Fridge Kid

Crash! The loud crashing sound came from the kitchen. I rushed to find our refrigerator face down on the floor with the door open. I heard a small voice from inside the refrigerator. It was Dik Yan. She was like a fly trapped in a bowl. We managed to get her out of the refrigerator and she was unscathed. Dik Yan was a little 6-year old girl then. She was hungry and wanted to have an apple. Our crystal fruit bowl was placed on top of the refrigerator. She didn't want to bother anyone so she opened the refrigerator door and climbed up the racks inside it. The crystal fruit bowl had seen its final days and Dik Yan now knew never to climb up inside the refrigerator.

فَالْتَقَمَهُ الْحُوتُ وَهُوَ مُلِيمٌ () فَلَوْلَا أَنَّهُ كَانَ مِنْ الْمُسَبِّحِينَ () لَلَبِثَ فِي بَطْنِهِ إِلَى يَوْمِ يُبْعَثُونَ

As-Saffat 37:142-144 (Asad) [and they cast him into the sea,] whereupon the great fish swallowed him, for he had been blameworthy. And had he not been of those who [even in the deep darkness of their distress are able to] extol God’s limitless glory, he would indeed have remained in its belly till the Day when all shall be raised from the dead.

Tiny Stranger In Bed

I was awaken by soft movements all over my body. In the darkness I remained still to ascertain what creature that disturbed my peaceful slumber. Me asleep in my bed of a matress on the floor with a mosquito net around it. It took a while before I realised that a rat was running all over me. How the rat got in was anybody's guess. Now it had no idea how to get out. I called across the room for Tokki. He came around and told me to cover my head with my blanket. All I heard was the sound of a broom being whacked and the squeals of a rat. Once or twice I was myself whacked and I too felt like the rat. After a few torturious minutes and pouring perpirations there was silence. Tokki got the rat though left me bruised.

وَخَلَقْنَاكُمْ أَزْوَاجًا
وَجَعَلْنَا نَوْمَكُمْ سُبَاتًا
وَجَعَلْنَا اللَّيْلَ لِبَاسًا

An-Nab 78:8-10 And (have We not) created you in pairs, And made your sleep for rest, And made the night as a covering.

Tokki The Green Finger

Whatever Tokki sows will grow. He definitely had green fingers. Tokki will clear unused land and create vegetable gardens out of it. Everyone of us will spend hours in the afternoon tending to them. Back then it felt like a chore. Now thinking back I can only remember the wonderful produce; not the chores. We would be able to harvest cucumbers, long beans, sweet corn, brinjals, tapioca and many more. The most difficult to gather was tapioca. It requires a lot of energy to pull the tapioca out of the ground. Quite often with the leftover woods we would make a bornfire and throw in some tapioca. By the time we finished the daily chores we would be able to delight in the freshly roasted tapioca. Tok would normally bring along hot kopi kampung in a flask. Having it with hot roasted tapioca was heavenly. I shall endervour to become green fingers myself and one day have our own hot roasted tapioca with kopi kampung.

وَهُوَ الَّذِيَ أَنزَلَ مِنَ السَّمَاء مَاء فَأَخْرَجْنَا بِهِ نَبَاتَ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ فَأَخْرَجْنَا مِنْهُ خَضِرًا نُّخْرِجُ مِنْهُ حَبًّا مُّتَرَاكِبًا وَمِنَ النَّخْلِ مِن طَلْعِهَا قِنْوَانٌ دَانِيَةٌ وَجَنَّاتٍ مِّنْ أَعْنَابٍ وَالزَّيْتُونَ وَالرُّمَّانَ مُشْتَبِهًا وَغَيْرَ مُتَشَابِهٍ انظُرُواْ إِلِى ثَمَرِهِ إِذَا أَثْمَرَ وَيَنْعِهِ إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكُمْ لآيَاتٍ لِّقَوْمٍ يُؤْمِنُونَ

Al-An'am 6:99 It is He Who sendeth down rain from the skies: with it We produce vegetation of all kinds: from some We produce green (crops), out of which We produce grain, heaped up (at harvest); out of the date-palm and its sheaths (or spathes) (come) clusters of dates hanging low and near: and (then there are) gardens of grapes, and olives, and pomegranates, each similar (in kind) yet different (in variety): when they begin to bear fruit, feast your eyes with the fruit and the ripeness thereof. Behold! in these things there are signs for people who believe.

