THE LATE TUN HAMDAN AND MR MARSHALL IN MEMORIUM. AND IN APPRECIATION OF MR MICHAEL LIAU

  In early  January1957 I received a letter from the Ministry of Education  that I was to report to the Malay Secondary School Ashby Road Ipoh. All by myself I took a train to Ipoh. A chartered bus with a teacher, whose name I later found out to be Mr Lau Hut Yee, took me with other boys to Ashby Road. Subsequently I found out four other friends from my class in Kuala Lumpur were also selected to join the School.  They were the 2 Abdul Razak Yahyas (one from Beranang and the other from Klang),  Hamid Mohd Nor ( who  had passed away a few years ago) and Supaat Simin.

 I was quite disappointed to find that School was a former British Military Detention Camp comprising of dilapidated wooden buildings with common bathrooms and toilets using the buckets system. Little did I know then that the School was to change my life. 

We were in Form One when we were in Malay Secondary School in 1957. It was a fantastic year as far as our education was concerned. Although our command of English was still very poor all lessons were done in English with the exception of Bahasa Malayu and Ugama. Our handicap in English was more than compensated by the group of very dedicated teachers we had. We must make mention of some of them. This group led by the Headmaster the late Tun Hamdan bin Sheikh Tahir consisted  of Messrs Lau Hut Yee, Anthony Marshall, Baskaran, Michael Liau Tet Loke, Sundrakarean, Mohammad Perdaus and and the late Encik Abdul Aziz Wok and Mr Choong Swee Chin. There were other equally good teachers but they did not teach us. I remember the late Encik Abdul Latif Shamsuddin, Encik Ruslan Ahmad and a few others. They taught the Remove classes. They spared nothing to make sure we had the best all round education.

The Headmaster introduced us to many new things. There was the Monday morning assembly. At these assemblies held in open air he would dress in his impressive academic University gown complete with cap and mortar and  mount the improvised wooden stage and without fail deliver  stirring speeches in his thundering voice urging us not to waste the opportunity of making good in life through education and hard work. Besides his attire his speeches cannot but inspire us.Then  the teacher on duty would report major events that had taken place the previous week. This is followed by a representative from every class making a short speech or reciting a poem in English. This is to give us the chance to learn to speak in public with confidence in Eglish.  I once recited a poem entitled “IF” by Rudyard Kipling. I still remember a few lines like;

          “If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you

            If you can wait and not be tired of waiting

            If you can dream and not make dreams your master

            If you can……..walk with kings – not lose the common touch

            Yours is the Earth and everything in it

            And – which is more – you will be a Man my son

   The Headmaster insisted that every student took active parts in extra curricular activities like sports and the various societies that he asked to be formed e g  the English Literary and Debating Society, Historical Society and Geographical Society to name a few. Every student was to join a uniformed group like the Boys Scout, Red Cross Society and Saint John’s Ambulance Brigade. I became a Committee member of the Historical Society.  I was very active in the Red Cross Society. As the School was in a temporary premises and it did not have any sports facilities to speak of, the Headmaster personally organized the preparation of a sports ground and a Basketball court (the one game we were told that he was good at) on an empty piece of State land near the School. A padder tennis court was built behind the Dining Hall.  I was extremely pleased because I had played this game when I was in the primary school in my kampong. A notable player was Badli Awang Chik (Now Datuk) who had already played tennis in his home town Kuala Trengganu.  Badli was also the first Head Boy of the School, a very fitting appointment and he held the appointment until he left School in 1961. Another good player was Adzmi Abdul Wahab (now Tan Sri). They subsequently became School players. Adzmi and I later were brave enough to participate in the Malayan Youth National Championship and Malay Youth National Championship held in Kuala Lumpur. We were always kept busy with all sorts of activities. What we looked forward to were the excursions to various interesting places in Perak like the “Mengeluchur” (A water slide of some sort in a river somewhere in Kuala Kangsar) Chong Sam Tin Mine, Sam Bhun Thong Cave and Cameron Highlands Hydro Electric Dam.
He encouraged us to attend plays put up by other more established schools in Ipoh. We remember attending a Shakespearean play staged by the Anglo Chinese School. We think this led us to stage a Malay play entitled “Nyawa Di Hujung Pedang” written by Ahmad Murad Nasaruddin. I had a minor role in the play, a role I was not very proud of. I was asked to play the role of the mother of the heroine Juriah played by Mohammad Wahab. We even attended a Cello presentation in town. We also cannot forget marching to the town padang  to hear an American Red Indian named Tom Two Arrows speaking. We cannot remember what he spoke about. However we had the opportunity to see a Red Indian in person.

The Headmaster did not neglect our religious education. Although we did not have a fulltime ustaz a temporary part time one was engaged to teach us religious lessons. Every Friday we attended Friday prayers in Ipoh town. Ipoh at that time had two main mosques, one in the town itself and the other in Kampong Paloh. The Religious Department ruled both mosques cannot be used simultaneously. So each mosque took turn to be used for Friday prayers. We wondered if this was a right ruling. Why cannot they be used at the same time? There were enough worshippers for both mosques.

The Headmaster made sure that our health was looked after. If we were sick we would be sent to the Ipoh General Hospital for treatment. We were also sent for regular dental check-up at the Government Dental Clinic in town. Some of us enjoyed this trip to town for the dental check up. One got to ride in the Headmaster's Austain of Englad car and some time to roam in town. Mr Liau did not like his Mathematics class being interrupted by these trips and would announce the names of students going to dental clinic by saying, "the following boys with bad teeth please get lost from my class!" 

 I was particularly close to my Class teacher the late Mr. Anthony Marshall who also taught English and English Literature. It must have been his influence that I became quite proficient in English something that I  cherish and love to this day. Mr.I think Mr Marshall liked me and we developed a very special relationship. It was Mr. Marshall who picked me to be the  School Magazine's (Perintis) General Editor, a position I held until I left School. However although Mr. Marshall was a first class sportsman he failed to make me a sportsman. It is not that he did not try but I was just not the type who can be made a sportsman. However  Mr.  Marshall made me interested in sports. I could not play Cricket but I became the Scorer for the School team. I was a Touch Judge for rugby and I could umpire most games. It was Mr. Marshall too who instilled in me the finer points of public speaking. I was very proud that I delivered the welcoming speech when the last British High Commissioner Sir Donald MacGillivray  visited the School that year. The country was about to achieve independence on 31 August 1957 and Sir Donald was on a tour to bid farewell to the country. I was also active in the School English Literary and Debating Society. All these were the result of the influence Mr. Marshall had on me.

Mr. Michael Liau taught us mathematics. He was a very good and effective teacher. We cannot forget until today almost all he taught us.  I liked mathematics so much that I took Additional Mathematics at the School Certificate examination and took Mathematics at the Higher School Certificate examination although I was in the Arts Stream. We can still remember “phi” is the ratio of the circumference of a circle over its radius and is 22 over 7. He taught us how to remember certain things easier for examples the square root of 3 is “I promise may be” meaning 1.732 and that of 2 is “I wish I know” meaning 1.414. Although he taught mathematics he was a very well read man. In teaching what is "circumference" in mathematics he introduced us to Sir Christopher Wren the Architect of Saint Paul’s Cathedral London. He told us that the builders of the Cathedral wrote in the ceiling of the dome of the Cathedral “ Si monumentum requires, circumspice” (If you seek his monument, look about you). That is how he introduced the subject ‘circumference’. (I was very fortunate to have gone up to the dome of Saint Paul and saw for himself that Mr. Liau was absolutely right) Mr. Liau is now Dr Liau having obtained his doctorate in psychology from an Australian University. I am very pleased that Dr Liau and I are still in touch. He never failed to call me to wish me Selamat Hari Raya. His excuse for calling was that he did not agree trees should be cut down to make greeting cards!

