Father's Day . Remembering and celebrating father's day is an event that is quite recent on everyone's calender, I think. Since it became a media-hyped thing do we all Malaysians join in on the bandwagon. Anyway, what I am trying to say is that , showing one's appreciation towards one's parents the present way is quite not to say rare, but not so Melayu or perhaps Asian so to speak.
Traditionally Asians, Malays included, are quite reserved in their show of appreciation towards their elders. To speak freely in fact, to any of their parents was quite a taboo practice. Between the mother and father, the father is the most feared of the two. Most fathers , being the breadwinner of the family are given the highest position in the family hierachy . No one is allowed to answer back at any of the parents' kata-kata. Doing so would be labeled as kurang ajar and sometimes derhaka.
Times have changed . Globalisation and exposure to the outside world through the big idiot box , and another newer cyberspaced idiot box have liberalised alot of us.
My father ,as I remember , was also a very strict man. But actually ,the word is not strict. I feared him but at the same time , between him and mak, I think then, I was closer to him than mak. . He was a man of not many words but sometimes he can be quite amusing especially when he is in his lighter moods. The gila-gila streak, so to speak, that is in all of us comes from pak. Defintely not mak. Mak is strict . Pak is accomodating. Maybe, its because a girl is supposed to be the apple of her father's eye. Oh my, he has 7 apples in his eyes then !!
Anyway, I can go on talking about him endlessly. There are so many fond memories of him. Now that I am adult myself with children of my own, I can understand the struggles that they both went through especially pak, with nine children and as the sole breadwinner of the family , it must have been tough on him. But never once did he ever not give me what I asked for. I remember when I was in Assunta Form 2, I joined the swimming class , on the first day I jumped into the pool in my shorts and t-shirt. I was the only one in that attire. So, I asked him if I could have a swimming suit. Within the following week, I remember, he took me to new town PJ to get a blue swim suit and that was immediately after his office hours. He chose and paid for it.
His favorite song aha-- "Oh siapa, dimana, Siti Zaleha " . The part Siti Zaleha is stretched out - Siiitiii Zaaleeeehaaaa. I don't know the significant of the name Siti Zaleha. Must ask mak.
Like kak said, 2 days ago, when the idiot box was not in every family's household, pak and mak and all of us would sit outside the house , at night ,just enjoying the night air. We children will be doing our own thing while pak and mak would be sitting in the plastic ratten -like sofa chair ,with pak's legs crossed and and the crossed legs will be twiterring non-stop.
What else have we all inherited from pak? I think the most obvious is his work culture. He always gave his 101% in whatever he did. When it came to work, he was a no nonsense man. He was much feared by his staff but yet , their welfare was his utmost concern.
Well pak, if i could say it to you now, I would like to tell you, I Love You. I love you for putting your family first, the sacrifices that you made, I appreciate and salute you. The struggles that you both went through , I will remember them always. Pak, I have my moments of weaknesses, many in fact. I am so sorry for letting you down during those times. You never once , gave up on any of your children, despite the heartaches and perhaps headaches that you both had to endure , until we come to our senses . I am so sorry our payback time wasn't long with you. But you are always in our prayers . My doa to you, that Allah akan mencucuri rahmat ke atas roh mu pak, that He will place you amongst 'orang-orang yang beriman.' Amin. Al- Fatihah.
Taken in Jalan Selangor, Federal Hill. Notice Farhana senior, Athirah senior, Asraf senior. Yang lain-lain tu not so identical la.
Pak and the top four cucus .Amir, Syuhaida, Aisyah and Syahrur.
Pak, Mak, Kak and Amir at Bangsar. Amir was a few weeks old. Kak is carrying her first child, Syuhaida.
Connection time between Tok haji and first grandchild Amir
Mak, sweet 17, and Pak handsome 27. The wedding dress is exquisite.
The top four children in the family. Notice the identical dress materials. Those days materials were bought by the kayu. Do a dear a female deer , re a drop of golden sun......
Pak and the first 3 apples of his eye in KT. Yang lain jangan jealous....
Tahun bila ? I am not in the picture. Azizah already had that korean pose back then.Can't remember, di rumah mana ya?
I dont remember his age, this is the earliest photo of him in my keeping
Pak , in his lighter mood, joking with his cucu, Syuhaida or Amir?? In his fav baju of course.
Pak's very neat cursived handwriting. Rasa-rasanya tak ada siapa mewarisi tulisan secantik pak's. This was taken from a letter he posted to me in 1988 when we were in Durham, England
