Yahya Hj Shafie : A Memoir (Part 1)

(I am writing this because I am afraid that one day I might not remember anymore the tales that mum tells and at that time nobody can tell these treasured stories anymore. I hope to have many more posts like this thus this is the first of many more precious stories to be told.)

When I went home to my mum's the other day, she told many tales of my late father. One of the things I like to do bila balik is to listen to her stories - melayan sembang mak, I always say - dengar je mak nak cerita apa. And laugh and nod. Kadang2 cerita mak kena kat batang hidung sendiri. Hmm - tu tak best. Tapi that afternoon, mak cerita pasal arwah je.

Mak is as old as Dr M and arwah ayah a couple of years older. According to mum arwah keras hati, kalau dia nak buat apa-apa dont anybody say anything; and sungguh kuat bekerja. Mak kata, kalau nak tengok ayah dulu macam mana, tengok si SAY (that's my adik - his initials. Wahai adik, if you are reading this I will translate that as degil - haha - although mak didnt say it quite like that.)

According to my mum, arwah and my late grandfather do not necessarily see things eye to eye. That is why she said, after a couple of months being married and staying at the in-laws my father decided to move to a house of their own. Bukan jauh pun rumah tu mak kata, it is still within the school compound (both my father and grandfather were teachers.) As expected my grandfather wasnt pleased my mother was moving out sebab tu mak kata they did it in the middle of the night! (We both gelak besar at this point - me because I cant believe my mother would do something so out of character like that; what it is to be young..)

Mak kata arwah suka football (I didnt know that. I only knew he liked watching wrestling on our b&w tv.) Kalau pasal bola, mak tak boleh kata apa. Boleh berkelahi she said. The other thing she had no say is about his smoking. Marah sangat mak kata kalau mak sebut.

Once my mum was due to deliver my sister (mak cant remember which - haha - mungkin sebab ramai. I always forgive mak for not remembering things like this. I have only five of my own and I sometimes cant relate which contraction to which child either, much as I love each of them..) and arwah insisted to watch a match in KL. Jauh tu. Mak kata nanti kalau nak deliver macam mana? Arwah kata takde nak deliver lagi tu. Tapi just in case, dia akan tinggal pesan pada Kadir to get the bidan (Kadir is an Indian Muslim who owns the kedai runcit across the road from our house. Mak kata ayah bukan main baik nye dengan Kadir tu) Jadi kalau mak nak deliver mak has to send any of the older kids pergi bagitau Kadir. Sure enough memang mak tak deliver my sister (whose identity will remain forever anonymous) pun.

Mak kata kalau arwah pergi tengok bola, he will leave home malam Sabtu and will arrive home again Subuh sepe'i hari Isnin. He will bathe, pray and leave for school. Kadang2 lutut to menggeletar nak pergi sekolah tu, mak kata. Mak gelak lagi.

Once arwah niat nak sembelih kambing (lupa nak tanya mak niat apa). He tied the kambing bawah rumah and pesan to my mum that night, esok kita bangun awal sebab nak sembelih kambing tu. Masa nak sembelih tu, dia kata kat mak - pegang kuat2 macam ni. Haha - mak gelak & said, apa yang ayah tu tak buat.

My mum's house sits on a piece of land very close to the trunk road. Mak kata they bought the land for RM1,600. Later a part of the land were taken to widen the road and they were compensated for that same amount. Mak kata macam dapat tanah tu for nothing. But it was a swampy piece of land; mak cerita kawan dia kata, kalau tanah tu orang bagi free pun aku tak mau.

But my dad was a patient man. And resourceful. Ada plan. He slowly brought in pasir and tanah merah; tambak tanah tu. Mak cerita ada sekali tu arwah beli lapan lori tanah which were dumped at the corner of the land. Mak suruh dia upah orang tolong ratakan tanah tu. He said he will do it himself. Tiap2 hari lepas sekolah he will rest a while and then turun pergi ratakan tanah tu. Punye lah teruk nye kerja mak kata sampai kena panggil Pak ? (I dont remember the name mak mentioned) alah orang Jelutong tu, tak ingat? mak tanya. I said I was born in CJ I dont know anybody in Jelutong (Jelutong is a small kampong where my parents used to teach and live. A place with lots of durian, close to Bukit Gantang. A place where most of my older brothers and sisters grew up) anyway - sampai mak kena panggil tukang urut untuk ayah. Pakcik urut tu marah mak kata, he said hang ni Yahya jangan dok buat kerja teruk tu, in between arwah's groans of pain. Mak kata tu lah lucu nye ayah kadang2. Dan rajin nye.

