my beloved Abg Nah

My beloved cousin, Abg Nah @ Aminah Sirajuddin, passed away yesterday afternoon. She was 85. On Wednesday she was hospitalised and by Saturday she succumbed to her illness.

Inna lillahi waina ilaihi rajiun.

She was more than 20 years my senior but probably when I was in my early teen she often asked me to babysit for her two children, Amar n Hani, since her house and my parents place were not so far away. Thus the reason for our closeness. Sometimes I would sleep over to look after the two kids when her husband was away oversea. Her husband was Dr Imran Gurbachan Singh, whom I wrote about in one of my previous posting many moons ago. Both her children are doctors too, Amar at GH and Hani being the Ketua Jabatan at HUKM.

When I was with her, we would frequent AnW in PJ for waffle and coney dog and root beer. It was there I was scouted to do a radio commercial for Hudson then. Once in a while we would visit her husband’s relative in Taman Tun for lunch. Though I was there to help out with the kids, Abg Nah never let me feel left behind or inferior. She would treat me with love and care, as if I was her brother.

There was one incident that she would always bring up whenever I visited her, which was the day her maid tried to steal her jewellery. I still remember that afternoon vividly though the incident took place more than 40 years ago. The maid was about to go back to her hometown when Abg Nah noticed some of her jewellery pieces missing. Suspecting her maid had stolen them, she called my father at home, since my father was a police officer then.

As my father was not around, she spoke to me in a panicked manner, stating the fact of the situation. After informing my mum, I hurriedly jumped on my bicycle and went to her place at Kg Tunku. There, I found her quarrelling with the maid and asking the maid to empty her bag. The maid denied stealing anything and refused to open her bag. They got into a struggle which was chaotic, what with the shouts and tugging. I tried my level best to disarm the maid though I was afraid but soon the bag’s content tumbled onto the floor, and there was the jewellery. Necklace and chains and rings if my memory doesn’t fail me. A few minutes later, two police patrol cars, together with my father, arrived at the scene an took away the maid. Abg Nah told me later that my presence gave her the strength and belief to deal with the maid. Thank God.

As I grew older I seldom frequented her place as I used to do, since Amar and Hani had grown up, and being a teenager, and later early twenties, I had a life of my own. We did meet each other during Raya and other events since she loved my father so much and would come over now and then. After many years had passed, and with family of my own, I decided to renew the close-knit relationship we once had. I took my wife and children to visit her at Bangsar. Once we went for dinner at Lake Club. Raya too would be the opportunity get together. A couple of times she came over to my place in Lekio, and always reminding me to bring her the apple mangoes from my place for her to make acar, and there were many other memorable moments that I am unable to pen down now.

The last time we met was during Thoriq’s wedding. Thoriq is my sister’s son. 8^th August. Abg Nah came with Amar n his family, and her maid, and later Hani made an appearance too. We had a long chat, catching up on each other, and she reminded me to come over to her place on my next trip to PJ to taste her dalca which she promised to make for me.

God had His plan. Yesterday afternoon while I was tending to my plants, my daughter showed the message in her phone. I was devastated to get the news since I had mentioned to my wife that we would go to Abg Nah’s place when we go back to PJ and I was really looking forward to it.

And now Abg Nah, I pray to Allah for Him to bestow upon you His Mercy, His Love and His Blessing. Hope one day we will meet again just like we used to. In Jannah. inshaAllah.

Ya Allah, forgive her, and illuminate her grave with Your Light, accept her good deeds and forgive all her shortcoming.

Abg Nah, you will be sorely missed

from left- Ruiz, my dearest, NKc, Abg Nah, Thaqif and Tom, during Thoriq's wedding

Hanya

 

Hanya keluhan

Hanya tangisan

Hanya lena yg panjang

Hanya kelat senyuman

Hanya getaran

Menggantikn

Rintihan

Kerinduan

nkc @ Old City Jerusalem

Once upon a story - 13 - nehe ike

 Zaman gua dok Limau Kasturi dulu, kalau time hujan lebat dua tiga hari, air sungai mesti naik tinggi le. Silap haribulan, banjir kampung, yg mana adalah perkara biasa bagi penduduk kt sana.

Time air besar, biasanya gua dengan brader gua, Mat Chok n Nordin (arwah dh), n Mat Pok Sar, Ayahanda, n ada bbrp kaum lg akan turun ke sungai mudik ke hulu untuk menahan ikan. Hujan renyai , air sungai besar n deras jugak, kitorg akan cari lubuk atau anak sungai untk menahan pukat. Selesai menahan pukat empat atau lima tempat, kitorg pun berehat sementa sambil hirup kopi n mkn ns lemak n berasap sbtg dua di bawah hujan renyai. Balik tu kitaorg pun angkat pukat yg dipasang tadi utk melihat samada ada x ikan yg tersangkut pd pukat tu. Klu ada, rezeki mkn untuk hari tu le.

Yg mahalnya, masa nk pasang pukat, Mat Pok Sar akan membongkok n mendekatkn telinga dia ke air, seolah2 mendengar sambil menjentik air kt situ. Setelah mendengar sebentar, dia akan bgtau kitorg ada ikan atau tidak kt situ. “tak do ike.” Peh! Lain macam ilmu ni, main jentik air n dengar je boleh tahu ada ikan atau tak. Tak tau la betul ke idak, tapi memang diorg seme budak situ @ lahir terus main sungai, mungkin betul la gamaknya.

Gua? Layankn jee.

Pengalaman yg tak dapat dilupakan.

Mat Pok Sar, Mat Chok, Guala!, Nordin

Pernah

~ Pernah ~

Dulu kau hadir.

Pernah. Sehingga kini,

Masih bertamu.

@ nkc haiku

bringing God into the picture..

 I still remember during class while studying to be a teacher, my classmates and I were having a heated discussion with our lecturer, whom sadly I couldn’t remember his name.

Then one of my friends who didn’t want to lose the argument, said “well, if God wanted that to happen, nothing could stop it.”

And to this day I still clearly remember my lecturer’s reply, “if you bring God into the picture , there is nothing else to talk about.”

True. So absolutely true. It completely shifts the discussion from logical or empirical exploration into the realm of personal belief.

And just like that, the discussion ended.

 

Merencam Rindu

Aku pernah menyinta kamu

Walau sebentar saja kamu hadir

Tapi cukup lama kamu bertamu

Di dalam zikir

Di dalam fikir

Aku cuba untuk tegar

Tidak menyinta selain kamu

Namun akhirnya aku sedar

Kamu tak mampu tabah begitu

Kadang kenangan singgah mendatang 

Walau jauh aku buang

Kita tak sempat menjadi siapa-siapa

Bermaqam sudah nesan tiada

Sekadar harapan tak kesampaian

Merencam rindu

Guala!

Bila Rindu Bertamu

 

Kenapa aku

Masih merindu

Menyukai mu

Walau hanya bertamu pilu

 

Aku cuba membuang rindu

Jauh ke seberang

Namun hadir mu

Membuat dadaku bergoncang

 

Tak ingin aku merindu

Namun tuhan tahu

Di ambang pintu

Aku tegar menunggu

 

~ nkc ~

juli ‘26