Letters From The Past

My parents are in my house today. Mak is not feeling very well, and Abah had just had a minor operation last week and is doing fine Alhamdulillah. Its nice when they are around, a reminder that the people who love me and whom I love are still around.

Mak brought with her a few letters from the past .... aerogrames to be exact sent by Mak and the others to Tok and Wan (my grandparents) who were in Mekah performing Hajj. These letters were dated in December 1973, when I was only two years old and when there were just the two of us in my parents' life, my little brother and I.

I read the letters out loud to Mak who was lying next to me and we both laughed our hearts out (ok I was louder) at the content of those letters.

If only I were to put all there is in the letters, it would be LOVE. Those hand writings by Mak and some portions by Abah, Pak Lang. Pak Cik and Chaq reflects the surrounding of what family was all about at that time. They were very close; not only among the close family, but also with some distant relatives and friends. They took time to take care and spend time together , visiting each other like one huge family. Most of those people mentioned in the letters had passed away and I pray that their souls are blessed and that they are in a good place now.

I m writing again here some parts from those aerograms which I find endearing.


I love this part where everybody made their request to Tok to buy things for them.

"Achik pesan emak bawa balik batu kecil2, satu set untuk rantai tangan, loket, 1 biji dan subang. Mak Pora Mat Said pulak hendak batu hitam sebiji. Mak Padang Sera batu2 yang berwarna warni yang Che Zah (my mom) habaq dulu. Che Zah bini Che Ya (referring herself) pula mau anak unta seekor !"

"Kata Kak Yah Rejab, kalau ada, beli paun 20 cents satu. Nafizah kata paun ada tulis nama Allah warna biru merah ada banyak orang pakai sini. Cantik juga. Bolihlah emak beli untok Chik (my aunt) and Ann"

"... dan kalau ada duit tu, belilah periok masak cake yang macam rumah Ma' Lang Derga tu. Boleh jual di sini !"

and this portion by my uncle Pakcik who must be around his teens at that time

"Mak oooi bawa balik baju arab banyak helai, kasut dua pasang, kasut alladin, kain selimut selai, rantai satu, cincin satu, cari yang groovy"

Pak Lang another uncle of mine wrote a letter in a Malay language which you can only find in those days before "tak" was not written as "x". You know the type of letter which started with " Menemui ayah dan bonda yang dikasehi"

"Sejak peninggalan ayahnda dan bonda berdua keadaan di rumah amatlah sunyi dan sepi. Tetapi mujurlah anaknda telah bekerja sementara di kedai kain Pekan Melayu (P.Syed Muhammad punya). Bercampul gaul dengan mamaklah di sini. Anaknda bercakap Melayu pun bergulung lidah-lidah sekarang ni

Dengak orang kata jam tangan di sana murah. Kalau bonda atau ayahnda ada duit yang lebih-lebih tu belilah dekat anaknda satu. Kalau ada kurta (jubah) yang elok-elok belilah satu untuk anakanda"

this by Chaq (my mother's cousin)

"Tok (my mother's grandmother) yang duduk di Rest House kami sehat. Hari2 ada Inspektor datang check, makan tak makan. Kelmarin dulu Inspektor Mak Milah ... ha ha

kalau ada duit banyak lebih tu, tolong beli kipas yang mem2 suka bawa pakai pi party ...."

and this part Mak wrote about me:

"Dua tiga hari lepas, Mak Basah Pak Napiah datang bawa seorang budak nak mengasuh Syafiq dan Ann. Mereka datang pagi, dok petang dia kata "Kak chek nak balik !" Rupa-rupanya kawan tak tahan ligan Ann di jalan. Nak dukung Syafiq lama pun tak larat"

"Ann sekarang maca dulu juga. Tak bolih lepa, dia lari ke jalan, lagi ligan lagi lari. Bila dengar bunyi kapal terbang di kata kapal terbang Tok dan Wan. Sekarang pandai sangat dia, kencing sambil berjalan... dok senyap2 dan basuh kain baju dalam bilik ayer Adik teriak, dia mai gosok kepala adik "Awat adik teriak?" "Awat ni" dan lain2 lagi. Tak larat nak layan dia"

hahahahaha. Whats with me that I kept running to the street. All my uncles told me the same thing. I would always be running to the street !! ... and they were just exhausted running after me.

"Ann tak berapa panggil Wan atau Tok dia lagi. Dulu dua tiga malam dia buat perangai , tengah malam dia jaga, dia teriak nak tidor di bawah dan lain-lain lagi. Bukan main terok Abah dia - sampai empat pagi. Kata orang ambil kain emak atau bapa selimut, haram tak mau"

"Ann tak berhenti sebut nama Tok dan Wan dia. Pluck TV (ya thats how my mother spelled it (plug) ) tu dia selalu pi buat hello, hello Tok , hello Wan .."

Oh how I miss my grandfather (Wan) who had passed away a few years back. Tok is still around of which I m making a mental note to visit her tomorrow, insya Allah.

I feel so touched reading the above part. I could really feel the love. I was so loved even though I was not really an easy child. The love of my parents for me was abundant and I know it didnt stop there.

"Ya Allah Rahmatilah mereka seperti mana mereka mejaga ku sewaktu aku kecil"


one more part from the letters:

"Chu Yam pesan suroh mak berdoa bagi Kak Chah dipinang cepat"

hahahahaha

and yes those were the days when there was no Facebook and people say hi to people, not to computer screen ....

:-)

Al Fatihah to those who had passed away.