Pak Idrus's Blog

When I was growing up in the forties, we did not have such a thing as a watch for each one to wear, let alone for us the kids. I woke up from my sleep in the early morning when I hear the crowing of the cocks. It was a melody that we hear each morning. It vibrates all over the atmosphere of the kampong. Then it faded away perhaps to take a rest after the job is done every morning without failed. With sleepy eyes I walk to the well nearby to bathe. There are other adult from across the road already taking their bath there. 0ur well have clear water whereas the one at Tok Yek's house across the road, the water is colored but clean. So folks prefer to take their bath at our well. Tok Yek the Dukun does not use our well. He preferred his own well. He had constructed a drum filter he had created and use it to clear the brownish water. Tok Yek is a wise man who works at the Senatory board, most of works is keeping the Monsoon drain clean. In his spare time with the knowledge ...

December is a wet season on the east coast of Malaya. Although it always rains I still love this time of the year. It the time of the year when the weather is cold and we get to wear the sweater. A rather rare scene in a tropical country where the weather is always hot and humid. A bachelor I live at the government quarter near the Kuantan river and work a short distance away at the government office, a huge wooden complex at Jalan Gambut. During this Monsoon period which stretch till the end of January I would carry an umbrella and a raincoat to work. Today in the evening I walk along the road towards the Metropol cinema to go and watch a movie. I am alone. For this period of the month the weather in the evening was considered as good,  only a slight drizzle. On the way I saw an old man pushing a bicycle instead of riding it. Perhaps he has a reason, anyway I just walk and looks at him, thinking he is probably a relative that I seldom see. He did not look at me and kep...

I call this beach my beach. We a group of Boy Scout found it during one of our expedition in the mid fifties. At that time it was still a jungle with many  small wild animals and inaccessible. There were some tracks here and there, so we just follow it and to our surprise we were welcome by the sound of waves and the open sea. It was such a majestic scene before our eyes. We decided to camp there and enjoy the sea breezes. The next morning we saw for the first time the rising sun there as seen above [photo taken recently]. Nostalgic indeed. Have a nice day.

Daughter Lin had a job to do in Kuantan. Nenek ask me 'na gi ke'. Pucuk dicita ulam mendatang. Sure I want to go to Kuantan, my home town. Since I retires I always try to balik kampong once in two or three months and stay for a few days. If Nenek did not want to come along it was OK with me. I would get my eldest daughter's driver to send me and I would stay at the usual hotel which I call my home in Kuantan but now as I ages I can no longer go alone anywhere. This time with Nenek going too I decided to follow. We arrived yesterday and are staying at the Kuantan Hyatt at Teluk Cempedak. Teluk Cempedak used to be my playground during my childhood where we as Boy scout would go camping on weekends. The sea and the beach soon became part of my DNA...  I soon felt in love with the sea, the beach and the surrounding natures. From thence onward the call of the sea is always there. I am most happy whenever I get connected with the sea especially at Teluk Cempedak. So h...

Today Malaysia Celebrates 63 years of Merdeka. Due to the Covid 19  pandemic and the MCO the anniversary celebration was held according to the New Norm. As a sovereign and peaceful country Malaysia has succeeded in all development efforts and is now one of the most developed countries in the region. On 31.8.1957 the day Malaya was declared as an independence country ( Merdeka) dressed in the Scout uniforms I was presence at the Padang in Kuantan, the capital city and of the state of Pahang where the British flag the Union Jack flag was lowered and the Malayan flag the Jalur Gemilang was raised. At that time I was eighteen years old. My date of birth was 17.8.1939 and  I grew up during the British colonial era and the Japanese Occupation from 1941 to 1945. I start schooling in 1946 after the country returned to peace. In 1957 I graduated from high school after taking the Form V examination. I am very proud that my country Malaysia has continued to succeed and prospe...

Yesterday 17th August 2020 was my 81st birthday. I Was born on 17.8.1939 in Kuantan, in the state of Pahang. At that time Kuantan boast of having an international Port on the east coast of Malaya. Ships from China and Australia  ply this port. I grew up when the country was occupied by the Japanese that rule the country from 1941 to 1945.  In 1946 I starts schooling at the Malay school there. Kuantan been a coastal township is near to the pristine beaches thus I was expose to the sea at an early age. I soon felt in love with the sea and the nature surrounding in. Spend my childhood swimming and camping  near the beach of Teluk Cempedak was a norm. Soon going to the beach and enjoying the sea became an extension of myself. Till these days I would find the time to enjoy the sea. Alhamdulillah I have been blessed to be as healthy to enjoy life as it goes.  Have a nice day.

