Wednesday, November 19, 2008

76 Years Ago

76 years ago, a woman gave birth to a baby girl, the 6th child in a family which suffered 4 losses due to childhood sickness in the years just before the outbreak of World War II. The girl that was born on November 18, 1932, later became a teacher at the age of 12, at a time where several of her first year pupils were of the same age as her. The profession she and most of her surviving siblings chose were not necessarily of their choice; in an age where most houses had no electricity nor running water, there were not much. That, and the fact that their late father was a Teacher and Headmaster.

A day or 2 just before her children celebrated her birthday with her, she suffered a small fall when a leg of the stool she was sitting on broke. Though there were no apparent injury, there is just so much a body and person can suffer beatings, physically and otherwise. This fall, was the 3rd she had in the past 15years. The last fall she had, she suffered a fractured rib bone which still nags at her every once so often.

The lady, who must have turned heads during her younger days, has been described by some friends as 'Ingat orangnya garang. Tapi bila dah kenal hatibudi dia, memang jatuh kasih dengan dia!'. Looking at her now, many still do not believe her age as it is. SubhanAllah! A woman of beauty with the heart of gold.

That woman, is my emak. And I thank Allah s.w.t. for this most precious gift.

Emak, seen above with Emi's m-i-l, at Nur Sara's birthday 2 Sundays earlier.

The 2 Birthday Girls: Emak with Nur Sara, Emi's daughter. Taken months earlier, though she would love to, she can no longer carry even a 5year old close to her chest. But had she, then I would surely made noise as its been more than 40 years now since she last carried me. Oops!

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

salam brother

i trustyou are fine. sorry for being away for a while. i like what you have written about your dearest mother. I remember my mom too shouting at me on the doorstep with a cane "Oi! Dah maghrib ni, tak reti nak balik ke?"
But she was no teacher of course.

Unknown said...

Wish your mom happy birthday for me will you.

I remember getting whacked by my late mom with anything she could get her hands on for going swimming at a pool in the jungle at the foot of Bukit Mertajam.

You are lucky ytou still have a mom. Hey even a 52 year old man needs a mom you know because despite the age we are still babies.

cakapaje said...

Wa'alaikumsalam shirzad,

Lol! Those were THE real good days, wasn't it? Though we were rebelling against any form of authority then, we now look back fondly at those times :)

Bro, welcome back!

cakapaje said...

Salam Cikgu,

Aye! Every man needs his mum, no matter the age. Hey, like you, I too had my share. Off course, I was not whacked, but I did get a an earful from her for insisting in going to the school's swimming class when my appendicitis was in pain :)

InsyAllah, I will convey your wish to her. Thanks Cikgu.

~~ casper~~ said...

Aslmkm bro...
jz wanna wish ur mom happy bday, semoga Allah berkati n rahmati hidupnya, dilimpahi rezeki....
* ur SR... :)

Kerp (Ph.D) said...

eh shah, betul la, all this while i thought it'd be more approriate to address your emak as makcik. tapi umur dia pangkat opah. please wish her a very happy birthday nonetheless. semoga sihat sentiasa hendakNya.

she was already a teacher by 12? how is that possible ya?

Anonymous said...

salam shah. sampaikan salam pada ibu. semoga panjang umur dan melihat dunia.

saya salut ibu anda. kerana membesarkan anak-anaknya dengan penuh kasih sayang refleksi pada anak-anaknya.

cakapaje said...

Wa'alaikumualam Sue,

Syukran, thank you. InsyAllah I will convey the wishes from a beautiful SR to my emak :)

ps. Went to all your blogs, but could only access Divas which has not been updated. Do hope you will update it :)

cakapaje said...

Salam kerpie,

Bro, you may address my emak in any respectful manner you wish. But please, not Opah or Nenek or Grandma, please! You do that, then you would have to call me Uncle! And that, I cannot accept lah! Still young what :)

cakapaje said...