Lopes Lopes

We always enjoyed our breakfast outings all throughout the week. One great breakfast place was the Puteri Restaurant in Brickfields. We would tuck into delicious breakfast delights like soto, nasi goreng kampung, nasi lemak, and roti chanai. And often we can't help following up with some kuih kampung, like the kuih lopes. Lopes must be eaten with gula melaka syrup. The gula melaka syrup was thick and golden in colour.

Once Bubba took 2 kuih lopes and generously poured the syrup. As he put a spoonful of kuih lopes into his mouth he squirmed and showed me his 'something tastes terrible' look. After detailed investigation we found out that that syrup he poured was actually thick soya sauce. This brought out a good laugh from all around us. Even the restaurant waiters were happy to replace the kuih lopes for us to enjoy them as usual. Till today we would always ensure that we took the syrup and not that soya sauce.

إِنَّ أَصْحَابَ الْجَنَّةِ الْيَوْمَ فِي شُغُلٍ فَاكِهُونَ
هُمْ وَأَزْوَاجُهُمْ فِي ظِلَالٍ عَلَى الْأَرَائِكِ مُتَّكِؤُونَ
لَهُمْ فِيهَا فَاكِهَةٌ وَلَهُم مَّا يَدَّعُونَ

Ya-Siin 36:55-57 Verily the Companions of the Garden shall that Day have joy in all that they do;
They and their associates will be in groves of (cool) shade, reclining on Thrones (of dignity);
(Every) fruit (enjoyment) will be there for them; they shall have whatever they call for

Chilli Hot Monkey

Our jungle house at Bukit Damansara had constant visitors; the monkeys. There was a mishap one day. Our visitors couldn't resist the look of the red and green chilli beans that I had grown in the garden. They must have been suffering from the burning sensation of eating those chillis. There were teeth marks on our washing machine that we had outside the house and the soap powders were strewn all over the place. Presumably they were looking for water to cool their burning throats. There must have been some chilli hot monkeys with frothing mouths that day.

وَلَقَدْ عَلِمْتُمُ الَّذِينَ اعْتَدَواْ مِنكُمْ فِي السَّبْتِ فَقُلْنَا لَهُمْ كُونُواْ قِرَدَةً خَاسِئِينَ

Al-Baqara 2:65 And well ye knew those amongst you who transgressed in the matter of the Sabbath: We said to them: "Be ye apes, despised and rejected.

First Time Father

As my Mazda 323 plied through the usual Federal Highway to and from sites, once Alias was driving. At around Batu 3 Shah Alam suddenly my technician hit hard on the brakes. My faithful Mazda slammed into the vehicle in front.

Whoosh! A bus swerved behind us and crashed into a lamp post. For a few agonising seconds I watch a motorbiker being thrown out as he was sided by the bus. It was a multiple pile-up. The front end of my car was badly damaged. The wind screen was also shattered.

Later that day Ayah took me to see Dr Siti. She did an ultra-sound scan and for the first time Ayah heard the baby's heart beating. It was loud and rapid. He said to Dr Siti, "Is the baby in distress?"

Dr Siti gave a big smile, "That is a healthy baby's heart beat."

Aah.. first time father.

ثُمَّ خَلَقْنَا النُّطْفَةَ عَلَقَةً فَخَلَقْنَا الْعَلَقَةَ مُضْغَةً فَخَلَقْنَا الْمُضْغَةَ عِظَامًا فَكَسَوْنَا الْعِظَامَ لَحْمًا ثُمَّ أَنشَأْنَاهُ خَلْقًا آخَرَ فَتَبَارَكَ اللَّهُ أَحْسَنُ الْخَالِقِينَ

Al-Mukminun 23:14 Then We made the sperm into a clot of congealed blood; then of that clot We made a (foetus) lump; then we made out of that lump bones and clothed the bones with flesh; then we developed out of it another creature. So blessed be Allah, the best to create!

