Childhood Memories Part 2

Continuing the weekly series – read Part 1 here

(Warning – one long post ahead)

My heaven in this world – my grandma’s house (from my mother side) and as long as I could remember; I have always been treated with extra care and gentle when I am with her.

It was no surprise that perhaps this “special treatment” comes with me being the eldest grandchild in the family. I dreaded staying in the other grandma’s house, so it was blessing whenever my grandma (hmmm, too many “grandmas” here – I better call father’s side grandma as grandma 1 and mother’s side as grandma 2) comes to other grandma’s house and conveniently take me back to her house.

The location

Grandma 2’s house is in Seri Kembangan (back then was known as Serdang Baru) – couple of kilometers away from grandma 1’s house in Serdang Lama, so it was no surprise that my grandma 2 would take a bus in the morning, “grab” me from the “hated” place and within 30 minutes, I am resting comfortably in grandma 2’s house.

(PKNS used similar earth movers with huge tires – they looked scary to small kids. Photo source: http://southwood.typepad.com)

The area where the house used to be (my grandma 2 sold off the house in the late 1990s and bought a double storey house in another housing area) is located along the busy main road, away from the main town. In front of the house, there are “PKNS” houses and shoplots – in the early 1980s, there was nothing but flat vacant land, being developed back then by PKNS for low cost residential houses (I used to get scared whenever I see the huge PKNS tractors and bulldozers).

At the back and at the side were houses occupied by our Chinese neighbors – one was having a restaurant, so we used to get good dishes and fresh “ayam kampung” eggs from the good old lady.

It was no easy to reach the house – usually one need to take the Toong Fong Bus no. 107 (the old buses had the engine inside the cabin – so for those who were sitting in front, will be deafen by the loud noise – I wonder how the driver was able to drive it on a daily basis) from Puduraya and reach the Seri Kembangan town (Toong Fong later had bus number 133 passing the main road in front of my grandma’s house).

Get down at the makeshift bus stop and walk for 2 kilometers to the house. These days there is a direct bus passing by the house but in those days, we walk. Walk, walk and walk with all the heavy bags and tiredness to reach the house. If we are lucky, one of my uncles would wait for us with his bicycle or motorbikes (his friend’s bike). During the long walk, one of the memorable “landmark” that we often pass by is a huge replica of a rocket in the compound of a house (DAP was strong in these areas those days).

(We had the small type guava fruits – it is very hard to bite but very tasty if add little bit of salt. Photo source: www.walkingloka.blogspot.com)

There was a guava tree on both side of the house – my uncles made sure that we were expert enough to climb the trees and get the ripe guava fruits (one need to climb higher and one would reach the roof – it was a good hiding place there).

The house

Grandma’s house was a wooden house with a brick kitchen – one can see the huge wooden beams criss crossing up the ceiling (the house was built by my grandpa after the family moved from Port Dickson in 1970s). There is a huge hall – something that can’t be missed when one walks pass the main door and with a large sofas and a huge hi-fi system belting out SP Bala evergreen songs.

There were 3 bedrooms in the house to sleep – 2 for my uncles. I often sleep holding my grandma’s hands (it used to get very creepy at nights – unfamiliar noises passing the bedroom windows). One open area was maintained as prayer room. Towards the kitchen was a small room – we call it storeroom and it had many items – tools, old stuff and sundry. We used to spend a lot of time here, going through the stuff and playing with the tools.

Next was the kitchen which had 2 bathrooms attached – in the middle was a huge table – one can always find delicious meals on the table, no matter what time of the day one goes to have the meal. In the mornings, one can find packets of “nasi lemak”, “kuih-muih” and wonton noodles.

(The area where the house used to be – Photo source: Google Earth)

In the late 1990s where the wooden house started to fall apart and the main road became so congested, my uncles advised my grandma to sell off the house and move to a quieter housing area (as opposed to renovating it). The real estate price was good too – so my grandma did just that and a new “grandma” house started in a housing area 10 km away from the old place.

The new house was better and spacious but lacked the nostalgia feeling whenever me and my cousins sit around and chit chat on the good old times.