Wa'alaikumusalam Alina,

Terima kasih, insyAllah. Tapi tinggi melambung pujian Alina kepada anak emak ini, hehe. (Syok juga terbuai tadi ;) )

rerama salju said...

Salam CA,

Convey my b'day wish to your emak and Nursara.Moga dilimpahi rahmat Allah dan sihat selalu hendaknya...

Apa kata,CA hadiahkan entry ni pada emak CA,yes,print it out,mesti dia terharu gembira..
(alamak,I pulak yg nak nangis ni!)

Ydiana said...

I want my mommy.....!!!

cakapaje said...

kerpie,

I almost forgot to answer your question.

Back in those days, the highest standard of education for many was 'Darjah 7', which presently is Form1. Further than that, you go to special schools, or abroad, if you happen to be someone intelligent, or a big shot's child. Emak and her eldest sister was promoted to teachers on that basis.

cakapaje said...

Wa'alaikumusalam rs,

Nangis? Touhing ke? I did not realise that myself, but thank you :)

My emak tak faham BI, so takyah print ye. Further, banyak lagi cerita emak :)

cakapaje said...

Salam ydiana,

Hehe...I want mine too! Hope your mum's doing well.

Ydiana said...

She's doing well, insya'llah. Fatihah and prayers everyday.

AFRAR YUNUS said...

salam shah,
ibu tiada penduanya. siapa kita pada hari ini adalah hasil didikannya Shah. selamat hari lahir untuk mereka.
15 tahun yg lalu, saya kehilangan mereka...

cakapaje said...

ydiana,

Astaghfirullah! I'm sorry, I didn't know. Semoga arwah ibu ydiana ditempatkan bersama mereka yang beriman. AlFatihah.

cakapaje said...

Wa'alaikumusalam Afrar,

Benar kata Tuan.

Innalillah wa innalillahi rojiun. Semoga ruh kedua ibubapa Tuan ditempatkan bersama mereka yang beriman. AlFatihah.

Mat Salo said...

This is a nice homage to your mother, shah.. you're the best son a mother could hope for...

cakapaje said...

Salam MS,

Bro, I think that's too high a praise for me. But thank you, nonetheless.

CelloTape said...

Salam Bro...

Ur mom still look great at her age...

Sent my Regards bleh?? hiks!

cakapaje said...

Wa'alaikumusalam cello,

Alhamdulillah, yes. My emak still look young for her age. And insyAllah, I'll convey you wishes to her. Thank you :)

Apa Kau Nak said...

Salam bro, wow...your mom looks so steady la at that age. I wish her happy days! U are so lucky!

Baru-baru ni pergi rumah kawan merangkap studio kerja. Dia duda (wife meninggal 8 years ago), we were busy with work tapi tiba2 ada 2 budak lelaki (10, 12 tahun) datang dari rumah sebelah(rumah mak mertua kawan nilah). Yang 10 tahun tu muka suram rupanya demam. Dia cuba nak manja dengan bapak tapi bapanya nak keluar rumah pulak ada hal. Mereka berdua tertido di sofa ruang tamu rumah ayah. Tak nak balik rumah nenek. (kadang2 nenek kuat marah dan berleter). As a mom sayu saya tengok budak-budak takde ibu ni. Macam floating around. Especially when bapa jenis sibuk. Rasa nak give them a hug. But they look uncomfortable bila u dekati. Or maybe I look scary hehe. Anyway, bayangkanlah ya...anak-anak yatim yang langsung tak pernah rasa pelukan ibu dan ayah...

Bersyukur kita sekali lagi...

cakapaje said...

Wa'alaikumusalam Intan,

Alhamdulillah, yes, my mum does look younger than her age. And alhamdulillah, yes, I am lucky.

As for the anak-anak you mentioned, especially the anak yatim piatu, kita disunatkan untuk sekurangnya menyentuh dan mengusap kepala mereka. InsyAllah, ianya dapat merapatkan kita dengan mereka dan sebaliknya juga.