REMEMBERING MSS ASHBY ROAD IPOH 1957

When we were in

Ashby Road

a few memorable events took place that we cannot forget. One of them was the Asian Flu which struck the School. The School almost closed down with many of the classrooms turned into sick bays. Teachers became part-time nurses. We remember Mr. Michael Liau coming round   announcing in not very good Bahasa Malaysia “Banggun Makan Ubat”. Fortunately no death was recorded.

During the year a batch of new students joined us. They were put in the Remove Class. They came from all parts of the country. They were very proud where they came from. One night we were in the classroom with Mr. Marshall helping us with our Prep work. We saw one small boy who had just joined the School coming from the dormitory walking towards the classroom block. He was called by the teacher and was asked where he came from. The teacher just wanted to know if he came from his dorm or the toilet because he should be in his classroom at that time. The boy said proudly “I come from Province Wellesley, Sir”. We all laughed at him. Mr Marshall. the wit he was asked “ did you walk all the way here?” Jaafar Kamin (Now Datuk) came from this second batch. So in I957 we had two classes, Remove Class (or Tingkat Khas) and Form One. I think the enrolment was 360 students. It is worth mentioning that we had a Siamese pupil by the name Chairon Nai Dam joining the School. He came from Kedah. He was to become a very successful student excelling in most academic subjects including Ugama Islam. He became a Police Officer and was killed in an aircraft accident while on duty as the Aid De Camp to Tan Sri Ghazali Shafie then a Cabinet Minister.

We remember that the teachers who came from the three races in Malaysia i.e. Malay Chinese and Indian were truly dedicated and if I may say so showed the true spirit of 1Malaysia well before the present Prime Minister introduced it. They did nothing less than their best to educate us. I may even go further and say that the Non Malay teachers were generally more dedicated and hardworking than the Malay teachers with the exception perhaps of the Headmaster and Cikgu Perdaus who was the Deputy HM and doubled up as the School Steward before Encik Abdul Hamid Arup was appointed to that position. Encik Hamid was the father of our illustrious Tun Ahmad Sarji bin Abdul Hamid, the former Chief Secretary of the Government. We remember seeing young  Ahmad Sarji living in STAR staff quarters (which was in front of White House where I lived) when he was still a student in the University of Malaya in Singapore. We have spoken of Mr. Marshall and Mr. M. Liau. The other notable teachers who taught us were none other than Mr. Lau Hut Yee, now affectionately known as Pak Lau, the late Mr. Choong Swee Chin and Mr. Baskaran. The fact that we were Malays and they were Chinese or Indians made not the slightest difference. They were simply devoted to their profession. They taught us in the classrooms, instructed us in sports and games, led us in our other extra curricula activities, supervised us during prep hours at nights, took us out on excursions, were with us during meals and saw to it that were safely in beds at the end of the day. I remember many a times Mr. Marshall would pass by my bed and said softly “Good night Damha Fossuy, which was my name spelt backwards)”. Mr. Marshall of course had many times lost his temper with our impertinence at times. He could whack you with a long ruler or chase you out of the class. If you did not play cricket well or as instructed he would say “You belacan fellows can never play cricket.” We of course did not mind. The same thing can be said of Mr. Lau. I saw him  getting very very  angry twice. We kept guinea pigs in the  Science Gardens and had a duty roster for attending to the animals after School. One day somebody when feeding the poor animals forgot to lock the door of animals’ house and they escaped. Mr. Lau’s face turned red and lectured us how useless and irresponsible we were. He was also in charge of the Red Cross Society. There was this competition to draw posters about the Red Cross. I cannot remember  what  the occasion for the competition was. On the day we were supposed to hand in our entries not many of us had completed our assignments. Oh my God! Mr. Lau just could not stand our “tidak apa” attitude. He would not listen to my defence, which I still maintain was a good one. I told Mr. Lau that the competition should be voluntary and I was not at all good in Art (after all it was taught by Mr. M. Liau  who was not trained to teach Art, his forte being Mathematics, and I always got an E in Art). Mr. Lau would not listen to such impertinence. I and other like minded boys were kept back after prep hours and told to finish the damned posters (excuse me) and it did not matter to him if we did not get to sleep after that. You are a great teacher Pak Lau. No wonder you won the Tokoh Guru Award.

I said a few of the Malay teachers were not on par with the non Malay teachers as far their dedication was concerned. There was this handsome Malay teacher who was supposed to teach us Bahasa Melayu. He practically taught us nothing.  He was very popular though. How could he not be? He would come to class and ask us if we would like to listen to him telling us a film he had just seen. Sometimes these Holywood films took a few lessons to finish. At other times he would come to class with Utusan Melayu and read patriotic stories. I vividly remember him reading a news item about a delegation of Chinese politicians led by one Mr. Lau Pak Kuan who had an audience with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in London petitioning her not to grant independence to Malaya. You can imagine our teacher was of course very angry with Lau Pak Kuan.

REMOVE CLASS KUALA LUMPUR 1956

At the beginning  of March 1956  I began my secondary school education.  I stayed at the Malay Boys Hostel in Jalan Sulaiman and attended the Bricksfield School in Bricksfield, Kuala Lumpur. It would take us a good half an hour to walk from the hostel to the school. We would pass by some landmarks. The Lido Cinema, the YMCA building, the School for the Blind and the Methodist Girls School.  It was a totally new experience.  There were forty of us in the class coming from all parts of Selangor. However most of us came from the rural areas. The class was then called Special Malay Form One or the 'remove class'.  To our horror the lessons were conducted in English.  We thought Malay Secondary School would use Malay as the medium of instruction.  Somehow I felt quite comfortable because I had some grounding in English when I was in Standard 6 and 7 in Malay school. I think I was certainly ahead of most of my friends who came without knowing any English.
However in one aspect life was rather pleasant. We were living in a hostel with good modern facilities. There was good food and it was free. On the top of that we were each given ten ringgit for pocket money every month.

            Our teacher Cikgu Osman Ros was a very good teacher but a fierce one.  He tolerated no nonsense.  As I was quite good in English and the other core subjects I was spared from his fierceness.  I cannot remember much what else he taught other than English   which was  my favourite  subject. For English Literature we read a novel by Thomas Hughes' “Tom Brown’s School Days”.  I enjoyed reading this book very much.  However most of the other students would dread this.  One day reading  this book in class the teacher asked the meaning of the word “friendship”.  A very brave Javanese friend stood up and answered “kawan kapal, Sir”.  I cannot remember whether Cikgu Osman was angry or amused. In 2008 some twenty of us from that 1956 Special Malay Form One Class were privileged to entertain and honour Cikgu Osman to a lunch at my place. Every one of us expressed our gratitude to him and wished him well and prayed that Allah grant him continued good health and prosperity in his life.

 I felt I was doing rather well in my studies. I was flaterred but embarrased that Cikgu Osman commenting on me said, "When I have a son I will name him Yussof". I do not think my friends liked that. So we will leave that topic.

However in one aspect life was rather pleasant. We were living in a hostel with good modern facilities. There was good food and it was free. On the top of that we were each given ten ringgit for pocket money every month.  I liked life in the hostel. I liked Kuala Lumpur even more. It is different from tke Kampong. I felt guilty not really missing my family. Hostel life was orderly. Before going to school there was proper breakfast. When we came back from school there was lunch. Probably we had tea as well. I cannot remember. What I remember distintly was that we were given a hard boiled egg before going to bed. To this day I caanot undersand the rationale. Of course dinner was served at seven. The food may not have been very tasty given the mass cooking. I think there were about 100 of us in the hostel. To us coming from poor families the food was alright. However some of the senior boys who must have come from wealthy families did not like the food very much. At dinner one evening a senior boy was seen walking to a window with a dish in his hand. When he reached the window he threw out the food in the dish. He was cheered by his friends. My first experience of student protest. I did not know what the Hostel Master did to him. There were some students from very well to do families in the hostel. Their fathers were members of royal families, senior civil servants and the like. They did not like us very much dubbing us "anak mas" because everything was provided for free and we received pocket money. There was some form of bullying by these senior students. But nothing serious happened.

