Hariraya Openhouse by the Sea

An invitation to a hariraya openhouse reception at Tanjung Agas, Port Dickson, was too much to resist. The name of the place,
Desa Balqis, was so romantic and it triggered in my mind several wishful dreams that I thought the old noggin was already incapable of conjuring. Legend has it that Puteri Balqis was a Princess who ruled over a prosperous kingdom but fearing that her country might be attacked by Nabi Sulaiman paid him a visit to ascertain how big the latter's kingdom and how powerful he was.
The Prophet amazed her by ordering a Jin ( a powerful spiritual being) to bring over the Princess' castle to his kingdom, made some modifications to enhance its beauty, and presented it to her. Did she marry him? The legend did not give an answer but I
believe she did since he knew what could please her the most!

My wife and I arrived at the resort hideout in the evening of 10 Okt., taking the Pedas-Linggi route to avoid going through Port Dickson and Bagan Pinang, where BN and PAS were preparing for a showdown. I heard the traffic jam was terrible down there and some trouble was brewing. By-election has become a war-zone these days. Desa Balqis turned out to be a 3-acre resort area located between the road and a beautiful sandy beach, artistically landscaped with three challets and a 'surau' built from unwanted traditional Malay houses. The beautiful wooden challets equipped with all the modern utilities showed how some of the many traiditonal Malay houses left to rot by the young people who inherited them, can be salvaged and turned into fitting accommodations for tourists and holiday-makers ( see pic). Encik Annuar, the CEO of Multilift Holdings who owns the place, must be congratulated for his novel ideas.

Without doubt the reception which was to begin at 8 pm, began much earlier with guests crowding by the steps leading to the seaside, enjoying the view while there was still a lot of sunlight. They were ships in the sea (see pic) queing for entry to the
PD port. Guests started attacking the food some allready spread out under the specially erected shed, while others were still
simmering in the pots or roasting by the fire, including a whole lamb. When we were invited to the table and begin the chomp-chomp megathon although it was not the official starting time yet, I did not resist. The drive from KL had indeed been
sharpening the appetite and so many guests were already plowing into the succulent spread.

When night fell and the lights were switched on, the place turned into a kind of fairyland. White and multicoloured lights glimmered and dazzled the eyes, highlighted further by the blue background lighting which surrounded us. Spiritted and lively hariraya songs compete with the cool breeze to thrill us, while the scrumptious food tickled out tastebuds. And look around. Hohoho....film and tv personalities were around too, being entertained by the hosts and interviewed by the Press. VIPS keep coming as the night thickened and the crowd grew bigger and bigger. The DJ-MC while dishing out moody evergreens befitting the oaccasion kept wishing everyone welcome , complete with the roar of helicopter engine and the wailing of car sirens to announce the arrival of the VIPS. At one point there was even a salutation fanfare by trumpeters like in a real royal ceremony. At about 9.30 pm there was a burst of colourful fireworks to bring the reception to its climax, as some karaoke singing and live interviews were held. Oh, there was a brief blackout at the reception area although the lights in the challets were still on, suggesting that there must be a supplementary source of power supply around. The organizers have not left anything at all to chance.

What can I say to this hariraya openhouse reception! The food supply seemed endless, the facilities beyond expectation, the
entertainment casual and most amusing, and the hosts most gracious. We left unwillingly for to drive back to KL on a full stomoch was quite a challenge. Especially since my wife who chose to drive had her baby grandaughter clinging to her neck while driving. I didn't volunteeer to take over for a don't like a a backseat driver giving me orders.

Durian Anyone?

As a kampung kid before. I literally live under the shadows of durian trees and would not eat but the best of the fruits. On reaching adulthood I've had enough and could not be enticed by even the best variety - the best to me being the 'lemak manis' but a little bitterish type which just melts in the mouth. Now I take only one or two 'ulas' (seeds?) and no more. The smell can be a little too strong on the weakening oldfactory.

But as fate would have it, when you least want something it comes aplenty. (The opposite is when you really want something it starts eschewing you!). I bought a little green acre in the 80s to exercise my meek brawns and muscles on by doing battle with the undergrowth, elephant grass, clumps of touch-me-not and what have you. There were some old durian trees on the land which I couldn't care too much about and started planting mango trees, cikus, dukong and mangoesteen.

Today, some mango trees are as tall as the durian trees while others have been attacked by white ants. But all are totally sterile. No friuts as warned by the kampung people before but whose advice I refused to accept. The dukong trees are beginning to show some gratitude by sprouting a few stunted bunches of fuits as do the ciku and mangoesteen trees. But the durian trees, they are old and beginning to wobble but suddenly became very prolific. I'm still wondering why all of a sudden they produce more than I can handle - distributing them to family members, the neighbours and to the local madrasah.

