patients in labour. Buying items for the baby was a funny experience… At first I had no idea on how to plan for the purchase. I had to ask from friends and relatives. Takut nak beli… if terlebih or terkurang. The confusing part is there were various views from the older and younger generation. Fening… In the end we just bought a few pairs of the baju and seluar, booties and mittens… but Alhamdulillah we got a lot more as gifts from family and friends.
When I was 8-month pregnant I went for a job interview at C**com Academy. My senior at work asked me not to go as she told me that that company won’t take me as I was pregnant. They wouldn’t want to wait till I delivered. But I just go and tried my luck. At that time that particular Academy was just set up and they need an HR people. After about one hour interview, they accepted me but I told them I can only join after my confinement period is over. That was the child’s rezeki…I got a new job waiting for me and a better offer.
On 25 August I went for my regular check-ups with hubby. That was on Thursday. So many people queuing. Kena tunggu for about 2 hours. So we went downstairs for drinks. When the doctor checked there were some blood stains. She asked me to get myself admitted in the afternoon. So we went home, prepare things to bring to the hospital. Informed my sister at home and in kampung. Hubby called my parents-in-law. At that time we do not have the handphones like today, so we only relied on house phone.
At about 2.30 pm we went to the hospital. Admitted to the ward. At about 4.30 pm, I can feel the mild contraction. I told the nurse and she did the necessary and wheeled me to the labour room. The nurse called the doctor i.e. Dr H*ris as Dr S**i was on vacation. By 9.30 pm I could feel the contraction was like every 15 minutes and dah dilated about 7 cm. At 11.00 pm, I was fully dilated and ready to push…push….push…tak boleh keluar…. Dr H*ris came and asked me to push….”Come on push….I can see the head”. Push lagi tapi tak boleh keluar gak. So Dr H*aris used the vacuumed. After trying to vacuum for 7 times, nothing came out. So he decided to perfrom emergency cesaerian….Duh….tension…Signed the form and off we go to the OT… I was on full GA and all I can remember, I was wheeled to the ward….haven’t seen the baby. When I was half awake, I asked hubby whether the baby is OK….my first question was cukup sifat or not….Alhamdulillah…semua OK. Her weight was 3.52 kg and 51 cm long.
We named the baby Noor ‘Atikah Hanani….. When she was a baby she was very easy to care. Very chubby, very fair, berketu-ketul. Easy-going and tak takut orang… Well-loved by everybody in the family.
1 year old
1-year old 'Atikah with Ayah
7-year old 'Atikah & 'Arfah
A few weeks before turning 15
Now as a teenage, we hope her will do her best as a student, as a servant of Allah, as a child and a Malaysian. Semoga menjadi anak yang solehah dunia dan akhirat. Refrain yourself from mingling with people with bad influence, focus on your study first…. Other things come later.
Happy Birthday ‘Atikah…. We love unconditionally....
Semalam (17 Ogos 2009) adalah Hari UlangTahun Kemerdekaan Republik Indonesia (HUT RI) yang ke 64. Satu negara bercuti selama 3 hari. Banyak acara sambutan kemerdekaan diadakan sama ada di peringkat kampung, daerah, negeri dan kebangsaan.
Hari Sabtu kami tak ke mana cuma duduk di rumah…bersantai. Anak-anak berendam di kolam renang sebab hari teramatlah panas. Dah lebih sebulan hujan tak turun. Malamnya kami jalan ke Jakarta Pusat. Ronda-ronda sambil melihat macam mana persediaan sambutan hari merdeka di sini. Kami ke Jalan MH Tamrin dan terus melintas berdekatan Monas dan Istana Presiden. Bendera, pentas dan hiasan lainnya ada yang dah siap dipasang dan ada masih dalam persediaan. Kami singgah di Sarinah dan makan malam di ‘food court’ di situ. Selesai makan ronda-ronda di Sarinah Departmental Store. Banyak barang ‘on sale’ sebab sekarang tengah ‘the Great Jakarta Sale’. Tak beli apa-apa cuma ‘window shopping’.
Hari Ahad ke pasar beli ikan, daging dan sayur-sayuran. Pembantu rumah mintak libur jadi diliburkanlah. Lepas Zohor kami ke Senayan City dan makan tengahari di Pepper Lunch. Makanan yang dihidang dalam ‘hot plate’ seperti di ‘Stone Grill’. Dah makan ronda-ronda lagi. Anak-anak ke Time Zone main ‘video games’ dan segala macam mainan lainnya. Dah penat ronda-ronda kami ke Kawasan Kota Tua Jakarta.