Utilities

The ‘heaven” had piped water and uninterrupted electricity all around – so, there was no lack of entertainment in the evenings and a cooling fan in the warm nights. We did not have a fridge for ice water back then, so our source of ice cubes was from the restaurant at the back (10 cents for a big packet of crushed ice). After PKNS had built houses in front of my grandma’s house, restaurants sprout out – so there was an easy avenue for us to get Chinese meals.

Breakfast

(Breakfast not missed when at grandma’s house. Photo source: http://tabetai.blogspot.com/)

The day starts with my grandma getting early in the morning readying the hot water for my shower. Once done, I would dress up whilst my grandma goes through the items to be purchased at the wet market (a good 2 km walk one way). I still recall her holding a plastic basket on one hand and holding my hand on another.

We would walk slowly at the beginning often with another lady from the neighborhood – it is a tiring walk but I was able to match my grandma’s stamina and pace. We will reach the wet market and often, my grandma will buy basketful of sundry goods – sometimes 2 fat chickens in addition to the full basket.

It’s heavy just by looking at it but my grandma has none of that – she will take me to a stall selling fried noodles (I still remember it being wrapped with Chinese daily paper and the sweet sauce mixed with the noodles). In addition to the noodles, she will also buy “ang koo” cakes (my favorite was the red ones). One basket full, breakfast for the grandson and probably a plastic full of chicken – we then head back to the house, 2 km away.

Best thing

Where else you can get someone asking everyone else to “tone down” the voice because the grandson is sleeping in the afternoons and switching on the fan when it is warm if not at the favorite grandma’s house. Hot water for showers, good food (without asking for it) and a big area to run around – it is truly my “heaven” in this world.

My grandma (I gather that she is about 70 years old now and still looks in her 50s) is still alive and when I go over to her house on the weekends, she still gives me the VVIP treatment (probably a little less now, my son gets more attention now).

To be continued…

Cough, cough, cough…

(Picture source: http://www.britannica.com)

Coughs from me, my wife and my son for last 2 days – 3 visits to the local clinic and today even to a Chinese traditional doc have not brought the light at end of the tunnel. I don’t care much about me but it is painful to see my son coughing at nights. My wife been weak too – hopefully she gets better but it is a headache to be travelling to and fro the house and the clinics.

If nothing much improves in the next few days, getting ourselves into hospital seems to be the next “best” option. Stressed out and tired after coughing, it is difficult to comprehend for the time being.

Counting on the “dark skies to clear” and gives us breathing space.

Piggy Sticky

RPK said that the spinning machine is spinning out of control and it is more so after the general election.

After a long, long time, I watched the 8 o’clock news at TV3 – perhaps curious on how the TV station is “presenting” its news now (after the position of the opposition just got better) and perhaps there was nothing interesting on the other channels.

The spin

(The affected area for centralised pig farming – F1 Circuit is not that near as it is claimed to be. Picture source: Google Earth)

The issue of centralised pig farm in Selangor was raised again. The TV station claimed that the State Government (they used the term “mixed government” – to connote, er, what?) was going against the wishes of the people. They claimed that it will cause massive pollution and therefore the “people” were angry on this project.

Then mention of the Sepang F1 International Circuit and the Bagan Lallang area was made together with snippets of a beach was shown (implying that the pig farm will pollute this beach).

Then (as I expected), a short interview with the “angelic looking” Khir Toyo was shown where he condemned the project and said that the State Government should have an open talk with the residents in the area before even agreeing to the project (tell me how many times the local government had “open talk” with residents and adhered to it?).

