VISITING AN-AILING WET-NURSE* MOTHER

(Malay: *Ibu-Susuan)

It was sometime in August 2013 that my brother, who lives in Kuantan, sent me a message saying that my “wet-nurse” mother whom I used to call “Mak Gayah”, is ailing and wheel-chaired bound, and that she was asking for me. I felt sorry and I planned to go to Kuantan to visit her.

I remembered my late mother told me that when I was a baby I was frequently left with Mak Gayah whenever she went to wash clothes at the nearby stream. Mak Gayah lived nearby with her baby girl. One of those days, returning from her wash, my mother was surprised when she saw Mak Gayah was nursing me. When my mother asked her, she said it’s alright as she was ready to have me as her own son along with her baby girl. That incident continued and there was no way that it stopped.

That incident happened about more than 60 years ago and when we moved to our current home my Mak Gayah stayed around the same neighbourhood. As I grow up, my mother told me that my Mak Gayah is also my “mother” and her daughter is my younger sister. I used to go to her house and I am close to her daughter as my sister or “milk-sibling”. We went to school and grew up together as a brother and a sister would do. Beside this daughter, Mak Gayah later has two other younger children, who are then my younger brothers too. This is in accordance with the Islamic law that specifies a permanent family-like relationship between children nursed by the same woman, and that they grew together as youngsters. They and various specific relatives may not marry as they are deemed as mahram.

There was one occasion when I return home to visit my mother, I passed my Mak Gayah’s home and there was a crowd coming in and out of her house. I was shocked, stopped my car and rush to ask what happened. To my surprise, my Mak Gayah came to me and said that she was still in good health and that I might have thought she have passed away. She then took me to the kitchen area, introduced me to the others as her son, and later prepared drinks and some cakes for me as she used to do whenever I visited her.

Lately when I returned to my hometown, I did not see my Mak Gayah at her home and that her house seemed empty. When this news came to me only I realized that Mak Gayah is not well and she is staying with her children in Kuantan, about 250 km from Kuala Lumpur.

On Saturday, 23^rd November 2013, along with my wife, we traveled to Kuantan by the East-Coast Highway, a new road linking Kuala Lumpur and Kuantan in the east coast of Peninsula. It was a pleasant journey as we haven’t traveled for quite a while. We drove along the highway, taking our time while enjoying the sceneries.

The drive took about 3 hours, and we did stops at a few rest areas along the route to have some snacks and to see whatever new sold there. We reached Kuantan and registered ourselves at a hotel, took our lunch and have a short rest.

We went to her house at the address given by my brother, but there is no one at home. I thought of giving my Mak Gayah a surprise visit, but since no one was at home, I have to call around to get news on where my mother is. Later her son who is also my younger brother called to inform me that our mother was warded at the Kuantan Specialist Center, located at Jalan Teluk Sisek, Kuantan. I arrived at the hospital at about 3:00 pm, and when I entered the room, my Mak Gayah was still asleep, and no other persons were in the room. I was surprised to see her in that condition, and later when she woke up, she looked surprise to see me at her bedside. I was also wondering whether she still remember me, but when I told her that I am her “Atan”, my nickname that she is used to, she kept nodding and firmly hold my hand and stared at me as she haven’t seen me for quite sometime. I wiped her tears and I knew she took care of me when I was young. I have nothing else to offer to her except by reading some verses of the Quran, with hope that Allah blesses her with good health.

From Left: First glance at a very sick mother; Centre: My 83-years old Mak Gayah;
Right: Reading verses from the Quran, with hopes that Allah relieves her from her sickness.

Later in the evening, I left her with her daughter in-law and told her that I will visit her the next day before leaving for home. She seemed to understand what I told her and she looked happy to see me.

The next day before noon, I went to the hospital again to see Mak Gayah. She was attended by a doctor who then told me about my mother’s sickness and problems. I sympathized with her and I hope she would recover soonest.

