Happy days...Kelantanese words (2)

“Why are those people staring at us?” said Lin, frowning away.

“Never mind them, Lin. We are not doing anything wrong,” said I, putting a bottle under the spout of the water filter machine.

“But I am feeling kind of queasy,” said Lin, grabbing another bottle to replace the one that I was holding which was already nearly full.

“Surely you would understand why they are giving us those kind of looks! Have you realized that ever since our first day here, we are the only people making use of this water machine,” said I to the Masters student of mine teasingly, with the intention of easing away her uneasiness.

We were on our way back after another long day at the Radiology Department of USM Hospital, Health Campus, Kubang Kerian, Kelantan. I needed to get some daily supplies, so we diverted to the town centre (Kota Bahru). Mydin Supermarket was one of our favourite haunts.

“Do you have another one of these? In a bigger size?” I asked.

“I will check whether there is any in stock,” said the girl at the counter.

A few minuters later, she came back and said, “I am afraid we have run out of stock but we can always check with another one of our branches, especially the one nearby. Would you like me to hello to them first?” said the girl.

“Hello?’ said I, confused.

“Yes! I will hello to them if you really want me to!”

I nodded my head while my eyes gazed at Lin’s crooked face. She was listening all the while.

“Ma’am! There is stock at the other branch, I have asked them to bring them over. If you would like to come again tomorrow, I will keep them aside for you, “ said the girl, smiling ever so sweetly.

“I certainly will! Thank you for all the trouble,” said I.

We left the place but not without Lin asking me, “Why are you smiling endlessly?”

“Oh! Nothing!” I said, igniting the car engine.

The next day, as always, we were back at the campus. I realized I needed something. And very urgently too. So, off I went to my colleague’s office.

“Could you please get them for me. I would be so grateful!” I said.

“Sure! I will hello right away to that friend of mine who borrowed them from me some time ago. Why don’t you have a seat while I do just that?” said my colleague, a lecturer at the Medical School, Health Campus.

“Hello?” I said, frowning.

“Yes! Hello!” said she, nonchalantly.

This time around, I could not withhold my wide smile from breaking into a laugh. I thought that the term ‘hello’ was just a layman’s way of saying ‘making a call’. Little did I expect that the same term is rampant amongst intellects at the medical campus.

Happy days…Kelantanese words.

“How much altogether, please?” I asked.

Lin (my Masters student) and I had just finished with our dinner at a Tom Yam restaurant at a corner. The small eatery was situated at the crossroads leading to my lodging i.e. Rose Palace, Kota Bahru, Kelantan.
“Twelve ghiya samah!” said the cheerful owner.

“What is that again?” I asked turning my head to Lin, my eyebrows raised. She too seemed a bit muddled up.

“Sorry! I mean, twelve ghiya and fifty cents,” he said, nodding his head.

“Is that so? We are so sorry! We are not from here, that is why we have problem understanding what you have said,” said I.

“It is alright!” he said, returning our smiles.

“We have learnt a new word tonight!” I said to Lin, turning on the engines. I drove Lin back to the trainee students’ hostel at the Health Campus of USM, Kubang Kerian, before retiring to my humble temporary abode at the Rose Palace.

Early next morning, we were back at the campus, in particular, the Radiology Department. That was our routine for weeks on end, holed up at the Medical Campus, trying our best to finish our research work. The corridor leading to the small space given to us for putting our things and doing our work was dimly lit, its atmosphere was a little ghostly. Every day, while walking past the corridors, we could hear noises.

The first few days when we were there,I would often ask, “What is that sound? Like a small kitten whining for its mother.”

Finally, the matter was resolved when one day, I asked the security officer stationed at the entrance to the corridor.

“That is the sound of the MRI machine. That machine cannot be switched off, even for a second,” said the officer, beaming a friendly smile.

Everyday, while on our way back from lunch at the cafeteria, we would stop to pamper ourselves with the sweet taste of freshly cut fruits.

“They are simply marvellous and so sweet, aren’t they?” said Lin, a pair of tongs in between her fingers, picking up the slices of pineapples, papayas and mangoes.