Feminine Rocker

Tok owned beautiful baju kurungs made from see-through material called "kain kasa rubiah". I admired them and enjoyed borrowing them from her. I wasn't alone because Ayah Teh loved wearing them too. Tok gave each of us one baju kurung so that we won't mess up her wardrobe and she would have a chance to wear them herself. Ayah Teh would wear the bright red see-through baju kurung with a pair of tight blue jeans. With shoulder length hair he looked like a feminine rocker. And you can actually see his ribs through the baju.

وَجَزَاهُم بِمَا صَبَرُوا جَنَّةً وَحَرِيرً

Al-Insan 76:12 And because they were patient and constant, He will reward them with a Garden and (garments of) silk.

Tongue Twisters

Speaking well needs a lot of effort and practice. Each of the children had their challenges when it came to tongue twisting words and phrases. Mameh had difficulty in saying Hong Kong Bank. It never fails to be Kong Kong Bank. So we tried to do word per word.

"Hong" and he repeated "Hong".
"Kong" and he repeated "Kong".
"Bank" and he repeated "Bank".

Great, he could say them individually.
Then we asked him to repeat "Hong Kong Bank".
Still it would come out as "Kong Kong Bank".
It took a long while before he could master it.

Baba had a problem saying the name of a computer shop in Bangsar called PC Unlimited. What came out from him was PC Unmilited.

Last but not least Dik Yan had her own problem. The malay word that is normally "kecuali" would become "cekuali".

قَالَ رَبِّ اشْرَحْ لِي صَدْرِي
وَيَسِّرْ لِي أَمْرِي
وَاحْلُلْ عُقْدَةً مِّن لِّسَانِي
يَفْقَهُوا قَوْلِي

Ta Ha 20:25-28 (Moses) said: "O my Lord! expand me my breast;
Ease my task for me;
And remove the impediment from my speech,
So they may understand what I say.

Me And The Wild Boar

My earliest memory would be when I was 4 or 5 years old. I was playing on my own in a sandpit next to a rubber small-holding. My brother, Ayah Teh, and sister, Alang, were playing with children of their own age. Suddenly all hell broke loose (pardon the expression). Children were running and screaming and crying. Some were running towards me. I saw close at the back of their heels a wild boar, dark brown and hairy with fiercesome tusks, chasing after them. I too started running. Alang managed to run into a neighbour's house. She was safe. I ran after Ayah Teh who himself ran towards a mangosteen tree. As he climbed up the tree I caught his foot. Him struggling to get up the tree and me struggling to hold on to his foot. I couldn't hold on any longer and dropped to the ground. I looked behind me and saw the wild boar going at full throttle towards me. My young life flashed in front of me. Then the wild boar abruptly veered to one side. There was this old man chasing after the wild boar with a shotgun. As I was running for my life, so was the wild boar.

إِنَّمَا حَرَّمَ عَلَيْكُمُ الْمَيْتَةَ وَالْدَّمَ وَلَحْمَ الْخَنزِيرِ وَمَآ أُهِلَّ لِغَيْرِ اللّهِ بِهِ فَمَنِ اضْطُرَّ غَيْرَ بَاغٍ وَلاَ عَادٍ فَإِنَّ اللّهَ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ

An Nahl 16:115 He has only forbidden you dead meat, and blood, and the flesh of swine, and any (food) over which the name of other than Allah has been invoked. But if one is forced by necessity, without wilful disobedience, nor transgressing due limits,- then Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

Rempit Kids

Farah and Firdaus, our neighbour's kids, together with Mameh and Baba became good friends. The kids would be together on their bicycles and we would see that they ride safely and then leave them on their own. One late afternoon we heard a loud banging at our main door. As I opened it I was shocked to see Mameh bleeding badly on his face. Baba had minor cuts and he looked like he was trying very hard to control his pain.

Firdaus was crying "Sakit.. sakit.." in his northern slang.

Farah was white as a sheet. I was told that they fell off their bikes. How could they attain such injury if they were doing their normal cycling? Least that we realised they became rempit kids.

There was a slope in front of our house. They had been racing down the slope together at high speeds. Somehow they had crashed into each other.

Days later Mameh came down from his room with his face thick with baby powder aware of his scarred face.

He asked, "Ibu, will I be as handsome as before?"