Kuala Lumpur was then a small town, not like what it is today. There were no tall multi-storey buildings. For public transport there was the Sri Jaya buses. Some vwere double deckers which fascinated me. Sometimes when I had nothing to do in the afternoon I would take a ride on one of these and sat on the upper deck and watched the town as the bus moved along on its route. My favourite route was from Jalan Sulaiman to Bungsar. The end of the route was Pantai where the present University of Malaya is located. It was then just a kampong. Bungsar then consisted of government and the Lembaga Letrik Negara quarters.

            Sometime during the year we were visited by a European looking man from the Ministry of Education by the name of Encik Hamdan Sheikh Tahir.  We were told he was in charge of all the remove classes in the country and would be the first Headmaster of the first Malay Secondary School in Ipoh.  He came to explain that some of us will be selected to join this School some would to Tanjong Malim.  We saw in Encik Hamdan a very dedicated and serious man. I was looking forward to go a proper secondary and hoped to to Ipoh where the new school was being built.

 To this day I cannot understand why these classes were called "remove classes". I have looked up the dictionary and find no meaning to suggest "transitional" as what the classes were. We were in a transition from Malay-medium to English-medium school. The term continued to be used. But today it is only for non Malay-medium primary schools to Malay-medium secondary schools. The Malay term "Tingkat Khas" is probably less unsuitable.

I must have grown quite a bit during the one year I was in the hostel.When my height  was measured by Cikgu Osman so that it was recorded in my report card he expected me be 4 feet plus as most of the other boys were.  So he strated writing 4 feet.....To his surprise I was exactly 5 feet tall. He simply wrote 4 feet 12 inches. On that note we bid farewell to Malay Boys Hostel Jalan Sulaiman, Brickfields School and Cikgu Osman. 

           

STANDARD VII IN MALAY SCOOL

                                                                                             Being in Standard 7 was a different experience compared to my earlier school days.  My classmates were much older than me.  Generally they were about 15 years old when I was barely 12.  There were also some girls in the class.  I think it was about this time that I began to be interested in girls. As one of my teachers would later say I was precocious.  Perhaps I was. Although the girls too were older than me some of them took an interest in me. I remember a girl who was in charge of buying cooking materials for the girls’ domestic science class who would ask me to do the marketing for her. In return I was given whatever she cooked  in the domestic science class that day. I thought that was not a bad bargain. On the top of that I got to meet her from time to time. The friendship ended when I went secondary school and she became a teacher. I had lost contact with her. There was another beautiful girl I liked. I remember a group of us boys invited Rokiah and her friends to a picnic at Templer’s park on the outskirt of Kuala Lumpur. Rokiah not brought her friends but also her younger sister Zahrah even more beautiful than her. Zahrah and I became friends for a rather long time. She went to the Unversity of Malaya and became a teacher and I heard subsequently a school Principal. She married a lecturer who became a successful politician. I am very pleased that she has done well in life.

            The lessons were of much higher level.  This I only found out when I went to secondary school.   Some of the text books used in Standard 7 were translation of the text books I would use in secondary school.  We were introduced to algebra and geometry.  I began to like mathematics and the interest continued right to the time I took the Higher School Certificate examination.  We were also taught English in Standard 7.  This was another subject that I really liked.  I wanted very much to be able to speak  English to my friends who joined the Special Malay class in an English School to show them and to console myself that I did not lose much by not going to SMC. I did not know then that better things were to come.

            In 1955 I became aware of the political development taking place in the country.  There was news of the dominant political party the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) led by Tengku Abdul Rahman Putra seeking independence for our country from the British Government.  The majority of the Chinese were members of the Malayan Chinese Association (MCA) and the majority of the Indians were members of  the Malayan Indian Congress (MIC).  Together they formed the Alliance Party.  The Tengku as he was popularly known led a delegation to London to ask for the independence of the country  from the British Government.  I remember there was a rally in Malacca to receive the Tengku arriving back from London. It was at this rally that he announced that the British Government had agreed to allow Malaya to have self rule but the British Government would be responsible for external affairs and defense. It was here that the cries of “Merdeka” were first heard.  The first election was held in 1955 where the Alliance Party came into power losing only one constituency (Gunung Semanggul in Perak) to the Pan Malayan  Islamic Party (PMIP, later known as PAS).  There were already some Opposition parties at this time notably the Party Negara led by Dato’ Onn Jaafar.  However the opposition parties failed miserably in the elections. It is interesting to note that Dato’ Onn whose party was known as Party Negara advocated for a multi-racial party made up of Malays, Indians and Chinese instead of having racial parties like UMNO, MCA and MIC.  I think Dato’ Onn was way ahead of his time.  Until today his idea is not quite accepted by the people.

            It was in 1955 that the Government introduced secondary education for pupils in the Malay primary schools.  This was pursuant to the recommendation of the Razak Report.  Pupils in Standard 6 and 7 were to take an entrance examination to qualify to go to secondary school.  It was sheer luck that I managed to take the examination.  During the end of year school holidays in 1955 my aunt and her husband and a few of their children from Perak came to visit us to reestablish our family relationship.  Since the death of my father after I was born in 1943 my mother and our family returned to live with my paternal grandparents in Ulu Yam.  There had been no contact as far as I know between us in Ulu Yam and our relatives in Perak.  This aunt invited me to stay with her family during the remaining school holidays in Batak Rabit, Teluk Intan (then known as Teluk Anson) where she lived..  I was only too happy to go as I had never been anywhere outside Selangor.  I had a very pleasant stay with them and met my cousins in Batk Rabit and in Sungai Itek Gopeng the place where I was born.  I met my paternal grandmother and another aunt for the first time.  I heard they spoke a different dialect.  Grandmother in the Rao dialect is called “Uci”.  However there were some words that are the same as Minangkabau words.  So I could understand them but until today I cannot speak the Rao dialect as well as I can speak the Minang dialect which is the dialect I speak at home.

            However for some reason or another one day I had the urge to return to Ulu Yam.  I could not explain why.  Anyway after bidding them farewell I returned to Ulu Yam.  Kak Long was so relieved.  She told me that there was an examination to be held in Kuala Lumpur the next day.  The examination was for entrance to secondary school. And I was selected to take the examination.  If I had not returned to Ulu Yam that day I would have missed the examination and would not have gone to STAR.  Anyway I took the examination.  Sometime after the examination Kak Long who was then teaching in Kuala Selangor came home hurriedly at night.  She was very excited and told me that she was at the district education office and found out that I had been selected to be a trainee teacher.  She further told me that I was also successful in the entrance examination for secondary school and she decided I must go to secondary school.  There was no arguing with her.  I was not to be a teacher like her but to pursue secondary education.  Secondary education had never been heard of in the kampong if you were in Malay school.  It is different if you were in English school.  So I was to go to a “remove class” in Kuala Lumpur and stay in a hostel in the city.  I asked my sister who was going to pay for all the expenses.   I remembered well how my mother did not allow me to go the Special Malay Class on account of our poverty. Kak Long said she would see to it that I have my secondary education at whatever cost. I think she knew how disappointed I was when I could not go to the Special Malay Class.  I would still shed tears whenever I remember the sacrifice that she had made for me. In my heart I would have loved to be a teacher and earn my living although at that time I was only thirteen years old. Obviously she was far wiser than me.

Life appeared to me to brighten up a little. I would be going to secondary school although I did not know where this would lead me. I was going to stay in a hostel in the city. I felt dizzy with the prospects.

ORANG BOYAN DI MALAYSIA

Di Sg Pelong, Sungai Buloh ramai pendatang Indonesia dari Boyan. Mereka mempunyai kedudukan ekonomi yang agak baik, malahan lebih baik daripada pendatang lain dan orang tempatan. Rumah mereka rumah batu berderet.Ada yang menjalankan kerja tukang kayu, atau bisnis kecil kecilan seperti pengangkutan dan menjadi drebar.