“You want the awaih-awaih?” said the young man manning the stall.

“The what?” said I, trying to make sense of his words.

“This!” he said, holding up a clear container, filled with a certain brown and white powder with a spoon in it.

“Oh! That! We call that asam boi!” I said, bursting into a laugh.

“Really? Do you want it?” laughed the young man too.

I nodded my head, my lips curving into a little smile while my eyes were looking at Lin’s face, as if smiling and telling her, “Another new word to be added into our collection, indeed!”

Small Kindness (3)…

“Seems that you are early this morning,” said the old man, his words in thick Kelantanese accent. His hands were busy folding the layers of thick cardbox made from used boxes from the screen of my car, parked in the grounds.

“Yes! Early appointment at the campus!” said I, thanking him with a wide smile.

“It is alright. I thought that you would be more comfortable in the car each morning when the sun gets too bright,” he said, grinning back.

Each day, he would be doing the same thing tirelessly. Covering up the screen of my car the night before and uncovering it, just before I got into the car. He, who was (and I believe still is) the owner of a small lodging in a kampung environment, behind a school (Sekolah Kebangsaan Langgar), right across the Hotel Renaissance, Kota Bharu, Kelantan.

Whenever I needed to be at the USM Medical Campus to gather data or was in the phase of testing the system which was developed for my Ph.D studies project, I would choose to stay at his place. Not a night or two, but for weeks on end. Surely, I could burn a hole in my pocket if I were to stay at a 5 star hotel! Even then, my lodging was covered by a research grant which I managed to acquire, Alhamdulillah.

Three years have passed. I was invited to conduct a creative writing workshop at KB. The small cakoi pandan (a delicious delicacy) stall right at the corner of the small lane leading to the main road was still there. And the eatery where I used to have my dinner was as it was. I passed by the small lodging place, my heart remembering the kind old man, just wanting to inquire how he was doing. But he was not there. And there was something new. A free wi-fi service!

I pray and doa that his small business will continue to prosper …Amin.

In the midst of fog…

There is fog everwhere….My younger brother who resides in Brighton, England informed me of the impending weather…the bitter cold…..and the failing economy.

Further down the globe, in the land of Palestine, its people are being oppressed and subjected to unimaginable cruelty and carnage.

Back here too, sometimes, some of us are subjected to unfairness in treatment…at the workplace, office politics can be very mean; the backstabbings, the backbitings, stepping on other people’s head. Being victimized by ‘the beings’ and opportunists hovering over higher authorities, who frequently never understand or never even make an effort to understand what justice means…

In our daily efforts to uphold truth and combat evil and wrongdoings, there will surely be certain quarters who will be subjected to the same kind of treatment i.e. being oppressed and victimized. The same applies to the current political turmoil in the state of Perak, my late parents' birthplace, whose hometown was Kampung Gajah, which incidentally is nearby Pasir Salak, a landmark in history as the place where with the brave spirit of a real warrior, Dato’ Maharaja Lela delivered his blow in his fight against the British colonists.

What are these sufferings that we must endure when compared to the calamities besieging our brethrens in Palestine? Theirs are much, much more….no more bounties of the world, the face of death lurks in every nook and corner. But their spirits never die, their iman (faith) soaring high up in the sky. So, let their spirits be like beacons for us. Let us fight…rekindle the spirit shown by our forefathers Haji Abu Bakar Bakir (Gunung Semanggol), Dato’ Maharaja Lela and their likes. And let us keep on fighting!

In Him we seek refuge and unto Him we pledge ourselves.

"Do people think that they will be allowed to say, 'We believe', and will not be tested? We have tested those before them, and indeed, Allah knows those who said so, and indeed, He knows who are liars." (Al Ankabut: 2-3).

“And indeed, We will test you until We know those among you who struggle and are patient.” (Muhammad: 31).

The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said, “Three groups whose doa will be accepted by Allah: the traveler, parents and those who are oppressed.” (HR Abu Hurairah)