Buying another car

Fri 7 Sep 2018.

Yesterday for the second time in 4 years Sam got involved in getting a new car for me. Also in Kelang, like the last one. Not a new, new car, but a new second-hand car. Since my first car in 1968, yesterday's purchase was my 15th in 50 years, or an average of 3.3 years per car. Of these 15, new and second hand is about even - 8 new and 7 second-hand. I have now 2 remaining in my posession.

For the 14-year period 1980 - 1994 I also had 4 staff cars. 3 were in the Felda Group, the last one in MISC. I was offered the last MISC car at residual value by the Chairman, but Khalid sabotagued him by instructing that I tender for it. I could have called the Chairman and would have his original offer to me restored, I was damn sure,but I would still have to pass through Khalid's line of communication. I was pissed-off by him then, so I just said f.o. and bought myself a brand-new Volvo 940 GL for 130,000. My wife is still driving that 24-year old car, which has not even been overhauled. Khalid has since kicked the bucket. The last few months of his life in hospital,suffering the mosquito-borne germ attack on his brain, he couldn't recognize anyone anymore, I was told.

Yesterday's car that I collected from Sam in Kelang was different. It's my first suv. It's also the first one from India, a Mahindra Sirocco 2 liter registered in 2007. The previous cars were all sedan - a Mini Minor, 3 Fiats, a Toyota, a Peugeot, 3 Protons, and 4 Mercedes's.. And now the Mahindra suv.

I drove slowly from Kelang around 4 p.m. and made several stops for food and prayers. The main reason for the slow drive was this suv is manual. All the while it's been automatic cars, with just my right foot busy. Now it's the clutch-and-gear again, and it's having to practice the driving all over again.

I only told Dekna when I left for Kelang yesterday, and she would of course tell everyone because the whatsapp was busy after that. So today Idah asked why I sold my "nice" Mercedes 280 S. I said "for a change". Also I'd save quite a bit on the operational expenses. The Mercedes was a thirsty 18 m.p.g., the road tax almost 2,000 p.a., and insurance, even at 55% NCD, 1,000. The Mahindra would cost me 380 p.a. road tax, and a better consumption. Or so Sam assured me. I still have to test it.

As I said to Sam, just enjoy this suv. We could always look for a 300 S class in 4 years time. I might just do that.

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

Old college days (FMC-RMC).

Tues 4 Sep 2018.

Hank came Monday as we planned to visit A.K.Bear at his Gedung Lalang house. We heard that he's not in the best of health. Alas, it was indeed so, as he wasn't home, but was in hospital. The maid couldn't help with the ward information etc, and Bear's daughter's 'phone didn't answer Hank's calls, and so we agreed that he finds out more details later and pass the information.

In fact Hank came because he wants me to contribute one or two essays on our old FMC/RMC reminiscences. Nawi Desa is collecting these into a book.

We were the last batch of "budak boys" who were at PD and later moved to Sg. Besi. I understand the Sg.Besi camp has also recently moved, but I don't know where it is now.

PD was 58 years ago, and I can't remember many details about those early college days. But I do remember the close group of "B" Coy boys, several from Terengganu and Kelantan, that I joined in PD. Weekends would be spent canoeing on the beach front just 100 meters outside the college gates. We would get on a few small wooden rowing boats and paddled to the end of the cove and back. The Batu 4 beach was deserted and undeveloped then, not like now, and we had the beach to ourselves. The public picnic areas were, as they are now, on Batu 9 Telok Kemang. The sandy beach was unkempt but not rubbish-strewn like now, and we could laze all Sunday with no one else from outside in our "budak boy" company. The road to PD town separated the college area and the beach, but you could walk across blindfolded, so few were cars moving on it.