Masa saya sekolah di Kuala Lumpur dahulu saya tinggal di Hostel di Jalan Sulaiman. Ada beberapa orang kawan kawan Boyan tinggal di Hostel itu . Kami selalu berseloroh dengan mereka dengan berkata, “Orang Boyan makan kudo”. Pada pengetahuan kami orang Boyan ramai yang berkerja di kelab lumba kuda di Ampang dimana terletaknya KLCC sekarang. Dipercayai apabila kuda lumba jatuh dan patah kuda itu akan ditembak dan dagingnya dibahagi bahagikan kepada pekerja pekerja Boyang. Sama ada betul atau tidak Allah sahaja yang maha menegetahui. Masa bersekolah di STAR dulu saya tahu ada Kampong Boyan di Ipoh (atau kampong Pisang?). Mereka juga berkerja di kelab lumba kuda yang agak dekat dengan STAR. Saya sekarang dapati ramai kedi

di Kelab Golf di Raja Perak di Tiger Lane

(sekarang Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah) yang juga dekat dengan STAR adalah pemuda Boyan. Pak Udari drebar Van STAR masa saya belajar disitu juga adalah orang Boyan.

Salah seorang penolong imam masjid saya ialah orang Boyan. Sedap bacaan ayat ayat Qurannya. Kadang kadang saya berkesempatan bersembang sembang dengannya selepas solat subuh. Saya diberitahu bahawa Boyan adalah sebuah pulau kira kira 3 jam perjalanan dengan kapal “jet fuel” (agaknya Hovercraft) dari Surabaya. (dia memberitahu bahawa kapal jet fuel dibawa masuk oleh Presiden Habibie dan dibuat oleh Syaikat kepunyaan Habibie di Jerman. Dia juga beritahu bahawa Habibie “diberikan” Pulau Batam oleh Suharto sebagai balasan dia balik ke Indonesia dari Jerman. Menarik cerita ini!). Dia datang ke Malaya masa dia berumur 16 tahun. Tidak macam “pendatang haram” sekarang. Dia ada passport antarabangsa. Dia menceritan bahawa datuk dan ayahnya sudah sejak dulu dulu lagi datang mencari makan di Malaya tetapi tidak menetap disini. Di Boyan semua orang ada tanah dan makanan sentiasa cukup. Yang susah ialah mendapatkan wang. Mereka yang ingin merantau akan menjual tanah mereka dan pergi merantau kemerata dunia katanya. Ramai menetap di Singapura dan Malaya. Katanya orang Boyan adalah orang baik baik dan sukakan keamanan dan tidak aggressif seperti orang Madura mithalnya. Mereka mempunyai pegangan ugama yang kuat. Tidak seperti orang Jawa ada yang menganut ugama Hindu dan Kristian. Saya ingin mendengar lagi ceritanya berkenaan orang Boyan dan bagaimana mereka nampaknya lebih berjaya dalam hidup mereka di Malaysia. Saya juga ingin mendalami cerita kedatangan pendatang pendatang Indonesia yang dikatakan mungkin ada 2 juta di Malaysia sekarang. Ini adalah satu fenomina yang perlu dikaji dan direkodkan.

CONTINUING IN MALAY SCHOOL

I do not remember exactly why I left Malay School Ulu Yam Bharu and transferred to Malay School Ulu Yam Lama. Perhaps it was because Kak Long had completed her standard 6 and had to go Sekolah Melayu Rasa to go to standard 7 as there was no standard 7 in Malay School Ulu Yam Bharu. Since Kak Long was no longer in the same school perhaps I thought it was no longer safe for me there as she had protected me against the bullies.. In fact I have another elder sister Zaleha whom I call Kak Uteh. She too left the school to concentrate on religious education at the Arabic school in the afternoon. She hoped to become an ustazah (a religious teacher). Perhaps another reason was that mother had accepted a job as a helper to a family who lived in Ulu Yam Lama. Her employer was a police corporal and his wife a school teacher and they had a few children. Mother had to live with them. After my father died mother remarried and they had a son. However the marriage did not last long and I do not remember this step father of mine at all. By the time I went to my new school my half- brother was going to start school. Since he lived with mother who lived with her employer at Ulu Yam Lama it was best we went to the same school so that I could keep an eye on him.

For a while I walked to school. The school was about two kilometers from the house. To go to school we had to take a gravel road built by the mining company which operated a dredge in the locality. It was very hot in the afternoon when we went home after school. Imagine my surprise when mother said she had bought me a bicycle. What happened was that she received some money from the Government. It had to do my father’s death and that he was a government servant. It could be a gratuity from the Government. Mother bought herself a sewing machine which became very useful for the family.

To earn extra money I had to sell cakes in school like what my Kak Long did. I enjoyed the experience particularly having money in my pocket although it was only for a short time because I would surrender the money, all of it,  to mother when I got home. I had an added responsibility in the business. For making kueh ketayap or kueh gulung we had to have coconut flesh as an ingredient. I had to climb the coconut palm and pluck the coconut. It was not an easy task. The coconut must not be too young or too old. I had to shake the fruit to find out how much water there was in the fruit. If it was full of water and   heavy then it was still very young and this was good to take if you wanted to drink the coconut water. Only if the fruit is about three quarter full of water then it was good for making kueh ketayap.
Mother also washed and ironed the uniforms of the bachelor policemen who worked at the police station where her employer was the officer in charge (OCS). This brought her an extra income. I can see that at that time mother had already practised the concept of multi-skilling.

Kak Long was lucky when she went to Rasa to do her standard 7. Rasa was some distance away probably 10 km from where we lived. It meant she had either to travel by bus daily to go to school or find accommodation in Rasa. Either would cost money which mother could not afford. There was a teacher when we were in Ulu Yam Bharu school by the name of Cikgu Abdul Razak bin Abdul Hamid (now Dato’). His beautiful wife Cikgu Zahrah was also a teacher at the same school. They liked my sister because she was good in her studies and she was active in extra-mural activities. She was an active girl  guide. I remember she also acted as the heroine in a school play. Cikgu Razak was in charge of the boy scout and girl guide movement of the school. It was Cikgu Razak who produced the play Cindralela in which Kak Long played the leading role. So Kak Long and Cikgu Razak’s family bonded well. It was this special relationship that resulted in Kak Long living with Cikgu Razak’s family in Rasa when she went to the Rasa Malay School. Cikgu Razak by then had been transferred to the Rasa School from Ulu Yam Bharu. Subsequently our family and Cikgu Razak’s family became friends. We are extremely grateful to him and his late wife Cikgu Zahrah. Had it not been for their help in providing accommodation to Kak Long she would probably not have been able to continue her education to standard 7. By the grace of Allah Kak Long did well in her studies and was appointed a trainee teacher. As if God wanted to make things easier for me she was posted to my new school. Imagine my pride, I had a sister in the teaching staff of the school. She came back to live with us. Cikgu Razak perhaps because of kindness not only to us but to a lot of other people was very successful in his career. It is worth mentioning that during World War II he was taken to Japan by the Japanese Government and studied in a Japanese University. He was there when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and he miraculously survived. God had foreseen that he had a lot to contribute to mankind and should be spared. Alhamdulilah. Cikgu progressed in his career. From Rasa he was promoted to be a lecturer at the Sultan Idris Training College in Tanjong Malim, a teacher training college, the highest institution of higher learning as far as the Malays were concerned. He subsequently became a lecturer at the Language Institute, one of the teacher-training colleges established after the country achieved independence. Cikgu had taught Kak Long and now he taught my future wife who was studying in the college. He was also a lecturer in Japanese Language at the Institute Teknologi MARA. His son Tan Sri Dato’ Professor Dr Zulkifli Abdul Razak became a professor and subsequently the Vice Chancellor of Universiti Sains Malaysia in Penang. I pray for Cikgu’s  and his family’s good health and success in this world and world hereafter. Amin.

