Mubarak NS emergency & last meeting for 2019.

Monday 30 Dec 2019.

Dato' Ismail and I rushed from our 9-holes at SIGC, finishing at 10.30,  for the emergency meeting at 11.

I beat Ismail to it. 

This was about selling-off half of the Bahau property Mubarak NS owns, thanks to Mat Hassan. We lost the rights to the oil palm produce because of lack of documentation after the GE 14 change of government. We had a lengthy meeting about the same topic 19 days earlier, but it was decided that more study should be done. Not much study has been done, but Yazid Baba must have second thoughts and asked for today's emergency meeting.

At the last meeting, Chong had explained the market situation in Bahau, and supported the serious offer of RM 1.2 million for 2 of the 4 shoplots that worked out to RM 600 k each. Ah Tham didn't agree, suggesting we hold for improved market. There was an offer last time for these lots for RM 200 k more. Both Chong and Ah Tham have personal experiences in the property market in Bahau.

Mokhtar Yassin had suggested a thorough study be made first.

The others gave their different opinions.

I had said that, after listening to Chong, maybe it's opportune that the one serious offer (earnest money had been submitted) be considered, and the cash could be deposited in alternative investment.

The decision of that earlier meeting was to study the situation first.

Yazid gave his usual bi-lingual, long-winded commentry. As usual he asked for comments. As usual he never listen to the comments. Yazid is not a listener.  He spoke of his long experience with real-estate, locally and internationally. Obviously he  was  making a pitch for selling. As  usual with him, he spoke of his "lawyer" background, (again), of his honest and "principled" stand, (again), and of  the legal requirements in these sort of things. He even quoted Aziz Rahman's mistake of ignoring his advice about changing Mubarak Malaysia's constitution causing that rejection by R.o.S., and emphatically added that while around, he'll not allow abuse of Mubarak's money. Bravo !

Derma asked Chong about "open tenders". Her school teacher's experience probably limits her sight to such things. Foo, Ismail, Ah Tham, Oh and Chong all spoke of market situation.  Foo, Oh and  Mokhtar all have previous business experiences.

Yazid asked for my opinion. I was the last to speak before Yazid made the final decision. 

I repeated what I said in the last meeting. "Take a vote. Sell or don't sell." 

Continuing, I said the market is a function of time and location. The price will change according to these 2 factors. Based on Chong's briefing, it seems that the best action is to accept this single but serious offer before the deadline in one day's time, take the cash and put it into better investment in Seremban or elsewhere, since Bahau's immediate future looks uncertain.

Yazid then said "those who don't agree to sell, raise your hands".

I quickly turned and pointed to Ah Tham "Ah Pek, Ah Pek ?"

"I don't disgree, but ......" he protested, seeing that he was alone.

"All that you have been saying was you don't agree to sell !" I interrupted.

So, the sale is now agreed. I told Chong as I was leaving "you have only one more day to respond." "I'll call today" he replied.

The expected nett cash RM 1 million would make Mubarak NS cash rich.

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Another nephew's wedding.

Sun 29 Dec 2019.

The school holidays are always  popular for "kenduris", because everybody wants everybody to come, which doesn't always happen, of course. I'm sure Acam must have invited Bang Enon, Ari, Hasnah and the other first cousins. I had invited Kak Long and Bang Piei on her behalf. None of them had turned up by the time we left the kenduri for No. 3 Son's house at 3, which was close to the 4 o'clock closing time. In the case of Kak Long, her excuse was she had to attend another kenduri. The others must have good reasons, too, I'm sure.

Idah came one day earlier with Calit, to offer help to Acam. But she slept at Calit's Gombak house. I came with Dekna the morning of the kenduri.

In fact the actual wedding was a month earlier, at the bride's reception in Titiwangsa. Yesterday's return reception was at "Kg. Pengantin KL", in Setapak. Apparently there are many of these in KL now.

As weddings go, it was well-attended and merry. Because the couple had got together a month ago, they behaved familiar and waved and called out to their friends as they entered the hall and went through the usual rigmaroles of these functions. Those, too, were mostly simplified and certainly saved time, but we must have these, otherwise we might as well have "kawin koboi" (an explanation requires a separate blog).

I look forward to these functions because they are opportunities to meet old family members and friends, and there were many of them yesterday. I feel guilty because I couldn't give enough time to the people I met. I told Jiman to hang around while I mix around, but never met him again. Kama, Dekma's ex, came to me and we tried to squeeze in as much as possible with the short talk we had. Alang Ipin, those of Cikgu Shamsuddin's children who came, Kamariah Pak Ngah, Li Pank Ngah, my own kids and the 8 grandchildren who made it (No. 3 Son's 3 were missing) were all given short shrift by the time available. I even got to squeeze in "Vel, vel, vel Fahmi" the MP from Lembah Pantai, catching him as he was looking for a table. I gave him my mobile no. but he never made the "missed call" for his number, so that was that. But in the end I got to maximise the opportunity. "When will we meet again", cries the song.

