Stay 1Malaysia..

With the recent development in the Sosi Disappearance, a lot have been raised about the suspects and some even went to the extent of relating it with racial prejudice. Well this reminds me of something that happened when I was in my first year in university back there in Penang.

During my first semester break, I planned to go back to my hometown Johor Bahru with my buddy Azni. We bought two express bus tickets to JB. On the departure day, it rained heavily, there were flood. We had to take a bus to the ferry terminal, and got stuck in it for a few hours. It was about time for the express bus to take-off from the mainland. We have no time to catch the ferry, but there was another male student who would be taking the same express bus with us to JB. Since he was a lot tougher than us, we asked him to run over quickly to catch the ferry, cross-over to the mainland terminal and get on the express bus that was about to leave. We asked him to tell the driver to wait for us, since we missed the ferry and would be taking the next one.

So we took the next ferry. When we arrived at the mainland bus terminal, our express bus was gone. They did not wait for us, despite the message that we sent through our male friend. We went to the ticket counter to complain, they simply said that we had to buy new tickets, and that they could not help us. We said there were flood and we could not run fast enough to catch the ferry, and we begged to be in the next bus taking-off to JB, since we did not have enough money to buy new tickets. We could not even go back to our campus since we only had less than ten ringgit each. Nobody from the express bus company, cared to help, they kept on asking us to buy new tickets. A few pakciks, makciks, abangs, kakaks and mamats passed by, asked us what was the matter, then walked away. Nobody offered any help.

Suddenly two young Indian guys with helmets in hand, came over and asked us. We told them our problem. Those guys who really looked like mat rempits, offered to help. Of course we were skeptical and scared, but we just tawakal and accepted their help. They gave us fifty ringgit to buy the tickets and also to cover our journey expenses. Then they waited with us for the next scheduled express bus to JB. While waiting for the bus, they brought us to a nearby restaurant and bought us dinner. We actually thought those guys were up to something..but unexpectedly and fortunately they did not do anything funny. We learned that they worked at a factory and both were housemates. We took their house telephone number and promised to pay them back when we come back the next semester. They said we didnt have to worry, they genuinely wanted to help us, and that they were devoted Hindus and must help people in difficulty.

Since we would be departing at night, they accompanied us until the bus took-off. Azni and I were quite shocked with their kindness and also relieved that God helped us in that difficult situation. A month later, we came back to Penang and called them, to meet up and pay back their money. They simply laughed and said it was okay, we did not have to pay them back. They said they were glad they could help and happy that we made it safe. Now, that was genuinely IKHLAS. I could never forget the two Indian guys forever in my life.

There are, actually, some genuinely nice and kindhearted people in this world. So this is a multi-cultural country, this is Malaysia, please preserve the harmony that we have now. Do not even think about initiating a racial tension. Lets compete the healthy way, via education, economy, lifestyle, achievement and many other positive ways. Be 1Malaysia. Stay 1MALAYSIA, forever..InsyaAllah.

The Best Concert..(for me..)

..is surprisingly..not by an international artist! It was Konsert Canggung Mendonan by the one and only M Nasir, held in Stadium Negara, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 1994.

I was working in an architect`s firm and on the day of the concert, we were having a trip to the east coast, Trengganu and Kelantan. We were supposed to depart in a bus to Kota Bharu, but as M Nasir`s concert was on the same night and I had already bought the tickets, I had to let my office-mates left without me. I bought a flight ticket instead and would be taking-off early the next morning, to meet the others in Kota Bharu. Hah..finally I found a way to attend the concert and at the same time did not miss my office trip. It was worth all the extra money that I spent, the time and the effort.

The stadium was packed full-house, around 10,000 people were inside, with a few thousands stranded outside, because they could not get a ticket to enter. The seating arena was full all around the stadium and in the middle of the field in front of the stage, people were standing close together. The lights in the stadium were then suddenly turned off, and M Nasir made his entrance from the audience arena. He delivered all his songs in Malay, very nicely written and meaningful songs from his Canggung Mendonan album, and yet this guy could aroused people with his aura and music, and get people really excited. I could not see a single person just sitting and listening. Almost everybody were on their feet, singing along, most were standing on the seats (including my friend and me, we were like orang gila..hahah..), some were dancing and clapping, but everybody were moving.