Malay School Ulu Yam Lama was smaller in my previous school. There were not that many pupils. So when I progressed to Standard 5 the class was taught by a teacher Cikgu Rahmat who also taught Standard 6. I enjoyed my time in this school. Besides being reasonably good in my studies, I was active in the scout movement. The school had a padder tennis court and I was introduced to this game. I do not know if there were other Malay schools where padder tennis was played. Padder tennis is just like tennis except that the court is smaller and  rackets were made of solid wood. Therefore when I went STAR it was easier for me to elect to play tennis. When I was in Standard 6 English was introduced as one of the subjects. I was very happy to learn English although we did very basic things. After standard 6 , I was one of the few pupils who continued to Standard 7. For that I had to go to Batang Kali which was a few kilometers away from Ulu Yam. This was no problem because I had a bicycle and I could cycle to school. I think the standard 7 in Rasa was transferred to Batang Kali because in my class I met pupils from Rasa and other towns like Sungai Selisek and Kuala Kubu Bharu. If there was standard 7 in Rasa they would have gone there in stead of coming to Batang Kali as Rasa was nearer to them than Batang Kali. 

Every student in standard 7 had the ambition of becoming a teacher, first as a trainee teacher then if one passed the entrance examination of entering the Sultan Idris Training College. Upon graduating from the College one would become a trained teacher. I was no different. My late father was a graduate of that College and I wanted to follow suit. Kak Long too had always wanted to go to the Malay Women Training College (MWTC) in Melaka. I remember how she cried one day coming back from school and cried almost the whole day. It transpired that she failed the entrance examination to join the MWTC.   She subsequently followed what was known as “normal teacher training”. This meant that she attended training on week-ends for a period of time. Upon passing the examination she became a " normal trained teacher". Later on in her career she sat for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia examination and passed it. I knew all along that she was bright and if she had the opportunity would have  qualified to go to university.

 Saya telah membaca Memoirs Tun Dr Mahathir hingga ke Bab 9. Bab ini ialah berkenaan Zaman Dharurat di Malaya. Apabila Dharurat diisytiharkan saya berumur 6 tahun dan sudah pun mula bersekolah. Kampong saya di Hulu Yam Bharu Hulu Selangor adalah sebuah kawasan hitam. Pergerakan pengganas komunis sangat aktif dimasa itu dengan kemuncaknya pembunuhan Henry Gurney Pesuruhjaya Tinggi British di Malaya  dalam perjalanan dari Kuala Kubu Bharu ke Frazer’s Hill. Peristewa ini tidak disebut oleh Dr Mahathir. Peristewa ini penting. Pertama ini menunjukkan perisikan kominis ini baik sekali. Mereka mengetahui pergerakan Gurney melalui tukang masak Cina yang berkerja dengan Gurney. Ini juga menunjukkan kelemahan perisikan British.

Kesan peristewa ini kepada Hulu Yam besar juga. Kerajaan berikhtiar untuk memujuk orang orang tempatan yang terdiri dari orang Melayu Cina dan India berkerjasama dengannya. Salah satu usaha diambil oleh Kerajaan ialah membuka sebuah kampong baharu yang dinamakan “Kampong Gurney” di Hulu Yam Bharu. Yang anihnya ialah kampong ini adalah untuk menempatkan orang Melayu yang tinggal ditempat tempat terpencil. Mungkin tujuannya untuk menyekat penduduk penduduk penduduk tersebut daripada membantu komunis dengan memberi makanan ubat dan lain lain keperluan kominis dalam hutan. Sebenarnya orang Melayu di Hulu Yam Bharu tidak menyokong kominis. Mungkin juga dengan cara ini Kerajaan berpendapat ia dapat memberi perlindungan kepada penduduk penduduk ini dari ancaman kominis. Yang agak menggelikan hati ialah kampong ini selepas beberapa waktu dikenali dengan nama “Kampong Gani”. Mereka sudah lupakan Henry Gurney.

Selepas Gurney, Gerald Templar menjadi Pesuruhjaya Tinggi British. Dia teruskan usaha mengambil hati penduduk penduduk.Satu  langkah yang diambilnya ialah mengambil beberapa orang pemuda daripada Hulu Yam menjadi “anak angkat”nya. Saya tidak tahu apa kemudahan yang mereka dapati. Tetapi salah seorang murid sekolah saya dipilih menjadi anak angkat Templar. Yang saya ingat dia berpeluang tinggal di rumah Pesuruhjaya Tinggi British iaitu King’s House di Kuala Lumpur. Mungkin satu lagi kemudahan yang didapatinya ialah senang masuk Malay Regiment apabila dia tamat Darjah 6.

Pesuruhjaya Tinggi British terakhir sebelum Mardeka pada tahun1957 ialah Donald McGallivery. Dalam rangka lawatannya untuk mengucapkan selamat tinggal kepada Malaya dia melawat sekolah saya Sekolah Menengah Melayu Ipoh. Sekolah ini pada tahun 1958 di tukar namanya kepada Sekolah Tuanku Abdul Rahman. Saya dipilih memberi ucapan selamat jalan kepada beliau. Fikirkanlah saya baharu sahaja belajar bahasa Inggeris beberapa bulan! Entah dia faham entah tidak apa yang saya ucapkan. Tapi satu perkara yang disebutnya saya masih ingat. Dia memberitahu bahawa apabila dia bersara dia akan tinggal di Kenya menjadi seorang peladang. 

Satu perkara yang tidak disentuh secara memdalam oleh Dr Mahathir ialah peranan orang Melayu dalam Parti Kominis Malaya pada masa itu. Khususnya peranan nama nama seperti Rashid Maidin Abdullah Sidi dan Shamsiah Pakekh. Saya teringat peristewa sebuah kampong Melayu bernama Kampong Jenderam di Selatan Selangor (sekarang dekat Bukit Ubggul Golf Club). Penduduk penduduknya disyaki menyokong kominis. Salah satu peristewa hitam ialah pembunuhan seorang guru Melayu disitu yang bernama Cikgu Karim. Dia berasal dari Hulu Yam. Tindakan Kerajaan berikutnya ialah menutup kampong ini dan menghantarkan penduduk penduduknya ke Camp Tahanan di Keluang Johor. Mereka  yang mempunyai keluarga di tempat tempat lain dibenarkan tinggal di tempat keluarga mereka. Ada beberapa keluarga yang berpindah dari Jenderam ke Hulu Yam.

Adalah eloknya kalau Dr Mahathir menceritakan apa yang dilakukan oleh Kerajaan kepada kominis kominis Melayu ini selapas dharurat ditamatkan. Kita mendengar Rashid Maidin dan Shamsiah Pakeh “dilarikan” dari negeri Cina ke Malaysia dan sekarang tinggal di Malaysia dengan nama baharu. Betulkah ini berlaku?

Satu lagi langkah diambil oleh Kerajaan untuk menyekat penduduk penduduk memberi  makanan kepada kominis di hutan ialah mengenakan pencatuan barang barang makanan seperti beras tepong dan gula. Tiap tiap keluarga dibenarkan membeli beras dan gula sebanyak yang ditetapkan oleh Kerajaan. Jumlah ini dicatitkan dalam kad. Penjual tidak dibenarkan menjual lebih daripada had yang ditetapkan. Tetapi penjual barang barang ini semuanya orang Cina. Tidaklah diketahui sama ada mereka mematuhi peraturan in. Saya sempat memerhatikan tiap tiap pagi penureh getah dipereksa oleh askar atau Special Constables (SC) sebelum mereka pergi menureh sama ada mereka membawa apa apa barang makanan atau ubat untuk kominis.

