Prayers for the late mother-in-law.

Sun Feb 16, 2020.

Yesterday the surviving "Induks" of the Ujang-Banun clan met for lunch at the "Ayam Guling" on the Paroi-Senawang road. We were joined by Ai "Ci-o-ledi", Kamal, Mastura, and "Usop"and husband and son "Awe Donde". It was the fourth such meeting for the group. Hopefully we'd continue this for as long as possible. The next one is Ari's, to be at his house, followed by Klemot or me, maybe after Ramadan. This arrangement was jointly thought of in memory of the late Hj. Ujang and Hajjah Banun, our parents and my father/ mother-in-law. That's how my memory played back on my late M.I.L.

She was a "dukun". Idah has many stories that support that claim. In fact  Hajjah Banun's children have stories that support their belief in her dukunship. Their stories have that touch of eerieness, that a bystander may find hard to grasp. To this day, decades after the passing of the couple, Idah is scared to be alone in the old house, now tranferred to Bal, Pak Ijoi's widow. Idah admires Bal's bravery, being alone at night in the house, when Kamil is away.

I have my own stories. This is not to embellish the dukunship claim, but they court some thoughts of the super-natural.

Since I was a very young boy I often went to my aunt's house in Kuala Jempol. On one such visit, I remember meeting my future M.I.L there (it would be another 15 years before I married Idah !).  They were discussing about locating a water source to dig a well. Those were the days when the kampongs had no running water and electricity, maybe around 1956. My future M.I.L. picked a spot close to the front of the stilted house, and indeed they found water there when they dug it up. I learned even at that time that she had this ability !

When we were in Tanjong Malim together, my mother often sought her future besan's home-made remedies.

In Fortune Garden (later renamed Taman Dato' Shahbandar) where she stayed with her son, Ustaz Ahmad sought her help, because after many years of marriage, his wife could not concieve. After her treatment, an only son was born.

When I got married in 1971, the Lonek house had no running water and no electricity, and the kampong road was a laterite track. If it rained, you'd be stuck. The house is a few km from the Bahau road, and only Malays live there to this day.

Very late one night when I was sleeping in the front part of the stilted house, I heard some noises from the "rumah tangga" - the porch on the front steps. On opening the front door, I was surprised to see a yellow dog standing on the porch. Seeing me, it moved out. I closed the door, and only related the sighting at breakfast the next day. Everybody at the table said there were no dogs in the village. My M.I.L just chuckled. What they were claiming, I caught on later, was that it was no dog ! What was it then ? 

When Ari moved to his present house, he had an Indonesian maid at one time. She has returned to Indonesia a long time ago. But she would ask a few times who was the Malay lady in the tudung who would always stand outside the front gate very early in the morning, when the maid would go out to do some early morning chores. Nobody could give an answer, because no one else had seen her. One day she was going through the family photo album when she exclaimed "this is her !" It was the photo of my M.I.L. ! She had died several years earlier !

Ari's first daughter and my only daughter are fair-skinned and small. My late M.I.L. was like that. Ari and his brothers ( four have since passed on) are a good size for a Malay. My 3 sons are around 5' 8"

I pray for Hajjah Banun's blessing and forgiveness by the Almighty, Amin !

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