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STORYBOOKS FOR CHILDREN
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19 Feb 2022

A letter to Aina

Aina

Dear Aina,

We were glad that you were a star pupil at the prize day of your kindergarten early last December.
You won the champion prizes for English and Bahasa Malaysia (Malay) writing competitions as well as for colouring competition. And you also won a prize for talented pupil of the six-year group.

All had not come easy for you were it not for your determined and untiring effort in becoming the best in your class.

But apart from all that, we were most delighted when your mother shared with us a photo of an array of colourful envelopes that you’ve prepared yourself. We were told they contained farewell gifts for your teachers.

Very impressive, Aina! How thoughtful of you to remember that your teachers have done a lot for you.

Giving them farewell gifts is a great way of showing your appreciation for them for the fun and joy of learning that they’ve shared with you.

But we also hope you aren’t forgetting the one teacher who’s very dear and near to you.
Congratulations, Aina! Well done. You’ve done us proud. Keep up the good work.

 

Love,
Grandpa & grandma

  

15 Feb 2022

In memoriam

Church Street (now Lebuh Gereja}, Penang

1. It was 14 February yesterday. My father was born on that date 140 years ago at Church Street in George Town, Penang. He died at the age of 74—away from his hometown—in Alor Merah a suburb about two miles (3.2 kilometres) from Alor Star, the capital town of Kedah state.

2. The event that led to his decision to move on to greener pastures in mainland Kedah is still a mystery to me just as his private life that I know very little about. According to reports he was a teacher at heart; beginning his working life as a teacher at his alma mater, the Penang Free School.

3. Then he came over to Kedah in 1911 to become the headmaster of a newly founded Government English School in Alor Star, but his tenure was short-lived and thenceforth he never again worked as a school teacher.

4. Ironically, he retired as a civil servant in 1937 after serving in various departments—his significant achievement being his contribution during his time at the legal adviser office. English being his strong suit, he was entrusted with a herculean task of translating hundreds of enactments from English into Malay.

5. But it turned out to be a blessing in disguise on account of the fact that after five years of retirement he was recalled to duty by the state government and appointed as legal adviser. With regard to that, a writer in his obituary to my father wrote that he was the first Malay legal adviser in the country.

6. I might say that I can’t hold a candle to him for his intellectual capability and notable achievements. My siblings and I were caught on a downward turn in aptitude and enthusiasm and we didn’t fare as well in education and working life.

7. And I suppose most of my father’s grandchildren also lack the intellectual aptitude of their grandfather. However, I am optimistic about the future of my father’s great-grandchildren who show enthusiasm and love of learning in schools.





18 Jul 2021

A mystifying end

1. I was born during the last nine years of his life when he was in his mid-60s. How I wish I could write a vivid account of my childhood memories of him, but unfortunately I have a very poor memory. Those childhood memories fade with time; what remain are patches of blurred episodes in my mind.

2. I knew nothing of the story behind his marriage to my mother—so very late in his life. She was probably about 46 years his junior. I suppose they made strange bedfellows on account of the fact that he was a man of the world, educated and of wide experience whereas she was a very shy, naive, illiterate village girl who mostly kept to herself.

3. That said, I tried to console myself by reflecting on a common Malay axiom which goes, ‘Jodoh terletak di tangan Tuhan,’ which literally means ‘one’s partner is predestined by God.’ This saying is especially uttered in the face of ‘unexpected’ marriage.

4. My father remarried after his first wife passed away and before long the same fate befell his second wife, a widow, who had a son who became attached to him. He had no children of his own from his first two marriages. Probably, he must have been greatly elated to have been blessed with three children after marrying my mother—prompting him to publicise our respective births in a local newspaper.

A childhood photo of me with my father's portrait 
in the background

5. I believe the boost had also led to occasional trips to George Town apparently to bring us close to his side of the family. The trips—so very faint in my mind—took place before my schooldays, after which there was no more trips to his home town which he left in order to come over to Alor Star where he made a name for himself as a distinguished civil servant.

6. I grew up in a big wooden house along a main road about three miles from town. Until now I have no knowledge of the history of the house. It seemed that my father was contented with life living in the big house amid the family members of his stepson. There is a faint episode that still sticks in my mind where he tutored a young member of the royal family in that very house.  