Kampong kampong baharu dan juga pekan yang kebanyakan  penduduknya orang Cina dipagar dengan pagar dawai berduri. Ini untuk menahan mereka keluar dari kampong atau pekan itu diwaktu malam semasa “curfew” dikuatkuasakan. Kesannya kepada penduduk kampong Melayu yang tidak dipagar ialah ini menahan kami masuk kepekan yang dipagar itu diwaktu malam. Ini mendatangkan masaalah kepada saya dan kawan kawan saya yang suka melihat wayang percuma di pekan. Filem ditayangkan dipekan oleh Film Unit atau Kelab Pekerja pekerja Syarikat Lombong. Ada satu kali apabila kami balik dari memnonton wayang dan cuba menyeludup keluar dari pekan melalui pagar dawai berduri yang telah dipecahkan kami disergah oleh askar yang diketuai oleh seorang pegawai British. Mereka mengacukan senapang dan mengatakan kami boleh ditembak kerana melanggar peraturan curfew. Tetapi kami sudahnya hanya diperentah tidur disurau di pekan itu dan hanya balik kerumah esok harinya.

BOLEHKAH PEGUAM BUKAN ISLAM MENJADI PEGUAM SYARIE?

Dalam artikel yang lepas kita dapati Mahkamah Tinggi memutuskan bahawa seorang bukan Islam yang mempunyai kelayakan profesynal yang dikehendaki tidak boleh menjadi seorang peguam syarie semata semata disebabkan dia adalah seorang bukan Islam.

Pada pendapat saya peguam bukan Islam itu sepatutnya dibenarkan oleh Mahkamah menjadi peguam syarie. Peraturan yang menetapkan bahawa seorang peguam syarie mstilah seorang Islam melanggar Artikel 8 Perlembagaan Persekutuan. Artikel 8 memperuntukkan seprti berikut:-

8.  Equality.

(1) All persons are equal before the law and entitled to the equal protection of the law.

(2) Except as expressly authorised by this Constitution, there shall be no discrimination against citizens on the ground only of religion, race, descent, place of birth or gender in any law or in the appointment to any office or employment under a public authority or in the administration of any law relating to the acquisition, holding or disposition of property or the establishing or carrying on of any trade, business, profession vocation or employment.

Artikel ini jelas memperuntukkan bahawa semua orang adalah sama disisi undang undang dan berhak mendapat perlindungan yang sama dibawah undang undang. Seterusnya tidak boleh ada disriminasi terhadap rakyat diatas sebab diantara lain ugama dalam mana mana undang undang atau perlantikan dalam profesyen. Pada pendapat saya Peraturan yang mengenakan syarat sorang peguam syarie mestilah seorang Islam jelas melanggar Artikel8 diatas. Kes ini melibat perlantikan dalam profession, iaitu perlantikan dalam profession undang undang. Juga melibatkan undang undang berkenaan profesyen. Disini telah berlaku diskriminasi berdasarkan ugama. Penguam ini layak tetapi tidak dibenarkan menjadi peguam syarie oleh sebab ugamanya.

Artikel 8 memperuntukkan diskriminasi hanya sah jika dibenarkan oleh Perlembagaan. Saya dapati tidak ada mana mana peruntukan dalam Pelembagaan yang membenarkan diskriminasi seperti ini.

Dibawah peruntukan Perlemabagaan mana mana undang undang yang bercanggah dengan Perlembagaan bahagian undang undang yang bercanggah itu adalah terbatal. Oleh yang demikian Peraturan yang mensyaratkan peguam syarie mestilah seorang Islam adalah terbatal dan tidak sah.

Pendapat diatas hanyalah berdasarkan undang undang iaitu Perlembagaan. Kalau dikaji dari segi bukan undang undang pun saya berpendapat peguam bukan Islam yang mempunyai kelayakan yang dikehendaki patut dibenarkan memnjadi peguam syarie. Ini adalah dakwah yang baik. Dengan mereka berdamping dan terlibat dengan syarie ada kemungkinan mereka berminat dalam aqidah Islam. Dari minat itu mungkin mereka tertarik untuk memeluk ugama Islam. Kita akui hidayat untuk memeluk ugama Islam itu adalah hanya dari Allah swt. Walau bagai mana pun kita digalakkan berdakwah kepada manusia berkenaan Islam. Saya berpendapat membenarkan peguam bukan Islam yang layak menjadi peguam syarie adalah satu usaha dakwah yang baik. WaAllahu’alm.

SOME PERSONALITIES OF SEKOLAH TUANKU ABDUL RAHMAN IPOH

STAR AND SOME OLD BOYS

            Dato’ Tajri and I  have met pretty often.  Most of the time it was on the golf course.  Recently we played golf at Bangi Golf Resort and at Bukit Tinggi ( in Pahang, not Sumatra) and stayed at the Colma Tropicale.  It was an enjoyable outing.  It would have been better if the staff at the Resort were better trained.  I tried to speak to them in simple French and most did not even recognize that I was speaking in French .  God help them if real French tourists were to come.  However the cool environment ( which at night according Dato’ Tajri’s newly acquired IPhone the temperature was 14 C which I did not believe) and the  greenness of the place somewhat made up for the human shortcomings.  The golf course is quite good.  The eight of us all enjoyed the game.  I was particularly pleased because I won the ballsweep.  We were trying to cram in as many golf outings as possible before the holy Ramadhan arrives.  We have arranged to play with old boys of the earlier batches in Bangi on 28^th and in Bukit Beruntung (where Yusof Dahaman is the resident semi-pro) on 30^th July.  On 12^th and 13^th August we planned to play at Lumut.  In Lumut Dato’ Sri Ishak Sohor (as he was known in school as far as I can recollect) may be giving us a special treat because the Company of which he is the Chairman owns the Teluk Rubiah Golf Club and the accommodation nearby.  We also hope to get two prominent old boys resident there, Dato’ Mansor Salleh and ex-Navy Officer Zakaria Saman to join us.  My relative and old boy Danial Tomo is also in Lumut.

            Besides playing golf,  Dato’ Tajri and I also met at social events.  Dato’ Jaafar Kamin (batch 1962 – second batch) and Abdul Rahim Naseh (batch 1962 also) who live in Kota Damansara invited us to a high tea organized by the surau of which Dato’ Jaafar is the Vice Chairman to collect funds for an orphanage founded by the surau.  It was a fantastic event.  The speaker at the function was one Hafiz by the name of Ustaz Zulkarnain Hamzah who delivered a moving oration complete with multi media support.  I have not seen such a good show before.  Thank you Dato’ Jaafar. We were also told that Dato’ Jaafar was writing some motivation books which would be published soon. We look forward to that.

            Another occasion Dato’ Tajri and I and our wives met was at the nikah ceremony of the youngest son of Mohammad Awang (batch 1961 also), Kama Johari.  He tied the knot with Adila bte Kamal Redzuan who is a niece of another old boy Zaini Dewa of batch 1961..  It was good to have reestablished contact with Zaini who had quietely  moved to Sri Menanti where he has his oil palm estate and cattle ranch.  He told us he is a neighbour of the DYMM Yam Tuan Besar Negeri Sembilan.  He welcomed us to visit him and play golf at the 2 star (according to him) Sri Menanti Golf Course.

            On 26^th July Dato Tajri and I were at the funeral of Datin Raja Azizah Adnan the wife of Dato’ Hassan Lebai Mat (batch 1962).  We were very saddened by her departure.  My wife and I visited her at the Selayang Hospital just a few days before that and she was in good spirit and cheerful.  We have known the late Raja Azizah since our London days in the 60s.  Raja Azizah had relatives in Ulu Yam, my home town and one of her cousins  married one of my nephews.  May Allah bless her soul and grant my good friend Dato’ Hassan and his children the patience and fortitude to face the future without his beloved Raja Azizah. At the funeral were Dato’ Safri Man, Dato’ Jaafar Kamin, Annoer Jalil, Rahim Naseh, Abdul Hadi Alias and Sanusi Samid.