Before leaving her I told her to take her pills and let the maid help her in whatever she needs. I talked and comfort her and hope she would be able to understand the need for her to rest and follow the doctor’s advice. She nodded to show that she understood what I have told her while holding my hand as if she does not want to let it go. Sadly, I have to leave her as my wife will be working the next day. At least I was happy to have visited her and hope that I would be able to visit her again, Allah willing.

Dated: 30 November 2013

A DAY TRIP TO GENTING HIGHLANDS

It was sometime in the early days of Hari Raya Puasa celebration, we decided to go to the Genting Highlands Resort. We proposed to our daughter, Fifi, for the trip and she agreed. It will be the first day that we could get together, including our son in law, Azal. Almost during the other weekends, he has to go to work, be it on Sunday and this time he was able to convince his employer for a full day rest.

Genting Highlands, situated about 1,800 meters high on the Titiwangsa Range, was originally known as the “casino”, built sometime in the 70’s. When I was working in Bentong, Pahang during those years, my friends and I drove through the winding roads to this highland after office hours. The night was cold and the cool wind rushed into the main building when the door opens. There was nothing else to see then with only the casino operates throughout the night. When I worked with the Ministry of Health, my wife and I attended a seminar here in Genting Highlands sometime in the year 2000. We drove to this resort and brought along Fifi, stayed at the hotel for the whole seminar session. That was Fifi’s first experience, enjoying herself at the Genting Theme Park.

We wanted to use the public transport for this trip and bought the bus tickets early, a few days before the trip. Fifi reminded me to only buy the return bus and the “skyway” or the cable car tickets which did not include the tickets for the Theme Park. It was a day later that there was an accident involving a bus that plunged into a 70 meter deep ravine as it made its way down from the Genting Highlands resort towards Kuala Lumpur. Thirty-seven people were dead, including the driver while 16 passengers were rescued, among the 53 passengers on board. I reminded Fifi on this accident but she still insisted to go as our trip was only to the Genting Skyway, the cable-car station, which is quite far from the winding road uphill towards the Resort.

We left early that Sunday, 25 August 2013, drove to the Putra LRT bus station and left our car at the car park. We manage to board an early bus, travelled along the Karak Highway towards the Genting Skyway station.

Getting ready for the trip

We reached the Genting Skyway and it was packed with those going uphill to the Resort. Each car could carry 8 passengers, and the time taken to reach the highland station is about 15 minutes, if the car would continuously move without any interruptions or stops along the way.

The “Genting Skyway”; sweating you away.

It was a pleasant but sometime scary journey, due to its heights, following the ups and down of the cable and the slow movement of the car itself. Beside, the morning mist was blocking our view and we wonder where we were. We did felt the height, especially our son-in law who seems to experience cold sweat all along the way. He kept on saying to reach the other end soon.

Don’t look down or front; just look upwards or just close your eyes!

On reaching the resort, I found that there are a lot of new developments with new connecting bridges and pathways as an easy access for the tourists. The cool mist is still covering the highland resort, which you could not experience in Cameron Highland.

The new pathways and the bridges covered by the morning mist

Brunch and Lunch

We later had our brunch at a local fast food outlet. We knew that the cost of the same food here is much more expensive than that in Kuala Lumpur, and we had to accept it as we all knew why.

Fifi used to visit this highland resort with her friends and she knew the area quite well. We do not need the service of a guide as she knew where to take us to see the various places of interest. We went around the resort from one building to another, and took photos at various spots especially at its gardens.

We took our lunch at another fast-food outlet. We can see a lot of tourists from various race and religion, packing up the resort. The shops around the area were also full of customers. There are a lot of stalls selling various kinds of products and souvenirs. My wife bought Fifi a new jade pendant engraved with her name.

Engraving the jade pendant for Fifi

Here are some of the sweet memories, a collection using only smart phones!

A day to remember and will never be forgotten

Where’s Fifi? She’s lost in the maze.
Mother and daughter sharing their happy moments

We missed the Eiffel Tower in Paris;
Enjoying the “Musang King” durian

Looking forward for another holiday together

Like mother like daughter, no doubt about it.