We decided to take a break at Kuantan, my hometown. With daughter Lin driving the Accord I just sat behind and enjoy the trip. My spouse sat at the front seat. The weather was fine all the way from Ampang to Kuantan. Left KL at 10 am and arrived in Kuantan at 1.pm. We got to the Hyatt hotel at Teluk Cempedak and because the hotel was fully booked we had to wait for the rooms to be ready. Eventually we got two adjacent rooms at the ground level, partly facing the sea. Sort of lucky to get such good rooms with a view of the sea.  We had brought our lunch and enjoy the Nasi Lemak in the cool comfort of the room. Then took a rest. Would be here for three days. Memories of my youth came coming back; the days we used to camp on the same ground where this Hyatt hotel, the first five stars hotel build in the seventies stand proudly, with rooms facing the sea of Teluk Cempedak. I was then probably just 10 years old and now at eighties plus blessed with the opportunity to sleep on the same ...

On May 11, 2020 Umno or the United Malay National Organisation, one of the main political party in Malaysia celebrated its 74th Anniversary. Umno was formed in 1946 during the colonial era with an objective of gaining independence for Malaya. I was born in 1939 and saw the development of the country from day one.  There is a few coincident here between me and Umno. To begin with the year 1946. It was the year when all schools in Malaya was reopen after the war and it was in January 1946 that I start schooling at the Sekolah Melayu Teruntun in Kuantan. I was then seven years old and been a Malay we all start our schooling at a Malay school. It the best thing that happens to me because not many Malay at that time got the opportunity to go to school. Thanks for the vision of my father I am among the few that got to have a good education.  Then one day in May 1946 and I now believed it had to be the 11th of May 1946, the day Umno was formed, that my father took me with him t...

In those days scouting was the best youth organisation for us teenagers to learn leadership skill as well to enjoy the outdoors like hiking and camping. In scouting we learn many aspects of leadership and  of  how to survive during difficult times. In the days before telephone and the internet we kids would enjoy ourselves by going camping, hiking and swimming.. Most of the time during school holidays we would go for hiking and camping all over the places. Since Kuantan my hometown is beside the river and near the sea we have plenty of places all along the coastal area to go hiking and camping and of course swimming. During one school holiday in August in the fifties we still in our teens, a small group of us the Kuantan Boy scout group went on an adventure of a different kind by cycling from Kuantan to Kuala Lumpur, the capital of the country Malaya. It was during the August school holiday. It took us five days one way. The road from Maran to Temerloh was just completed but ...

Nostalgic indeed. Yes I am thinking of going back to my hometown of Kuantan. So as soon as the MCO is over I would head to Kuantan to be there and enjoy life by the sea especially at Teluk Cempedak,, the beach and the sea where I grew up in the forties and the fifties. Below are the scenes of the Teluk Cempedak beach in the early morning as I watch the sunrise. Magnificent indeed. [scenes taken a few months ago] Have a nice day.

Cherating is a sea resort north of Kuantan. It a resort similar like that at Bali and a very good place to spend a holiday with the family. At a certain time of the year one could even enjoy surfing on the roaring seas there. There are many type of accommodations like camping facilities, chalets and five stars hotel that cater for all at a reasonable price. It just a three and half hours drive away from Kuala Lumpur so it worth to get there for a few days trips to enjoy the sea as well the sea foods. Unlike Bali it not that crowded thus a good place to enjoy the peace and tranquility of a seaside resorts. About are some images of the place. Enjoy it folks.  Have a nice day.

It past 4pm on Sunday 8.2.20. As usual I am at the Serambi whiling the times away and these thoughts came to mind. During the colonial era it take the whole days to get to KL from Kuantan. Since only a few have cars getting around anywhere are by bus. It a bone shaker ride all the way. You take the 7am bus at the Kuantan Bus station along the Main road near the Rex cinema. It normally full and the window open wide unless when it rain when the window are up three quarter to a void folks getting wet. The air inside is as hot and humid as can be expected. The bus move on and when it reach at Tanah Putih near the Kuantan river it stop waiting to get on board the Ferry that ply from one side of the river to the other side and get on the road again. The bus move on at whatever speed it could. Then the bus conductor would go around from one passenger to another to check their ticket to see that no one get a free rides. The bus does not stop because of the communist terrorists lurking in ...