As Eti walked past, I called her out to congratulate her on a well-prepared and well-presented welcoming speech for her younger and only  brother's matrimony. In fact at one point she was overcome with emotion, showing how much feeling was put into that speech.

I was happy that all my kids brought all their kids (except No. 3 Son, of course) because I wanted them to see the extended family ties, recognize all, and perpetuate the connection in time. Some ties would be thicker than others, but that's normal. You get on with life, and sustain the valued relationships. It's always mutual.

I only found out Aizat's other name of Naufal at this wedding. It makes good rhyme with his better-half, Nana. "Naufal & Nana" sounds better than "Aizat & Nana". I hope they have poetry through their future together.

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Mat Cah's kenduri.

Sunday 22 Dec 2019.

Bok and Deka and Unuih have always joked about Udin Jahat attending kenduris he's not invited to. He'd drive by and see a kenduri by the roadside, and simply pull over, saunter to the khemah, sit down and eat and drink, and then casually take leave.

Something similiar happened to me and my group yesterday, and it was not a joke.

Mat Cah had invited us for his youngest daughter's wedding, Saturday 21st December. Idah was also invited for the aqad nikah, Friday, but we had no transport and couldn't go.

Saturday, we all packed into Dekna's Carnival at about half-past ten. As expected, the Seremban-Kuala Pilah road was heavy with traffic, and we crawled to Kuala Pilah. When we reached the Ampang Tinggi junction to Melang and Parit, I was relieved, and told Hanif, driving, to turn left to Parit, and then to Jalan Bukit and the town hall there.

I was sure that the town hall in Jalan Bukit was the venue, because that was where his other kenduris were held. It's newer, had air-conditioning, and plenty of parking. I know the card says "Dewan Majlis Daerah".

Hanif even confidently turned into the front entrance, and I confidently alighted and lifted the 3 grandchildren down from the MPV. I looked around for familiar faces, saw none, and just walked up to the people waiting to welcome the guests. I shook hands with all the friendly, smiling strangers, and walked into the hall, and headed towards an empty table close to the food. Still seeing no Mat Cah, nor anyone I recognize, I just went for the cakes and drinks, and they were nice cakes, too, and the cekodoks were still warm ! I asked a woman guest helping herself to the cakes "Is this Mat Cah's kenduri?" "I don't know. I only know the woman in the family."

Idah asked the caterer's staff "is this Mat Cah's kenduri?" Again "I don't know" was the answer.

Then I spottted a familiar face, though the name escaped me. "This is so-and-so's kenduri. Mat Cah is the other hall near the Hindu temple" he explained.

There was still food on my plate, and a bottle of mineral water on the table, but I quickly got up and motioned to the others to leave by the side door close to our table. Idah was nowhere near, but Dekna said she had said loudly "salah tompek" and then apologised to the receptionists, who said "takpe,takpe." We heard later that several others also made the same error.

So we made it to the correct venue, and of course we immediately saw familiar faces.

I made it straight to the meehoon goring and took a big helping, plus a piece of kueh. I asked Iman to take a bottle of mineral water. In the end, except for some more cakes and mineral water, that was all I had. 

I had a good time, though. The relatives and old friends always make your day, kenduri or no kenduri.  Adang, Jiman, Deka and the Tg. Jati boys were there. I sat down with Alang Ipin and even introduced Dekna and Hanif to him. We were close in our school days, Alang Ipin and I, before he went to MCKK and then to Germany. Then he got married, and I got married, and we went our separate ways. Only once we went to his quarters in Kertih, when he was with Petronas. That was it. But his son's wedding, family members' wedding, these were meeting points. But we've never lingered like our schoolboy days. Too bad.

I may have mentioned this elsewhere, but I'll mention it again here. Mat Cah has had quite an adventure. After graduating from vocational school he had a short stint with a MARA workshop in Shah Alam before hitchhiking to Germany. When he left he only spoke Malay. When he came back after several years, he spoke English and German! There was this German volunteer teacher in Kuala Pilah, something like the "Peace Corps", who came to a relative's kenduri. Mat Cah was there and they met, and chatted away in German !

When I was in Angkut I gave Mat Cah a construction contract somewhere in Palong, I think. The ground boys penalized him for some delays or something, but upon completion I released the money. Instead of putting it back into business, which was my intent, he went for his umrah. He has since dabbled into catering, and even operated a restaurant. But without proper staffing, there's no way he can handle the workload. But his wife is a retired Deputy School Principal and a university graduate. And this daughter, just married, is an engineer. So I think they're ok.