            I am very proud of my Rao (pronounced ‘Rawo’)( In Malaysia it is spelt ‘Rawa’) roots.  One morning while having breakfast and casually watching Selamat Pagi Malaysia Show there was an interview in which a gentleman was talking about the Seminar Melayu Rao Malaysia to be held at Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, Tanjong Malim.  I quickly registered and duly attended the Seminar on 25^th July 2009.  The thing of interest to me as an old boy of STAR was the fact there was a paper on prominent Rao personalities who have contributed to the progress of Malaysia.  One of the personalities is none other than our beloved Tun Hamdan bin Sheikh Tahir whose father left Rao to escape the colonial Dutch rulers. Of course Tun’s father was a prominent Roa personality in his capacity as a religious scholar in his own right.  Most people consider our late Tun as a Minangkabau personality.  In  a way that is correct because as one of the paper writers of the Seminar Prof. Dr. Puti Reno Raudha  Thaib suggested Rao (as a territory) is part of the Tanah Minangkabau and therefore Rao culture is a sub Minangkabau culture.A Roa man is also a Minangkabau man. Another personality is Tun Ahmad Sarji bin Haji Abdul Hamid.  He in fact delivered the keynote address and officially declared open the Seminar speaking partly in Rao dialect.  Tun Ahmad Sarji is a son of the late Haji Abdul Hamid Arup who served STAR with distinction as the school steward.  I have fond memory of him.  He instructed the Red Cross members in drill and coached the School Hockey Team. It not surprising as  he was a Perak Hockey Player in his younger days.  Personally he had been very kind to me.  Many times Adzmi Abdul Wahab (now Tan Sri) and I would return to school after the term holidays a day or two earlier than we were supposed to.  We would squat in the hostel and nobody would mind.  At night we would go to town with a sense of freedom and abandon and watched movies.  One Saturday evening we decided to go for a midnight movie. Pak Hamid saw us waiting for a bus and gave us a lift to town. He asked how we would come back knowing that there would be no bus service after 2 am when the movie finished.   Pak Hamid volunteered to pick us up after the show and bring us back to school which he did. Where can you find a kinder soul?  May Allah bless his soul.

           

             

MY EARLY SCHOOL DAYS

My Primary School Days – Part I

My first primary school was called Malay School Ulu Yam Bharu, There were two Ulu Yams, the other being Ulu Yam Lama, one new and the other old. I was not disappointed that there was no proper classroom. We were “borrowing” the premises of an “Arabic” school near the Malay school. It is not really an Arabic school in the sense that lessons were taught in Arabic. It is actually a religious school. It was open in the afternoon when those who went to the morning Malay school would go there for their basic religious education. At that time there were no desks and chairs. We sat on the floor. It was not comfortable to say the least. A new school building was being built near the main Malay School building. We were looking forward to the completion the new school. In the meantime we made do with our borrowed classroom. To be sure there was no light and fan in the classroom. For toilet facility fortunately there was a river nearby.

The new school was completed some time later. It was built by the people and not by the Government. Therefore it was a very simple building basically to shelter us from the elements, even that not very satisfactorily. The floor was just the bare earth. Cement would have been costly and unaffordable. There was no wall. The roof was made of attap. So were not completely protected against the rain. However the biggest inconvenience was that in the morning we were subjected to attack by very tiny insects (we called “agas”) who were very fond of biting our bare legs. We could hardly concentrate on our lessons as we had to constantly fend against these tiny insects by slapping them every time they attacked. Fortunately someone discovered a partial solution to this problem. We were told to bring dry coconut husk to school. Before lessons started we would place these husks in the corners of the classroom and burned them. The smoke from the burning husk would drive away the insects. In the same process the smoke also caused a problem to our eyes. We decided this was the lesser of the two evils. We remained in this makeshift building until one day it was blown down by strong wind. We went back to the Arabic school. It was at least a better building and no agas attack. It was only when I went up to standard three we moved to the main building.

In those days the pupils had to maintain and clean the school. So the first one hour after we arrived at the school some of us had to cut the grass or clean the drains. The girls would sweep the classrooms. The older boys would also be taught gardening. We planted various types of vegetables and maize.

When I was in standard three I was selected together with other pupils to sit for a qualifying examination to join the Special Malay Class (SMC). Special Malay Class was a class in an English medium school. It would mean if one is successful in the qualifying examination he would leave the Malay school and continue his education in English with the opportunity to continue his education up to the Cambridge School Certificate. Of course then the sky was the limit. One could even go to University. On the other hand if you remained in Malay school the highest level at that time was standard six. With the standard six qualification we were eligible to apply to become Malay School teachers. Other job opportunities would be policemen and soldiers. Some would get the lowest grade jobs in the civil service like office boys orderlies and the like. Therefore I was very excited when nominated to sit for the qualifying examination. I was even more excited when I learned that I was one of the successful candidates. My life would change dramatically. There would be the daily bus rides to Kuala Kubu Bharu where the Government English School was as SMC would be in that school. I could not wait for the new year to come. Imagine my disappointment when I was subsequently told that I was not to go to the SMC after all. I learned later that my dear mother had other ideas. She had gone to see the Visiting Teacher, who was like the Chief Education Officer of  the Malay School system in the district, and told him there was no way she could afford to send me to SMC in Kuala Kubu Bharu. What a let down. Of course on hindsight I think my mother thought she was right. We just had no money even for the bus fare. She also thought there would be school fees to pay and books to buy and a bit of pocket money for me. Disappointed I continued to go to Standard 4.

BOLEHKAH PEGUAM BUKAN ISLAM MENJADI PEGUAM SYARIE?

 

Bolehkah seorang peguam bukan Islam menjadi peguam syarie?

Akhbar melapurkan hari ini bahawa  Mahkamah Tinggi memutuskan bahawa seorang peguam bukan Islam yang mempunyai kelayakan dibawah undang undang yang berkenaan tidak boleh menjadi seorang peguam syarie.

Fakta kes

Victoria Jayaseele Martin (Pemohon) adalah seorang peguam yang mempunyai ijazah undang undang dari Universiti London dan ‘Certificate of Legal Practice’. Dia telah memohon untuk menjadi peguam syarie di Kuala Lumpur. Permohonannya ditolak diatas alasan bahawa dia bukan seorang Islam. Dia memohon Perentah Mahkamah Tinggi supaya Majlis Agama Islam Wilayah (Majlis) menerimanya sebagai seorang peguam syarie.

Uundang undang

Undang undang yang terlibat disini ialah undang undang sivil yang dikenali sebagai ‘undang undang perlembagaan dan pentadbiran’. Secara rengkasnya undang undang ini menentukan perhubungan diantara rakyat dengan Kerajaan Negeri,Kerajaan Persekutuan, Kerajaan Tempatan dan agensi agensi Kerajaan, atau diantara Kerajaan kerajaan dan agensi tersebut. Hak hak rakyat terhadap badan badan ini biasanya terkandung dalam undang undang bertulis seperti Perlembagaan, Akta, Enakmen dan Peraturan peraturan yang dibuat dibawah undang undang tersebut. Misalnya hak menjadi rakyat terkandung dalam Perlembagaan. Hak hak asasi juga terkandung dalam Perlembagaan. Dalam kes ini hak untuk menjadi peguam syarie terkandung dalam Peraturan 10 Peraturan Peraturan Peguam Syarie 1993 yang dibuat dibawah Akta Pentadbiran Undang undang Islam wilayah persekutuan 1993.

Undang undang Perlembagaan dan Pentadbiran memperuntukkan juga bahawa apa apa keputusan badan badan yang tersebut diatas tadi boleh disemak oleh Mahkamah Tinggi diatas permohonan sesiapa yang terlibat dalam keputusan ini. Tindakan ini dipanggil permohonan ‘certiorari’ dan mula mula kebenaran Mahkamah perlu didapatkan. Perentah yang dipohon ialah pengisytihan bahawa satu keputusan badan yang membuat keputusan adalah “null and void” iaitu tidak sah dan dibatalkan. Permohonan boleh juga dibuat untuk memaksa badan yang terlibat membuat sesuatu tindakan atau melarang satu satu tindakan dibuat.

