Fiction, continued...

Headnote : The opening part of this story can be read in the post of 30 September 2008, here -> Part 1.

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A Bingo Straight To The Heart (Part 2)

Sheffield, England – Winter of 1990

During our student days, me and my three housemates were Scrabble freaks and we play the game for hours on end almost every Saturday. It was the winter break and I was in the final year of my Accountancy course. Aida is two years my junior, studying Civil Engineering, the only Malaysian girl taking up a technical course out of the twenty Malaysian girls studying in Sheffield at that time.

Aida stayed in a rented flat a few streets away from our house and she and her housemates often join us on our Scrabble sessions. On one particular Saturday afternoon just before the Christmas holiday that year, Aida as usual turned up at our door for a Scrabble session, but this time without her girl friends. Instead, she had brought along her classmate, Johari.

“Hi guys!” chirped Aida in her ever-present jovial voice as soon as she stepped into our hallway from the cold outside. “This is my friend, Johari. I hope you all don’t mind me bringing him along. Dee and Ann are away at some friend’s place so I’ve invited Joe to join us.”

It was the first time we were having a male visitor in the house and Mei Lin, my housemate who had opened the door, looked at me for a sign of approval. Aida’s friend had already stepped into the hallway and it would have been very discourteous and awkward to turn him away.

“No problem. Please come on in,” I replied.

“All right!” Aida exclaimed, smiling widely as if she had struck the winning lottery or something. “Joe, this is Kak June, that’s Mei Lin and over there is Anita and Nooraini,” she continues to introduce us.

“Hello,” Joe said. “I hope this is not too much of a trouble. Aida thought that you guys may need an extra hand at the game and has asked me to come along.”

“No trouble!” I said, “You are most welcome to join us.”

I wasn’t sure if I was entirely truthful when I said that at the time.

... to be continued.

The abode of a princess

On Saturday, I attended the wedding of my colleague whose kampung is at Sungai Mati in the district of Muar, Johor. After the wedding, I traveled on the Bukit Gambir - Panchor road to access the North-South highway at Pagoh.

This particular road passes through the rice-planting region of Gersik where the spectacular scenery of Gunung Ledang fills the background. It was already almost dusk when I took the photograph shown below. With the very low level of light and without a tripod, it was difficult to avoid camera shake. I didn't have time to scout around for better angles either. How I wished to have a good dSLR camera in my possession.

Gunung Ledang, also known by the English name of Mount Ophir, is famous for the legend of a beautiful princess whose hand was sought in marriage by the Sultan of Melaka. The princess set seven practically-impossible conditions for the Sultan to fulfil before his marriage proposal can be accepted. One version of the fable has it that the first six conditions were met but the Sultan failed the final one... to provide a bowl of blood from the Sultan's own son.

When I was younger, listening to this story always filled me with awe. Nowadays, I've come to realise that it was meant to teach something... that men can become so stupid and senseless upon being enchanted by the beauty of a woman. The princess set all those impossible conditions because she didn't want to marry the Sultan in the first place. In other words, she was trying to politely decline... but the Melaka ruler just didn't get it. To paraphrase it in Malay, tak kan tak paham-paham lagi.

As I said, there are many versions of this folklore. A very good research piece done by Sabri Zain can be read here -> The Fairy Princess of Gunung Ledang.

Update 01 Dec 2021 : The link relating to the seven conditions has been removed but readers can still view it on Wikipedia by searching for the page, Legend of Puteri Gunung Ledang. The link to the research piece by Sabri Zain has also been removed but I encourage readers to view the write-up by going to www.sabrizain.org/malaya/melaka3.htm.

A good makan spot in Mersing, Johor

I mentioned earlier that we spent the second day of Aidilfitri at my wife's kampung. Having had enough of ketupat and rendang for two days, I decided to take the family out for dinner. As it was still the second day of raya, I didn't think that there would be many restaurants open for business yet, but we took a chance of exploring the small town of Mersing anyway.

Surprise, surprise! We found one that was open and what a find it was. The restaurant is called Sally's Place and the tagline on the signboard says that they serve Chinese Muslim food. Sally's Place is quite unique in that it is actually an old Malay kampung house. The original living room and bedrooms in the raised section of the house are now converted to dining areas. The kitchen is located in a front annexe on the ground floor. Being still a small-time business, the interior decor is nothing to shout about... but the taste of the food was something else.

Our meal that night was made up of Siakap fish steamed Teochew-style, hot-plate ginger beef, black pepper prawns, mixed vegetable soup and egg foo-yung. The steamed fish was exquisite and the beef was delicious. The prawns were a tad small, both in size and portion but the black pepper taste was actually quite good. If they had served us large-sized prawns (for which I don't mind paying for), it would have been perfect. The soup and eggs were not bad too. We cleared all the dishes, no leftovers.

Steamed Siakap, Teochew-style

Black pepper prawns

The whole meal for four cost me RM67 only. How's that for value for money.

I was told that Sally's Place began operating only recently, about 3 or 4 months ago. I hope they can maintain their taste and I wish them continued success. The restaurant is located about two kilometres from the centre of Mersing town, north after the bridge on the road to Endau. They are open during dinner time only.