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Kamil mau kawin !

21 Dec 2019.

Kamil sent us off to Telok Intan, Wednesday 18th. December, to officially ask  this girl called "Girl" from Sibu, Sarawak, for her hand in marriage. The whole journey from Seremban by road, to and fro, took 13 hours, and three quarters of Dekna's Carnival's tank of Euro 5 diesel, over more than 500 km. Telok Intan is where Girl's father is from. Sibu is where Girl's mother is from. The Sibu journey would take 2 hours of flying alone, not counting how many hours by road on Sarawak's unknown roads! 

Bal had requested us to do this, and we were only too happy to oblige, for the late Pak Ijoi, who left us all too soon. We'd gladly go to Sibu,too, when the time comes, maybe in a year's time. If we know the exact date, we could even get a cheap flight with an early booking. Place of stay should be no problem. Girl should be able to handle that !

I've driven to Telok Intan, to the leaning tower in town, before, but that was a long time ago. 

Wednesday, Bal's brother was supposed to be the guide. We assembled at the Rawang R & R around 10a.m., then took off. We took the Sungkai exit, and followed the Federal road all the way to the housing estate just before Telok Intan town. We were at Girl's father's house by 11.50. They were waiting, and upon seeing our convoy, came out to the road to receive us.

I said "supposed" to be the guide, because Bal's younger brother drove like no guide. My speedometer said 140 and he was still ahead of me and his car ahead was growing smaller.

The "ceremony" was short and simple. Ari did the talking, which I like, instead of the expected Bang Piei.  Bang Piei tends to overdo it, especially with his "jokes"  which he always thinks are funny. He laughs at them more than us, when we're usually laughing more at him than his stupid jokes.  Details are to be set by the couple, and the dates are to be fixed later, but probably in a year's time.

They served a buffet lunch, which everybody seemed to enjoy, because it was lunch time anyway.

The return journey was via Kuala Selangor. First we had a short stop at Bang Piei's old police mate's 7-month old restaurant nearby. Then Olin took us for mee udang at the picnic area close to the training college that Olin used to come to. Bang Piei paid the rm 80 bill.

The route was through  Telok Intan, Simpang Empat and Hutan Melintang, all still Perak,  then through Air Tawar,  Sabak,  Sg. Besar, Sekinchan, Tg. Karang, Kuala Selangor, Kelang,  Subang Jaya and Bangi, Selangor, then in NS through Nilai  to Seremban.

We had left Seremban at 8 a.m. We were back in Seremban at 9 p.m.

My smart tag had rm 90 when we left. It showed  rm 30 in the end.

I drove all the way, but surprisingly,  didn't feel any worse for it, and Thursday morning woke up at the usual 4.30 for my golf fixture that day.

Bal still has to pay for the 3-piece "hantaran" Idah prepared. Girl's people gave nothing in return. (sigh) Maybe it's Sarawak custom.

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FMC 1952-1961.

Mon 16 Dec 2019.

This blog was drafted the day after the OP's gathering at the ol' campus at Batu 4 Port Dickson on Sunday 15th. December 2019. About 100 of us came,  OP's who went to Federation Military College, PD, before the College moved to Sg. Besi in the middle of 1961 and was renamed Royal Military College. Of course that campus was recently moved again, but in the same general vicinity. 

It rained the whole day, but fortunately there was a short dry spell that allowed the tree-planting ceremony to take place. Obviously the tree would outlive everyone present. But that was the idea - in memory of this historic meeting.

The wet day meant that the outdoor activities were out. The main chunk of the program was indoors, anyway, and so the party wasn't spoiled. And it was truly a party, of decades-old friendship that has endured long years of individual enterprise, and countless miles of individual journeys, that somehow has seen that college-days connection quite intact, even if memories and faces show the passage of time.

Nawawi and Co. (no offense to the Chairman of the Committee) had planned the day's program in detail (excluding the weather) and laid out the food in the dining hall, and there was supposed to be proper seating and sequence. But the various food stalls were ready, and the durian corner was too much. Hell did not break loose, but Nawawi well-meant order went out into the rain outside!

I personally met again with many old friends, including Azzat. I told him I named my first-born Azat, because I was trying to find an uncommon name starting with "A". All 4 of my children carry names starting with "A" because my "Z" was always last throughout my school days (not in the exams, fortunately).

I sat with Nor Shaari and Rizal Sardon at lunch. That was when I learned that Fuad Jaafar, my cousin-in-law, is in Hainan, China, suffering a stroke, now with his two sons attending. He was on a golf trip. Rizal knows him because they were at MCKK, and we were talking about the late Tajuddin Arif who was at MCKK and was my SMC1 and SMC2 classmate at the Methodist English School, Tg. Malim. They all did Electrical Engineering in Brighton together. 

