Tuesday, 3 February 2009

Distant but close relatives

The title of today's post seems a bit like a paradox, but that's exactly how I can describe some relatives of mine who live in Sabak Bernam, Selangor.

Last Saturday, I attended the wedding reception of my third cousin at Kampung Sungai Air Tawar in Sabak Bernam. Since I was already in KL to help my brother-in-law move house (see earlier post), it was just a couple hours drive to get to the wedding. It was an extreme of sorts from my BIL's place to the groom's house. From the swanky condo at Bukit Jalil to a simple wooden kampung house whose planks show obvious signs of age. Although they are not well-to-do, the groom's family received us with their customary warmth and kindness.

I consider the relationship between the groom and myself as distant because we are third cousins (in Malay we call it tiga pupu). My father and the groom's mother are second cousins because my father's birth mother is a cousin of the groom's mother's father. I hope I have not confused my readers by that description. Anyway, apart from the distant family ties, the physical distance between our homes also meant that we seldom get to meet. This however, does not mean that we are not close. Whenever there is a reason such as this (a wedding invitation), I make the effort to travel up to meet them.

Our arrival was greeted with warm hugs all around. Throughout the reception I can hear fair-skinned ladies talking excitedly in thick but familiar Banjar accent. The Banjarese are a minority Malay sub-ethnic group who originally hail from the Kalimantan region of Indonesia. In Malaysia, large groups of Banjar people can be found residing in Sungai Besar, Sabak Bernam and in the southern districts of Perak. In Johor state, the Banjarese are concentrated in Batu Pahat and Mersing.

My grandparents, both on my mother's and father's side are pure Banjar. Unfortunately, I cannot speak the language although I can understand it well enough. My childhood friends are from a mixed bag of races... Malay (mostly from Javanese and Bawean descent), Chinese (from the Hokkien and Teochew dialects), Tamils and even Eurasians. We converse in Malay and English. While growing up, my mother sometimes speaks to me in the Banjar language but I only reply to her in Malay. Those days, I didn't know anybody else who are from the Banjar sub-ethnic group.

In Sabak Bernam, I can hear the language spoken in its almost pure form. Some of the newly-introduced relatives started to talk to me in Banjar but I could only politely reply in Malay. Luckily, I knew enough of the language to understand what they were saying.

My wife always reminds me that it is a pity I'm losing part of my heritage by not being able to speak my grandparent's language. Well... what to do? I can try to re-learn the language but I don't think it will help much. It is more important for me to strengthen family ties with my distant relatives, no matter how far they may be.

The above pic is the new Ma'muniah Mosque at Simpang 5, Sungai Besar, Selangor. We stopped at this mosque on our way back from Sabak Bernam to Johor Bahru.

Saturday, 31 January 2009

A different view

In my post `The view from the hillside' last month, I wrote about the breathtaking view of KLCC from the balcony of my brother-in-law's apartment in Bukit Antarabangsa. Subsequent to the landslide incident on 6 December 2008, my BIL has swopped the KLCC view with a different one.

On Thursday, I helped him move house to a new condo unit at Bukit Jalil. The new place is just across the National Sports Complex and the view from the living room windows is the luscious greens of the Bukit Jalil Country Club. My BIL hopes that this move is permanent. Having stayed at three different houses at the Bukit Antarabangsa area for almost 15 years, it was a bit difficult for him to decide to live elsewhere. He had experienced the earlier crisis years ago where a landslide blocked the only access to Bukit Antarabangsa. At that time, the road to Ukay Perdana was not constructed yet.

This latest landslide prompted him to search for new dwellings and the quality and convenience of the new location made him decide instantly. Although the name `Bukit Jalil' implies a hill, this condominium is not built on or adjacent to a hillslope. The following pics are some views from the new unit located on the 20th floor.


My brother-in-law is one of those guys who loves the view from high up whereas I am more a `down-to-earth' guy. When I do get the chance to build my own dream house, it would be a single-storey bungalow with acres of space all around.

Wednesday, 28 January 2009

Interlude

This is just something to take my mind off things...

Peringatan... jangan minta cerai dalam kereta

Sepasang suami isteri yang selalu menghadapi masalah perhubungan tengah berbincang masalah mereka dalam sebuah kereta. Si suami tengah memandu.

Isteri : Kita dah berkawin 15 tahun dah, saya rasa saya tak sesuai lagi bersama dengan awak... saya nak mintak cerai dengan awak.....

Si suami diam dan terus memandu kereta ...bertambah laju....(70km/j)

Isteri : Saya dah tak cintakan awak lagi...sebenarnya saya dah ada teman lelaki....dia akan berkahwin dengan saya lepas awak ceraikan saya... saya malas nak cerita panjang lagi.. dan saya tak nak awak cuba pujuk saya… saya dah bosan hidup dengan awak!!

Si suami terus memandu dengan penuh perasaan marah... masih diam...

Isteri : Bila kita bercerai, saya nak rumah kita...

Si suami masih diam... memandu dengan lebih laju....(80km/j)

Isteri : Saya nak anak kita juga... awak bukan boleh pelihara mereka.....

Si suami masih diam... tambah kelajuan (100 km/j)

Isteri : Saya nak kereta ini, credit card dan saving akaun kita.

Si suami masih diam, membelok kereta ke arah Jaya Jusco...

Isteri : Awak ada ingin minta apa-apa??

Suami : Tak perlu....saya dah ada apa yang saya perlukan.

Isteri : Ya ke?? Apa yang awak ada..??

Si suami menjawap sebelum beliau melanggar dinding konkrit Jaya
Jusco... “Saya ada air bag.....awak tak ada..”

Credit to : cikedis_mango @ cari.com.my

Sunday, 25 January 2009

As strong as an ox!

Here's wishing a very Happy Lunar New Year to all my Chinese friends and all those who simply enjoy holidays! May this new year bring strength to all of us in line with the zodiac animal it represents. Strength to face challenges and adversities. Strength to see through the tough economic times. And strength to be humble, honest and admit that we are simply human beings after all.

Gong Xi Fa Cai.

Image of musk ox courtesy of www.wpclipart.com

Saturday, 24 January 2009

A male internal plumbing problem

Of late, the posts in this blog has been getting sparse. From a regular posting every 3-4 days, it has now dropped to once a week.

The past fortnight was a bit more hectic than usual. Work commitments aside, a large part of the last week was spent attending to my father-in-law's medical condition. He suffers from prostate cancer, considered the most common cancer disease afflicting men, especially those aged above 50 years old.

We have known about this ailment for some time. My FIL had undergone treatment at a few specialists before but nothing much could be done primarily due to his advanced age. He is 93-years old. When we received news the previous week that he was admitted to the district hospital in Mersing due to urinary complications, we knew the advanced stage of the disease has begun.

After a few days at Mersing Hospital, we transferred him to the Johor Specialist Hospital in Johor Bahru. The Consultant Urologist at JSH reviewed my FIL's case and advised that a prostatic stent be inserted to relieve the blockage caused by the enlarged prostate. This procedure does not involve surgery and in my FIL's situation, the only practical option available. The insertion of the stent however, does not treat the prostate itself. It is just a measure taken to enable my FIL to pee. The application of drugs to treat the prostate has shown mixed results and in any case, takes too long to be effective.

The insertion procedure was carried out yesterday afternoon. My FIL is now recovering but the full effect of the process is yet to be seen. As I've mentioned, we still need to consider the state of the cancer of the prostate itself. It seems that nothing much can be done about that. There will come a time when there is nothing else that we can do, but pray.