Pak Idrus's Blog

Life in the golden years is challenging indeed especially so of our mind to retained memories. Memory of the present fades fast, one seconds we remember then the next second we may forget but we learn to live with it. At the same time we are blessed that our memories of the past became clearer as we move on. It some cases it became vivid, just like it happened yesterday. The last few days I got reconnect with a friend of the past. For almost forty years we lost contact but we both remembered those beautiful moments of our youth. Another memories that keep popping up from time to time is the episodes of my life when I was organising an International Seminar at the Merlin Hotel in Kuala Lumpur in 1981. At that time I was the Director of the Development and Promotion of Culture at the Culture Division of the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports. These episodes of my life W hich start in 1981 lasted for one and a half years. It was such a beautiful memories that It always nice and be...

I grew up watching this flag until the Japanese was defeated in 1945. All my senior went to Japanese school. I did not. I start schooling at a Malay School when the school was reopen after the war in 1946..  Before this during the war and during the British colonisation we would watch the Union Jack every morning and sing God save the King. There was no Malaya then; all the states in the Persekutuan Tanah Tanah Melayu have their own flags and state anthems. In the state of Pahang where I was born and goes to school there was already the Pahang state flag; the Black and White flag. It was only after the war and the Federation of Malaya was formed that we have a flag, the Jalur Gemilang with the eleven pointed star and the eleven white and red strips as seen in the Malaysian flag today where the pointed stars are now  fourteens and the strips are of the same numbers as well.  Anyway up until the declaration of Independence on August 31, 195...

It past 6 pm. It is getting dark and the sky cloudy. It has been raining lightly since afternoon. I like this kind of weather. It kept the atmosphere cool. I am enjoying the day passes by at the Serambi reading and surfing the net accompany by the two cats Tam and Kenet. Well folks that is an episode of life in the golden years.  One a second thought; it would be just nice to have a hot steamy glass of Teh Tarik.  Teh Tarik is a special tea concoction that is Malaysian. It is a mix of condense milk and hot tea. The image on the left shows the Teh Tarik at the Mamak restaurant nearby. This is the real Teh Tarik. It is served in the proper glass and taste like a Teh Tarik should be. Not like the one a friend and I had at the restaurant in the Village 2 at Bangsar the other day. It was served in a sort of a wine glass and did not taste like Teh Tarik should be. I know because at the restaurant of my late dad I used to make many cups of Tea and Condense me. It those ...

  ·   Woke up to a beautiful day in December 2018. Good Morning from Pak Idrus's Serambi.[image above] This morning my two cats Tam and Kenet give me another dead Mouse. I believe in appreciation for giving them a treat of Wet Food other than the dry biscuits. It felt really good to know that animals know how to thanks the hand that feeds them. A beautiful life indeed. Thanks Tam and Kenet. I was sitting at the Serambi and saw the workers from the local authority the MPAJ are cutting the grass in front of the house and it smell real good. I love the smell of freshly cut grass. It a free fragrance that nature gives us from time to time. That is why we must keep as much green around the house. It our source of fresh and free oxygen for our specie to survived on planet earth. I believe that the space at my Serambi have excellent vibes. The reason I am saying this is that I felt very comfortable sitting there and while the times awa...

In January 1946 after the war schools were open after been closed during the war 1941 - 1945. During the Japanese occupation Japanese was the medium language at the school thus all my senior was taught in the Japanese language. On that fine morning in January 1946 I still could remember vividly my father held my little hand to the school and registered me at Sekolah Melayu Teruntun at Jalan Gambut in Kuantan. Malay kids could not be register directly at the English school. T hey had to be in Malay school for two years first. Only then they are allow to study at the English school. At the English school all the Malay had to attend to the special class before been integrate with the non Malay in the English school. We spend two years in Special Malay class 1 and 2. After that we join the non Malay in Standard 4. It was difficult for us Malay kids because we only start learning the English language for two years whereas the non Malay in Standard 4 class already study in English for 4...

During my childhood in the forties a Chinese boy with Pigtail hairdo live in our kampong in Kuantan. To keep it neat he often made it into a Bun. He sells vegetables and fish to the kampong folks. Kampong folks call him Ciput as in Siput the Malay for such hairdo. In those days only woman folks had this kind of hairdo. His face is full of pimples or scars left perhaps by Chicken pox. He looks weird and we kids are frightened of his look. Sangat takut. Mother would say if we are naughty we would be given to Ciput. It does frighten us. As we grow older we began to like him, and he became a part of our growing up life. My brother allows him to live at the shack behind his house until he died of old age. He left whatever money he had to his Clan association. Other than that, he did not leave anything except small items that he use in the house and his working tool the Dacing.  An item of some value that he left is the Dacing, a traditional Chinese Scale for measuring the weight...

At this age [77], I can safely say that I did not know where I was heading after I left school. But I know that I was ambitious and an optimist. Yes, very ambitions indeed. I knew that I must acquire knowledge to be successful in any endeavor that I take. In the forties and fifties folks on the East-coast of Malaya was not even aware that there is such an institution as University. In the state of Pahang there is only one school that take students for the post School Certificate Examination; now known as HSC. Without the HSC, you do not get into the University. And that class is at the Clifford School in Kuala Lipis, the capital of Pahang at that time. After completing my Darjah Sembilan [Form V] or the Cambridge School Certificate Examination in 1957 I went to seek employment. The year was 1958 and I was just nineteen years old. I got into the State Higher Clerical Service, a Division Three post where I work in various government departments for ei...

When I was growing up no one talk about Birthday or Birthday party. Birthday come and go and we just grow older, that's all. Even our parent does not talk about that. As far as I am concern since I did not get to see my Birth Certificate I do not even know my real name as well the real date of my birth as in the Birth certificate. I was call by my nickname Awang and it was only when I went to school at seven years old that I came to know that my real name is not Awang but Idrus and my birthday is August 17, 1939. As for Birthday it was only when I am in secondary school that classmate would mentioned Birthday and Birthday party but as far as I could remember I did not have a Birthday party or Birthday cake, not when my kids and grandkids throw a surprise with cake and present on that special day. Anyway I remember when I was in my youth, friends especially girlfriends would often ask when is my Birthday and that is how I am aware that our Birthday is special and important ...

Above is the scene of the beach at Teluk Cempedak in Kuantan in the early hours of the morning. Images in this posting was taken while I was waiting for the sun to rise on a visit to the place some years ago. The weather was cool and the beach was almost empty of people but already heavy with activities of the little crabs digging holes all over the sandy beach. Small birds seen picking food on the shore careless of the bashing of the waves.  When I was growing up in the forties the beach was pristine with golden sand, a crystal clear river, lush jungle of greens all over making it a great place to whilst the day away and enjoy nature at its best. Then it was considered far from the town since there was no road leading to it. To get there one had to hike using a narrow path flank by dense jungle on both sides. One could see birds, small animals and creature like monkey and iguana or large lizard running loose here and there. There was no man-made structure ar...