Hank and I had left Seremban at 8.05 that morning, in his car. The day before he'd asked that we leave at 9, because he had to check certain things. Minutes later he called again and said to make it 8.30. Minutes later he called yet again, asking to go at 8. That was when I responded and said if he makes one more change now to 7.30, we may as well sleep in PD ! And he came to pick me up at 8.05 and I told him "you're late!".

A few wives and children also came. I think it's a good idea that they come, if they can. We'd all share these reunions in a pleasant way. I didn't think about it, and came alone, but Hank brought his son and daughter, coming separately.

The whole thing would not have been smoothly done without the NCO College's help. Our committee had made arrangements with the College, of course, but in Col. Inderjit, the Director, was found something "beyond the call of duty". In fact the durians were his idea! 

One surprise was Halim's MC's hidden talent, and I told him that at lunch. Nawawi overheard me and chipped in "sapa train?" meaning him, of course. But Hank gave Nawawi a good one at the rostrum during the speeches: 

     "we're appreciative of Nawawi's help throughout the preparations. He always there  whenever we needed him. He was also always there when we didn't need him !"

I must have laughed the loudest. Hank is a joker. In front of Halim and Nawawi at lunch I said "Lim, I give you 9.5/10 for your M.C. hidden talent, but I have to give Hank 10/10 for that punch line about Nawawi !" 

There was Ismail Nor, Arthur, Sukdarshan (nowadays he prefers "Dillon"), Gurdial, Aba Jiwa, Hashim, Nawi, Husin Senik, Jalal, Salim, Mui, Chua, Li Heng Tiong  and so many others, all in 7 series now. Is this one last hurrah?, I wonder. I spoke to that heart surgeon who flew all the way from Singapore. His name escapes me now, because we were from different intakes and different companies. "Are you going to retire in Singapore?" "No, I'm coming back to Malaysia" He went on to give his views, but the activities going on separated us out.

We've had many such gatherings before, and I'm sure there'll be many more. But "FMC 1952-1961" was special.

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Milestones ?

Sunday Dec 8 2019.

Last night the children decided to get together and throw me, and Iman, my eldest granddaughter, a belated birthday party. 

It was great, even if a few days late. But the children are all working, even if it was the school holidays. And all 4 spouses are also working. But it was a nice venue (The Royal Chulan KL), a nice evening (no rain in a very wet week), and most of all, great company. In a rare moment, everybody was present.

No. 2 Son also took opportunity to celebrate their 15th wedding anniversary. Unbeknownst to the children, December 3 is also our wedding anniversary. No 48.

I thanked Lula, my third daughter-in-law, as I took my leave around 11 p.m., and said I don't know how many birthdays I have left to celebrate.  I know she & No. 3 Son picked the tab. I showed the hotel my i.c. and got a discount, but it was still not cheap. But, except for baby Zayd, all the grandchildren thoroughly enjoyed themselves, many forgetting their food, and everybody releasing the tied floating balloons. Most of them were still floating and stuck to the ceiling when we all left.

I took the opportunity to call together my 4 kids, and Dekna's Hanif, to announce to them that I'm immediately giving the Seremban house to Dekna. She of the four is the only one who has not yet bought a house. I don't want the house to be left abondoned once I'm gone, as commonly happens. So as Dato' Ismail Yassin advised, give it to one of the children, in this case my daughter, and not waste another house-purchase. Now any renovation plans have to be done by her. With No. 3 Son, my Charted Accountant, by my side, I however declared that I need to raise some funds immediately to settle  their mother's Ar Rahnu account  and also clear my bank overdraft, now that the 75 milestone is passed. I asked, and No. 3 Son strongly supported, that Dekna and Hanif raise a loan for the Seremban house.     Lula was also listening, and interjected that she can look at her bank for the possible loan. The Ar Rahnu, especially, has been bothering their mother these last few years. She wants the jewellery  back. 

I was happy to see No. 1 Son there, because in the past many family gatherings, except Hari Rayas, were  without him. I was also happy that, after I had sms'd, Iman came prepared to follow us back to Seremban and to stay a few days. She's already 14, and big for her age. Before you know it, she's a woman and will go out into the world, and her childhood will be forever gone. I want to share whatever is left whenever I can.  After all, she's only one of two granddaughters that I have. She was born in Selayang Hospital but spent her first months of  life in our house. I had tears in my eyes when we left them at  their newly rented apartment in KL. Her months'-old photo peers at me in my p.c. room, even as I post this blog.

75, 48,15, 14. All milestones. A lot to remember, but time moves on.  I thank God for the good health, the happy children and grandchildren. I hope they appreciate what they have. More. What God Provides.

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