7. As far as I recall he was still active before I entered primary school towards the mid-50s. He was working at the time but I didn’t have the slightest idea of what he was doing then. Deep in my mind there hung a blurred episode of climbing a flight of wooden staircase in a shop, following him up to a crowded office upstairs.

8. I didn’t spend my entire childhood with my parents; I stayed with my grandmother as well. Being fond of me, she used to take me regularly to stay at her place which was within walking distance of my parents’ abode.

9. There were things going on in the last three years of his life that I wasn’t very clear about. I supposed he was disappointed when I wasn’t accepted to enrol at a premiere school where he was one of the pioneer headmasters. He was grumbling when he took me on my first day of school to enrol at a missionary school instead. 

10. I guess it was during my third year in primary school that the village carpenter and his son started to build a wooden house extending from the front of my grandmother’s house. By and by I learned that it was my mother’s house they were building and we were supposed to move there upon its completion.

11. I wasn’t fully aware that my father’s health was gradually deteriorating at that time. My mother was always nagging him to move out of the big house but he refused. I had a feeling that relations with the family members of his stepson had soured. It ultimately led to a heated argument that took place one night. I have but a very faint memory of the incident that led to our departure from the big house. We all moved out—along with my ailing father—to my grandmother’s place.

12. My father was bedridden as his illness worsened and before long he breathed his last at his in-law’s. His remains was then placed at the newly built house and eventually buried at the local cemetery.

13. So much for my childhood memories of my father. It was not until 2013 that I began my research on my father. Only since have I learned facts and figures about his career and life in general. The information that I’ve garnered formed the basis of my reflections that follows.

14. I was nine at the time of his passing. His death was a bitter disappointment to my mother. As I grew older she told me there were only a few pitiful ringgits in his bank account. He left us neither a fortune nor a legacy.

15. That said, it was a curious ending. He was a grandson of a well-known merchant in George Town at the turn of the 19th century and his father was also an established merchant in his own right. My father joined the Kedah Civil Service in 1911 and retired on a good pension from the state government in 1937. He drew 222 ringgits and 86 sens monthly—quite a substantial amount at the time. After his retirement from the civil service, he apparently took up private practice.

16. Later during the war my father was called back by the state government and served as legal adviser and public prosecutor until British re-occupation and the BMA. After his retirement for the second time, he was appointed unofficial member of Executive Council and Council of State until 1954.

17. Ergo, it’s inconceivable that my father—a worldly-wise man of wide experience—would leave his wife and children with practically nothing to live on when he was gone. It seemed unlikely that he hadn’t given our welfare some thought. There remains a big question mark over what had actually gone wrong.

18. Of course rumours surfaced about his supposed bequest that was embezzled and that we were supposedly victims of misappropriation. That said, speculating about the rumours would be pointless. Nonetheless, the ending of my father’s life is arguably shrouded in mystery. It would remain obscure indefinitely.

  

28 Jun 2021

The love of learning

 1. Umar and Nuraina are very hardworking and diligent. For them school is like a second home. They would never miss school—not for anything. Umar was absent for only one day on account of running a high fever and so Nuraina had to take the day off too. Nuraina had a fever for two consecutive days and her mother told her to skip school against her will, but Umar insisted on going to school.

2. On the third day Nuraina had not fully recovered but she woke up very early for school. Her mother thought that it wasn’t a good idea but Nuraina had made up her mind and that’s that. It was a Friday and she told her mother she would miss the spelling quiz if she were to skip school.

3. Both Umar and Nuraina fared quite well in their lessons. Except for a few careless mistakes, Umar did well in his Malay and English spelling quizzes. He caught up very fast in reading and counting despite the fact that it was his first time in kindergarten. Nuraina made only one mistake in all of her spelling quizzes. She joined the kindergarten with her brother, following his liking for books, writing, drawing and numbers. Thus she gradually acquired those skills as well.

4. My daughter used to share with me pictures and occasionally videos of the siblings that she took before sending them off to school or when they’d reached the premise. They were pictures of happiness and enthusiasm. Their mother gave them guidance and encouragement with their schoolwork at home. So they never left their homework undone.

