From Bukit Temensu to Madison.

20.10.2014.

Karim Md. Nor and I went back a long, long time, to old Bukit Temensu days. He built a clay badminton court of sorts in front of his small kampong house, and many of us played there after school. Those days we had wooden rackets and "Blue Bird" shuttle cocks, and if you hit the frame there was a rule that you could replay the point. Unless you opponent had hit back the shuttle cock, anyway. Then it was considered in play for having been taken. So the exclamation "taken !". Udin Sekayo, Karim's cousin, used to laugh at us playing, mimicking "taken, taken !" 

Udin  Sekayo has died.  And so has Karim. He was actually Dr. Karim, probably the first Ph.D from Bukit Temensu. The other one was Dr. Anuar "Ang". There are others now, I'm sure.

At home we siblings used to tease Acam "Karim, Karim", suggesting they should match up. It was just a tease, and she would get mad. Eventually she did marry a Karim, but a different one. This one from Rantau.

Calit and I went up to Karim's apartment in Madison, USA,when he was doing his Ph.D at Wisconsin. It was December, and I remember 13 inches of snow was reported that day. Calit had finished his Bachelor's degree,  at nearby Whitewater, and I came to attend his graduation, except they call it "commencement".  When we played with the snow in the yard, one of the American tenants shouted "hey!  you never seen snow before ?" Well, it's not so common in Malaysia !

Karim's family was with him.  His young children  picked up the language pretty fast. They sounded very American, using "awesome" and similiar American slangs. When Mek, their mother, interjected in English, it was in completely jarring Malaysian English, ha ha!.I wonder if they speak the same way, now, though I doubt it. We used to have a neighbour behind our house in Damansara Utama who had similiarly spent time in the US, and the children also sounded very American. 

Talking about sounding American, in 1962-64 there were 2 American "Peace Corps" teachers at TMS and TKS, the English schools in Kuala Pilah. A guy, Charles Pinkus, was in TMS, the boys school. A lady, I forget the name, was in TKS, the girls school, where my sister studied. One day the Peace Corps lady in TKS was asking  for some cotton, but the girls didn't catch the American accent, until after the teacher gesticulated and then it struck the girls - "oh, ko ten!" - cotton pronounced in Kuala Pilah !

Karim passed away several years ago, soon after his retirement. I went to the house at Taman Bukti. In fact I didn't know he was staying there, although I would meet him a few times at the sundry shop near where I now live. He died too young.

Sunday was Karim's daughter's wedding. Mek remembered to invite me and I went with Idah. Mek was waiting for her guests at the entrance of the rented hall. When I shook her hand I asked "this must be Karim's son ?" motioning to the young man by her side, who  looked like Karim.   He was the son.

We lingered after our meal, waiting for the bridal couple to come, and me looking for familiar faces. So I met many. Derma and Bustamam, and Ali and many other cousins of Karim. Marriages bring back so many memories, but sometimes they are sad memories. Kak Long Nap, Karim's cousin, asked the all too familiar question "are you in good health ?"

I remember going with Karim to the KP hospital's caged ward for the mentally ill. We went to visit his father, Cikgu Mohd. Nor. He asked Karim to tear a piece of banana leaf growing outside the ward. He fashioned a spout with it, to pass water through the grate by the ward's wall. I wonder, now, years later, what about passing motion ?

'Tis a long, long way from Bukit Temensu to Madison. Even then Karim could joke about Cikgu Dol, a character also from Bukit Temensu. He, too, passed away several months ago.  I pray that they all receive peace from their Maker.

...................................................................................