Swaying in the sky, on our way home

With all these memories, we hope to get together again, not for a short day trip, but maybe it will be a long week holiday.  We are planning to go for a holiday to Sarawak, Sabah and Labuan. My wife and I have travelled to these states, and during those trips, we were unable to take along Fifi as what we did when we travelled in the Peninsula. To fulfil her wishes, my wife has decided to go to Kuching, Kota Kinabalu and Labuan. We told Fifi to prepare herself to take leaves when the time comes. Maybe it would be our last trip before my wife settles down permanently on her retirement, Allah willing. 

FRASER’S HILL, REVISITED

Our last visit to Fraser’s Hill was in June 2008, with my wife and our daughter, Fifi. My wife booked a room at the Government holiday resort for a very reasonable price specifically for government’s staffs. This year, five (5) years later, during the same month, we went to this hill resort again to enjoy our holiday. There are no supermarkets or hypermarkets, nor any shopping complex as we used to go to in other towns, there are only recreation centres, the beautiful sceneries and the cool weather for us to enjoy with.

To avoid any disappointment, as early as on 25^th February 2013, I booked a room at a hotel in Fraser’s Hill for 3 nights from the 20^th to 23^rd of June 2013. It was in early March this year we suggested to Fifi whether she and her husband wanted to join in for the holiday. Without haste, she agreed and we were actually glad she wanted to go as it was quite a while we did not go for a holiday together. I sent an email to the hotel to book an additional room. On 10^th April, I received a call from the hotel management regretted that there is no more rooms available during those dates. I tried to book at other reasonable hotels in this hilly resort, but unfortunately, there are no more rooms available either. I was told that there will be an event in this hill resort and that the hotels are all fully booked.

Fifi then told us that she will be coming along with us without her husband as he have plans and would be busy during those days. We intended to check in the same room that I had booked, and that we will be staying in the same room, hoping that it will be just enough to accommodate the three (3) of us!.

We left our home in the morning of Thursday, 20^th June 2013 and we travelled to the highland by car, going by the same route during our first visit. It was five (5) years since then and there are changes along the route. We asked around for the direction and we passed Kuala Kubu Bharu town before going uphill through the many turns and bends. Fifi seemed dizzy and experienced travel sickness, and I have to drive slowly to make sure she is comfortable.

On reaching the main gate to the hill resort, the route uphill was changed to a one-way route, thus we do not have to wait for the traffic to descend as we experienced during our last visit. There is another new route for traffic going down the hill.

We reached our destination safely by noon and on our arrival, we went to the same shop situated beside the mosque to take our lunch. The shop is now renovated and well arranged. The food is still good to our taste buds and Fifi remembered how she was tempted to the few dishes in the menu.

 (Left) the local shop that we used to take our lunch five years ago …
and (Right) enjoying our breakfast at the hotel’s restaurant!

We checked in at the hotel and all goes on well. We were told by the receptionist of an event to take place in Fraser’s Hill, and that the hotel was fully booked. This hotel is strategically situated in the town centre area. The food at the restaurant is great and its menu has become the favourite of Fifi, be it for breakfast, lunch or dinner. From the hotel we can see the Clock Tower which is the main attraction and the landmark of this hill resort, where every tourist and visitors alike would take photos.

The beautiful, comfortable and strategically situated “Puncak Inn”

The event was “Fraser’s Hill International Bird Race 2013” which was organized by the Fraser’s Hill Development Board, the State of Pahang, a local university, to name a few and attended by many foreign participants from various countries. This yearly event was held in Fraser’s Hill, began as early as in 1988, aimed to help preserve nature and to promote Fraser’s Hill as a bird sanctuary. The two (2) days event was accompanied by the “angklung” presented by musical bands from a few schools in the state. A video presentation on many species of birds was held in the evening and ends at about midnight.

Fraser’s Hill International Bird Race 2013

Looking for the stars in bright daylight…!