My cars are now so smelly that even the dogs refuse to help clean up the tires. (See pic for the durians and the inset for what doggy used to like doing). Well, there're not enough durians to open up a stall and sell them at 10 sen apiece ( just to collect a fee for the efforts to collect them), but unless I can distribute them fast they are going to open up at the bottom and insult my appetite. Well must go now. to collect more durians for I love searching for them under the trees. It reminds me of the days I used to quarrel with my Auntie everytime a durian falls and we raced each other to fetch it. I always let her win when I see that the fruit which fell was just a small one. But sometimes it turned out to be a huge one and the shouting game began when my claim to the fruit was rejected. We always fought to see who could collect the most durian,to sell them to Ah Chong who bought them at 20 -40 sen apiece.

'Working' Down Memory Lane

The HR mood is not quite over yet but I was ready for work. Not back to the office but driving down to Ulu Bendul (some 110km away) to continue work on rehabilitating an old Minangkabau-style house which my late parents left behind and my sisters are not too crazy about. It's the house I grew up in (see pic). The additional photo was taken during the last cleaning by the wife, my sister and her daughter.

Driving alone at 9.05 am, I enjoyed the crawl until past the Sungai Besi Toll Plaza listening to Klasik FM. For those interested in the Malay evergreen songs by P. Ramlee, Saloma, S, Jebeng, Ahmad Jais, Jeffry Din, A, Ramlee, L. Ramlee, R, Azmi, Farzidah Joned, etc, etc ( eh, what happened to Jamlludin Alias, ah? Never heard his baritone voice anymore!), do tune in to that station. It will whizz you to the best of yesteryears like a time machine. After Sg, Besi Toll Plaza, you may try FI if you dare and care not for your life (and probably others' too) or a police summon.

Even after the juction to Kajang, I began to think of old days. I used to go to Kajang.... for sate Kajang? Noooo, where got money!It's to listen to lectures on Sastera Melayu and Poetry with some teacher friends including the late Cikgu Sabtu and CIkgu Sudin ( May Allah bless their souls). Kajang used to be a meeting point for sasterawan ( other than KL) but no longer so.
The same friends used to support the formation of a kampung musical combo ( a four-piece band with a drum set) of which I was the leader although I knew nuts about musical scores and play the accordion and clarinet ad lib. Hey, we played at weddings even on the day before my HSC ( STPM) exam. If music be food for the soul, play on. My brother, Zainal Ariffin Abdul Ghani, got the bug and became a Music Instructor/Lecturer for school teachers.

The experience in conducting a 4-piece band consisting of kampung boys (including self) with no musical education or experience whatever, was fascinating. We play completely by ear with Zailan on the violin or guitar, Ibrahim Fiji or Zainal whacking at the drum set, Aziz blowing a few lines on the trumpet and me with the accordion or clarinet. Coordinating and harmonizing the cacophonous sound they make and cuing in a bathroom singer to start or stop crooning, is a crazy job. But hard work always pays off. At one wedding reception the musicians from the bridegroom's side consisting of trained music teachers met us at the bride's house and we played together. No one suspected that my musicians including self were totally note-blind. And the leader of the band, Cikgu Sulaiman from Kuala Pilah, thought that we were quite good. He didn't know that we trained until 4am sometimes. The gang considered me mad for insisting on all the repeats, not knowing that I've been branded as a perfectionist by the psychologists. ( Haaaa, lucky not a psycho!).The point here is that you can do almost anything if you set your mind to it....

Once at the old house I started to work on repairing the broken-down cement drains. As I mixed the cement and sand manually in a wheelburrow, my thoughts ran through the list of old friends who used to play cards with me in the house while it was being built. Ali Baba ( his real name), Zainal Naim, Nordin Jaalam, Aziz Gemuk. Ujang Bucit, Ujang Sayau and Pak Itam were some of the regulars, playing hard ( just as I practised playing on the accordion and clarinet) until 4 am. No electricity yet and we used an oil lamp (pelita). Hard to believe that three of them had passed away and only one of them do I meet sometimes at the Ulu Bendul mosque for Friday Prayers. The music friends, the school friends, the badminton gang members etc have all disappeared since I left the village to go to the University. I wonder where they are now. Even the few friends who made it to the University ( Tahir, Md Shah, Dr Ramly, Aziz Abdullah, Md Zain etc) seemed to be always eschewing a meet. Jalaludin, the best student in class (Form V), I heard was struck by the complete loss of memory (alzheimer's) disease. He can't even recognize his own house when taken a few yards away. May Allah have mercy on him.

