Early this morning, Macik Alimah, mother of our dear friend Jailani, left those who loved her to meet her Maker. Jai prayed and watched over her as she faded away peacefully from the darkness of the night into the cool early morning.
A brave and plucky lady, she avoided the usual treatment for the breast cancer because she had seen how it could ravage the remains of her day. As she said, at her age she left it all in the hands of Allah. She did receive various types of non-invasive treatments and towards her last few days they topped up her dosage of morphine. But as we and Jai noticed, up to just a few months ago, she was still mentally alert and active, and she had a good appetite. She would, each day instruct the helper - that Jai got for her - on what to cook and what to buy at the market.
I have such great respect for this remarkable lady, this lady who came from a line of the (unacknowledged) First People of Singapura. I have done several postings on Macik ..
Just two days ago, we were discussing with Aisha and Man if they could cat-sit and house-sit for us as we wanted to visit Jai and Arwah in Singapore this coming week. But it was not to be.
But we will never forget her in our doa. Her indomitable spirit will always be an inspiration for these two septuagenarians.
The last time we met her in July, I wrote this towards the end of my posting .....
..... 'And when Macik reaches out her hands to hold mine and she says " saya kenal suara Cikgu", then my cup runneth over.' She has that effect on many of her son's friends, but especially for us.
Good-night sweet lady and may Angels accompany you on your journey.
We made a trip to Singapore just before Ramadan to spend time with old friends and as always, a visit to Abah's and Akim's grave ( with assistance from Jai, as usual), and a special call on Jai's mum, Macik Alimah.
Macik is a very special Malay lady, nearly 89, and I reckon one of the very few remaining "native Singapore Malays" who lived and remembered her life as keturunan Orang Pulau Singapura. I moan about the loss of our kampung at Kampung Abu Kassim, where we used to live at Pasir Panjang Road.
Memories of my kampung life immortalised by the spouse's drawing.
And on this trip I discovered that my last abode in Singapore , at Block 217 Boon Lay Avenue had been demolished to give way to higher blocks and smaller flats. Hard cheese Ash!!
Block 217, Boon Lay Avenue. Our flat is on the 15th floor, second from the top.
Looking down to the car park from the 15th Floor.
15-89, the door to our flat from 1975 to 1995.
As for Makcik, her ancestral family home in the Southern Islands to the Southwest of Singapore was first used as a firing range for the Singapore Air Force and later stitched up with loads of imported sand and soil
into a world class oil refinery and industrial zone - into Jurong Island! And they say, "Only God can make a tree".
This was what happened to Macik's ancestral abode and world - which is more devastating than what kampung Malays and my family went through. I managed to load these images from US Geology Survey (USGS) - showing satellite images of Environmental Changes. What a bland description of the demise of a people's physical and cultural landscape.
( In the images below, red = plants, blue-black =deep clear water, light blue = shallow and silty water, almost white = bare soils and pavements, grayish mottle = cities.)
Singapore - 1973
Singapore - 1990
Singapore - 2002
I hope this video (2012) of a conversation with Macik Alimah when she was about 87 will bear testimony to what can happen to the culture and way of life of a people when development and greed take over. They remain as memories, lovely and painful at the same time for those who still remember. The younger generation, so immersed in their hi-tech and comfortable modern life will rue the day when they search for their cultural landscape and discover they're all dead and gone. ( or will they? - especially when we have well heeled and well-endowed Malays in Malaysia who are so keen on "emulating Singapore" ) See : http://anaksihamid.blogspot.com/2014/04/emulating-singapore-part-1.html
Is there a lesson here for Tanjung Putri (Johor Baru) and Johor? But I reckon it is too late. It started with Raffles who re-scripted Singapore's and Johore's history and heritage for his country's benefit and created the ripples of wealth and development that involved mainly the immigrants and constructed modern Singapore today. But the Malays, the elite Malays of the old days and the corporate Malays of today, are too happy to collaborate, manage and profit from this globalisation of 'progress and development'.
In the above 2012 video, Macik is talking about the origin of Tanjung Keling, the 'town' on the mainland nearest to her Southern Islands.
She had become much more frail when we visited her this time. She has lost her eyesight - the breast cancer is becoming more aggressive but her spirit remains as cheerful and positive as ever. Macik used to supplement her family income by selling epok epok. When Jai was a schoolboy he would help to sell her epok epok and kuih to workers at the many construction sites in Jurong in the 60s and 70s. She would also leave trays of her epok epok at various Indian and Chinese shops. " Epok epok saya laku cikgu. Semua orang suka isi curry kentang. Saya gunakan rempah asli, goringkan ketumbar, jintan , tumbuk dengan kelapa. That's Macik's secret ingredient - for making epok epok. Curry puff and karipap is not in her vocabulary and I second her on that.
The most heart warming part of going to Singapore is to hear Jai, Lely and Irene calling me "Miss Hamid". And when Macik reaches out her hands to hold mine and she says, "Saya kenal suara Cikgu", then my cup runneth over.
When Jai played this song for Macik , tears ran down her cheeks.
There was no mouse to catch in Temasek but many of the meeces ( a word borrowed from Mr Jinks) were unrecognisable.
Jai indulged us with a fabulous tosay breakfast at Tek Kah. We then went for a walk in the backlanes off Serangoon Road.
There was this Church .....
........ and this was the frontage.
The Church of True Light at Perak Road was publicising a Festival of Healing which attempts /promises (?) Blind Eyes See! Finance Restored! Barren Conceived! Marriage Restored!