The “quiet” night life of Fraser’s Hill

Government departments and business companies that has interest in the event joined in with their presentations and products, including the high-powered binoculars and cameras. I met a few staffs from the Forestry Department, Peninsular Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur where I was attached in the ‘80s. Fifi bought a few T-shirts from one of the stalls. She later tried her skill doing a batik printing which she is proud of. I framed this piece of handicraft and presented to her as a souvenir.

Choosing the right colour… and the final touch!

The next day was a special day for me. My wife has been longing to ride a horse and at The Paddock, I was able to fulfil her wish, and Fifi follow suit. My wife did enjoy herself with the horse riding that has become her dream all these years.

Horse Riding – A dream comes true …

While walking around the town square, I spotted a “bird feeding” platform where birds would stop for a quick pick-up. I admired this “bird’s rest house” and I brought home a photo of this “rest house” and promised myself to build one, even if it would be a bit smaller, so that the birds near my house would be able to enjoy their food undisturbed. Beside our house is a dead-end road where birds such as larks, sparrows, wild pigeons, turtle doves, among the few used to stop looking for whatever food that I used to scatter for these birds.

At home, I got down with my plan and all the necessary hardware to build a small “bird feed” of my own. It took me a week to complete, and I placed the “rest house” at the right place with a good view for us to enjoy looking at these birds. 

The “Bird’s Feeding” of Fraser’s Hill (Right) and at our home!

A few meters from the Clock Tower, coming in from the gate, using tiles and cement, they build a line on the road to show the state boundary of Pahang and Selangor. Fraser’s Hill is in the State of Pahang and you can be at two different places in one step. The Post Office, Police HQ, the Health Clinic are still proudly serving the community of this small hill resort town.

Deciding on which way to go, Left or Right!

There are no tea plantations; no large-scale planting of vegetables or flowers as in Cameron Highlands, thus the tranquillity of this hill resort is still the proud of Fraser’s Hill. The weather is still cool and you can still see the morning mist and even when the sun shines you can still feel the cool breeze. While we are enjoying ourselves here, the weather in other towns is extremely hot due to the haze. That is Fraser’s Hill and we hope that any development will not ruin all these beautiful sceneries.

The busy town square with the Clock Tower,
the morning mist and the beautiful rising sun!

We went to the watch-point on top of a hill behind the hotel and from there we could see the views of the town square and the surrounding areas. I remembered Fifi is repugnance on seeing any insects, be it crawling or flying, and during our last visit I showed her a small millipede in size. At this watch-point I saw this millipede and I told her that the millipede we saw in our last visit has grown to a thumb-size, and she screamed on seeing it.

(Left) We first saw it five years ago … and now, it has fully grown!

During this visit we did not go to the Jeriau Waterfall. Fifi said she has to walk quite a distance to reach the waterfall. Instead, we went around the hill to see the beautiful sceneries and the old buildings that originally belongs to the English community during the pre-war and now being renovated and well kept by the Fraser’s Hill authority. My wife dreamt of having such a cottage with a chimney.

Visiting for the memories

Memories of the past (Left) and the present!

Among the Trails we went through during our last visit

The ladies among the Roses and the Lavenders

The three (3) days in this hill resort was a very memorable holiday. We experienced the difference between our last and the current visit. Going down the hill resort is by another one-way single line route, that wind down to the main road going either to Kuala Kubu Bharu in Selangor or Raub in Pahang, both would lead to the highway towards Kuala Lumpur.

The three of us! 

Good bye Fraser’s Hill, we will come again,
maybe it would take another five (5) years!

No doubt, Fraser’s Hill is still in its best, welcoming visitors to enjoy the fresh air and the beautiful sceneries. Let’s hope it will still remain the same in the many years to come, for our future generation to experience the beauty of nature.

CAMERON HIGHLANDS, REVISITED

We last visited Cameron Highlands in June 2006. I remembered it was for my birthday which was arranged by my wife during this visit. Her two daughters, son-in-law and a grandson joined in for the holiday, driving up the cool highlands in two cars. It was a very memorable holiday for my wife and she was very happy that everyone has the time to be with her during the holiday.

