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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