Arwah passed away young, at 56 (ke 58? I need to confirm this) He was in the hospital for 12 days, kata mak. He came home after that, stayed home for 7 days and then passed away. Mak kata selama duduk rumah tu arwah murung. The day before he died he asked mak mana dia duit yang saya suruh simpan tu? Then dia bilang and bagitau mak tak cukup ni. Mak kata mak tanya, tak cukup nak buat apa? Mak kata rupa nye dia kata tak cukup untuk siapkan jenazah. "Takut" bila mak cerita pasal ni; takut kalau mak menangis (my mum's version of menangis is teary eyed). But my mother has always been very strong.

He went on a Thursday afternoon. In his last moments he told mak that dia dah nak pergi dah. Sempat mak mengajar shahadah. Mak kata arwah meninggal senang. The rest of the evening and the next day I remember well and I dont think I will ever forget.

Yahya @ Yahaya Hj Shafie. 1923 - 1979

Al-Fatihah.

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Books, Books And More Books Part 26

And I finally finished this after all. It took me ages - with a few pages read each evening. I'd recommend it if you are looking for something good to read. Ada part yang slow, invigorating and makes you want to get up and just do things; or parts that will bring tears to your eyes. Too many lessons to be learnt.

While deciding what to read next, I picked up Dr M's memoir from the coffee table, took off its plastic cover and began reading. I wondered if it is something worthwhile to read (sebab ada orang kata dia "tauk buku tu kat belakang almari" after finishing a few pages) or if I am just wasting precious time.


I've only finished 4 chapters - maybe forty pages or so - and already had an argument with my husband over what was written. There are still like 800 pages to go and I am now wondering how many more arguments we will have along the way till I finish reading!

Or maybe I wont finish the book. I need to get an alternative one fast.

ps - In between reading these I also read a couple of not-worth-mentioning novels. I also shelved Sense and Sensibility (I find it too slow, mundane..) - I think my timing in reading that isnt right. I know I'll continue reading it again soon; I seriously want to read all the classics.

pps - I am taking things slow today. The orthopaedic gave me the day off to rest. But to tell you the truth, even lying down ached.

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My Commitment Towards Excellence

I noticed he was staring into the blank page of his exercise book.
Me : Why are you staring at your book? Homework apa ni?
He : Karangan - tajuk bagai aur dengan tebing. Tak tahu nak tulis macam mana.
Me : Alah, cerita je pasal hidup berjiran. Sama-sama tolong.
He : (silent)
Me : You better start writing. I will come back in 20 minutes to check what you have written.

After 30 minutes or so later I came back to check on him.
Me : So have you finished the karangan?
He : Tengah buat ni.
Me : Boleh mama baca?
He let me have his book and I read.
Me : Mana adik dapat cerita ni? (He wrote about these two kampongs that fight each other but later was attacked by a third)
He : Eirfan pikir la.
Me : Adik ambik cerita Merong Mahawangsa ye?
He : Tak de lah.

Anyway, I thought the cerita is long and winding; not getting fast enough to the aur & tebing part. But I wondered if I should squelch his enthusiasm for the writing. Or tell him to just get to the point of the karangan quickly. And then his abang came in.
Me : Abang, cuba baca karangan adik and see what you think.
His abang read and laughed.
Abang : Ini cerita Merong Mahawangsa eh?
I laughed (because that was exactly what I thought too; deny it as he will.)
He : Mana ade! (He was adamant, but his abang and me laughed again)
Me : So what do you think?
Abang : Meleret-leret (well, he is never as nice as his mum)
Me : Why don’t mama koyak je page ni? Sebab dari sini yang meleret tu. Page yang sebelum ni ok je. Adik sambung terus je dengan conclusion kat sini.
He : Tak mau la. Dah letih dah tulis semua tu.
Me : Takpe, kalau koyak lagi senang nak habiskan karangan tu. Lagi cepat siap.
He : (buat muka tak suka)

I paused for a minute thinking what I should do. Then made up my mind and tore the page.
Me : Kita buat kerja mesti yang bagus. Kalau mama dengan abang rasa karangan ni boleh jadi lagi bagus kalau yang ni tak ade, might as well kita buang je. Adik terus je tulis pengajaran kat sini.