This February 2013, we want to go to the highlands again, and this time only two of us will be there, to recollect all the memories which we left behind. I could not book a room at the hotel that we stayed during the last visit as it was full, but I managed to book one at a hotel in the Brinchang town area instead. Since our holiday dates are in the peak season with the Chinese New Year and the school holidays for the whole week, we managed to get the room, at a very much different rates, for the 12^th to 14^th February 2013.

Before leaving for the highlands, my wife prepared 59 set of souvenirs in two (2) boxes for her colleagues at the office as a sincere gift for her 59^th birthday which falls on the 13^th February 2013, the next day after our departure. These gifts will only to be distributed on that day by her friend.

We left her office after leaving the boxes under the care of a staff, going by the Jalan Duta Toll towards the north by the North South (Plus) Highway. On the way we passed an accident that being attended by the authorities concerned. There may be some casualties as we saw an ambulance passing by the next lane toward the accident area, not to forget the heavy traffics that have to slow down. We saw accidents on our last two (2) trips and this is the third accident on the same highway.

We continue our trip and later exit to the Tapah junction towards Cameron Highlands. The route to the highland is about 70 km. The other option is by the Simpang Pulai exit, which is further north, a new route to Cameron Highlands which is also a bypass to Kota Bharu, Kelantan.

On our way we stopped at the Lata Iskandar waterfall to look at the beautiful scenery, and luckily we got a space to park. The stalls sells a lot of souvenirs, from the new locally made to the old antiques, and various kinds of local foods and vegetables.

We keep on driving towards Brinchang, one of the highest most towns, passing through the towns of Ringlet and Tanah Rata. Tanah Rata is the main town of this highland as most of the government offices are situated here.

We have to drive slowly as the traffic was slow and quite heavy. When we reach the outskirt of Brinchang, we have to go through a “one way street” to the town, and the road then branches towards Kg. Raja, which is the bypass to either Ipoh, Perak or Kota Bharu, Kelantan. The traffic was crawling all the way.

We reached the hotel at late noon only because the crawl took more time than we expected. The other problem here was to park our car, as the parking area in front of the hotel was full. A few did parked their car temporarily or waiting for any vacant spot. I left my wife in the car to register at the hotel, and later let her check-in while I look for a parking space. I have to drive around the town to get back to the hotel as the streets in the whole town are made into the one-way street. I managed to park my car at a vacant spot in front of the hotel, as long as it does not blocked the other moving vehicles. Once we parked our car, we should not drive out unnecessarily as the vacant parking space would immediately be taken by others, and we may not be able to get a new parking space later.

We had our late lunch at the food stall nearby the hotel. We have been to this food stall during our first visit, but at that time it was recently open and everything seems to be in good condition. We found that the lunch we had was a bit expensive compared to the food served, beside the utensils were not really washed clean. We felt this is a priority for all food stalls, and the proprietors should abide by the rules set and they should understand the need of keeping clean in all aspects.

Later we went to where the Fire Brigade office (Jabatan Bomba dan Penyelamat) is, as it is very nostalgic for my wife. During her younger days, her father was transferred to this office as the Station Chief and the whole family stayed in a house at the ground floor of the 3-floor quarters. Being 3^rd in the family, she is the eldest daughter, with the other 6 brothers and sisters remembered every moment and she felt sad undergoing her teen life with such a burden. She had her schooling days in the primary school, had to do almost all house chores and taking care of the family for her mother. To her, life had been so miserable, that took away her young and teen life. Those were the memories of her life and I told her to accept it as it was, and be grateful to Allah.

Later we went to a hotel behind this office to look for an old friend whom we met during our last visit but we were told he had resigned. We met one of the staffs who have been living in the area during those years. He and my wife talked about the life in those days, shared all the memories and I could see that my wife was happy to have met a person who knew the truth in her stories. I was truly happy for her, but sorry to say that I forgot to ask this person’s name, hoping that we will meet him again, one day.

