Slow-golf syndrome.

 Sat 1.2.2025

In my almost 40 years of golf, I saw plenty of it and am sick of it.

Golf's still 18 holes, 14 clubs, and holing the round ball in as few strokes as possible. Other than that, the 2 world-ruling authorities of the Royal & Ancient St. Andrews and USGA have, since 1400, been trying to, at different times,   work together / fight each other; speed / obstruct changes;  cause confusion, exasperation and condemnation  to the players who are living off the game / turned off by it; who  swear by / swear at it.  

A few years back Greg Norman had been trying to change world golf focus from USA  to non-USA, aided by  the deep-pocketed Arab sponsors. Money changes things. That's been applied to sports before. It worked. Now better things are coming to golf ?

In the last 600-plus years the game itself went through many changes:  the size and make of the ball - even in my own experience I went from 1.62" to 1.68", with different number of dimples and all the colours of the rainbow ; the clubs - from steel-shafted woods that were real wood to all kinds of alloy shafts with all kinds of club heads made from everything except wood; from steel spikes to palstic studs on the shoe-soles; the dress-code for different sexes - long sleeve with tie for men, and knee-length dress and socks for women, to now whatever you like, man or woman - only tuck in that  damn shirt !; the number of holes; the size of the field (the number of players). 

Today the last one change that has been the longest overdue and yet easiest to impose is finally on the authority's plate. Slow play.

Surely, this is the one curse that needs no magic spell to remove. 

The problem is, unlike other sports, there is no rigid time frame each time a golf match is run. Football (I mean soccer), rugger, hockey et el  have it;  the racquet-sports have it, in terms of the intervals between sets; all water-sports have it. Not golf.

Of late, on some golf tours, the officials threatened to penalise players  for "slow play" decided by the watching marshal. I'm yet to see one. 

You have to experience it, like I have, to know the pain of it. And the worse part would be to play behind a maddening slow flight, but in front of an equally maddening fast flight !

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Halim Dato' Ibrahim.

 Sat 1.2.2025

The last time I met Halim must have been at least 5 years ago, at SIGC. We'd never played together, but once in a while we'd see each other with our own different partners at the club. He always played with the late Zul, Muhsin's f.i.l. Last week Ajit texted about Halim's passing.

The connection was Bukit Temensu. 

Halim was Kayah's husband. Kayah is probably my age, because we sat for our LCE the same year (1960). Wan Esah (Kayah's grandmother) saw me and asked how I did in the exams, and I said I got 3 A's, and she said Kayah also got 3 A's. I never found out what Kayah's score was, because she was in TKS, while I was in TMS.

Kayah is Tengku Rokayah Tengku Fakharuddin. She had a younger sister from the same parents - Tengku Hasnah. We know her in Bukit Temensu as "Tekwa" - short for "cantik lawa" (very pretty). Probably because she's fair, like Wan Zarah, the mother. Kayah was slightly less fair, taller, and has a different facial look than Tekwa. I guess it's the father's side.

Kayah went on to work in a bank. Halim was a senior police officer whose father was once the CPO of Kelantan. Where they met, I don't know, but in the late 70's we found ourselves in the same place - Damansara Utama. I eventually moved to Seremban, and would you believe it, so did they. Tewkwa married Cikgu Sulan's army officer son. I don't know where they are now.

Tengku Fakharuddin sadly died tragically during the "14-day" Communist rule immediately after the Japanese surrender and before the British Administration re established rule of law.

Wan Zarah remarried twice. The second one produced Man, an only son, who now lives in a smaller house built in the same compound as the grand ol' house that still stands, though in disrepair, in that vast piece of land. This marriage ended in divorce, I think. Then she married Dr. Jeremaih, the only private practice in the whole of Kuala Pilah for donkey's years. It was said that every time an epidemic occurred, like influenza or small pox, the doctor "printed money". He had a large house opposite my parents' house (built later), before building a huge mansion near Kg. Parit. Being the only private clinic in town, Wan Zarah must have frequented it, because she eventually married the good doctor. They had an only daughter who grew up to also become a doctor, and a specialist to boot. The marriage didn't last long, and the daughter never got married.

KP being KP in the 60's, there was so little traffic on the Jalan Tampin that in the late evenings Kayah and Tekwa would join us boys playing "galah adang" on the road !

That grand ol' house also has memories for me. 

Once I attended a birthday party or something, with food and music and  dancing. I remember Mak Cik Zizah declining photographer Tony from "Bee Choon" who asked her for a dance. She danced with me instead. Tony emigrated to Australia. Mak Cik Zizah died at about 90, still single. 

Another time was when I was already working in Alor Gajah, and came back to attend a wedding there. It must have been Kayah's because this was 1968. There I met Raja Alias, who my dad introduced me to. Dad said "he's from LKTP (Felda)". A few months later I joined Felda and stayed for 21 years. That was when I bought the Damansara Utama house, just like Kayah. And Halim Dato' Ibrahim. 

Small world. Long memories.

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Hank's new car.

Wed 22.1.2025.

There are two old cars in my porch right now. One is already 31 years old. The other is slightly younger - 20.  That was how I got to talk to Sam in December about finding a replacement for one or both of them. There's nothing seriously, mechanically wrong with them. They're just old.

Then I mentioned it to Hank. He wanted one, too, immediately. It looks almost certain now that Hank will get his first.

Early this month Sam said he'd found a car, in Taiping. It belongs to "his childhood friend", a retired Prison Officer. Apparently he can't drive much now because of lower limbs weakness because of his age, and a heart condition. Sam has seen the car, and remembers that it's in good repairs. But he could recheck this if I was serious about it.