I wont tell you what his reaction was. But I can tell you that he was beyond upset. The next morning I checked his book and turned out he hadn’t continued the karangan then.

The moral of the story is, committing to excellence is never an easy task (no matter how trivia the example given is). You can make an enemy even of your own..

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Gems

These I found when reading a chapter on Keutamaan Solat Malam.

1.
Pada zaman Nabi saw, manakala orang telah mengambil tempat tidur dan memejamkan mata, seorang lelaki bangun dan solat, membaca al-Quran dan berkata : "Wahai Tuhan, jauhkanlah aku dari Neraka." Hal itu diberitahukan kepada nabi saw, kemudian beliau berkata : "Jika demikian, tunjukkan di mana dia." Kemudian Nabi saw datang kepada orang itu dan mendengar munajatnya.. Nabi saw berkata : "Mengapa kamu tidak meminta syurga?" Orang itu menjawab : "Wahai Rasulullah, aku tudak layak untuk nya. Amalku tidak cukup untuk mencapainya." Tidak lama kemudian Jibril datang dan berkata : "Khabarkan kepada si fulan bahawa Allah telah menjauhkannya dari Neraka dan memasukkannya ke Syurga."

2.
Rasulullah besabda kepada Abu Dhar : "Bila engkau hendak pergi, perlukah engkau bawa bekalan?" Abu Dhar menjawab : "Ya." Beliau besabda : "Bagaimana engkau menempuh jalan Kiamat? Tidakkah kau ingin, wahai Abu Dhar, aku ceritakan sesuatu yang bermanafaat bagimu pada hari itu?" Abu Dhar menjawab : "Ya." Rasulullah bersabda : "Puasalah di hari yang amat panas untuk hari kebangkitan. Solatlah dua rakaat di kegelapan malam untuk keganasan kubur. Dan berhajilah untuk hal-hal yang amat agung. Bersedekahlah kepada orang miskin, atau dengan kalimat yang benar yang engkau katakan, atau pula dengan tidak mengatakan kalimat buruk."

3.
Rasulullah saw bersabda : "Wahai Abu Hurairah, inginkah engkau mendapatkan rahmat Allah ketika hidup dan mati, dikuburkan dan dibangkitkan? Bangunlah di tengah malam dan solatlah! Bukankah engkau ingin redha Tuhanmu, wahai Abu Hurairah? Solatlah di sudut rumah mu, maka nur rumahmu di langit seperti cahaya bintang bagi penghuni dunia."

Try substituting those names high-lighted with yours - it'll give a whole new perspective to the hadiths.

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T.G.I.F.

Yeay.. it is Friday. What a bless.

TGIF reminds me of Mary Pascall - an instructor from my English class days - who had asked if anybody knew what it is. I answered. And then she said, how do you know that? I saw it at the cinemas. Oh, she exclaimed, you saw that at the movies! (I cant decide if a-she thought we dont have any English movies to watch; b-we dont have cinemas or c-we couldnt possibly know what it means).

Anyway. What are your plans this weekend? I think somebody is taking us out for lunch tomorrow. Yeay. I also plan to walk and walk. And maybe window shop a bit at Jalan TAR. Then maybe make some chocolate cupcake with gooey chocolate ganache for friends.

For now I've got some photos from last weekend makan-makan at my sister's. She had served gorgeous lamb rib racks (did that come out right?) and loads of basketful of durians. And lots of other stuff. And then gave us like a week supply of food for take-aways too! Semoga lebih murah rezeki, Insya'Allah.

As usual, I had to put in my trade mark of collages - makan, makan dan makan lagi; all that's left of the lamb (there is no sign of the ribs); durians, durians; amongst those plants is her "tak tanam pun pokok cili tu - dia hidup sendiri..)

(Some of) my niece and nephews. I like this; they were so sporting and all look so sweet here. I have this plan to put everybody's (in the family) smiling face on my blog someday (I have a few for a start but never anywhere near completion sebab kadang2 gambar tak lawa. Takkan nak letak kan. Marah pulak tuan nye).

It was indeed a great weekend to meet up the family (and eat). Oh, and one last thing - we were also given the memoir of Dr M each. Mine still sits on the coffee table at home in its plastic wrap. But I do plan to read it. Sometime.

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