Friday 27th. June, 2008.
Born Hamzah Pilus. Calls himself "Hank".
So, Hank - Williams, Marvin, whatever. It's just a handle. We all have them. Remember what Akbar ( A.K.Bear, Lumumba) called Halim ? - "Rock Foundation". Bear says he's "like cool, man !" A rock foundation.
Then there was Badger, Spider, Matnor Gia, Mustapa Gajah, Zainudin Benjol, Saintis, Polar Bear, and Iron Man, all at the College. When AK Bear, Rock Foundation and I went for the NS Scholarship interview with Dr. Said, there was a fourth, a "Suharto", with us. I think his name was Khalid. Rock Foundation gave him that nickname because he talked bombastic, like the Indon President.
In Kuala Pilah we had Nordin "Tadpole", Husin"Haji Ipap" (the late Mr. Ganesan called him that, after the late Undang Rembau), Kamaruddin "Ghenceh", Shaari "Mak Ayo"(his mother referred to herself as "Ayo"), Kong Foo "Kia"(last heard of somewhere in Australia), Hashim "Bulat", Nordin "Tempoyak", Lokman "G-man", Amat "Teleng", Amat "Bisu", Amat "Tikus", Amat "Panjang", Udin "Sekayo", Udin "Jahat", Udin "Andung", Udin "Terachi", Tapa "Tombuk", Sahak "Kati-kek"( he couldn't pronounce the talcum powder "Cutticura"), Shukur "Pak Itam", Timah "Dompong", Wan Senah "Latah", Ismail "Godang", Mail "Choot", Hassan "Tahu" (he knew everything), and many more. Even the teachers were given names - "Goondook"(ironically because he called the students he was annoyed with "goondook"), "Pelanduk", "Poghut Mengoning"(because he had a large belly and said "G-o-o-d m-o-r-n-i-n-g" in his usual slow pronounciation), "Batak Lingam", Hassan "Taruk Minyak", Zainal "Katak" and many others.
Then I have a first cousin who studied in Germany with the name Hazarul Ariffin bin Jamaluddin. He must have put his name in some forms with the little boxes, and the Westerners being who they are, my poor cousin ended up being called "Bin"for the duration of his studies.
Everyone in the family carries a name they weren't born with. There is Conen, Mashitok, Din Pendek, Ati Kiok, Ayam Itek, and to tick off this list, a "Calit" (tick off lah !).
My own innocent children are given beautiful names from the kitabs. They end up "Banjat", "Celopet", "Memi" and "Dekna". The other 3 also call Memi "Jujai". Only I remain "Boss". At home.
...........................................................................................
7 comments:
Zam,
It is quite a mouthful and it is really a wonder that you can recall back many of the nicknames of college days, and others and plainly it is not exhaustive.
Most nicknames can be traced to some events particular to the person (remember Malvolio a.k.a. Austin Hooi our teacher who was stuck with the Shakespearean character he acted out in P.Dickson in 1960) or sadly some defects that can elicit snide remarks like ‘botak’ or ‘fatso’ much to the amusement of others.
Or one may be generously endowed like M.N.Gear that size does matter and to be acknowledged ‘it’ is (much to the envy of those around him)or H.Rose Chan who had a sexy gait and body structure reminiscent of the strip-teaser (he was our senior but that was what I was told)
In the case of Udin 'Jahat' (nick-named for notoriety in his young days, maybe) later made good as a film producer, and pictured with a bevy of starlets in his heyday, wonder what happened to him!
Whatever you say, ‘boss’ is the most likeable even in my household. Amen!
Hank
My no.2 & No.9 brothers were quick to take potshots at me after my posting.
In the case of "size" I quote Tan Sri Taib Andak - "it's not the size, it's the performance".
Udin Jahat is still around.I can tell you endless stories about him.
Zam,
I can tell one that even you may not have heard about.
Zam,
I am trying also to recall "Suharto's" real name. He also stayed with me at Setapak Garden during our bachelor days.
I had almost forgotten too the nickname given to me by Bear.
I have just returned from Makkah doing the Umrah and I think the city had the most intricate system of tunnels criss-crossing the Al-Haram. They did not have to bother piling because of the "Rock Foundation".
Dear Zam,
It occurs to me that you wanted me to reciprocate for every posting of your messages which I think is going to be a tedious affair. Pardon me for the comment, but I thought I only need to respond when the necessity arises. So a thousand apologies.
Now I had just recalled the name of the chap from Rembau whom you nicknamed " Suharto", he's Khalid Ahmad who unfortunately did not do too well in the PTD and he retired optionally to go into so-called "business". He was taken for a ride and most of his gratuities went up in smoke. The guy who swindled him was his former clerk!
I got this information from his younger brother whom we called "Bapak" because he graduated from Indonesia. He was my Chief Clerk when I was on secondment to SIRIM from 1986-1988. It was a pity he had to fall back to his mother for his upkeep. Fortunately he had a roof over his head as he bought a house in Bukit Chedang with govt. loan. I had not met him for ages. Probably he avoided meeting his former colleagues due to his dire straits. Perhaps by now he paid in full the housing loan. The repayment of the loan must have sliced off most of his paltry pension. He only retired at Tingkatan Kanan of the former PTD Scheme of service.
Wassalam.
Halim (Rock Foundation),
I replied in my email to your comments, I don't know if they got linked.
Anyway, I remembered Khalid's name as soon as I posted on my blog. As I said, I met him soon after he took his early retirement and am aware of his predicament, but haven't met him since. Sad story.
I've visited your blog and left my comments.
Today I also visited Hank's blog. It seems the swiflet has flown !
Zam,
No it has not! The swiftlet will always be there, up there. It will come to roost and bring goodness to many. Maybe the swallows have flown back to Capistrano.
Post a Comment