Suasana hari kemerdekaan Indonesia di Jakarta
Kota Tua Jakarta
Di Kota Tua Jakarta lagi...
Kawasan ini adalah merupakan kawasan bangunan lama semasa zaman pemerintahan Belanda. Banyak bangunan yang telah dipulihara. Antara tinggalan Belanda adalah pejabat pos yang masih terdapat kotak surat lama, Pejabat Gabenor, gereja dan lain-lainnya. Tempat ini telah dijadikan seperti dataran. Di tengahnya ruangkosong di mana pengunjung boleh berekreasi. Ada tempat untuk menyewa basikal trend lama sama ada untuk bergambar atau untuk ditunggang. Memandangkan esoknya adalah hari kemerdekaan RI, pengunjung agak ramai…ada orang jual ubat, bersiar-bersiar, makan-makan….
Semalam rancangannya nak ke Tanah Abang mencari tudung….kami pergi naik teksi sebab takut jalan sesak kerana ada acara sambutan kemerdekaan dan banyak jalan yang ditutup. Masuk aje ke kawasan Jakarta Pusat, jalan tersangatla lengang….jadi lega sikit mesti boleh sampai ke Tanah Abang sekejap aje…. Sampai je ke sana, tengok-tengoksatu bangunan tu ditutup. Hari libur…semua peniaga di situ cuti. Penat je pegi…jadi kami pun ke ITC Kuningan….Sampai je di ITC pun rupanya ditutup… Nasib baik ada Carrefour di situ. Jadi bolehlah beli hadiah untuk majlis harijadi kawan Adlina…dah beli barang kami pun balik. So tak dapatlah nak shopping.....lain kali la...
The above should be read as UPDATES…lama sekali nggak update blog ni..been quite busy ngan entah apa-apa…malas nak on computer…in point form la ye:
1. CUTI SEKOLAH
Cuti sekolah anak-anak were from 20 June till 21 July 2009. That was the end of their Term 2. We did not plan to go tempat yang jauh-jauh sebab cuti dah save untuk balik ke Malaysia for Raya. Start cuti sekolah was 20 June and it was Arfah’s birthday…so buat kek and celebrated her birthday at home..potong kek je tak de ambus-ambus lilin. 1st weekend tu we went to Taman Wisata Mekarsari at Jalan Cileungsi – Bogor. It was about 45 minutes drive from Jakarta. Tempat ni adalah taman pertanian yang dipenuhi dengan pokok buah-buahan…Macam-macam ada. Antara buah-buahan yang tak pernah kami jumpa ialah buah kecapi, jari Buddha, sawo durian(kita sebut ciku), . We took the in-house tour package which costs us Rp50,000 per person. Semua yang ambik tour package akan naik tram-like vehicle. The tour took us to kebun buah-buahan ni…Mula-mula kami melawat kebun honey dew. Ada yang warna hijau and kuning. Ada yang bulat, ada yang 4 segi. Then ke kebun buah salak..kat sini kami melawat ke kebunnya and dapat satu pek buah salah setiap orang.
Lepas tu kami ke kebun belimbing…kebun belimbing ni agak luas. Cuaca agak panas so taklah masuk ke kebun tu. Lepak je lah kat tempat-tempat duduk yang disediakan. Kat sini pun dapat buah belimbing…Tour ni mengambil masa lebih kurang 1 jam. Dah habis melawat kebun-kebun tu kami di bawa ke tepi tasik yang ada gerai makanan, mainan outdoor i.e. flying fox, play ground dan lain-lain. Then kami pun beratur untuk naik tram balik to the station yang mula-mula tadi. Then Hariz & Adlina pun nak main mainan yang ada kat situ…Layan jelah.
2. WEEKEND GETAWAY
Pilihanraya (Pemilu 2009) was held on 8 July 2009. Since it was a public holiday we took the opportunity to spend the day at Bumbu Desa, Jalanraya Sukabumi – Bogor. About 1 hour hour drive from Jakarta. We reached the place around 11.00 am. There were 7 families altogether. Sampai terus lunch then aktiviti memancing. The kids were excited sebab dapat experience memancing. Tapi nasib tak berapa baik hari tu tak ramai yang dapat ikan. We also celebrated birthday party for 5-year old Irfan (Azian’s son). After cake cutting, ada games for the kids. We stayed there until Maghrib. Balik terus mandi and masak instant noodle sebab tak la lapar sangat but need something to eat.
