Merdeka !

Another year of celebration for Merdeka. Malaysia is approaching retirement age and is still learning how to age gracefully. I remember 31 August with such pride for being a Malaysian, a Malay living in my own beautiful country. But I also experience a sense of sadness for my race, the Malays, as they will lose their sense of identity if they don't fully internalised this idependence in their own country. It's the 'semangat' that's lacking among so many young Malays who are being swept in the tide of modernisation, political ideation, and religious belief. Some are so willing to trade this 'semangat' for their own selfish ends or just follow what others ask them to do. The recent demonstration against ISA showed how short-sighted they are. As my son said, most Malays are just followers and are easily influenced without using their rational thinking. To me, Merdeka means much more - real independence, as I have gone through my life as a Malay who did not receive respect on my own land but being ridiculed and thus suffered low self-esteem. It was quite a struggle for me in 1957 to establish my Malay indentity and to prove that I was just as good as the Chinese and the Indians in my school. I thank the Malay leaders who provided this opportunity for me to move forward. I never forget this but many Malays forget how they were being helped and are ready to bite the hand that feed them. Sad to say, I see this lack of 'semangat' among many young Malays, even among my own children. But having just a 'semangat' is not enough as there's need to prove that we are as good as anyone else and strive for the best. So, happy MERDEKA and be proud of being Malaysians living in this beautiful land and work together to keep the peace.

Pre-Merdeka day was spent in Sri Menanti with Najidah. She came for a visit to complete our book project. It's completed and insyallah will go into print next year. As a reward to our hard work, we decided to take time off to visit this old royal town, Sri Menanti, to see the magnificent old Royal Palace, built without using a single nail, completed in 1908.
The palace has majestic backdrop of green hills and serene surrounding. I just hope it won't get muddled up with new development and housing estate.




Najidah at the Dewan Santapan in the Royal Palace of Sri Menanti.












The garden of Sri Menanti Royal Palace.








It is magnificent, indeed - an official residence for the Yang Dipertuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan and his consort, the Tunku Ampuan. The Palace is a muzeum now exhibiting our Minangkabau connection.



We missed the Adat Perpatih Festival in July and I aim to see and learn my cultural heritage in the festival next year. Both my parents came from Adat Perpatih culture but unfortunately my family abandoned the practice and removed ourselves by living in Malacca.

The Palace is acknowledged in the Malaysian Book of Records as the tallest Timber Palace. As we came at a time when they were busy rearranging, redecorating etc, etc in preparation for the grand celebration in October, we missed the atmosphere of a Palace. But the garden is beautiful and we planned to come again after October 2009. My friend Sharipah said, we should go and see such place the latest 6 months after the celebration. Later than that, the place will go into dump for being neglected - that's Malaysian culture - grand opening celebration but very poor maintenance after.

En. Nordin and Pn. Azura, the persons incharge of the muzeum suggested we go to Bahau to see Teratak Zaaba which we have not heard before. Eager to see something new we drove to Bahau. Shidah, my former student, lives. Since we couldn't fine Teratak Zaaba, Najidah called her to find out where. With her instruction we found it. If you're interested to go there, do not go to Bahau town but turn to Batu Kikir to Kampung Bukit Kerdas, you won't miss it. Thank you Shidah for invitating us to break our fast with your family but we had to decline. We need to reach PD before dark to break our fast and terawih. Maybe some day I'll pay you a visit as I have promise.d.

Teratak Zaaba is something worth visiting. The traditional Negeri Sembilan architecture house is gorgeous and well-maintained. There is also a history of the life of Pendeta Zaaba, a Malay scholar who had tremedous inflence on the Malay language and Malay culture. He died on 23 October 1973. I still have regrets in my heart for not keeping intact his first edition book on Bahasa Melayu called Pelita Bahasa. Somebody borrowed and never returned it. I recalled vaguely my father's friendship with him as they were teaching together in SITC in 1930s.

We made it to PD well before breaking fast time for me to cook ayam salai masak lemak cili api, a Negeri Sembilan traditonal dish which I learned from my mother but promptly forgot about it. My effort was nothing to shout about but OK for a novice taste bud like Najidah's. Wll try again the next time with proper ingredients.






Old is beautiful if you know how to take care of it. I am always proud of my Malay heritage.