Abdul Wahid Shamsuddin, Datuk.

Thu 30 August 2018.

An old Damansara Utama community friend, Datuk Abdul Wahid Shamsuddin, died this morning at hospital. Sad. Only Tuesday we'd stopped at his house in D.U. on the way back from Ipoh, having heard that he was ill and hospitalised, but everybody was with him at hospital. Idah called Kak Zah, his wife, who cried on hearing Idah's voice and couldn't talk. They were close when we were in D.U. 1978 - 1995. That's 17 long years, more meaningful because the growing children were all in primary school. Kak Zah even calls No. 3 Son "ustaz" because he attended the religious class conducted by the Mujahiddin Mosque in D.U. I was one of the founder Committee members of the mosque. We collected 1 million ourselves to build the mosque back in the 70's and still had leftover we used to set up the religious classes. Now it would probably cost easily 10 times more.

Wahid had been ill for 2 months, mainly for refusing to eat. I'm sure there were other problems. We had visited him in Tawakkal in Jalan Pahang some years ago. He was then diagnosed with dementia. He already couldn't remember us even at that time. Kak Zah said the last few years he couldn't even recognize her and the children. But at Tawakkal he was eating well and looked well. That was the last time we met him. His body looked thin now.

Wahid was a classmate of Bang Tai's  at MCKK. Later he joined the Police, and upon retirement worked at Istana Negara for a short time. He was 81.

The one sad story is that Kak Zah had wanted to go for the haj, even when we were still in D.U., but Wahid didn't. So in the end they both didn't. Now even if Kak Zah wants to, she probably can't because of her weak legs.

When No.1 Son was staying at our old house in D.U. alone, Kak Zah used to send food for "buka puasa". Often she would find him sleeping. Idah can never forget this. Most people won't bother to do what Kak Zah did. When No.1 Son got married in Seremban, Wahid and almost the whole family came and stayed overnight at a hotel.  I think they came for all four weddings we had, 3 in Seremban and 1 in Merak Kayangan, Felda.

Kak Zah called when Wahid passed away. I was in KP to collect my gun card and the permit to buy ammunition from the OCPD. At about 4 Idah called. So after Magrib we drove to D.U. It took us more than 2 hours because of the massive jam on PLUS because of the National Day and the long weekend. That accident at Dengkil didn't help. No.2 Son was already there, and Auntie An had waited for Idah's arrival before going home herself.

We left D.U. at almost midnight, and this time took the Sg. Besi way. The traffic had by then thinned out.

One by one they're all leaving, forever. It's sad to reflect, I guess. But the memories will always remain.

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

Aziz Hitam

Mon 20 Aug 2018

Saturday 18.8.18 (Aziz was obviously proud of the numerical combination because he emphasised it in his invitation and on his door gift) I attended Aziz's daughter's wedding reception at the Sime Darby Convention Centre at Bukit Kiara. This was the first such reception of his I was attending. Since we're the same age, this daughter must be his youngest and born late in their married life. Even if she's 28 (I'm guessing), Aziz must have gotten her when he was already 45. If the wife is 5 years younger, she would have been 40, and that's a bit late for childbirth. Or this daughter is past 30. But she didn't look it. I mean, she looked younger.

We were together from Std. 6 to Form III at T.M.S. Kuala Pilah, before I went to FMC Port Dickson (Later RMC at Sg. Besi). I consider him as a close friend then, together with Kamaruddin Mansor (deceased), Hussin Ali (deceased), Sulaiman Arshad (deceased), Mansor Idris (deceased), Mizayaudin, Jalaluddin Hashim, Samah Katas, Hazarul, Wahab (deceased), Tunku Hanizar, Sudin, Daman Idris, Nordin Tadpole, Hashim Bulat, Dermi Habib, Dini, Sha'ari Mak Ayo, Akbar Zainal, Mustaffa Custom, Liaw Gee Min and several others whom I can't recall their names right away (it's 58 years ago!).

I went on to university and graduated at 24, and started working the same year I graduated.  Aziz, I remember, went to a teacher's college and taught school for a few years. I don't remember it, but he must have sat for his HSC privately (that was the only way you could enter university then) while teaching, and after graduating did his Masters and landed the faculty job at UTM, Jalan Gurney. I went to his office a few times, because Felda HQ is just across Jalan Maktab (College Road) to UTM KL branch (they have a bigger campus in Sekudai). During the wedding reception Saturday they referred to him as "Professor" but I don't remember him having a PhD, which is required nowadays to be "Professor".