3. MAK & FIDAH'S VISIT
My mother-in-law and sister-in-law came to visit us on 11 July...They came her on Saturday. Touched down at Bandara Soekarno Hatta at about 11.00 am. Fetched them and head for lunch at Boplo Gado-gado at Jakarta Pusat. After makan we all balik ke rumah and lepak till petang. Petang ke ITC Fatmawati which is very near to our house. Ronda-ronda and beli barang sikit we all balik. After Maghrib we went to Rozee's house in Pondok Indah. Rozee is also from Banting and hubby's & Fidah's mengaji friend. Never met her in KL or Banting but met her here instead. I got to know when I attended one of the Pengajian sessions organised by Malaysian ladies here. Since then we are friends...The dinner was sate and yummy pasta goreng...makan-makan and borak-borak, we left her house at about 10.30 pm.
The next we brought Mak and Fidah for a shopping spree at Tanah Abang. Spent the whole day there and ITC Kuningan. Had dinner at Restoran Sederhana Nasi Padang @ Jalan Fatmawati. Reached home at 9.30 pm.
On Monday we went to Bandung as Fidah need to find some other things for the families. We went to Rumah Mode, Heritage factory outlets and Jalan Cibaduyut where hubby bought a pair of leather shoes at a very reasonable price. On the way back we stop by at Bekasi for dinner. Had Sundanese food in which the fried chicken is so sedap...
The next day we went to Tanah Abang as Fidah need to find some more things for the nephews and nieces...On Wednesday we headed for Bandara after lunch as their flight was at 2.50 pm. It was a short visit where they plan to come again just for sightseeing...
4. A FRIEND’S VISIT
My friend for 22 years Iza came with her family on 23 July. We were first know each other on our first day at II*M Matriculation Centre way back in 1987. Since then we were good friends eventhough she took up Law and me BBA. After graduated in 1992, we shared room in our rented house in Kg Baru with another 5 of our good friends (quorum). She married her campus sweetheart Z**i and settled down in Subang Jaya and working in U*M.
She came for a shopping spree…Tak taulah apa dia nak shopping lagi. She was also in Jakarta from 2005 – 2007 following her husband on job transfer. Manage to meet up with her when Yaya suggested that we spent that particular weekend at Bumbu Desa again. This time only 4 families were able to join the trip. Those were Iza, Yaya, Zizie and me. We left Jakarta around 11.00 am and only reached Bumbu Desa at about 1.00 pm. There were a bad traffic jammed from the about 6 kilometres before the slip road into Bumbu Desa…aduss tension, tension. Sampai je terus makan and fortunately Yaya has ordered the food while we stuck in the jam. Kalau tak sure kebuluran nak menunggu food sampai.
After makan, apa lagi aktiviti memancing la…We were lucky this time…banyak dapat ikan. In total we got 10 kgs of ikan emas. We divide the catch into 3 and brought them back. In between, the children enjoyed their flying fox acitivity. Hariz pun tak lepas peluang this time after watching Aqil (Zizie’s son) succeeded in his flying fox attempt. Naik sampai 2 kali…Dia suka betul. Adlina apa lagi….The emak-emak bersembang la….lama tak jumpa… Iza flew back last Wednesday after spending 2 weeks here and has gone as far as Jogjakarta.
Kesian kitorang. Baru last Saturday dapat tengok cerita Upin dan Ipin, “Geng: Pengembaraan Bermula”. It was not in our plan nak gi tengok movie. Tengahari Sabtu tu kami anak-beranak saja jalan-jalan ke Grand Indonesia Shopping Town. Nak bawak anak-anak tengok the “Dancing Fountain”. Sampai kat situ dah pukul 11.30 pagi. Ronda-ronda, ambik-ambik gambar, pukul 11.50 pagi kami pun naik ke kawasan air pancut tu. The show tu ada setiap jam. Tepat jam 12.00 tengahari show pun start. Air pancut tu menari according to the song played along with it. It was fun for the children and the adults as well. It was about 10 minutes show. Nasib baik masa tu belum ramai orang, so selesalah nak tengok dari dekat.
Then Adlina and Hariz nampak plak mainan kat situ. So layan la diorang main kat Fun World. Dah main, ronda-ronda lagi then baru we all pergi makan kat the Food Louvre…Food court kat situ. I had gado-gado…sedap tapi sangat pedas… Dah makan, lepak-lepak jap sambil makan aiskrim. Then gi solat kat tingkat 5.
After that we just go up further, just to explore apa yang ada kat situ. Then ternampak poster Upin & Ipin. It was already 3.00 pm masa tu. Then we found out that there’s Kids’ Film Festival’s going on. Most of the movies participated in the festival are shown kat Blitz Megaplex tu. And one of the movies is Upin & Ipin’s Geng: Pengembaraan Bermula. Since cerita memang ditunggu dek anak-anak so we all pun decide to watch the movie. After all the show was a 4.00 pm show. Tak lah lama nak kena tunggu. To kill the time, we all lepak-lepa kat situ.