In the late 1950s, when I used to visit my school friend Lim Ah Moi at Tiong Bahru, I noticed the poster in front of a Church which said "Jesus Saves". I thought at that time it was all about saving money in the Post Office Savings Bank. Of course I now know better and last week I learned the meaning of that term in Malay when I saw this banner at The Church of True Light. Note the use of the term "Tuhan Jesus". The Malays of oh, so long ago, very often used the word "Tuhan" to refer to God - the word often used in the old sandiwara and movies. Remember the heart-rending scenes when the mother of the hero would plead "Ya Allah, Ya Tuhan ku"? Nowadays the latter term is hardly used, just like the word "sembahyang" which has been replaced with "solat". Also the language of service, in this church at least, is "Bahasa Indonesia" and not "Bahasa Melayu".
The Mandarin Service is at 11.00 am
The Service in English is at 9 am.
This church, located on a little street off Serangoon Road, also conducts services in Tamil/English at 5.30pm, Singhalese at 3.30pm, Hindi at 3pm and Malayalam at 8pm. Truly a multilingual church, not like in the old days!
Masjid Abdul Gaffoor at Dunlop Street was constructed in 1907 by South Indian Muslim merchants. Jailani, our dear friend and host goes to this mosque for Friday prayers whenever he finds himself in the vicinity. Jai says the khutbah is in Tamil but he has no problem with that at all. It is still the house of God.
Now this picture is unique! There's this beautiful , huge banyan tree. To the right and left is a Chinese shrine. But a number of Hindu effigies can be found near the shrine on the left. That's harmony for you!
However, two instances made me realise this is not the Little India I knew. The spouse talked to an Indian gentleman to ask about the shrines at the Clive Street banyan tree. But he had little to say as he had come to Singapore from Tamil Nadu just 6 years ago.
I wandered about looking for a shop where I could get myself a blangah. I went into one and made an inquiry in Malay - which is quite normal whether you're Malay or Chinese, whenever you go to an Indian shop - but the man I spoke to looked nonplussed. He uttered a few words in Tamil and I picked on one word Malai.
Okay, I got it, he does not speak Malay! Foreign workers in Kuala Lumpur, whether they're Indian, Bangla Deshi, Burmese, Cambodian or Vietnamese are usually able to speak and understand Malay, especially something simple like " Di sini ada jual blangah tak?" I suppose the house of Mammon (like a shop) has very different observances. Some Singaporeans are not the Singaporeans I grew up with.
Singapore celebrated her National Day on the second day of Hari Raya. In this poster by the Holland Bukit Timah GRC I found a degree of difficulty in locating a Malay face.
But the Singapore Malay is easily recognisable as a Young Denizen in the above.
This shows Zhenghua CC advertising a Ramadhan Shopping Tour.
The itinerary for the above Ramadhan Shopping Tour included (1) Pontian to visit a costume jewellery factory, (2) Simpang Rengam for Malay Kueh (traditional cookies) e.g Pineapple Tarts, (3) Angsana Shopping Mall in JB and (4) Break - Fast buffet provided. All in all a very "Traditional Singaporean Inclusive" Outing.
Item 4 is a little confusing. Did the 'Break' consist of a fast buffet? Or did it mean 'Break fast - Buffet provided'? Or may I put on my teacher's hat and suggest that it might refer to "Breaking of Fast - buffet provided". {Shut up AsH - stop being finicky!}
But this, thank goodness, remained the same. This corner stall at Boon Lay Food Centre (no more a Hawker Centre) sells Boon Lay Power Nasi Lemak (which won a special award - and which explains the queue) , Nasi Campur and the best Lontong north and south of Selat Tebrau!!
Haji Marsah Berkat Chahya Food has been here ever since I moved to Boon Lay in 1975.
This block of flats where my brother Mus and family used to live is still up and standing. The same trees are still there and so is the Car Park.
Ching, Ching, kuching, mana engkau pergi.
Let me have those old familiar, friendly feelings of past times and spaces.
This is a photo of the door of my old flat at Boon Lay, taken recently on my nostalgic trip to Singapore a few months ago.
It was like a club-cum-hideout for my ex- Jurong Secondary School 'urchins'. They looked after the flat and our two cats when I was teaching in Brunei, Akim was studying in London and emak was living part-time with my sister and family at Batu Pahat. Emak loved coming back, it was after all her home. And she enjoyed doting on the kids with her cooking. They were like her own.
Other than the usual nonsense that kept these teenagers together they played out their friendship and camaraderie in gin rummy.
At that time, green was the colour of the door at 15-89.
Lately, while going through my rummage case I discovered this Jotter Book. The Incriminating Evidence
As for the characters in this Annual Gin Rummy Book, do note how they diplomatically changed 'old' to 'longest living' to describe Yours Truly, the 'owner, sponsor, heroine'. Bl...y Hell, I was only 36 then, younger than they are today. Prats!!!
All the other subsidiary characters or "menginding-ers" are still alive and kicking, spread out from London to Oman, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. They are still plagueing my life and I relish watching them growing old - their one main fear then. But they're still my 'rascals' no matter how aged and decrepit they get. Lely, Ben and Irene
A most recent picture of Yuwrajh with his former JSS schoolmate Rukhsana who made a brave move from being an engineer to one of Singapore's well-known cooks. Look her up in this
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE ANNUAL GIN RUMMY BOOK
The battle between Maznoor, Ben and Yuwrajh The Titans - Ben, Din and Yuwrajh
THE END
Thank you kids. You made teaching a most satisfying and happy experience for me. And you have grown and done me proud.