Off and on we had contact through the years. Our houses  were not too far from each other. I was in Damansara Utama, Aziz in Taman Tun Ismail. Later I had some proposals with the MoE that fell through (no political clout!) when I invited Aziz to join in because of his academic background.

Anyway, I'm glad I came for the reception. We're in our 70's, and I'm more than happy to see an old friend, reminding fond memories of time gone forever. We should cherish old friendship that survives. 

They put me at table 20, together with Borhan, Rosli and 2 others from TMS but I don't recall them, although one of them, on hearing my name, said "were you in Felda Angkut?" - so he must have known me from somewhere. Rosli I remember. He's a Padang Lebar boy, and while in TMS stayed at Kamal Omar's house, next to my grandmother's. Many Padang Lebar students studying at TMS rented rooms in houses around Bukit Temensu because of the distance from school and inadequate public transport in those days. But I also remember meeting him many years ago at Kajang Hill Golf Club (now closed). Having remembered him even then, I wanted to warm up to him, but he was cool, so I cooled off, too, and I remember it till now. So at the table I didn't say anything to him, except saying, when asked, that  I stay at Ampangan, Seremban. The funny thing was, he remembered my nick-name "Zam". Only my close friends use that name, until today, even some of the ex-Felda boys.

By the way, Aziz's  son-in-law is Spanish. Adios, amigo!

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

Ayit.

Sunday 5 August 2018.

At Jiman's daughter's wedding at the Regency Hotel, Chowkit Road, yesterday, Kak Ngah Ipon finally revealed how Ayit recently passed away.

I received the sad news the day after Ayit died at hospital. He was buried the same night, not at the cemetry near his house, but some distance away where they allowed night burial. A strange thing, not allowing night burial. But that's a different story.

Ayit didn't know he had colon cancer until he went to hospital because he complained of stomach pains. They discovered the advanced cancer, and successfully operated on him within a week. It was some complications after surgery - blockage and something else - that  Ayit quickly succumbed to. He was 70.

We had travelled all the way to Kota Bharu for his wedding, me and my wife and my late mother, and No.1 Son. The first night they let us sleep in the surau, all of the Kuala Pilah entourage. Most of us slept well enough, maybe because of the tiring drive, but one complain we had was there weren't enough pillows to go around. Imagine my irritation when in the morning we discovered there were dozens of pillows in the one room in the surau occupied that night by the immediate Ayit's family members, and they didn't bother to pass them to us sleeping outside. I remember Ami (deceased) in that room, Ayit's cousin. We knew each other well. I blamed her for the selfish act.

The second night we moved into a hotel near town.

We were a bit late coming to the reception, because we were not sure where the place was. The KP group who had already eaten just stared at us, making us feel more uncomfortable. And I came all the way from KP for this?

I came for  a wedding reception Ayit had for his son or daughter (I can't remember which) in the Gombak area.  Ayit was a first cousin, anyway. Again I got a cool reception from this family. One of his aunties whom I knew well even asked "sapo deh ni?", feigning loss of memory, not in a bad way, I think, because we hardly ever meet. But I used to frequent wan Sa'elah's house at Kubang Rusa and knew all of them, and they me. So my response to "sapo deh ni?" was an unfriendly "tak kona sudah!" I should regret that, but I don't. Ayit's Kelantanese wife ignored me totally, a guest coming to her kenduri!

Kak Ngah Ipon said yesterday they'll have a "tahlil" this Saturday. I don't think I'll come.

Good bye  Ayit.

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

The first polls after GE14.

Sunday 5 August 2018.

Sg. Kandis was touted as many things: PH's acid test; UMNO's revival; rejection of "anti-Malay" elements in the PH government etc,etc.

My take of the results yesterday is: the 50,000 voters are tired of this election thing, but they know that UMNO/PAS can't unseat the PH even as they sat out the voting this time around.

The figures speak for themselves. 50% were sure PH retains power; 50% came out to vote to make sure; 64% of those who voted made this sure;  36% of the combined UMNO/PAS voters believed their old lies and their old style of lying. 

Najib and Annuar Musa and the rest of them even invoked God in the sad misfortunes of the PH members who died and caused the vacancies, such is their standard of piety and moral fibre. In their own language, God denied them. 

