The way I remember Him

He was not an easy man to deal with. His thoughts and principles set him apart from any other humans. Susah nak dikelentong and dikotak katikkan. Kalau bercakap dengan dia, memang confirm dia menang semua :). Rumah dia paling lawa, kereta dia paling cantik, orang lain punya tak lawa,  apa apa yang dia ada lah semuanya best, pendek katalah.


I realize now that he was what he was because that was how life had shaped him.


He was a tough man when he was young and I was always afraid the moment I asked anything, he would disagree and  he would raise his voice.  I always took his words seriously. I never dared to go against his words, never dared to lie and never dared to make excuse. Jangan bercinta, jangan ponteng, jangan mencuri and all sorts of other jangan. He was a father that any child would be scare of, you know. Bila dia tinggi suara ja dah nampak cam lion roars :)

On the other hand, he was a "sempoi" father yang tak payah protocol. I did not kiss his hands or hug him everytime I went to school. I did not have to speak to him with soft voice and careful politeness, Most of the time, we were like friends 'Bye Papa, G dulu Pa'. When he did not raise his voice reprimanding me (but actually he had a loud voice, and style dia cakap memang loud, kadang bila dia panggil I from afar, macam orang panggil sebab ada rumah terbakar:), gugur jantung I sekejap), I would be the one who had a higher note, 'mana buleh Pa, biar betulll'. We were "sempoi".


He was a man who valued experience and money. And he was a man who improved from nothing to something in phases berkat hardwork and patience and beringat. I remember how we started off as family, he was a mining labor you know, earning RM 3-5 per day. Life was a struggle. He made some extra income by tanam serai. A lot of serai at the backyard of our house. Why serai? sebab serai senang tanam, tak payah jaga and sekejab ja dah boleh cabut. He cleaned them all and sent to the wet market. And if musim durian, he bought 1 big bakul of durian and sold them as well. He rode a vespa then. Back and forth, back and forth between buruh lombong dan peniaga jalanan.


As his business stabilized, he quited his permanent job and meniaga sepenuh masa. One whole day at pasar. My mother would come in to help when he started to have another plan. Income was becoming better but he wanted more. So every day, he would ride a motorcyle from Sg Besi to Klang, with me accompanying him (I berdiri kat depan vespa tu) and in Klang, he built rumah sewa on my mum's land (nasib Atuk tinggalkan land). Hujan dan panas, everyday, without fail, he would ride his motorcysle to klang to complete 4 units of houses. Who will do such thing today ye? semua subcon kan :).
Hmm I remember one time tayar motor pancit and masa tu malam, jalan gelap, and I waited for him tukar tayar, takut you ada kubur cina kat federal tu kan :), masa tu boleh nampak kiri kanan kubur cina. I remember when we went back to klang buat rumah masa tu, we all selalu bawak nasi bungkus, sedap makan sebab penat. Dia penat bekerja, I penat bermain:).


Bila dah ada rumah sewa, life makin baik and my dad still wanted to improve. Selalu he told me. Duit kena cari even kalau besok nak mati. Duit kalau takda, hidup susah orang pun tak pandang. He bought a van dengan duit yang terkumpul and meniaga jadi double. Siang malam meniaga. Simple ja - jual pisang ja. Siang dekat pasar, malam dekat pasar malam.  Kalau tak pergi pasar malam, pergi beli stock pisang. I was always peneman yang setia,  di pasar malam I jadi tukang bungkus, jadi co pilot bila dia cari stock- semua ceruk kampung area Banting, Sepang, Denkil I masuk kebun pisang orang. During all those trip we talked and talked, cincai and sempoi just jangan cakap benda benda yang buat dia tertinggi suara sudah. Because then I would pout:)


Life was busy but very comfortable for us, his children. Makan lah nak makan apa. Belilah nak beli buku apa jangan membazir sudah. Walau kira orang bukan orang senang, jadilah juga senang. Dining out juga selalu, makan satay haji Samuri ja yang grand masa tu, cuti sekolah berjalan, habis satu Malaysia I berjalan masa kecik . Nak naik kapal terbang, terbanglah ke Medan, merasa lak kecik kecik naik kapal terbang. Zoo negara, muzium negara, laut and air terjun semua lah cuti sekolah mesti pergi.


Dari van ke lorry, dari rumah sewa papan ke batu dari satu ke dua, dari proton ke Honda, dari kerja  siang malam sampai tua dia masih kerja, siapkan rumah, menebas kebun, tanam pokok buah, meniaga burger malam (burger dialah yang paling sedap, banyak sos ands mayo), kerusi taman, invest in pakcik bawah pokok yang perlukan modal nak  masuk kedai etc.


He worked and worked and worked. And he valued money so much and he was very prudent.


He taught me about being susah and to earn and work for what I want. Yet, since I did not go through such a hard life like he did, I am not that prudent and he was always saying that I need to be more prudent and more and more :). And dia selalu kutuk I sampai I tak tahan sometime and malas nak melayan :). Kena kutuk kaw kaw dari kecik hati sampai dah malas nak berasa hati :)


When I allow my mind to drift to yesteryears, I realiaze now what he thought and taught. Life is not always easy. Dia pernah hidup susah so he reminded me. Everything is about money. Spend some, beringat some and be prudent and once a while indulge myself.  I think that what he was trying to tell me.


As I am writing this, I remember and I remember a lot of other things and it is all coming back to me. And I am in tears. I had a great childhood. Indeed, I did.


ps; vespa buruk tu ada lagi dalam store. what will I do with it?. He loved and treasured it so much