FRIDAYS ARE FOR REMEMBERING MY PARENTS

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.