More about me

I live in a one-roomed flat provided by the National Health Service. All the basic comforts of life is there and it serves my need. There's the kitchenette where I can cook my chicken curry, beef rendang, and fry ayam goreng. The aroma that permeates the flat always remind me of home. Although I live alone there are other tenants in the building and we meet and socialise from time to time. We also go on pre-arranged trip, by bus, to places of interest or to shopping centres. Otherwise its quiet a lonely existence. We live in our little cocoons, in our own little world, oblivious of what is happening outside.

The happier times here are spent with my children comes to visit and stay for a few days. They are grownups now and they lead their own lives. Im glad that they are able to do this as they live in different cities. There are tenants here that have not seen their children in years. A lot of old people live in these Folds (flats) sometimes not out of choice. I guess the extended family concept is seldom practiced. Its alien to them. I'm afraid that its the way of life here.

Going back through the years I can recall with clarity what life is all about in Kg Bharu. It was a very small place mostly populated by Malays living in small wooden or brick houses. Some are built on stilts and decorated with ornately covered wooden carvings forming the gables. They built their houses,fairly small at first funded by savings and loans and as time goes on,when their family grows, they would built extensions to suit their needs. So as time goes on the border between houses started to shrink and it was then difficult to trace the true borders as there were no demarcation lines.

Whether they owned their respective plot of land is open to conjecture as the land belonged to the Sultan and he had graciously designated the area that is Kg Bharu for the Malays to built houses and live there. Most of the Malays there worked in the civil service - clerks, typists, telephonists, and so on, in the government departments. Others worked as nurses, teachers, bank clerks, and so on. Some worked as drivers for the British administrators and businessmen or as bus drivers for the bus transport companies - Len Seng Omnibus Co owned by the Chinese entrepreneurs and the fledgling Sri Jaya Transport Company , a Malay run co-operative.

In most cases the pay was low and to have a meaningful income both husband and wife had to work. If they have children they were packed off to their mothers and fathers to look after them during the day. Some entreprenurial Mak Chiks started their own little businesses by selling Malay delicacies at the Pekan Minggu (Weekly Market) and door to door. Favourites among the delicasies were the Pisang Goreng, Kueh Lapis, Apam Balik, Kueh Kochi. Although the average collective household income is small, they seem to take them in their stride. They were quite happy, thankful and contented with their well being. After all it was the Will of God that they were given such means of aquiring an income.

My father worked for the Police Department for a long time rising from the humble clerk to the Higher Executive Officer lording over 30 to 40 clerks, typists, peons,etc. He had a great deal of say as to who will be promoted at every end of the year. My mother was a teacher and subsequently became the Headmistress of the Sekolah Menengah Kg Bharu 11 ran in the afternoon session between 1 to 6 pm whilst Che Gu Bedah ran the Sekolah Menengah Kg Bharu 1 in the mornings between 7.30 to 12.30. The late Che Gu Bedah was blessed with highly successful children and one of the most successful is Tan Sri Azman Hashim of the Arab Malaysian fame.