I still find Canggung Mendonan to be his best album, with songs such as Mentera Semerah Padi, Anak-anak Kita, Tanya Sama Itu Hud-hud, Bukalah Hatimu, Ada, Bonda..to name a few. This is the work of a Genius. If you called yourself a Malay and you do not know how to appreciate the songs in this album..then there must be something wrong with you.

M Nasir Bin Mohamed - singer, actor, producer, artist, composer, lyricist and scriptwriter, film and video director (that`s actually more than seven..); was born on 4 July 1957, and is now residing in Malaysia.

In my eyes, he is a Johnny Depp look-alike. Well that`s actually a compliment since Johnny Depp was awarded with The Sexiest Man Alive title twice..but Mr M Nasir is well beyond that, in fact he had won so many awards for his excellent work. I do not have to list them down, you may just google his name and there are so many written about him.

M Nasir is a soulful singer. I first saw him as Mohamad M N in a Singapore TV channel, performing his songs from his first album around end 1970s. He was different then, and is still different and unique now.

You may find all things M Nasir from his fan group, Kelab Sahabat M Nasir. Just go to Facebook and join this group.

The Mystery Call

This is another true un-explainable episode. It happened in a hotel room. After quite a long and tiring meeting, I headed to my room. It was around 4.30 pm, and I was busy cleaning myself in the bathroom when I heard a ringing tone..

Ring-ring..ring-ring..They were sharp and tiny little rings. I have two handphones with me, but they were not from mine. I looked at the hotel room`s fixed line, it was not ringing, but just to make sure, I picked it up. Confirmed, the rings were not from the hotel room`s phone. I could still hear the ringing..went to pick up the one in the bathroom, they were also not from it. Ring-ring..ring-ring..I looked around the room if there were any other phones or alarm clocks around, there were none. The rings suddenly stopped. I was puzzled but ignored it.

I went out for dinner and came back around 7.45 pm. I was so tired, and was about to take a bath when the room`s phone rang. Urgh..who would call me via that? Argh..why would the hotel staffs call me? I have put up a DND sign clearly, and did not want to be disturbed! Okay..I thought I better answer it, or else it would not stop ringing. I picked it up.."Hello..". Something answered, "@#$%^&*()+~<>?!" Now what was that? I thought I heard a baby answering on the other side of the phone, but then I could not understand what "it" was saying. It could not be a baby, it sounded too loud for a baby, and the language was not of any that I could recognized. What was it saying, it was not a man`s voice, it was not a woman`s either. It was like a noise from outer space, the un-explainable of the other kind. It sounded like an alien voice. It became louder, so I put the phone down. I began to feel scared and uneasy, something was trying to scare me, or want to have fun fooling around with me. I just ignored it and focused on my lappy and the tv.


Around midnight, I went to the bathroom to cleanse myself before heading to bed. When I was about to stand up from the sitting toilet bowl, something pushed me from the right side. I fell down to the left and my face hit the sink bowl, my glasses almost fell off. It was so painful, my left cheek was bruised. I just took a deep breath and went straight to bed with the tv on, Yassin by my side and a scissor on the other side. I said a mantra in my head that I will not leave the room, I will stay and fight it off no matter what. In bed, I heard a few knocks just above my head. I just smiled and dozed off. Stupid alien!!

S U D I R

..is one artist I will never forget for the rest of my life. He is one true artist who was so passionate in his work and really loved and cared for his fans. His voice was not perfect and not the best but he sung with his heart and soul, and his stage performances were the best ever. He had a storyline drawn up for every single performance, he was a perfectionist and the "asal boleh" attitude was never in his dictionary.

Sudir, notes in Malay

Sudirman Haji Arshad took part in a singing competition in Malaysia called Bintang RTM in the year 1976. At that time, I was in form one in Sekolah Menengah Aminuddin Baki, Johor Bahru. My best friends and I were so in love with him. We would talked about him all the time in school. He won the competition with his songs Seruling Bambu and Big Spender. Sudir was in University of Malaya, studying Law. I wrote a letter to him.