I went to the place again the next day to take a photo of the house from the outside. Opposite the house is a tranquil beach facing the North China Sea.

If you happen to be spending a night in Mersing, do drop by Sally's Place for a lovely dinner of Chinese Muslim cuisine.

Old Malay kampung house converted into a restaurant

Mersing Kanan beach with a view of Pulau Setindan

Update 01 Dec 2021 : Sally's Place ceased operations many years ago. A few other businesses have taken over the place since then. None seem to last. The house still exists but it's only outdoor dining now.

Malaysians do not love their rivers

Earlier today, I did a survey of Sungai Tebrau, one of the main rivers in the district of Johor Bahru. Despite the numerous campaigns by the government for us to love our rivers, a huge amount of rubbish is still dumped into them. The City Council launched a gotong-royong effort to clean up and beautify this river on 10 May this year. Five months down the road, we are back to our old habits. Seems that many among us still have the so-called third world mentality.

 

Waterway full of garbage

Floating rubbish on its way to the sea

Downstream view at the fisherman's jetty near Kg Bakar Batu

At the Jalan Tebrau (Route 3) Bridge

Upstream view next to Pasar Borong Pandan

KTM railway bridge at the upper reaches of the river

Under the Permas Jaya Bridge near the river mouth

Majlis Bandaraya Johor Bahru Tebrau River Cleanup Programme

Update 01 Dec 2021 : The link to MBJB's website has been removed

A rose by any other name

This morning, Capt. Yusof Ahmad posted an interesting story in his blog, The Ancient Mariner, about the Vietnamese refugee ship Hai Hong that arrived in Malaysia in 1978. I was in secondary school back then and remember this incident vaguely. I commented in the Captain's blog that his post reminded me of an old school friend because she had the nickname Hai Hong.

But before I reveal who actually Hai Hong was, I would just like to recap a reply that I made some time back to Jabishah, a regular commenter in this blog. Jabishah remarked that she feels uncomfortable calling me Oldstock. I replied that she need not worry about calling me by that name because it was coined by friends a long time ago when I was at boarding school in MRSM Kuantan.

For those of you who have spent time in boarding school, I'm sure you have come across friends who have weird, interesting and amusing nicknames. Perhaps, like me, you have one yourself. To an outsider, some of these nicknames may appear demeaning but if you do not take offence or feel slighted, then such names are just part of a growing-up phase. No doubt, some people get stuck with their nicknames right up till adulthood.

There were so many interesting nicknames when I was in school, and this was not limited to boys only. Even the girls have nicknames that are known throughout the school. The reason most nicknames are easily understood is that they usually refer to physical appearance. Rosli Mamak, for instance, has a dark complexion. Norazharuddin Jepun could pass off as a Japanese without much problem. Bakar Buta is not really blind but he has eyes that are open as very thin slits. Raihan Buncit was slightly rounded around the waistline.

There were, however, some guys whose nicknames really defy explanation. I have friends who are called Nyamuk, Konteng, Bull, Monggol, Batak and Mat Bunian. I had female schoolmates who were called Cone and Sergeant. There was this story about one of the Biology teachers who overheard the boys calling a friend by the name of Badang, a character in Malay folklore that gained superhuman strength after eating the vomit of a jinn. The teacher asked who the owner of this nickname was, and when Badang identified himself, she let out a gasp in disbelief. You see, Badang was actually a thin and spindly guy... not the tough chap that she first assumed. I was told the whole class had a good laugh and Badang did not feel the least offended.

Back then, one of the activities that the Freshie Week Committee conducted was a `know your seniors' game. The task involved all Form 1 newcomers to identify some seniors based on a list that had two columns of forty or so nicknames, one each for male and female. It's not enough for the freshies just to write the seniors real name, they had to get their signatures as well. Some seniors purposely made it difficult by not owning up or simply glaring back at the juniors when asked. Can you imagine a timid 13-year old boy braving himself to approach a senior student to ask, `Abang ni nama Buncit ye?'. Buncit could have glared back and the freshie would probably shed tears... luckily for them, Buncit is a kind-hearted soul. Once the owner of a nickname is identified, you could see a crowd of the freshies gathering around the senior asking for his or her signature, not unlike a superstar signing autographs for his/her fans.

And now back to the story of a former classmate who was called Hai Hong. I really don't know how she got that name and neither had I the opportunity to ask. I attach below, an extract of the note she wrote in my autograph book, the evening after we had sat for our Geography paper during the MCE exams of 1979. That was almost 30 years ago...

To the lovely Norhayati Shaharuddin from Gopeng Perak, may you and your family be in the best of health, wherever you are. Thanks, Hai Hong, for being a friend.

Update 01 Dec 2021 :

a) The links to the blogs belonging to Capt Yusof Ahmad and Jabishah have been removed. These two blogs still exist but are not updated. Capt Yusof has departed quite some years ago.

b) I have since reconnected with all my friends whose nicknames are mentioned here, with the exception of Rosli Mamak (whom I believe lives in Alor Setar) and Badang (who passed away in May 2007).

c) My friend Norhayati, who is subject of this post, has told me how she got the Hai Hong nickname.