Before we get into the theatre, the Upin & Ipin mascots were out to greet the fans. Dapatlah bergambar dengan ‘Upin & Ipin’. Hariz tak nak ambik gambar and nangis tengok ‘Upin & Ipin’. Bila tanya kenapa dia nangis, dia kata “Upin & Ipin dah besar, tak nak lah”.
After the show, we got to meet the producer and the animators yang involved in the making of the movie. Anak-anak were happy as they get to watch the movie as we did not plan to watch one when we went out yesterday. After all everybody returned home happily.
On the way back, we just tapaued KFC sebab tak la rasa lapar sangat.
My father whom I called ‘Abah’ passed away 22 years ago. So my siblings and I dah jadi yatim since then. At that time I had just get an offer to further my studies in I*UM. I was supposed to register myself to the university in a month’s time. He knew about the offer and was very happy as I was the first to enter university in my family. At that time he was 84 years old. He was no more able to drive the car and only managed to ride his motorcycle to go back and forth between our house in Kuala Sialang and Mak Tua’s in Kuala Jempol. The way he rode the bike pun was not that smooth… a little bit shaky at times. That could be due to his eyesight yang dah agak kabur. Kadang-kadang suspen jugak kalau membonceng dengan dia. He being himself memang tak boleh duduk diam. Ada je yang dia nak buat.
Abah from my perspective is such hard headed person…kalau putih kata dia putihlah… payah nak menang kalau argue dengan dia. Dia paling tak suka kalau orang tak tetap pendirian, cakap berbalik-balik i.e. kejap cakap A, kejap cakap B. Bila dia tak puashati, dia akan marah or bagitahu masa tu jugak. Dia tak simpan dalam hati. I think it is a typical orang dolu-dolu. Kita sebagai anak kena ikut cakap mak bapak tanpa banyak soal jawab. Agak warak, orang kampung hormat dia. Dia pandai cakap omputih and Arab. Kalau dia argue memang siap dengan dalil Al-Quran. Abah did not really expressed how he loves his children, grandchildren directly. But we know he loves us. In my opinion, typical people zaman tu memang tak reti tunjuk kasih sayang diorang…is it? That’s how I felt. Tak pernah la bergurau senda dengan dia. Cuma we really respect him. He always encouraged us to study hard. Bak kata Akak, Abah pernah tanya dia: “Kau nak kawin ko nak belajar laie?”.Kalau still nak belajar he’ll find the means to finance the education. Akak pernah cerita that Abah pernah jual tanah sebab nak hantar Embong sekolah ke Singapura. I do not really know cerita-cerita lain di zaman Embong, Akak, Alang and Acek. Adik and I were not around YET masa tu. We were the generation after them. That’s why tak banyak cerita yang kami tahu…Cuma some of it. Bila kami besar (sekolah dan kerja), diorang semua dah kawin dan tinggal di tempat lain. Jumpa pun sekali-sekala macam weekend, kenduri, raya or cuti panjang…That’s why bila I had the opportunity to further my studies, I was so grateful when my siblings (you know who) agreed to finance my studies. Alhamdulilllah also sebab dapat pinjaman pendidikan dari JPA.
Those time (early 50s) memang susah. Abah had 2 families. Mak Tua gave him 9 children and with Mak he had 7. He has to feed both families. Education wise masa tu mana ada banyak loans and scholarship macam sekarang. Embong and Akak jadi cikgu after their secondary school and every time cuti sekolah, they will have their teacher training course at SI*C at Tanjung Malim to obtain their teaching certificate. Alang joined Royal Malaysian Army. Acek plak after MCE (or HSC) got the offer to enter university but had to turned down cos lack of financial support. He then worked in D**L in Kuala Lumpur.
Every night after solat Maghrib, he will read to us the stories about the Prophets (Sirah). Those are the stories that I still remember until now. I think if he had the opportunity to learn like now, he must be somebody big… He was very intelligent in his own way. His Jawi handwriting is very beautiful. When I was in S*F, I normally wrote letter to him in rumi and he will replied in Jawi. Hmmm, I should have kept his letter. Tak tau dah mana perginya.