Pictures of happiness
5. When the spread of COVID-19 began to seriously affect the life of the public at large school was disrupted at times due to the lockdown or MCO sometimes for weeks. When they had to stay away from school for too long they’d complain to their mother that they missed school so much.

6. But they were not made idle albeit staying at home for they were expected to do exercises in their workbooks regularly. The workbooks were then returned to teachers for marking and the routine went on. During the recent CMCO imposed on the state, the siblings followed their lessons conducted by teachers on Facebook. They never missed their lessons and did all their homework after every lesson.

7. My daughter and son-in-law took heart because the school did not call off the year-end celebration albeit without parents’ participation. Both Umar and Nuraina received prizes for their ceaseless effort in their schoolwork and quizzes.

8. They won trophies at the year-end celebration. Umar won a trophy for fast learner, a champion trophy for English quiz and the first runner up trophy for Malay quiz. As expected, Nuraina won the best speller trophy as well as trophies for consolation prizes in English and Malay quizzes.

9. We were very happy for them. They deserved the sweet smell of success for their determination and hard work. I suppose they’ve put their best foot forward and by and by they’d cherish the love of learning.

 

25 Jun 2021

A scary tale

1. As a small boy I was very fond of listening to stories. One of my uncles used to tell local folk tales which I enjoyed very much. At times there were also nonsensical ghost stories and scary tales. One particular tale typically whispered by the womenfolk was absolutely terrifying.

2. It was about an eerie stranger the likes of a grass cutter who carried a sickle and a gunny sack except that he wasn’t looking for any grass to cut. Supposedly he went stalking for solitary kids wandering in vast paddy fields or along deserted lanes. It was rumoured that he would sever a child’s head with his sickle and carry it away in his gunny sack.

3. The rumours surfaced at the time when a new bridge was being built in town and word had it that the severed head would be offered as a sacrifice so as to protect the bridge from falling down. Indeed, it was scary and children were told to play it safe in order to avoid going missing. But as I grew older I thought it was just another cautionary tale.

4. That was around the mid-50s and I had long forgotten about it until recently when I chanced upon an article on the internet about the discovery of a bronze oil lamp buried in the foundations of a Roman building. Archaeologists believe it was deposited as a ‘foundation deposit’ about 1,900 years ago.

5. That was the first time I came across the term ‘foundation deposit.’ According to one definition “Foundation deposits are the archaeological remains of the ritual burial of materials under the foundations of buildings.” (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia)

6. As regards the content of the article, what interests me most is the exemplification of foundation deposits which include material objects such as divine figurines, lamps and coins. For instance, several years back archaeologists discovered a foundation deposit which was a cache of gold and silver divine figurines dated to 3,600 years ago. It was found inside a clay pot buried within the foundations of a building.

7. That said, foundation deposits may not be material objects alone. A discovery made over a century ago revealed that a human being was buried in the foundations probably for the purpose of serving as a guardian spirit.

8. According to the report, in some cultures people would bury their dead under the floor inside their home believing that the spirits of the dead would protect them and the household; hence the suggestion that the practice of home burial in ancient times was antecedent to the ritual burial of materials under the floors of buildings or foundations.

9. One of the authors of the discovery pointed out that it’s rather misleading to think of foundation deposits as artefacts of ancient superstition. He used to work in construction in the early 80s and told of workers throwing money inside when they built the foundations.

10. He said the practice was related to popular belief. Since ancient times foundation deposits was accepted in construction to bring luck or as symbolic protection of the building or even to cast fear and awe on attackers.

11. The practice is considered a common cultural norm in the ancient world. The archaeologists suggest ritual offerings buried during construction were intended to ensure the safety of building and its occupants.

12. Obviously the article reminded me of the scary tale that I’ve mentioned earlier, prompting me to wonder if it was really just another cautionary tale. Was the sacrifice bit actually made up to scare children or had it got something to do with the construction of the bridge?

13. At the time Malaya (or Tanah Melayu) was still under British rule. The key players involved in the construction of the bridge were people from different cultural backgrounds and beliefs. They comprised of British officials and professionals from the immigrant population. That said, there is room for popular belief too even among the cosmopolitans.

________

In passing

"You need the shovel? What for?"
Note: See my post “Stories behind my strip cartoons” published on September 12, 2020.