It was about one or two years later they moved back to Bentong, Pahang as her mother could not adapt herself with the cool weather of the highlands. We took some photos to see the difference between those years, then and now, after 50 years. She wanted to show these photos to her mother after our trip.

The weather was not on our side, as it drizzles frequently. We were walking towards the night market when we were greeted by one of the receptionists from the hotel. She was very friendly and courteous, almost the same age with someone we remembered.

The next day of our arrival was a special day for my wife as she turned 59 years old. In the morning we went to visit the “Rose Garden” and my wife enjoyed herself with a few photos of her among the roses that returns some memories to her. We saw these peacocks in a cage that became the favorites of kids visiting this garden.

Next we stopped at the Kea Farm junction and bought a tea pot as a souvenir. The rains kept coming down on and off beside the traffics were quite heavy and slow heading towards the by-pass to continue their journey to either Ipoh or Kota Bharu. Looking at the weather and traffics we decided to cancel our trip to the Tea Plantation and return back to Brinchang for lunch, at a restaurant that served good food.

We looked for a bakery and bought a tiramisu cake, some strawberry pies and brought back to our room to celebrate her birthday. We sliced the cake and sent half of it to the girl we knew at the receptionist counter for her and her friends.

In the evening, we went to the night market again, and this time we intended to buy something to bring home. It was still raining drizzling and we have to walk among the crowd, with our umbrella ready in hand. We were told that this night market was put up every day during the whole week school holidays along with Chinese New Year holidays. We bought a few items and some souvenirs to take home. Quite a number of stalls sells almost the same item that symbolizes the “strawberry”, be it sandals, slacks, shirts, caps, key chains, ear plugs, snacks, or whatever you may think of. I wonder how a person looks like wearing or having all of them, a “walking strawberry”, maybe.

The next day was our final day and after breakfast, we went to the Cactus Valley, which is nearby the town to look around and to remember our last visit to this particular place. We tried to look for something that we bought at our last visit, and we simply called it “Mr. Potato” but we were unlucky as we were told they did not have those items anymore.

At about 11:00 am, we checked out from the hotel for our journey home. It was still raining, and we thanked the staffs at the counter for their courtesy and assistance given to us as senior citizens. We told them we were not happy with our holiday as the weather is unpredictable, and we intend to come again.

On the way down we stopped at Tanah Rata for lunch. The weather here was still drizzling but we managed to walk around the walkway. We left Tanah Rata going down towards Tapah and the traffic flow was fine without any car trying to speed or overtaking. We stopped at the Cameron Valley (Bharat) Tea Plantation rest area for tea and some scones which are very popular. We remembered during our last visit, when we stopped at this rest area, someone asked her mother “what is ‘scone’ mom?” The place was crowded with everyone wanted the see the vast area of the tea shrubs.

We bought two (2) sets of teapot that comes along with its packets of Cameron Valley (Bharat) tea leaves and a packet of the tea in sachets.

Continuing our journey, we stopped to buy a bottle of wild bee honey and some bamboo shoots sold by a friendly young “orang asli” boy at a stall on the road side. He is schooling at the local school in Form 3, and I advised him to study hard and wish him success for his year-end Lower Certificate Education (SRP) Examination.

We entered the North South (PLUS) Highway at the Tapah Toll towards the south. The traffics seem heavy but with a steady flow going towards Kuala Lumpur. We stopped at a petrol station to fill up and drive by the Sg. Buluh Toll to reach safely home at Taman Seri Gombak, Batu Caves.

It was a tiring day driving more that 150 km, all the way non-stop. Anyway, it’s good to be back to our home, sweet home, and we could rest for the next three days. We are grateful to Allah for the safe journey.

P.S.    Happy Birthday dear, I hope you have a wonderful time celebrating this year’s birthday with me. Any way, it’s not that I have FORGOTTEN this yearly occasion, but it’s better LATE than NEVER, and my “small” birthday gift would remind you for the every second you’re with me. So they say, and I quote: if you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day, so I never have to live without you. – Love, hubby.