I said, "Yes."

I'm glad their rempit days are over.

لِتَسْتَوُوا عَلَى ظُهُورِهِ ثُمَّ تَذْكُرُوا نِعْمَةَ رَبِّكُمْ إِذَا اسْتَوَيْتُمْ عَلَيْهِ وَتَقُولُوا سُبْحانَ الَّذِي سَخَّرَ لَنَا هَذَا وَمَا كُنَّا لَهُ مُقْرِنِينَ

Az-Zukhruf 43:13 That ye may mount upon their backs, and may remember your Lord's favor when ye mount thereon, and may say: Glorified be He Who hath subdued these unto us, and we were not capable (of subduing them).

Yooob... Yooob...

Whenever we balik kampung in Terengganu we tke the opportunity to visit Tokki Weh, our Tokki's youngest brother. During one such visit Ayub while in the bathroom heard someone called him "Yooob... Yooob.."

Later he came to Mameh and after a quick conversation they burst into laughter. It wasn't Mameh who called out to Baba; it was a cow. There was a herd of cows outside the house and Baba seemed to overhear their private conversation.

This was later told to us in the car on the way back. Dik yan laughed so hard that she vomitted. Oh.. we really had to clean the car.

Durian Attraction

During my JKR Selangor days I was always busy. We had to visit sites throughout the year. Fruit season was no exception. Being pregnant also was no excuse. As we travelled from site to site we could see numerous durian stalls. Oh, just can't resist the attraction of durian, the king of fruits. Even with the Pajero windows shut I can still smell the durian.

We stopped at one durian stall. I couldn't resist eating them right there and then. Must have been the pregnancy craving. Greedily I ate a durian but was not able to finish it. So I decided to continue eating in the Pajero. I climbed up the Pajero with a half open durian in one hand. Then suddenly all I could see was the sky. How could that be. I was lying on the ground in a patch of wet mud with some loose durians on my chest. The Pajero door handle had broken when I pressed my weight on to it. There was no way I could move as one foot was hooked to the Pajero floor and one hand was still holding on to the half opened durian with the other gathering those loose fruits which fell on my chest.

The durian seller and Badrul, a technician cum driver, frantically helped the ever pregnant me up with me still hanging on to my durian.

As we travelled on Badrul was driving fast in total silence. I said "Badrul, don't drive fast. I'm okay."

He said that he was in the driver's seat waiting for me to get in to the car. When he looked behind all he could see was my foot wriggling at the edge of the door. He ran out and saw me on the ground and was worried that I might have injured myself. Later when he had relaxed he mentioned how hilarious the situation was with me hanging on to my durian.

That's how much I love durian.

أَلَمْ تَرَ أَنَّ اللَّهَ أَنزَلَ مِنَ السَّمَاء مَاء فَأَخْرَجْنَا بِهِ ثَمَرَاتٍ مُّخْتَلِفًا أَلْوَانُهَا وَمِنَ الْجِبَالِ جُدَدٌ بِيضٌ وَحُمْرٌ مُّخْتَلِفٌ أَلْوَانُهَا وَغَرَابِيبُ سُودٌ

Fatir 35:27 Art thou not aware that God sends down water from the skies, whereby We bring forth fruits of many hues - just as in the mountains there are streaks of white and red of various shades, as well as (others) raven-black.

Tokki The Kampung Butcher

Somehow Tokki became the village butcher. He would be called to slaughter cows, goats, etc for kenduris and various functions. But for chicken and ducks the village people would bring them over to the house. I would normally be the one to go get the ever special knife. Every time I go to get the knife my heart would be pumping hard. The knife was wrapped in yellow satin cloth. It was forged from metal that Tokki selected and one such special metal was a motorbike chain. It was extremely sharp for Tokki took such great care in sharpening it. My fear of the knife was due to my vivid imagination of it flying out of its casing like that of a samurai sword.

Narrated 'Aisha:
The people said to the Prophet , "O Allah's Apostle! Here are people who have recently embraced Islam and they bring meat, and we do not know whether they had mentioned Allah's Name while slaughtering the animals or not." The Prophet said, "You should mention Allah's Name and eat."
Sahih Bukhari Volume 9, Book 93, Number 495.