Our accomodations were single-storey barracks designed as different coy's from "A" to "H". There was a laterite airstrip between our sleeping quarters and the two-storey classroom buildings, and the mess hall. On parade days the sweltering airstrip served as our drill ground. Several Malaysian drill sergeants and one very large English sergeant-major from the British Army took care of these drills. When we moved to Sg. Besi later that year, they all followed us there. I remember that English sergeant-major because he stayed in one of the double storey staff-quarters with the barber on the ground floor, and some mornings the orang putih would saunter nonchalantly from the bath room to his living quarters with his bath towel over his shoulder and wearning nothing else, his large member swinging as he walked.

I remember the uniformed army officer who gave a talk in the TMS school hall in1960, inviting the students to join FMC.  In 1958 I had been successful in the Seremban interview in 1957 to enter MCKK. 2 of us from TMS had been successful. But my late father had second thoughts when he saw the long list of stuff to bring to the college, and said my younger brother might want to join me later, and that would be further financial burden for him. So this time I didn't tell him that I'd applied for FMC, and only told him after I'd been successful. He didn't object this time.

The PD interview went for 2 days. This time 4 of us from TMS made it - Jalalludin, Gnanalingam, Sukdarshan Singh (calls himself Dillon now, minus the turban) and yours truly.

I'd won the 1960 National "Minggu Bahasa Kebangsaan" oratory competition held in Dewan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, Jalan Ampang, KL. This was after the earlier State round in Seremban, and the Regional round in Melaka. In Seremban, some FMC boys attended, because Khairuddin "Lion" remembered, and remembered me winning there when later I got to know him at FMC, being in the same coy.

We remained Federation Military College while at PD. The "Royal" came once we moved to Sg. Besi. But the PD atmosphere was right royal, too.

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

MHS reunion Kelang.

Sun 2 Sep 2018.

Yesterday the once-postponed reunion 2 of MHS staff finally took place at the Meridda Hotel,Klang. About 80 people came, and I didn't recognize 90% of them, mostly from the drivers' group. For one, age has changed their faces. But secondly, the recruitment by Hussin and staff never involved me, and once recruited they were on the road all the time. They only dealt with the Finance and Operations boys. They hardly bumped into me, unless some urgent matters made them approach me.

I'm glad I came. Besides Hussin, Ramli and Sam, Yoke Ling and Onn and his wife, Mas, were there.Of course there was Sadiah and Rozi, but many that I expected to see didn't turn up. Yoke Ling hasn't age one bit. Sadiah has grown on the wrong side of plump, and I said so. Later I found out there was karaoke and dancing. I would have loved to dance with Yoke Ling and Sadiah, especially Sadiah, because the last time we had our annual dinner while still serving, I had pulled her on to the dance floor, but she was surprisingly reluctant. I knew of course her fiance, also a staff, was there,too. He became her first husband, but the marriage didn't last. Even before getting married Sadiah would refer to him when with me by touching her ear. The guy had a slightly disfigured ear. Wonder what happened to him.

It's 24 years since I left MHS. I was the first GM, and we started with 3 people at MISC HQ at Jalan Conlay KL. Later on in the same year we moved to our temporary office at the North Port, with admin in the newly built office block, and workshop and operations in a couple of containers. Much later in the year we finally moved to our permanent offices and yard at the "Taiwanese Village".  Mahathir officiated these new premises with pomp & glory. I took him up on one lorry bearing registeration no. 2021. When I pointed this out to him, he promptly said "the year after" showing how sharp he was.

The MC asked me to say a few words as the first to be picked. I think "the few words" became a gushing stream of anecdotes that stretched somewhat, but the frown growing on the face of the MC signalled I should stop. I mentioned about the passage of time and the joy of seeing our children grow and succeed in life, and I said I was mentioning it not to show off, because everybody has his own success story. Onn has a son who's an Australian-trained doctor, where Onn himself went to university in Australia. Yoke Ling's eldest daughter just graduated from a Fashion College in New York. And so the story goes round, I said. 

I had to leave even before food was served, because I had to catch the last train, and it was 9.15 already. I made Sam take me in his car all the way to KLSentral, and I made it to the last train that left at 11. 

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

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.

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