Sunday, March 2, 2014

Dr. Norafidah.

3.3.2014.

Dek Mah & daughters finally pulled it off - Nora got a warm, noisy and hugely successful send-off  from family & friends last Saturday. I don't know what happened in Cheras Sunday because of the aforementioned funeral, but Taman Tun was great. And this was with the deliberate pains of making everything plain & simple, even dropping the "Dr." on the invitation card. Except Dek Mah's photostated directions for the Cheras venue - the plan was more complicated than the actual thing.

The groom still has a few months of housemanship before returning home to KL, while Nora is now in KK. No news on honeymooning is forthcoming, but for the bridal night, they were  booked at a hotel somewhere, although the poor mother has graciously vacated her room for the couple. The dentist might practice in KK,too, he indicated. Otherwise it would be another long distance relationship like the present one. 

The marriage vows conducted at the Taman Tun mosque went smoothly and finished ahead of  schedule, and we were at the Community ahead of the caterers. I was one of the two witnesses, the other being Dato' Mohd. Zin Yusof from the groom's side. Small world, indeed. The groom's dad was Din's classmate at medical school. Mohd. Zin is from Lonek, Idah's kampong, and I know him since  he was with KTM and I was at MISC and we often attended the same meetings,  played golf in the same group, and sometimes  singing at the same karaoke ! That he was from a religious school before entering university was not something obvious, unless, as in my case, you happened  to know it. Certainly it did not hamper his karaoke style.  Anyway, the both of us marriage witnesses promptly and simultaneously said "sah" with only one reading of "ijab qabul" from the bride's father and the groom. Aishah the bride's sister sobbed quietly, but Nora the bride was grinning like a Cheshire cat.

There were a few surprises for me at the reception. I met Yusof, my younger brother from a different mother, after all these years. I invited him for all my children's weddings, but he never came. I was saddened seeing him walking with those crutches. I didn't ask him about it. Miza came with his wife and daughter, and two grandchildren who are Dek Mah's students. Megat "budak boy" - a.k.a. Dato' Dr. Megat Burhanuddin, now the V.C. Of Nilai University, showed up. When I asked the connection, he just pointed his finger at his wife. Dato' Sahak the ADUN from Lenggeng came. His wife was Dekma's classmate from TKC.   The Terachi group also came, including Dato' Sam of the "play it again, Sam" fame of the 1990's KL stock exchange bull run. He should know a thing or two about weddings, having been  married more than once. Probably that part was from Hj.Hassan, Sam's father himself. But the biggest surprise of all was Alang Ipin coming in big, black  pointed shoes. He is always in slippers. But maybe Miza had taken over from Alang Ipin. Miza came in slippers.

Well, here's wishing Nora all the best in their future life together. As the sign behind Raja Alias' door at Jalan Maktab says, "life is a cup of tea. It depends how you make it." I hope the new dentist in the family will keep the tea sugar-free, and keep all the cavities out.


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

Bang Sudin.

2.3.2014.

Bang Sudin, 82, died at around 9 p.m. Saturday 1st March, at the Kampong Baru Medical Centre, KL, the day Nora got married. Kamal called around 9.30 when I was bringing back Acad & Ameng from Subang Parade because on Friday I promised to take them there after the kenduri at Taman Tun. I was tired and had hoped the kids had forgotten, but no way.

My first visit to Bang Sudin's house in Kota Bharu - it was the government quarters at Jalan Bayam - must have been early '72, not long after our marriage in '71. After that there were maybe one or two more visits before Bang Sudin got transferred to KL. Then it was visits to his rented house in Taman Ibu Kota, behind Lee Rubber in Gombak. It's unrecognizable now, with all the new shopping malls and new roads and flats and stuff. And the new traffic, my God !

During the burial at 11 at  Makam Hj. Said, Hj. Latiff came and I spoke to him through his car window. They were classmates, Bang Sudin and Hj. Latiff. Hj. Latiff walks with a cane now, and looks his age. Bang Sudin was "Ochu" at school, "Pak Ndak" to his wife's side of the family, and "Bang Ngah" to his side of the family. But Ari and I used to call him "Cik Sam".

It's remarkable that the heart bypass he had when I was still working has lasted that long. It was partly his heart, partly his respiratory problem that caused him to be in-and-out of hospital these last two months. He never came back home after the last hospital admission. I managed to visit him at hospital twice, but Idah went numerous times.

Bang Sudin and Kak Mot usually had their late breakfast in the eating places around Seremban. Infrequently, we used to take him to lunch, once driving all the way to Nilai to a quaint place on the hill along the road to Sepang, the old way. Maybe they were tired of eating home cooking, though I think Kak Mot was just too lazy to cook, but they seemed to enjoy these outside meals. I know Bang Sudin liked the food at the restaurant in the shopping complex at Bangi, where both daughters now live.

Band Sudin shared with me the purchase of 2 acres of agricultural land in Batu Kikir back in the early 80's. The plan was to plant some fruit trees, but I never got around to it. We finally sold it to Dato' Salim a few years ago. When I gave Bang Sudin's share of the money, he grinned and kissed my cheque.

We had the first of three "tahlil" just now, at his house. I choked when I read the "Yasin" during burial, but this  tahlil was calm, unemotional. Maybe we realized that his time was close. Even Kak Long, so distressed when they wrapped the shroud this morning, managed to smile when we were eating just now. The loss surely is no less felt.



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