When I was in primary school, if Adik and I go anywhere with him, people will mistakenly recognized us as his granddaughters. That was because the age gap between me and my brother before me was 13 years. Dan Abah pun dah berumur 70an masa tu. Bak kata orang, Adik and I ni tersesat and baka tua…. Ye ke? Kadang-kadang boring gak bila orang kata we all ni macam cucu Abah. Malu jugak bila Abah marah kat orang bila makan di pekan.Whatever it is, we are happy to have such an understanding Abah. Masa kami di sekolah rendah dan giliran Abah di Kuala Sialang, Abah akan hantar kami ke sekolah dan jemput waktu tengahari naik kereta. Abah kerja sendiri iaitu juru ukur persendirian. Bukan la macam juru ukur glamer zaman sekarang. Gaji dia tak sebanyak mana dan tak tetap. Ada kerja, ada gaji. Tapi cukuplah untuk menyara kedua-dua keluarga. Kalau ada rombongan sekolah kemana-mana, Abah tak pernah melarang kalau nak pergi. He will allow me and Adik to go. He himself liked to travel. When I was in Standard 5 and had obtained 5As in my Penilaian Sekolah Rendah, he brought me to Sumatera to search for his families (roots). We went to Pekanbaru, Bukit Tinggi and Padang. Tulah pertama kali berjalan paling jauh seumur hidup. Masa tu we all naik flight kat Batu Berendam Airport. Naik Fokker which can accommodate 45 passengers. The travel took us 45 minutes to reach Pekan Baru. Bergegar-gegar je dalam flight tu…suspen gak.
In June 1987, I was still in kampung, Mak told me that Abah had gone to Seremban Hospital to undergo eye operation. Just nak jadi sebab orang kata. He was allowed to undergo the operation without much problem. Unlike as we know, if a person needs to undergo an operation, there were various checks and tests that the doctors need to do. But in his case, boleh buat cam tu je. Pelik tak? What more he was 84 years old at that time. So the next day, Mak and I went to Seremban. We went to Acu Amat’s house first. Acu Amat is Abah’s youngest brother. Then Acu drove us to Seremban Hospital during the visiting hour. When we reached his bed, the bed was empty. We asked the nurse there but the nurse told us that he was still in the OT. We waited there for a couple of hours. After much waiting, I asked the nurse again. This time is a different nurse. The nurse seemed lost and went somewhere to search the whereabouts of Abah. When the nurse came back, she told us, “sebenarnya tuan haji ni dah meninggal di bilik bedah” (actually this guy had passed away in the OT). We were so shocked as nobody came to tell us. When we asked baru dia nak bagitahu. Geram, sedih bercampur. Mak pun tak tau nak buat apa. I called Acek who were in KL and Akak and Alang in PD.
When Acek came baru kami uruskan the necessary documents to bring Abah home. It took us about 2 – 3 hours to get the jenazah out of the hospital. Emak and me ikut sekali dalam kereta jenazah. Kami sampai di kampung masa dah nak dekat Maghrib. Malam tu semua anak-anak Abah dah sampai di kampung. Esoknya selepas dimandi dan dikapankan Abah disembahyang sekali di rumah dengan diimamkan oleh arwah Embong Borhan. Jenazah Abah kemudian dibawa ke rumah Mak Tua di J*mp*l sebelum dibawa ke Masjid J*mp*l untuk sembahyang jenazah di masjid selepas solat Zohor. Kemudian Abah dikebumikan di kawasan perkuburan Kg C*c*r.Abah meninggal pada 25 Jun 1987. So this 25th June genaplah 22 tahun Abah pergi meninggalkan kami.
They also gave me moral support and took good care of Mak when Abah was no longer around. Rasanya sebab didikan Mak dan Abahlah yang menjadikan kami adik-beradik boleh bersatupadu dan menanggung aku dan adik sampai habis sekolah walau diorang tak hidup mewah. Adik-beradikku bukanlah CEO di mana-mana syarikat besar atau pegawai tinggi kerajaan yang bawak kereta Mercedes tapi Alhamdulillah mereka berjaya dan hidup bahagia dengan cara masing-masing. Embong (bekas guru agama), Akak (cikgu pencen), Alang (askar pencen), Acek (masih bekerja di Majlis Daerah *P) dan Adik (di T*). Kami masih boleh berkumpul di rumah di mana kami dilahirkan…terimakasih pada Akak sebab masih tinggal di rumah itu. Masih punya tarikan untuk pulang ke kampung… ke tempat asal kami.
So, today is the 22nd year Abah left us…Abang-abang, kakak-kakak, anak-anak buah, cucu-cicit, marilah kita sedekahkan Al Fatihah dan doa buat Allahyarham Hj N**u yang kita sayangi..Semoga Allah mencucuri rahmat ke atas rohnya.
With assistant class teacher