A year later, in 1977, when I was already in form two, a teacher told me that there was a letter for me in the school`s office. When I opened the letter, it was from SUDIR, he wrote me a four page letter in his own hand-writing, with a photo of him signed. He said he was sorry for the late reply, it was because he had taken my letter and kept it in his drawer to reply quickly but then he was so busy he had forgotten, and the moment he realised it, he quickly replied. He was so friendly and wrote all the good things, like advising me to concentrate on my studies, to work hard and to achieve the best in life for my parents and myself. He was the BEST. He never took any advantage on his fans. No matter what happened in his life, and no matter what people said about him, he will always have a part in my heart. I LOVE U Abang Sudir! You were the best Number One artist in Malaysia, and will always be..

The existing number one artist in Malaysia, is no where near his league..

SUDIR left us on February 22, 1992. His most meaningful song was Salam Terakhir..(lyrics by Puan Habsah Hassan)

Sampaikan salam buat semua
Salam terakhir salam teristimewa
Kepada kau yang tersayang
Pada teman yang ku kenang
Pemergian ku ini tak dirancang

Usah bertanya mengapa aku
Mengucap salam terakhir kepada mu
Kerna waktu berputaran
Bimbang tak berkesempatan
Melahirkan kerinduan terhadapmu

Demi sebuah kenyataan
Yang amat menyakitkan
Aku yang tidak berdaya
Hanya berserah padaNya

Salam akhir
Salam yang teristimewa
BersamaNya ku memohon keampunan
MelaluiNya ku beri kemaafan
Kepadamu

Andainya aku punya waktu
Masih ku ingin mengulangi semula
Saat indah bersama mu
Sayang tak berkesempatan
Abadikan saja salam ku di ingatan

Salam ku yang terakhir..

AL-FATIHAH
Sudirman Haji Arshad
25 May 1954 - 22 February 1992

Tsunami 2004

So where were you on that unfortunate day? As for me, it was Christmas Day in 2004 and I was alone at home, all the others had gone abroad for the holidays. Later approaching midnight, I was ironing clothes in my room at my apartment in Villa Putera Condominium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia [end 2005 I left Villa Putera for a new home somewhere else].

The TV was on, with special Christmas Day programmes. Suddenly I felt dizzy, I looked up, I thought I was concentrating too much on the iron board that I felt dizzy, but I became dizzier and nearly fell down. I sat down on the bed, to calm myself.."Oh God, please dont let me have any High Blood Pressure or Diabetes!", I chanted in my heart. Then I saw my window curtain swaying left and right, but the window was not opened, then I saw the wall swaying..it was quite obvious. I began to worry..

I could hear footsteps outside..I looked out the window downwards, I saw people running out of the condominium`s compound. Now..this must be serious. As I was wearing a nightie, I changed into jeans and t-shirt, grab my handphone and handbag and headed out. I called my mom first and told her that if anything happen, and if she had to identify me, please look out for somebody wearing a dark blue t-shirt. As I was speaking to my mom, she suddenly said that there was movement in her apartment in Bukit Jalil too. So I said, hell lets get out of the house immediately.

I went straight to the staircases, and to my surprise there were so many people already in the staircase trying to escape. There was a couple, I could see the lady trembling until she became weak, that her husband had to carry her down. I ran fourteen flight down the stairs to the ground level and made it across the road. Almost everybody were out of the building. All of us kept looking up, as if waiting whether the building will fall down or not. Some took off in cars and motorcycles. After an hour or so, we were allowed to go into the building but were advised to be alert of any other movement.

I went up to my apartment, and saw in the news that an earthquake with a big magnitude occured in the Indian Ocean, following which the Tsunami happened and killed so many people. ACEH the land of my mother`s origin was terribly hit. I was so sad..230,000 of my people were killed and 500,000 left homeless.

