Merdeka 2013

It’s Medeka Day tomorrow 31st August 2013. Somehow the atmosphere is not there; at least I don’t feel it as much as when I was in service. Probably because I am not invited to any of the functions that generals get invited to. No, I am not being sour grapes. I really miss all that pomp and pageantry of parades, dressing up for dinners and such.
And certainly it was not the way I felt on the actual day 56 years ago at the Merdeka Stadium. I was there lining up the inside of the stadium as "point man."   Being senior boys of the FMC we were given this honour. As I witnessed the whole proceedings unfold before me, I felt such great pride to be part of history. I was at a position quite close to the dais where Tunku Abdul Rahman, our first Prime Minister, shouted "Merdeka, Merdeka..." seven times with the crowd shouting likewise in thunderous response. I actually felt the rush of Adrenalin and my bulu roma standing on ends. We all stood at attention watching the Jalur Gemilang, our brand new national flag being hoisted. A new nation was born; and we fought for it through military and diplomatic means. And today when it became known that some fringe lunatics led by our Poet Laureate, Dato A. Samad Said, wanted to change that flag to "Sang Saka Malaya" I felt like doing the unthinkable to this traitor.  I hope the Home Minister will take due action on this unkempt, mad 78 year old man. He and his cohort (Hishamuddin Rais and Adam Adli) that's shown in the picture above deserve to be thrown into the slammer.

Right now there’s too much going on around the world and back home that’s not to my liking.  I am disappointed with the Arabs for being so stupid to be manipulated – one after another – into the Arab Spring. I was in Cairo in May 2011 and saw the devastation to their economy. They had a free and

fair election but the losers didn't like the winners. So they demonstrated again and toppled the democratically-elected government. They are now worse off. I was in Tunisia in Dec 2012 but the Tunisians appear to a bit more sane. Libya and Yemen removed their dictators but they are not any better off. And now Syria who stubbornly resisted the onslaught, is having a civil war since March 2011 (more than 24 months already.)  And with any war, winning counts and by any means. It’s no surprise therefore that the regime would use chemical weapons; but who pushed them into it?  Who sold them the ingredients to make the nerve gas?
I had friends who went to Syria to study and lived there several years. They were full of praise of the living conditions and standards they experienced; and how friendly the people were. How come there is so much animosity now? Is it really a Sunni-Shia issue or some hidden hands at work. Remember, Al Qaeda is also fighting the Assad regime in Syria. So, is the US on the side of Al Qaeda now? I am glad the Brits have learnt their lesson with the Iraqi adventure and voted not to support the US hawks. I wonder if Obama is up to it – to resist all the hawkish noises or join the likes of George W Bush.
On the home front Anwar is making overtures to Najib. His Merdeka message was very conciliatory, excerpts thus:
“Titik pertemuan BN dan PR perlu segera dicari bagi menyelamatkan negara di samping menyeru melupakan kesalahan masing-masing sempena hari kemerdekaan negara esok,” katanya ketika menyampaikan perutusan itu di Ibu Pejabat PKR di Petaling Jaya hari ini.
Cheeky bugger.  I hope Najib won’t be so stupid to fall for this desperado tricks. Meanwhile  PAS is struggling with Shia infiltration in their ranks. And the DAP is compromising their CAT principles. Recently the government of Penang issued an “advisory” to cinemas in the state to not show the film “Tanda Putra” centred on Tun Razak and Tun Ismail’s handling of the aftermath of the May 13, 1969 tragedy which didn’t show DAP in a very good light. To top it all, the Appeal Court acquitted Azilah and Sirul from the charges of murdering Altantuya seven years ago, on a technicality. Just like Anwar got away from two sodomy cases on a technicality.
Our economy is also not doing well with the Ringgit depreciating sharply against the major currencies. With the UMNO General Assembly scheduled for late this year, Najib is not on a very strong footing. I wonder if the acronym RAHMAN is becoming a truism.

Saedah is not well

Ham and I went back to Ipoh for Raya yesterday Tuesday 13 Aug. We stopped by Saedah’s house at Changkat Larang first. But she was not home. She had been admitted to Hospital Tuanku Bainon for her breast cancer chemo treatment. So we went to the hospital to see her.

As usual she was cheerful although she said the cancer has spread and she was in pain and discomfort most of the time. This time around most probably they’ll do mastectomy as well; thus she would be losing both breasts. She is 59. After that we went to Kg Kolam, Tanjung Rambutan, to see Saedah’s mother who is 80. She is Ham’s elder sister.

She looks well, her only problem is the inability to walk, hence spends most of her time in bed.  She is also well looked after by her youngest recently divorced son; and grandson and his wife.  Then a stop at Ham’s other sister’s house in Tambun before heading for KL around 5:30 pm. There was some heavy traffic around Slim River otherwise it was smooth travel.  We arrived home just after 8:30 pm. A 3-hour drive – that’s not bad.

Raya 2013

It looks like we won’t have our annual joint family breakfast together at Taman Perwira house this time round. Mek is still wheel-chair bound, Zaki and Sabrina are at her mother’s, Fahd still in New Zealand, Nani in Dubai and Ida in London.

That leaves Faizal and Faritz, two late-nighters who are unlikely to even want to get up early in the morning. So, it’s just me and Ham then for Raya breakfast tomorrow morning. Never mind, it’s Raya – Maaf Zahir Batin. Open House                  This is just a few of Mek's nephews, nieces, and grandkids As usual Mek would have her open house on the first day of Raya. And this time it's no different. Even before the appointed time of 12 noon, we had our first visitors. The stream of relatives and friends continued right through to just before 4 pm when the caterers prepared to pack up.  The weather was lovely thanks to a bit of rain the night before.  Everyone enjoyed themselves and one Rotary wife even quipped "Please don't change the menu.  We love your lamb, mee curry, kuey teow, rendang, lemang, ketupat, spaghetti, ice kacang, cakes...and what else ah..." Mek is also a good storyteller.  So when her niece Raja Maizura and her family came on Saturday 17 August night for Raya, her son and daughter -- the curious duo --  had Wan Mek tell them bits about their grandfather Raja Arif, their ancestry and also an interesting story of how Kelantan was won by their mutual ancestor Long Yunus by winning a cock-fight with the Sultan of Trengganu. And how she sorted out Raja Zainal's Shell station business in Jalan Raja Chulan.  To top it all was the story about her mother's elephant ride back to Kelantan. I think one day I'll write a book on all her stories.