As I took a respite from work to reminisce on the thrill of past adventures which include fishing in a deep-jungle pond and being scared away by a tiger, trapping birds but catching a hawk in a small cage, stealing durians at night just for the fun of it since we all had durian trees of our own with more than enough fruits to eat, scaring old ladies walking home from the village 'surau'at night and being chased away with a parang....I noticed some roadside clearance work being done right in front of the house. JKR people were clearing a clump of wild bamboos growing on a hillside and threatening to collapse onto the road if a landslide were to occur. They hacked away happily but dumped the bamboo poles with all their branches and leaves by the roadside opposite the house. I've cleared that area some months ago (see pic). Before I could give them a piece of my mind, they had vanished in a truck parked close by.

Ever tried mixing cement and sand and reconstructing or mending broken drains? It's a back-breaking job drenching you in a bucketful of sweat. Take a rest in the breeze with a cold drink in hand. God, it's heavenly ( Sorry no pic since I was all alone and only using the phonecam). With the sweet old memories replaying in my head and making me smile all alone, I didn't ralize when the memories became wilder and wilder as recollections took a ride on the wings of daydreaming. It was indeed a spiritual rendevous with old friends.

Enjoying Hariraya in the Traffic Jam...

We now have traffic jams in all the major cities and towns - an indication that urbanization/modernization is going on well, like it or not. If the jam in KL is maddening, small towns like Kuala Pilah and even Tanjung Ipoh ( on the way to Kuala Pilah from S'ban for those who're weak in geography, hehe), the crawl can be excrutiating. ( Yes, it screws you).

I was going to S'Ban yesterday ( Fri. 2 Oct.) leaving Taman Melawati at about 5.45pm for a relative's open house function starting at 8 pm. Right off at Jalan Ampang the crawl began.It went on and on and on, on both sides of the track ( the roads seem so narrow now). At the wheel my wife was fuming. Why must everybody be on the road at this hour? Why are we otr (on the road), I asked. We've a function to attend. What about them? Silence.

Since we moved so slowly and she was in no mood to talk I found some ways of keepimg myself amused. Admiring the cars that passed us on the other lanes or we passed them, was no fun. What about the driver and pax? I immediately noticed that there were so many ladies driving alone. Out of 10, I counted some seven or eight ladies. God, what happened to the population? Are they going home after work or 'balik kampung' for the weekend? Then my wife noticed a red MyV speeding behind her chasing all the cars in the innermost lane away. "Wow, what an aggressive driver!". Man or woman? I asked. Woman, of course. I asked my wife to give way and she did. A lady for sure - a young one.She just whizzed by. Than I saw how aggressive and fierce she really was. Big and small cars were swinging away to the left ( to the middle lane) like people stung by hornets. "Fast car," my wife commented. "Fast and brave driver!" I replied. "Scared the men away." Served them right, my wife replied. If you're slow why don't you go to the middle or left lane. Just ego. The smaller the car the bigger the ego. They don't want to move even when you needle them, horn or flash your light. (Me)Perhaps they hate to be overtaken by a lady. (She) So what?If you're a slow po don't drive on the right lane lah! The car in front flashed its redlight and my wife jammed on the brake. (Me) Why follow so close? (She) Why brake for no reason? Sure, the best way to answer a question is to fire a question in return. Stalemate. ( Which one is stale? hehe)

We arrived at the Senawang Toolgate at 7.10. Since the place was jampacked, I decided to take a leak, an ablution and do my Maghrib while my wife bought some dukong on sale at the roadside. What do you know. That toll station has no Surau, So we drove on quickly to search for a mosque and ultimately found the Bandar Baru Senawang Mosque, near the new Police Station.
I prayed alone ( the Jemaah was over)and even had time to take a photo with the Secretary of the Mosque's Committee Members, Hj. Jazmin, if I'm not mistaken.(See pic- sorry my wife took the pic with her cam and hasn't downloaded it). The jam was a blessing after all. We reached the relative's home in Levender Height in good time, that of Hj. Mohd Nor and family, Nubhan's ( the Akademi Fantasia star) brother-in-law.

What a Hariraya reception! I don't mean just the food and delicacies. There was a group of Nasyid ladies in attendance all dressed in purple baju kurung reciting praises to Allah and the Prophet and a group of orphans , all participating in the Reading of the Yassin and Tahlil ( see pic). I felt a little akward snapping away my phonecam at them during the reading (result - blurred shots). The feasting was hectic as usual, just too much and too many dishes to sample without feeling as full as a sack of rice.

While attacking the plate of everything in my hand with relish, just standing by the foodstall since all the seats were taken
away, the buzzling noise of people eating, drinking, talking, laughing and burping was shattered by a deafening and prolonged volley of explosion. Fire crackers certainly, lighted up at the gate of the unoccupied adjacent house. If course the police station was far away. But where did the boys get all the prohibited stuff. I've mentioned elsewhere that in my kampung even the full blown fireworks used for Merdeka celebration were lighted up the night after hariraya and two or three nights after. Where could people get all the illegal stuff? I wonder.

Just when everything was quiet again with only the sound of people eating and drinking away still audible. there was a big boom, a swishing noise and.....the night sky just behind the house burst into multicoloured flames, spouting out stars, glitters and trailing lights in all directions. It was a beautiful super firework as if mounted to beat the noise of the firecrackers. Since there was no more firecrackers lighted up, the big boom was not repeated. Perhaps its initiator knew that he had won the competition with a bigger blast.Huh....what a thrill. Like in my kampung, no police appeared. I wonder what would have happened if they did with all the guests crowding the place. They would be the only unwelcomed party.

We left the party with the feasting still going on. Was there a jam on the way back to KL? Don't know. I slept most of the way
for it's more tiring to be a passenger than a driver, on a full stomach.

More HR Feasting and Bellyaching

Look at the amount of food left behind after our most vicious attack on the spread. And look at the satisfied look on everyone's face. That's hariraya feasting which continued last night at Zam's house. I thought i had enough of chicken already but Zam's special brew had me gorging for more. Thanks so much Zam and wife. Muga-muga murah rezki dan panjang umur.

The side talk at the gathering was most interesting, Other than the usual gibes and gruntles about today's political scene, there was some critical assesment of the civil service especially the elite PTD or MADS ( Malaysian Administrative and Diplomatic Service). It seems that the ujian Penilaian Kecekapan instituted by JPA had resulted in so many young officers getting rapid promotion such that some SUBs ( Setiausaha Bahagian or Divisonal Secretaries) and even TKSUs ( Deputy Secretary Generals) are
very inexperienced and ignorant of normal work procedures. Some couldn't even write a Cabinet Paper and had to depend on their more elderly and experienced subordinates. Generally they have more pride than substance, fussy about trites but fuzzy about major issues, more image conscious than getting a job done.

Hohoho.....what do you expect of wanabes who are more exam-oriented, computer addicted, and concerned with making a name on the golf course playing alongside bigshots, rather than getting their hands dirty with work. Worse than that the real slaves who get the work done never get any recognition, but mostly all the blames for delays and errors. Those who put their dobhi-mark on the final paperwork get the kudos. And also the bottom-fanners ( or ball carriers some say) and apple-shiners. What if the boss is a lady? Fan her ego la!

With all the talks on KPI, we certainly hope that the real 'slaves' in the service will get a fair assesment of their work. The KSN, the KSUs, the SUBs can come and go without affecting work output. But take the real slave workers away and the Ministries and Departments will be clogged with unattended files and unresolved issues. Do not take the old, experienced, hiddden-in- messy-offcice- corners and low-ranking officers who could not pass those sophisticated PhD graduate-devised exams, for granted. One of them could be worth more than ten paper-qualified KPSUs and SUBs. The Civil Service is indeed becoming more e-knowledge. Make sure it's not e-work ( 'e' for empty).

Turning to politics the flow is in the reverse. Old, tired, and allegation-plastered faces ( some allegations already acknowledged but accommodated) continue to dominate the scene. No exam to bother, no rules and regulations to be followed since polirtical exigencies beat everything else - if a law stands in the way, fuck the law and change or amend it-
just work hard to win the election and by-election. If you win you are great. You can do anything you want so long as you know how to get Cabinet's or the PM's nod. So what's social justice ( you give me what I want you are just), what's human rights ( if you can win a fight, a battle or a war, you are right), what's compassion , what's priorities ( what the boss wants comes first or you are out), what's rakyat didahulukan ( only those who vote for you are important), what's 1 Malaysia when everybody has his or her own idea of bersatu ( ask the schoolboys who are running after school girls or Dr Chua Soi Lek), what's a PhD when anybody can get an honorary one or buy it. There's only one rule for advancement in politics. Please the boss. Civil Servant can try this but when you get into trouble the boss will just drop you. You're inefficient when you get caught.

Hey, this is the month of Eid, a month of Forgiving and Well-wishing. Stop bellyaching! I guess you can't stop people talking even when you lavish them with the best food on the Malaysian menu. I walloped the food but also imbibed the verbal titbits for good measure. Check the pics. Selamat Hariraya.

A Dilemma for Young Malaysians

The young people of Malaysia today must be facing a great dilemma, if not a great frustration, looking at the things happening in the political parties governing the nation. The infighting among leaders, the charges and countercharges of corruption and misuse of power, old leaders refusing to make way for younger ones, the nomination of ex-leaders found guilty of money politics to stand for by-election or to remain in power, the police, the anti-corruption Commmission and the Judiciary being suspected of being subject to political pressure and arm-twisting, a rich country facing financial problems due to the great amount of public funds being squandered away through wastage or criminal diversion to private use.....

Barisan Nasional which had ruled the nation for 52 years is no longer what it used to be, the pillar of confidence and trust with great leaders at the helm. Many of the current ones and involving several levels, are facing many allegations of misdeed, misuse of power and self-enrichment in a surreptitious way.

More bewildering are some of the decisions made by the leadership. Port Dickson, for example, which is being promoted as a tourists seaside resort par excellence, has been designated as a 'Badar Tentera Darat' a military town. Wouldn't that name turn people off especially if there's some trouble in the country and the military is called upon to help restore order. A lawyer who was struck off from the register for some allegations of misdeed, was put up as a candidate for election and duely lost. Now an ex-Minister who was found guilty by the party disciplinary board of indulging in money politics ( buying votes - a criminal offence equivalent to corruption) is nominated as a candidate for a by-election. People's Representatives ( Wakil Rakyat) widely publicised as being involved in some sex scandals are being highlighted by the media like heroes and heroines. An ex-Minister alleged to have invaded the modesty of a cute employee had also been appointed as the nation's Ambassador to the United States.

The last two items could be a spiritual boon for the young but a bane to the morality of the nation.All these would certainly be difficult for the young people of Malaysia to digest, while the older and not so young knew that Barisan Nasional has lost a lot of it's earlier glory. The new leadership promised a change in image and attitude but all the above seem to affirm the saying that 'a leaopard cannot change its spots' . Everyone will have a tough time to decide whether to abandon the old Barisan and accept the new Pakatan, or let the old leopards continue to rule the Malaysian scene which is fast changing from the sylvan to the concrete jungle.

The older people could have enjoyed the best that the country had to offer and if things become very bad they'll just have to weather it out. It's the younger Malaysians who must decide now and in the next few years. They'll certainly have to bear the financial burden that the nation is now creating by selling all the bonds and debentures in the international market. If they don't like what is going on now, they have to show their disapproval by quetioning the decisions made by the old leaders and insisting that younger ones be allowed to enter the corridor of power.

The Clan Holds More than Family.

We always seek happiness among family members and friends. Those with huge families and friends may find this enough but I found out that extending the family membership to include the descedents of grandmas and grandpas will extend the happiness beyond expectation. The family tree suddenly blossomed into a glorious spectacle of relationships that included people you'd never imagined to be related to you. Distant maybe but most exciting.



The last few days I've been following up on the clan scenario. The gatherings at my in-laws' house were enough to convince me that if all of them were to give me their support to run for an election, I'd at least not loose my "wang pertaruhan". Menang tu tidaklah kerana not even members of a family support one party, hehe. A gathering of my grandma's and her sister's descendents
(Robah dan Dorai)- a 3rd gathering really- as captured by the above pics, produced a huge crowd that brought back wonderful memeories and brought together doctors, engineers, lecturers, musicians, businessmen, administrators, and... you name it. Yet only about quarter of the clan membership attended the gathering this time.




Closer to the family story, after several attempts for all of us to meet, only four of us managed to do it this time - my 2nd sister Hasnah. my brothers Zainal and Shaari, and mysself. The two little girls are my sister's grandchildren. The other brothers and sisters could not come to the gathering at my Uncle's home in Kg. Kundang, some 3 kilometers away from Ulu Bendul Recreational Center and Resort.


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The other pics show the Pesta 1 Malaysia and Aidilfitri Food Festival at Port Dickson. I never believe that all the various food and dishes offered at such festivals ( from satay to cendol) were free for there are so many of them. The government must be spending a big portion of rakyat's money on the pelanchongan bashes. But what the heck. It's giving the rakyat back what they deserve in terms of fun and festivities...and food of course.

My only regret, at the party in Dr Norzah's home ( she's my sis) I spent most of the time in the music room playing the piano and other instruments that I forgot to snap some shots for the album and blog. Hope somebody else did it and will download the pics to me later for inclusion on this site.

Finally, I got two old pics that I could not recognize. They're among those found in the other shots. If you can identify them through a response to this post, you might just win a prize. Please leave you address, though. or just phonenumber.




Happy HR to u all. It's not over yet.