Isu isu undang undang yang terlibat

Bolehkah Peraturan iaitu Peraturan 10 diatas dibuat melarang orang bukan Islam yang layak menjadi peguam syarie? Adakah ini tidak bertentangan dengan Perlembagaan? (Kalau bertentangan, undang undang itu tidak sah). Perlebagaan juga memperuntukkan semua orang adalah sama disisi undang undang tanpa mengira agamanya atau seksnya.

Keputusan Mahkamah

Mahkamah berpendapat dan memutuskan menolak permohonan Pemohon dengan alasan Peraturan 10 diatas adalah sah. Akta berkenaan memberi kuasa kepada Menteri berkenaan membuat Peraturan itu. Juga Peraturan itu tidak bercanggah dengan perlembagaan.

Apa pendapat anda?

WHERE ARE YOU TIM LINCOLN/

WHERE ARE YOU TIM LINCOLN?

Tim Lincoln came to STAR as another British Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) volunteer in the third term of 1960. I was then in Form 5 Arts. Tim taught Physics. My Science class friends told me he would always ask the class to take out their Nelson & Parker. Most did not know that he was referring to the text book on Physics. Tim was very active in the Boys Scout movement when he was in STAR. He would always be taking the scouts camping in Herslet Camp next door to the School. I was told he was very keen on bananas. However some of the mischievous scouts introduced him to another Malaysian fruit called “Chilly”. Tim had not seen any chilly before this and decided to try them. He would yell and had to ask for a lot of bananas to neutralise  the hot taste.

 Tim used to borrow my bicycle to cycle to town. This gave us the opportunity to know each other better. (When I was in the Sixth Form my sister presented with a bicycle. The reason for this was to allow me to cycle to Ipoh so that I can visit the Ipoh Library, the Courts to observe trials being conducted and other useful purposes. I am sure if she did not know that the bicycle was also used for other less useful purposes as going on dates and go to the cinemas from time to time). Tim told me he came from Surrey, a county just outside London. He had obtained his A Levels the previous summer and hoped to go to the University in October the following year after spending a year or so with us. He hoped during the School vacations to see as much of Malaya (as the country was then known. Malaysia was officially formed on the 16^th September 1963). Under the VSO scheme he was paid an allowance of RM 20 a month with free accommodation in the school. Nowadays students in Europe, America and Japan like to spend a year before or after going to University to see the world. They will offer to do some voluntary work in return for a small allowance and free accommodation. However they pay their own travel. It is hugely popular. There are now commercial organizations offering services to plan the students’ travels and attachments. Tim also told me that he was keen to visit interesting places in Perak. He said we could hitch hike. This he was very popular in England. I too had done some hitchhiking when I was in primary school during the Scouts Job Weeks. I would hitchhike to neighbouring towns to find jobs to do and get some donation for the Scout movement. It was great fun. We decided one week end to hitchhike to Taiping and stay up at Maxwell Hills (now known as Bukit Larut).

So one Friday afternoon Tim, another Sixth former whose name if I remember correctly is Akbar and I set off to hitchhike to Taiping from Jalan Kuala Kangsar just outside Ipoh. We were extremely lucky. Before long a car stopped and the gentleman driving the car asked us where we were heading. When told that we were going to Taiping, he said he was also returning to Taiping and gave us a lift. What luck! During the pleasant drive he introduced himself as Mr Saw Huat Lye (now Tan Sri), a name I remember to this day. He asked us which school we came from. When I told him (with great pride) that we studied in STAR he said he knew STAR and had visited the School and even played Tennis with some of the teachers in our School. I told him I happened to play Tennis and had seen him playing with the late Enchik Latiff. A small world! He then asked us what we wanted to do in Taiping. Tim told him we intended to up to Maxwell Hills and spend a night up there. He was surprised as it was already getting late in the day. Mr Saw then asked if we had made reservation for accommodation. We had not. He was aghast. He told us were foolhardy. We cannot get any accommodation because there were only Government bungalows up there and you must make prior reservation for it. Then he said “You are very lucky indeed. I happen to be the President of the Taiping Town Council and Maxwell Hills come under my jurisdiction. You get a lift from one the Land Rover jeeps at the foot of the Hills and when you reach the top ask to see the Superintendent (I think he said his name was Mr Phillip Shanky (?). Tell him you are the guests of the President of the Town Council and you are to be provided with a room in one of the bungalows.” We could not be more delighted with such a kind man. He duly delivered us to one of the Town Council jeeps at the foot of the Hills with instruction to the driver to deliver us to the Superintendent’s office. I thanked Mr Saw profusely. Do you think that was the last time I met the good Mr Saw?

 When I was the  Magistrate in Parit Buntar in 1969 a kind old gentleman and I soon became friends. He baptised into fishing and we had glorious fishing trips in Sungai Krian, at Tasik Merah and many other places around Parit Buntar. He even promised to take me to Tasik Kenyir in Terengganu to do “real fishing” Who is this gentleman? He was Mr Saw Senior, the father of Tan Sri Saw Huat Lye.

 Later in life I became the Personnel Services Manager of Malaysia Airlines System (MAS). And who was my boss? None other than Tan Sri Saw. Originally we got along very well. He had hope that I would go to sales department after  some business education at Harvard. Unfortunately id did not work out as we later had serious work differences. Furthermore I was at that time keen to try my luck in legal practice. So I left MAS.

Back to what happened to the trip to Maxwell Hills. We duly reported to the Superintendent’s office and were provided accommodation in a colonial bungalow. We had an elderly Dutch couple as fellow guests in the bungalow. They were delighted to speak to me in flawless Bahasa Iindonesia. The Dutch gentleman had served in the Dutch Government in Indonesia before the country became independent. The view from Maxwell Hills at night was magnificent. We could see the lights not only of Taiping but as far as Penang. Another new experience for me was to sit by an English fireplace with burning logs. We also got a lift back to School the next day but the trip was uneventful. When I was in the United Kingdom I  managed to do some hitchhiking and youth hostelling in England and Europe. The best trip Shukor and I had was hitchhiking from Amsterdam to The Hague and back. Were given lifts both ways by the same person.

When Shukor and I were at King’s College we participated in some students’ activities. I played Tennis and Table Tennis. Shukor played hockey and Table Tennis. One day Shukor and I played Table Tennis for King’s against Queen Marry College, also one of the University of London’s main Colleges. Guess who one of Queen Mary’s players was. I could not believe my eyes. He was none other than Tim Lincoln, my lost friend. That evening Tim followed us back to our flat in Fulham. He was so pleased when we cooked rice and chicken curry for him. We spent almost the whole night chatting away updating each other with what had happened after Tim left STAR. Briefly as far as I can remember Tim told us he was in second or third year at Queen Mary. I cannot now remember what subject he studied. However he had an interesting story. During the previous summer vacation he went to the United States.  What impressed him then was that US   was a rich country and the people had a higher standard of living compared to the British people. But he said they were not very smart! And they valued everything about old England. So what he did was he brought to the States some sketches and tracings of old English churches and the designs of some important parts of the churches and they sold like hot cakes there. He had made up his mind by then that after graduation he would migrate to the States to make his fortune. The only problem he said was he would not know how to break the decision to his elderly widowed mother who depended on him. We met a few more times followed by Malaysian meals at our flat. It is unfortunate that neither Shukor nor I kept in touch with him after we returned home after our studies. Even Brian the other VSO volunteer did not know the current whereabouts of Tim Lincoln. Probably he had migrated to the States.

I tried searching for Tim in Facebook. I found a Tim Lincoln in the States. Very excited I sent him a message asking if he was Tim Lincoln formerly a VSO volunteer who had been to STAR. A reply fro Tim Lincoln  said he was Vietamese who had bmigrated to the States.

Where are you the real Tim Licoln?