My Early Childhood Days

I was born in a small village called Sungai Itik in Gopeng  on 1^st March 1943. Malaya, as the country was then known, was under Japanese occupation. This had significant effect of my life, particularly my health. My father was a Malay school teacher. He was trained in the famous Sultan Idris Training College in Tanjong Malim Perak. It was then the highest  institution of tertiary education for the Malays. It has been upgraded to a Unversity and is now known as Universiti Perguruan Sultan Idris ( Sultan Idris Education University).

The population of Sungai Itik was then and still is largely of Rawanese descent. Their forefathers came from a small town West Sumatra called Rao (pronounced Rawo). Upon my father’s untimely death  when I was about one or two years old  my maternal grandfather brought my mother and me back to his village in Selangor  called Kampong Kalung  in Hulu Yam. My grandfather was a retiree from the Malayan Railways. So it was he who brought me up until he passed away when I was five years old. Comparatively he appeared quite well-off. He had a pension from the Malayan Railways. I would look forward to the first week of the month when he would take me to Kuala Kubu Bharu, the capital town of the District of Hulu Selangor where the District Office is located to collect his pension. I enjoyed the bus ride and the treat he would give after collecting his pension. My grandfather must have loved me dearly. Besides taking me to Kuala Kubu Bharu every month he would also take me to town almost every morning to have breakfast and then to buy grocery. The town was about one mile from our house in the kampong. We had to walk to town and back. It was alright walking to town. However I was not strong enough to walk back partly because it was already hot. The old man took pity on me and he would carry me on his shoulder all the way home. Of course I enjoyed the ride very much. On the way home we would stop and had a dip in a small river called Sungai Liam. I enjoyed the dip tremendously. The water was crystal clear and cool. You cannot find such luxury these days. May God bless the soul of the old man Kasim bin Abdul Samad. My grandfather and my grandmother were Minangkabau people. I am told his forefathers came from a town in Sumatra called Telu. It is a great pity that I have not been able to trace his roots although I have been to Bukit Tinggi, Padang and recently Rao in Sumatra a few times.

I must have started going to primary school when I was only five years old because I was already in Standard Seven by the time I was twelve. That was the year I had apply for the National Registration Identity Card as required by law. For other children this must have been done by their father or guardian. In my case I did it mainly by myself. There was a problem to be sure. I did not have my birth certificate which was required. Fortunately there was a kind petition writer near the post office who helped me write a letter to the National Registration Department in Kuala Lumpur to apply for an extract of my birth certificate which I received in due course.  My name was spelt as Yusop bin Ahmad. I did not like the spelling. So when I went to secondary school I changed it to what I thought was a more stylish one, Yussof. Nobody minded! Nobody asked for a statutory declaration or worse still a Deed Poll. If asked I would probably done one by myself! I subsequently discovered that I was not that smart after all. The correct spelling should simply be Yusuf if its Arabic spelling is properly transcribed into English or Malay language. The spelling Yusoff  which is commonly used to my mind is not correct. So is Eusoff.  I would like to suggest if I may that the Government should enact a law to provide for names to be used in official birth certificates should be in according to a list approved by the authorities.  Howver the Registration Department has the power to amend names to be used in Birth Certificates and Indentity Cards. When my son was born I gave him the nme Atan Mustaffa Yussof-Ahmad, without the word "bin" meaning "son of". I had intended to start a family name Yussof Ahmad. Nobody minded except people often asked whether he was a Bumiputra. My daughter was named Mas Ayu Zahrah Yussof-Ahmad at birth and her birth certificate carried that name. Howeever when we applied for her Indentity Card the Registration Department acting under certain rule in the relevent legislation amended her name to a simple Mas Zahrah Binti Yussof. 

Perhaps the reason why I started going to school earlier than most kids is my eldest sister’s influence. My sister Che Wah also known as Zahrah or Kak Long as I call her must be conscious of the fact that I already had some knowledge of reading by the time I was five. This was her doing. She taught me to read before I went to school. She always had a very deep interest in my wellbeing right from the time I was very young. And this continued until now. It was Kak Long who decided that I should go to secondary school in stead of becoming a school teacher like her at an early age of thirteen. This for sure had a tremendous effect on my life.