The truth

(Selangor Umno leader and Tanjung Sepat state assemblyperson Dr Karim Mansor posing next to a pig-pen with a thumbs-up sign while in Germany. Photo source: Malaysiakini)

For those who do not know the truth, they will probably fall for the spin and waste their time and be upset with the “arrogant” State Government. But a spin is a spin nonetheless where the truth is hidden and lies are made up as the holy truth. The TV station “conveniently” failed to mention couple of important facts such as:-

The centralised pig farming was originally mooted by Khir Toyo’s Administration

The pig farm is using latest technology to avoid any pollution & outbreak of diseases

The centralised pig farm will eliminate the sporadic pig farm problem (same problem faced by Malacca – read Malaysiakini’s report titled “M’cca CM flamed over blog-post on pig farm”)

Not all people are against it – the majority of them supports this project

EIA Study

If the centralised pig farm eliminates pollution, then where is the EIA study to confirm this? Veera Pandiyan wrote this in theStar and asked the same question. He said:-

I don’t remember seeing reports about Selangor Mentri Besar Khalid Ibrahim’s plan to call foreign experts to assess the pig farm project and support its Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) study to ensure the public.

Nor that the previous government did the original EIA or that the new administration had three options to resolve the issue – allow dirty farms to exist all over the state and continue to pollute the environment, close all down, or locate them to the proposed new state-of-the art pig farm area.

Perhaps Pandiyan should look at this piece in Sin Chew instead:-

He (the Selangor MB) said the Selangor government will hire foreign to carry out an in-depth study to support the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) study as an assurance to the public that there would be no problems arising from the implementation of the project, which was expected to take a year, according to Bernama.

He said the EIA study had already been done by the previous Barisan Nasional state government which had also visited such operations in Germany and the Netherlands to see the technology being used at the facilities.

“We are very transparent about the project and will inform the people accordingly, so that they will understand what we are doing.

“We will disclose the actual cost of the project, the size of the area involved, number of breeders and number of pigs to be reared at this modern facility,” he told reporters after opening the annual general meeting of the Gabungan Ikhtisas dan Usahawan Bumiputera Anak Selangor (GIBS), in Shah Alam Friday (12 Apr). Khalid was responding to the statement by Environmental Protection Society Malaysia adviser Dr Gurmit Singh who asked that the findings of the EIA study be made public.

Modern Pig Farm

What does this really means? I am not sure the details of the “technology” to be used in Selangor but that does not mean new technology is unable to solve the age old problem with pig related problems in Malaysia.

The researchers at North Carolina State University have evaluated five new technologies that help to control air and water pollution generated by pig farms – read the details here – some ideas sound very similar to one that mentioned for the pig farm in Selangor.

Or read about the study titled “Economic Impacts of Installing Innovative Technologies on North Carolina Hog Farms” that was published by Environmental Defense and Wilbur Smith Associates – click here for details.

Consider the above before falling for spins in the mainstream media – they may not be “the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth”.

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Aisehman’s Membabi Buta

Tamil Movie Sad Moments

We cannot separate “crying scenes” from Tamil movies but sometimes sadness can come in other forms as well.

I may have my “bad moments” with Tamil movies but I have to admit that some Tamil movies or scenes are simply gems. I talked about comedies in Tamil movies and (one of) my favorite sad moment from Tamil movies has to be this:-

(Note: Sometimes this video shows an error message – video is not available but a retry later show it is working. I don’t know why. Alternatively snippets of the scene can be found in Google video here)

The scene from Kamal Haasan’s “Apoorva Sagodharargal” where he plays a dual role of a midget clown and car repairman – the role of midget was superbly done.

The background story:

Appu (Kamal Haasan) works as a clown in a circus. The circus owner’s daughter have been close to him lately so much so Appu begans to think that the daughter is in love with him. One day, the daughter gives him a ring and asks him to keep it safely and couple days later, tells him that she is taking him to the wedding registrar which Appu thinks for his and the owner’s daughter marriage.

Scene 1 (at the registrar office):

Appu gets down from the taxi happy but when he turns to see, the daughter is with another guy. Apparently Appu was brought in to be the witness for their marriage. Appu is made fun by the guy’s friend and the registrar. Illayaraja’s haunting background music and the sadness on Appu’s face say it all – it was heavy moment.

Scene 2 (at the circus):

The owner is very angry and scolds Appu for his actions (Appu unable answer the owner). Appu’s mother comforts the owner by saying that the guy is a good partner for his daughter as he is a doctor and comes from a good family. In the same statement, Appu’s mother says that unlike his son (Appu) who is a retarded (Appu gets a shock and walks away), the guy is more suited for the daughter.