Theatrical Experiences

My first ever real theatre experience was in 1994, watching "Malam Ini Penyu Menangis" at Panggung Eksperimen Negara, Kompleks Budaya Negara, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The leading actor was Sofea Jane, directed by Noordin Hassan, based on a poem by J.M.Aziz titled "Penyu Menangis". I went with my buddy Lin. At one point, some of the actors got off the stage and went towards the audience with their scary face expressions and body movements. As both of us were sitting quite isolated from the other audiences, one actor headed towards us, we were so frightened, we hugged each other, closed our eyes and shouted like hell. I guess they have succeeded in conveying the message through their acting. It was a good show.

Then in 1997, I watched "Phantom of the Opera" and "Beauty and the Beast" in London, United Kingdom. I love both equally, and wouldnt mind watching them all over again.


>>Phantom of the Opera, Her Majesty`s Theatre<<


>>Beauty and the Beast, Dominion Theatre<<

On my other visits to London after that, I did not watch any other theatre. Most of my time there were then spent on working, relaxing, travelling, people-watching, shopping and window-shopping.

Back in Malaysia, in December 2003, I managed to watch the Riverdance Show in Stadium Putra Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur. The Irish dance troupe was fantastic!


And finally in May 2004, I went to Istana Budaya, Kuala Lumpur for the first time, to watch Saturday Night Fever The Musical. It was a reminiscence of my school days obsession..the discomania.


When I was in secondary school, I watched Saturday Night Fever the movie with my friends, then everyday onwards what we talked about were the dance steps, John Travolta, his booty, his chest, his style of walking..urgh! Every weekend we would stay-back in school after our Girl Guides meeting, closed all the classroom`s door and practiced the Saturday Night Fever dance steps. Then on Sundays, my group of crazy friends would organize parties and the songs played were all from the movie soundtrack, songs by The Bee Gees. Argh..those were the lovely, crazy, fun and most enjoyable times of my life!

The Scariest of all..

Of all the frightening experiences I had..one was the scariest (to me), I felt so scared I had to run!

It was my most recent experience, happened in 2009. I had to attend a meeting held in Penang because the project we were handling was situated on the Island. There were six of us, we came separately from different locations, and were to meet at the venue of the meeting, held at an old and quite established hotel, which was actually just in the vicinity of our project.

I flew alone from Kuala Lumpur, reached Penang in the afternoon, checked into the hotel and met the others, then had a long meeting there. Later at night me and my room-mate had a lovely dinner together at the hotel itself. We were so tired, we opted to stay in.

I was sleeping soundly when suddenly I was awakened by a loud noise beside me..I woke up to find my room-mate shouting loudly as if asking for help. Then my room-mate got up and told me, “I had a terrible dream. There was a woman holding a baby boy. They were crying and asking for help. There was fire around them!!” Believe me or not..I had the same dream!!! We began to feel nervous. I was extra scared because I was having my period and could not do any praying. (Normally once I have checked into a hotel room, I will do my prayers, so that I will feel calm.)

After going to the toilet, my room-mate then resumed sleeping. I tried to sleep but could not. I kept hearing the sound of a musical box playing on and on...I was so sure I was not imagining things. I sat up on the bed and tried to listen carefully, it was the sound of a musical box and I was not dreaming. Suddenly I heard a few knocks on the sliding door at the balcony on my right. I looked at my watch, it was 4.00 am. I dared not look at the sliding door, luckily we had the curtains down. Then I heard footsteps in the corridor outside my door on the left, I heard something being dragged. Could it be the chambermaid and her housekeeping trolley? But it was 4.00 am, and I don’t think anybody will be doing any housekeeping at that hour! Out of curiosity, I went to peep at the door peephole.. there were nothing outside! I ran back to my bed, covered myself in the blanket, shut my eyes tightly and tried to go back to sleep, I managed to survive until sunrise.