Of late I have been thinking of going back to Kuantan my hometown but so far have not made up my mind as yet when I am going back there. Anyway with the monsoon starting early this year I thought that I may go back some time this month to have the feel of the Monsoon rains. It would really nice to enjoy and relived the time I grew up and enjoy the monsoon rains that happens at the end of every years. It often rain cat and dog for days without stopping and it kept the atmosphere cool when the coconut oil that folks use for cooking would solidified. Some months back I went to Cherating, a tourist spot north of Kuantan where the beach is just like in Bali. There are many hotels and resorts there for folks to enjoy the sea. Above is a scene of a path at one of the resort beside the sea there. Have a nice day.

In this posting I want to talk about Flags. I was born in 1939 and grew up during the Japanese occupation of Malaya from 1941 to 1945. So the first flag I saw was the Japanese flag, the white flag with the red circle in the centre. With the return of the British authority the Union Jack was again flown everywhere. With the defeat of the Japanese and the return of the British authority in Malaya the school was reopened. Except for the Japanese school all other schools was closed during the Japanese occupation. In January 1946 I start schooling. I remember my father took me to Sekolah Melayu Teruntun at Jalan Gambut in Kuantan. From the shop-house at Wall Street [now Jalan Mahkota] where we live we walk across the Padang, then follow the path across the grassland behind the Kuantan District Office to the school. The school is across the road with a few Pokok Kelapa Bali planted in front near the roadside. Kelapa Bali is what the Oil Palm is now known. It was at the school tha...

The year 1948 and I was just 9 years old. This is a story that is still vivid in my mind. The happening was in my hometown of Kuantan. One morning my father took me to a building call the Malay club. I remember a small wooden building varnished black about 400 Sq feet in size. The building is situated in an area between the old MPK Building and the present Masjid Negeri. Holding my hand my father took me into the building where I saw many people talking together. I actuall y did not know what was this gathering of so many people including my father is all about. Then I heard the word Merdeka said by someone in the crowd. At that moment I did not know what the word Merdeka meant. Never heard it in school or anywhere else. Anyhow that word stick to my mind and It was only at the Kuantan padang on the morning of 31st August 1957 where as a Boy Scout I took part in the gathering at the padang, where the Union Jack was lowered down and the new Malayan Flag was flown for the first time. I...

I was in Kuantan last week. It sort of a Balik Kampong [return to hometown] retreat for me. Kuantan being my hometown I always go back there to relived my childhood as well the days of my youth. On the second day of my stay there which was a Saturday I decided to go to the nearest mosque to perform my Magrib prayer. After the Magrib prayer at the Masjid Negeri in Kuantan as I walk outside the mosque I saw this crescent moon in the night sky. I did not have my camera with me at that time so did not take any picture. Later on just before having dinner in town I again saw the moon. This time I use my Smartphone camera and snap the above image and sharing it here. Mashallah!.  Have a nice day.

Last Monday June 24 we went to Kuantan for a short retreat at my hometown. The next day I decided to go to the beach to do some photography of the rising sun, a sort of a ritual whenever I am in Kuantan. I went early to the Teluk Cempedak beach on the morning of June 25, 2019 to wait for the sunrise. Being a weekdays there were not that many people at the beach. The weather was good but at the horizon there was cloudy making it difficult to see the rising sun. While taking some photos my nephew took this image of me; the Photo of the Photographer which is quite rare.  Have a nice day.

The call of the beach and the sea is always there. I  am nostalgic about the beach I grew up, especially the Teluk Cempedak beach in Kuantan, my hometown. So from time to time I would go and be at the beach early in the morning, more often before the others are there and wait to watch the rising Sun. In that early morning before the sun rise the beach is already alive with active of little creature like the sand crabs and little birds that comes to feeds. Above is the crab-hole  in the sand at the beach.    A little later the thousand of little Crabs would vanished underground and would only come out the next morning to feed. It really refreshing to sit there and enjoy the peace and tranquillity of the beach before the appearing of the Sun, the beginning of a new day. Life is beautiful indeed.  Have a nice day. T

During my youth in the sixties the only way to listen to songs and music was to buy a Vinyl and play in on the turntable. This is a Single given to me by my girl friend at that time. She was a Nurse working at the Kuantan Hospital who I came to know. She is not a local but came from Segamat in the state of Johor. On a visit in November 1960 to a record shop she bought this and give to me as a gift that I still kept till these days. I still play it on my Turntable from time to time and every times memories of those good days came flooding back. Sort of a sad and sweet memories of our friendship. We actually planned to get married but her parent had other plan and we parted when she went back to her hometown of Segamat. The last time I met her was in Segamat in 1967 when then I was working in Johor with my office in Keluang and I from time to time visit Segamat.. Well folks life is like that. Have a nice day.

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...