Next (not in the video):

The scene moves to Appu singing a sad song (a great hit by SP Bala) and attempts to commit suicide

What I liked about the above scenes is where Kamal Haasan manages to give the expression of being cheated and humiliated but at the same time, of not being able to tell what is in his heart. You need not know Tamil to understand the scene. Sad!

Childhood Memories Part 1

I have been thinking about it for sometime – of writing down my childhood memories of people, places and events. I lived in both my grandma houses (one from my dad’s side and another from my mom’s side) and encountered many interesting and hard to forget memories – I might as well, start writing them down before I start to forget it.

To set some goals for me to write this, I will try to do this as a series, posted every Wednesday (keyword: “will try”).

I will start with my grandma’s house – grandma here is from my dad’s side. I did not really like her (I don’t know why but perhaps she looked and sounded mean), in fact I did not really her other children (my uncles and aunties from my dad’s side) and thankfully my other grandma & uncles (from my mom’s side) was there to “rescue” me.

(The house used to be here somewhere. Now the area has been closed off and redeveloped. The old place has been completely lost. Photo source: Google Earth)

The location

The grandma’s house was in Serdang Lama – now high speed train runs through the place now. In the 1970s and 1980s, that place was different from what it is now. Back then, from the main road, where there was a railway crossing, one needs to walk through a unpaved road passing a huge house on the left (another relative of ours was staying there) till a point where the road splits into 2 – on the left, it heads towards a charcoal factory whilst the right, lining along the railway track heads towards a Malay village.

One needs to take the left road – passing by the charcoal factory. There are plenty of freshly cut tree trunks lying on the road side and one needs to be very careful with huge trucks coming in and out their loads of tree trunks and finished charcoal. The factory itself is a makeshift brick building with 2 hot kilns in it – one can see burning tree trunks in it on daily basis.

Once pass this factory, the sight changes – we will come to a square shaped field with 4 houses surrounding it. The biggest house is of course belongs to my grandma where 3 – 4 family including my dad’s were staying. The field is always green with grasses – every evening without fail, we will have cows roaming on this field. Surrounding the houses and the field was coconut trees and on the opposite side of the entrance there were a huge lake (dried as I can recall) and a path leading a cowherd.

At the back of the grandma’s house was a small hill where there was a Malay house and thereafter the railway track.

The house

There were 4 rooms in the house to sleep – so we had 3 families in 3 of the rooms leaving one for the unmarried uncle. Walking towards the back was the kitchen and small room for provisions. There was a huge water tank right in the kitchen for collecting rain water. Those days, we took shower in collected rain waters.

I can’t really recall which room I used sleep in but I still remember of the room where the bed was on a higher grounds (the lower area was used to keep bags, etc). There was a small garden at the side of the house where we get some of the vegetables for cooking.

(The only source of light in the house during the night – Photo source: http://hometown.aol.co.uk/)

Utilities

I think we had piped water which was used for cooking but definitely there were no electricity. So, there were no fans, TV or radio during the night. The evening starts with my uncle starting up kerosene lamps for the family.

It was warm in the night (we sweat very fast) but we had no choice – the only entertainment that I recall is where people sit together and having chit-chats. Almost every night, we go to bed early (and wake up early). There were no toilets – so we small kids have to go “outdoor” on the dried lake for our “big businesses”.

Breakfast

Fresh coffee and bread was the ideal breakfast in this house and it was served almost on daily basis. Once in a while we may have roti canai with sugar for the small kids but the bread was there as the main item. Probably the best thing I had in this house was the bread with hot coffee (freshly blended from a shop nearby). Lunch was a normal here – typical Indian food but shared with other kids in the house.

Best thing

The best thing about this house was the railway track. Dangerous (when I think about it now) but if you could get close enough to the tracks when the train is passing by (there were no fences to keep people out from the tracks), the feeling is simply explosive. It is even better here because the train driver would sound the train horns just before the railway crossings. Wow!

To be continued…