The story did not end there. We went for breakfast and met the other four guys from our team. Suddenly one of the guys started it all back..he said, “You guys want to know something? Last night I was alone in my room, watching TV, suddenly I saw a woman walked passed me in my room. I was wondering how come this woman can walked in my room.” Another guy said, “Are you crazy or what? Was your door closed or opened?” He answered, “Closed lah! That was why I am wondering up till now, how??” Alamak! Another guy said he heard some knocks on the sliding door and actually saw a figure standing outside the sliding door at his balcony. He was so scared, so he just closed his eyes and tried to get back to sleep. The other one heard some footsteps in the corridor and another guy had a terrible scary dream that he could not remember. Now..all of us had been disturbed in quite the same way. Was it a coincidence or something really happened there at the hotel? Why didn’t it happen to the other hotel guests, or maybe we simply didn’t know? If IT only disturbed us, WHY us? Was it because Something didn’t like us, because we are developing the surrounding site? Were there really a woman and a boy, maybe they died in a fire at the hotel, or near the hotel? Did they committed suicide? So many questions were in our mind when we walked back to our rooms and prepared to check-out and leave for KL..

To make matters worst for me, I was the only one who had to stay on until noon, while the other five were going back earlier immediately after breakfast. After my room-mate left, I started to pack all my things. Suddenly all the stories from my colleagues about the happenings last night and my own scary experience, emerged in my mind. I started to feel cold and an eerie feeling all over me. I felt goose bumps in my neck, behind my ears and my hands shivered..I was so scared, I felt as if someone was watching me, I dared not look around or up. I kept my eyes down, focussing on my packing. I was actually shivering..

Once I finished tucking everything into my bag, I pulled it over to the door, grabbed my handbag and got out of the room. I was not even able to stand a moment at the corridor, I felt as if something was breathing at the back of my neck, I was so scared, I actually ran along the corridor to the lifts lobby. It was only almost 11.00 am and I quickly checked out of the hotel, and went straight to the airport.

I swear I will never ever set foot in that hotel ever again, not even if someone pay me a big amount to do so. I am so sorry I could not reveal the name of the hotel here in this post, but if you guys really need to know, send me a message. Please give the hotel a fair chance, the occurrences might not happen to you. Maybe the ghost just didn’t seem to like us, or maybe on that particular night, she had a bad mood! hehehe..

Saya Sayang Mak Saya!

Saya sayang mak saya sebab...

1. dia mak saya, dia sentiasa mendoakan saya dan doanya mujarab

2. saya lahir ke dunia ini kerana dia

3. saya telah duduk di dalam perutnya selama sembilan bulan

4. dia bersabung nyawa melahirkan saya

5. dia buat segala-galanya untuk saya

6. makanan best sentiasa!

- semasa saya kecil mak sentiasa memasakkan makanan yang sedap-sedap dan berkualiti untuk saya

- mak memastikan hanya isi ikan yang berwarna putih dan daging ayam bahagian isi sahaja untuk saya

- mak selalu menggaulkan nasi lembut dengan kicap dan butter serta isi ikan goreng, mengepal-ngepalkannya dan menyuapkan saya dan adik saya, sambil kami bersenang-lenang bermain kejar-kejar atau mengayuh basikal

- kentang dadu goreng dengan telur yang mak buat adalah yang paling sedap di dunia

- mak sentiasa menyediakan telur separuh masak dengan kicap dan lada sulah yang paling syiok di dunia, setiap pagi setiap tahun mulai saya darjah satu hingga tingkatan lima, tak pernah miss

- mak sentiasa siapkan air milo, air teh dan air kopi serta air masak berteko-teko, berjag-jag dan bertermos-termos untuk kami sekeluarga, rumah kami tak pernah putus dengan air minuman

- mak akan bangun dari tidur walaupun pukul tiga pagi, jika salah seorang dari kami menyebut saja perkataan lapar, dalam masa lima minit saja mak boleh siapkan nasi goreng telur dengan bawang putih yang wow!

- masakan tersohor mak yang tidak mungkin dapat ditandingi oleh orang lain mengikut citarasa kami adalah laksa johor, sambal tumis, gulai ikan pari, ayam goreng kicap dan hati lembu masak kicap

- mak kalau goreng telur mata lembu, telur dadar (omelette) dan telur hancur (scramble egg) pun sedap, dah tu kejap gila dah siap..

- mak punya roti celup telur (french toast) top of the pop!

7. mak punya fashion sense memang tip-top!

- masa saya kecil mak akan beli kain dan design sendiri fesyen baju lalu hantar tailor. