This week I intend to write some snippets on a remarkable lady by the name of Hajjah Hafsah binti Haji Abdul Hamid who is my mother.
She did not complete her school education and completing only at Standard Four level. My grandfather was a very conservative man and exposing his daughters was unthinkable as was the Malay society in Tanjong Malim then in the 1930s as far as daughters were concerned. Thus he did not allowed my mother to complete her education nor to allow her to work. For his sons it was a different story. They were allowed to be educated and sent to the Victoria Institutions (VI), an English school, in Kuala Lumpur.
A number of my mother's friends who completed their schooling, worked as teachers with some of them later to become Head Mistresses of primary schools.
My mother was a very serious person who did not like to be taken for fools readily. A very opposite to my father who tended to be more mellowed and gregarious as he grew old especially when all his ten children were working and settling down with their own families.
She was the Matriarch of the family and she liked things in moderation. She carried her duty as a wife and mother very seriously. Until her old days she would prohibit her children to be over happy or laughed too much as she believed such indulgence was not good morally and spiritually. Moderation was her hall mark. It was not uncommon for her to reprimand her children even though they were over half a century old and having grandchidren of their own if she felt they were over indulgence with themselves or their own children.
She was very caring. I remember at one time when I was in Standard Six in the year 1961. while studying at the Government English School, Sabak Bernam. We who stayed at the hostel were not allowed by our Hostel Warden, Mr Yugaraj, to go back home during the Hari Raya Haji festivities because our Secondary School Entrance Examinations were just around the corner.
Both my parents came to the Asrama Khir Johari at Sabak Bernam to visit me immediately after they had performed their Aidil Adha prayers. Their coming really caught me by surprise though I was very happy by their presence. According to my father, my mother insisted on seeing me. She brought along ketupats and rendangs and other delicacies which she knew I liked.
I was a late developer. Thus when I passed the Standard Six Examinations in overall Grade B , Mr Yugaraj could not believed it as others that he perceived to be better than me failed or got poorer grades.
During the school holidays I enjoyed going back to join my family at Parit Baru. The Head Master's house was very spacious and still stands till today even though lately it is not occupied. There were lots of memories of my childhood in that house as my father served at Parit Baru for four years from 1959 until his optional retirement in 1963. I was in Sabak from Standard Four until Form Three in 1964 when I sat for my Lower Certificate of Education(LCE) Examinations.
My mother was a very good cook and among my favourite was her gulai ladang. It was a beef gulai lemak with portions of serai (lemon grass). At that time there was no electricity at Parit Baru. So we were always waiting for the weekly Pasar Khamis when fresh beefs and rib bones would be available. So come Thursdays we will get to eat fresh tenderloins in our gulai ladang and also rib bones in our soups.
As for other occasions, my father regularly went to Teluk Anson as it was then called (now Teluk Intan). Every month he had to cash the teachers' salary cheques at the bank there . Also from time to time he had to buy stationaries for the school and whatnot. On these trips he would also take the opportunity to buy items and products not available at Parit Baru such as the cold storage branded butter and many types of biscuits which we all liked. As there was no refrigeration we have to consume the butter quickly before they melt down.
Sometimes prior to openings of the school year or festivities like Hari Raya Puasa and Hari Raya Haji, my father would bring my mother and all of us to Teluk Anson to buy new uniforms or shirts and trousers for us and cloth materials for my mother and younger sister. We would go by boat to Hutan Melintang and from there by bus to Teluk Anson. My father liked to bring us for lunch at the Eusoffia Restaurant which he felt was the best restaurant at Teluk Anson .
Another delicious nasi kandar shop where we used to eat was at the town's old bus terminal. It had since been demolished and moved to another place. I was in Teluk Intan last year and tried the food at shop's new location. Somehow it was not as delicious as it was at its old location in the 1960s.
Belum pun 'kering' isu ancaman Hindraf, ada pula permintaan daripada Gabungan NGO
India yang mahukan jabatan hal ehwal bukan Islam.
Pada Awang, permintaan tersebut tidak kena pada masanya. Gabungan NGO India sepatutnya terlebih dahulu menunjukkan komitmen besar menentang pelampau daripada kalangan kaum itu.
Jika masyarakat Melayu termasuk UMNO sanggup mengambil risiko dalam memerangi ekstrimisme dan pelampau Islam selama ini demi keharmonian semua, NGO India juga harus berbuat demikian.
Selain itu, apa yang diminta itu tidak wajar. Ia seakan mahu hak yang sama dengan agama Islam- agama resmi sebagaimana termaktub dalam Perlembagaan.
Awang harap penjelasan Timbalan Perdana Menteri, Najib Tun Razak dalam hal tersebut diamati dengan semangat yang betul. Tanpa jabatan khas sekalipun, orang bukan Islam terus mendapat pembelaan menerusi banyak mekanisme yang ada.
Antara buktinya kebebasan beragama, kemudahan banyak rumah ibadat dan sambutan perayaan semua agama secara besar-besaran.
Atas nama tanah air tercinta, janganlah kita terlalu banyak meminta. Fikirkanlah sama untuk memberi.
Awang - Pertahan kontrak sosial
AWANG SELAMAT
When I saw the biased news coverage on the recent demonstrations in Malaysia by the news channel Aljazeera it really brings dismay and anger to me. In fact I did sent an email to Aljazzra's online editor giving a piece my mind for its biased coverage on Malaysia.
I put AljazeeraOnline in this blog's link to a list of Websites and the Local and International newspapers so that you readers can have easy access to them and read and compare how they treat a particular news that occurs anywhere in the world at any one time.
I am a firm believer that knowledge and information is power. This had been brainwashed into me by my father as part of my upbringing. We are Mandailing people and the Mandailings are famous for emphasizing knowledge as part of their social values. In fact I wanted to quote the hadist of the Holy Prophet Muhammad s.a.w who said "Who is more honourable and in high esteem? A knowledgeable man or an ignorant man?" as a description for this webblog.
Logically why on earth does a TV Channel owned and based in Qatar , an Islamic country and and a member of the Organization of Islamic Countries(OIC), slanted the news when it comes to Malaysia?
This is the more disrespectful when Malaysia is the current Chairman of OIC.
But there more than what meet the eyes. If we compare ,for example, how Aljazeera treats two equally important Islamic countries, Iran and Malaysia, then we can really see how shabbily the latter is treated.
My business school taught me that in life we must know the truth and after knowing the truth then we can slanted the truth the way that we want it to. Thats the name of the game.
If we watch Aljazeera, it will treat Iran one way and Malaysia another.
For Iran, as far I am concerned and correct me if I am wrong, Aljazeera tends to be more respectful and give fair coverage. Why? Because Iran is a regional power in the Persian Gulf and Qatar being a small state not only can it not afford to antagonize Iran but fears it. The power that be behind Aljazeera knows about this.So as far as Iran is concern there is no mention of democracy or human rights or civil society for that matter.
For Malaysia we have been taken for granted as far as the Gulf states are concerned. Remember how we were played out during the bidding to be the host for the 2006 Asian Games which went Dubai's way through buying of the delegates. And how Tan Sri Imran, President of the Malaysian Olympic Council could not concealed his disappointment.
The same happened when Malaysia was asked to submit their candidate a few years ago for the post of the Secretary General of OIC only to be humiliated during the voting. The candidate from Turkey became the new SG of the OIC.
How come we as the Chairman of OIC and yet shown so little respect? Actually Malaysia and Indonesia even though thought of as successful and moderate countries in the Muslim world, both these countries are not considered as heavyweights in the Muslim world.
The team in Aljazeera that covers this part of the world are not Muslim Arabs but Europeans, mainly English who are given the widest leeway to talk about democracy and all the ideal human rights within the civil society which even their countries of origin do not practice fully.
If only Aljazeera emphasized about the same matters when they cover stories on Iran and Qatar it will make my day.
We always spent our Sundays with the children, Azmaton, Abdul Rahim, Raihana, Muhammad Asri Nasution, Norjannah Nasution and Muhammad Firdaus Nasution.
I remember when I was working with Bank Bumiputra in 70s and the 80s Kelab Kakitangan Bank Bumiputra(Kelab Putra) organized a Family Day one afternoon in 1983 when Azmaton was eight years old, Abdul Rahim seven, Raihana four and Muhd Asri Nasution three years old. The family day was held at Dewan Jalan Ampang, the building that housed the first Parliament when Malaya became independent in 1957.
Aside from the usual food and games for the children there was also entertainment. The main show time was songs by the popular lawyer singer named Sudirman who had won the Bintang RTM back in 1976.
All the children were all very happy and excited and danced with the songs sung by Sudirman. Among the songs that he sang were Orang kampong, Basikal tua, Chow kit road and others. The show that he gave that afternoon was very entertaining to all children and adults present.
I already felt in my heart at that time that Sudirman would make it big one day. This was before the concert that he gave at Albert Hall in London. And also the various international awards and honours that he subsequently won over the years.
At that time he was still was still a practising law and married to Puan Kamariah Jamaluddin.
That family day organized by Kelab Putra in 1983 left a lasting impression to my then four children.
A big thank you to the organizers.
Every Friday is my off day. I normally spent the day in prayers and also remembering my emak and ayah.
Today is Friday. Its time for me and my wife Azizah to ziarah my Mak and Ayah's kubur at Bukit Kiara. Very centrally located as we are all in Klang Valley except for my younger sister Datin Latifah Hanum and my younger brother Kamarul Zaman. Latifah resides with her husband and family in Alor Setar while Kamarul Zaman is at Kampong Baru 'A', Hulu Bernam, Tanjong Malim near to our ancestral home. There are ten of us who are alive. Three girls and seven boys. If I include the still born and miscarriages there will be a total of 16 of us in the family.
This week I will be writing about my Ayah. My ayah Hj Muhammad Taib bin Haji Sidek was very proud man, principled and hardworking man. He was a product of Sultan Idris Training College(SITC). He was also a good organizer. I remember when he was the Head Master of the National Primary School at Parit Baru, Sabak Bernam in the early 60s he used to go to the then Selangor State Education Office at Jalan Swettenham(now renamed Jalan Dato Onn) to follow-up on certain administrative matters like teachers' salaries, budgetting, supplies of textbooks and etc. Sometimes the teachers at Parit Baru would get their salaries much earlier than the other schools in the district.
As transportation from Parit Baru to Kuala Lumpur was bad those days my father used to rent and ride pillion on the high powered Triumph motorbikes. Every now and then he would be going to KL to settle and solve the school's administrative or other matters that arises from time to time which affected his school.
I remembered on one occasion he brought us all to Ipoh. He had got the arrears of his allowances for teaching the Kelas Tambahan untuk Orang Tua(Extra Classes for the Adult). He brought us all to Ipoh during that year's Merdeka Celebrations. My father made reservation for two double rooms at a Chinaman Hotel in Ipoh. One for my parents and our three sisters. The other one for the seven boys. It was a very interesting experience for me especially as it was the first time that I ever stayed at a hotel.
There will a lot of stories that I would be sharing with you about my simple but ambitious and determined Ayah and Emak in the weeks to come.
Please recite Al Fatihah for their souls. Thank you.
When I joined Bank Bumiputra Malaysia Bhd the Head of the Establishment Division was a Senior General Manager (SGM) by the name of Syed Zainol Khodki Shahabudin. There was two departments under his Division. One was Human Resources Department and the other being the Properties and Security Department. Tuan Syed hails from Kedah just like my wife. The late Tunku Abdul Rahman, our beloved first Prime Minister, was his uncle as Tunku's wife, the late Sharifah Rodziah Syed Alwi Barakbah was his auntie.
I do not have much exposure working with Tuan Syed (as we normally refer to him then) as I reported to and worked under Encik (now Dato) Nik Abdul Aziz Mohd Kamil who was then the Assistant General Manager(AGM) of the Human Resources Department. I was then attached to the Research and Development Unit of the Department.