We had to attend Md. Sham's funeral prayers on 13/1, Hank and I. Since we finished at the Damansara Heights mosque around 11 a.m., Hank agreed at my suggestion that we meet Sam straightaway, and discuss the car-purchase in Shah Alam, somewhere.

Sam agreed to meet us, although he had planned to do some work on one of his many cars. 

The problem was they decided to change the hotel's name to something quite different. "Waze" couldn't help, and my memory didn't also, although 15 years ago I frequented Shah Alam because Dekna was doing her 4-year law courses here. Sam had no problem getting to the renamed hotel initially suggested by me as our rendezvous. He remembers the location, unlike me. Well, there were several exchanges on the our phones, and finally we met at the roadside, at a location Sam suggested.

What was agreed was for Sam to get the car so that we could view it in Shah Alam before the arrival of Ramadan in 6 weeks.

Sam went to Taiping to bring the car to Shah Alam on Sunday, 19.1.2025. He called me Monday; I called Hank immediately, and at 12.30 we left for, again, Shah Alam. I told Sam we'll meet in Shah Alam in 2 hours time, with concern for a work-day traffic everywhere, I was right. I saw (I was driving, as usual) the Pejabat Pos Besar Shah Alam, with it's ample parking, and stopped there, and called Sam straigt away. 

PKK 8238 is a Mercedes Benz 1.8 Compressor C Class. It's  15 years old. We went all over it, inside out, Hank drove it on the Highway. Everybody agreed that the car is in excellent condition, and would be a good buy. Sam even managed to get 10% off the original  price.

All agreed that this sale is a done deal. Hank agreed to full settlement in 2 weeks.

Otherwise, as I told Sam, I'll buy the car.

Addendum 31.1.25

Yesterday Hank regretfully declined the hitherto agreed purchase for several unexpected reasons. I've now offered to take over. Let's see where this ends.

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Datuk Mohammad Sham 20.8.1945 - 13.1.2025

 Mon 13.1.2025

It saddens me that this early this year, and in this holy month of Rejab, I had to receive this unhappy news of a friend of  64 years, at 4.30 in the morning, being called to Almighty Allah. I checked the "Who's Where" and got his birth date. Md. Sham was 79 years and 4 months old.

We were not in the same company at RMC, but kept close company when I was in Felda HQ in the 70's and he was from our auditors. Long canteen sessions at 10 am or thereabout got us sharing jokes most week days, for a long time. Felda's massive accounts took care of that. I moved on, and he moved out - to England and other companies and so forth. When I somehow got involved in the ex-FMC PD activities, we met again, and I enjoyed his company again, and I hoped he enjoyed mine.

This was the Pontian boy who was  sent by his rubber-tapper dad to school early, at only 5. This was the retired company director who had completed his studies in London, became very successful on his return, and owned luxurious homes in expensive Bukit Jelutung and Damansara Heights simultaneously. 

I remember his love for "ikan baung" and old Mazni took 2 car loads of us to the Kuala Linggi restaurant that serves fresh ikan baung  from the adjacent Linggi river. He  loved  hot Negeri cooking, and I brought him and a few others to the "Rimba" at Lavender Heights, Seremban, for its famous "masak lomak lado api". Always generous, each time he alone took care of the tab. 

This was also the Budak Boy who made our meetings fresh with his  commentary and frequent contradictions of ND's assessments. But it was always in good spirits and constructive.

A few years back I got to be somehow involved in getting the durian supply for our year-end celebrations, and he being the Treasurer, we got connected up again. It wasn't as simple as it sounds. The durians were not cheap, and the supply was not automatically guaranteed.  And the last gathering we had on 15.12.2024 was extra problematic. The fruit was out of season in all the familiar sources, and Md. Sham was sick in bed.

Hank and I visited him Sunday 7th December at his Damansara Heights house, to find him lying in bed, with the breathing aid on. We wanted to clear the purchase arrangements for the durians we finally located. I felt bad, visiting him sick in bed, and me, trying to sort out some petty matters, when his health issues outweighed everything else. He was gasping for breath, and I was trying to get his agreement for part of the purchase made.  But I did impress on his wife how sorry I was to see him in that distressing condition.

My golfing friends had fixed a game for this morning. I'd packed my gear last night, so that this morning I'd just get into the car to be at the club before 7 am. When I received the tragic news on whatsapp , I decided that the game would have to be cancelled. Checking my phone before I stood for my Fajr prayers, I got Hank's message "we'll leave at 7.30". He just assumed that I'd also got the news, and I would join him for Md.Sham's funeral prayers. He was right, of course. 

Hank was worried that "Waze" had been confused in the route set for Masjid Saidina Omar al Khattab, because it took us through "Jalan Kuchai Lama" and "Petaling Jaya" and so on. It was 9.30 and the prayers were set for 10. I just ignored his suggestion that I override and take the Bangsar route ourselves. Hank had been wrong when we went to RMC once, and he called ND and said we were lost, because the road signs said all kinds of road names but no "Sg. Besi". I said it  was all part of the route. I was driving then, just as I was driving today. We reached our RMC destination in good time then. We reached the mosque, wasted several minutes trying to get parking space in the already filled up area, and were still several minutes before the prayers were performed in the end. 

I estimated no less than 300 people stood for Md Sham's final funeral service. It's not a number that he would have been ashamed of.  How many percent of the crowd was his old RMC mates ? There were very many of them. I spoke to Asmat, Rizal Sardon, Khamis Awal, Shahruddin, ND, Nor Shaari, Halim,  and  saw Halim Ali and Mahbob  and others. We were all there, Md. Sham. We will all  miss you.

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