UMNO might make something of the actual figures garnered from this bye-election. For instance, while UMNO got 11,518 votes at GE14 out of the total 35,516 valid votes cast, or 32.43% of it, this time it obtained 9,585 out of 25,282 total, a lower figure but at 37.01% a higher percentage. However the 50% who didn't bother to turn up were obviously confident of the PH's victory. Even if this group is split into 2, the additional figure for PH would be even higher than that at GE 14 itself.

Balakong is next. BN has 2 chances - slim & none.

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

Hafizi Abdullah.

Thursday 2 August 2018.

Yesterday was my first ride on the ETS electric train to Padang Besar, but this time only from Seremban to Ipoh, leaving at 8.45 a.m. and returning the same evening at 6.05 pm from Ipoh. In fact I'd taken and paid for the return journey on the same "Golden" service that took me to Ipoh, but the scheduled time was 9.30 pm from Ipoh, arriving in Seremban in the wee hours of half-past one the next morning - this morning, in fact. That would have given me less than 3 hours of sleep before the return match at golf against the Tok Sleman/Tok Zaha team. So in Ipoh upon arrival at 12.50 p.m. yesterday, since I couldn't change my return ticket, I bought another one on the more frequent and faster Ipoh-KL "Platinum" service that allowed me to be home before 11 p.m. and get about 5 hours of rest. And the result of the match this morning bore the fruit of my adjustment - we won 30 ringgit ("haram" in Selangor, Tok Sleman says, but this is Seremban and therefore "harus").

Hafizi was a fellow University of Malaya undergraduate I befriended during our 1965-68 stay there. UM was the only university in the country, but the student population was still small, and we made friends easily. We grew somewhat closer because of two things. One, we attended some lectures together, sitting right at the back of the class, right on top of the sloping, tiered seating in the lecture hall, chatting away while the lecturer was trying to teach right at the bottom of the pit. The second thing was, we found out that Hafizi's sister was the second wife of my cousin, Bang Enon, with whom I was at that time staying. But even at our meeting yesterday Hafizi couldn't say if his sister is still married to Bang Enon or not. But the children have been doing great. Two are medical specialists, and one a successful lawyer. If Bang Enon had in fact divorced his second wife, that's his "loss". In fact Bang Enon married a third wife with whom he's living in retirement now. Hafizi knows that, but we don't know if there're children.

This reunion with Hafizi in Ipoh yesterday came about because Adnan Din, a fellow ex Felda officer,  connected us after Adnan told me about 15 days earlier at an exFelda Hari Raya gathering in Seremban that Hafizi meets him regularly at their mosque in Ipoh and had been mentioning my name. Since then, I'd gotten Hafizi's number, and we eventually agreed to see each other in Ipoh yesterday.

As I said to Hafizi, it's been 50 years since we last spoke to each other. That's a half-century !

Over the years, when I was still in the Felda group, I'd inquired about him, and received word that he was teaching somewhere in Perak. I'd never forgotten him, but somehow never managed to get hold of him until Adnan came for the Raya gathering. Once that happened, I was determined to meet Hafizi again.

We had lunch, Adnan, Hafizi and me, at the "Hadarmaut" Yemeni restaurant near the Kinta Riverfront Hotel. What a coincidence. Every time I'd come to Ipoh to accompany Dekna when she had her court cases here, we would stay at this hotel, and we would dine at this particular Arab restaurant. We were all talking at the same time over lunch (it was a good lunch), and before we knew it, it was almost 4 pm, and Hafizi had to fetch his granddaughter from school etc, so I asked they send me back to the railway station to wait for my 6 o'clock train.

We embraced as I took leave at the station , and I became rather emotional, briefly, and Hafizi said "don't cry". I didn't want to turn back as I walked away towards the station entrance. But it had been a heartfelt reunion for me, and I sms'd later to Hafizi and said I hope he shared my feeling. The lost 50 years had covered a lifetime of all kinds of happenings we went through, totally disconnected from each other. There were things that could have been shared, but were not, in spite of the three years of friendship at the beginning of it. The 1965-68 years were a different sort of student community years from today. We are both glad to have been there then. Things are so different today.

At past 70, both Hafizi and I have agreed to meet regularly for the remaining years we have. We agree to meet in KL, the common meeting point. We agree to we meet every 6 weeks or so. KLSentral seems a convenient place, with the train service for senior citizens making it cheap and easy. We could even bring the wives and grandchildren. I'm looking forward to it.

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