Subsequently I joined the International Operations Department under the Bank's International Banking Division headed then by the Senior General Manager Dr Rais Saniman. My immediate boss was Puan Mariam Dato Eusoff. Puan Mariam's father Dato Eusoff was the famed Datuk Panglima Kinta or Lord of Kinta. There is a book on him written a few years ago by Puan Mariam's elder sister Datin Ragayah Dato Eusoff.
Recently I happened to bump into Tuan Syed in Shah Alam. He looks just as he was in the eighties. His hair hardly shows any whiteness whereas in my case there are a lot of grey hairs. He looks contented and at peace with himself. I supposed being brought up in the households of Kedah's royal families showed in one's character.
While in the Bank he used to talk about character and principles. Before joining Bank Bumi he was with the central bank Bank Negara Malaysia(BNM) serving under the late Tun Ismail Ali, the great and legendary Governor of BNM.
Coming back to my recent encounter with Tuan Syed, he pulled me aside and said "Raduan, in life there are always two choices when we make any decision. Either the decision ends up as an asset or it becomes a liability"
There are no two way about this. What we decide will either ends up as an asset bringing income to us or it it will be a liability that we have to bear and shoulder for the rest of our life. Thus we have to be careful and wise and think about the implications when we are making decisions.
Such a wise statement from a very humble but highly respected man which I would like to share with you, my readers.
Ever since when I did my MBA at the Asian Institute of Management, Manila, Philippines in the 1982/83 session a paper that I liked and which continue to fascinate me till today is on the Sources and Uses of Power.
In any organization or company there will be an organization chart which shows its formal organization set-up. The organization chart forms part of the company's current strategies in meeting its strategic targets, namely, in terms of profitability, its market share, productivity and etc.
But there is also an equally important one, that is, the informal set up of the company where the dynamics of human behavior in the organization occurs. This involves the politicking between the various personalities in the company trying to acquire power and influence. This may be through establishing relationship between certain senior powerful management members who are not necessarily reporting to one another but they have close relationships and also establishing relationship with peer groups or lower ranking staff who are not necessarily reporting to them but more as their mentees.
The old boys networks in these organizations are ready made instruments for these purposes. For others it could be their racial background for example among the Chinese executives, they always tend to go together for their lunches. Others share the same states of origin like those from Kelantan, Kedah, Johore etc etc. These networkings provide free flows of information through the various levels. As we know , knowledge is power. That is the fulcrum of these networkings.
But these informal leaders just as the formal leaders with their powers and influence come also with responsibilities and obligations.
They are accountable for their actions and conduct. They must be seen over time to be making good decisions. Their reputations are also dependent on their decision making skills and character. Any mistakes made by them will not only destroy their reputation but will also undermine their effectiveness.
Reputation is everything in life. As executives they should know what Napoleon said about leadership namely that "there are no bad soldiers only bad officers".
An officer's integrity and conduct thus forms an important aspect of his reputation. An officer should behaves impeccably and be above board all the time and in all circumstances. There should be no hanky panky. If all executives act in the best interest of the organizations that they worked in , naturally these organizations will show good profitability and growth.
Thus an executive whatever his position in the organization whether high or low will need to have high integrity and good conduct. Only with these characteristics can talks or acts from the high moral ground to strengthen and maintain his position as a powerful and influential figure in his organization.
There is no two way about it. As they say "you cannot have the cake and eat it".
The above news item appeared in the Star on Saturday , 1st December 2007 recently.
The Malaysian government will deal with its citizens according to its laws and no other country should interfere with how Kuala Lumpur handles its domestic affairs.
Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar said all Malaysian citizens, no matter their countri origin, had to abide by the law.
"If they break any law, its our right to deal with them according to Malaysian law" he told the Star when asked to comment on a report in which Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee expressed New Delhi's concerns over the treatment of Indians in Malaysia.
Indian Prime Minister echoed similar sentiments. When asked by reporters in the Indian capital, he said " Whenever Indians abroad or people of Indian origin living abroad are adversely affected, that naturally is a source of concern to us"
Syed Hamid said if any foreign country starts to question ethnicity in the country, Malaysia would eventually face a breakup
"I hope there is no misunderstanding of what is happening here. If they are talking about Indian citizens, we would understand the concern, but what happened here involves Malaysian citizens"
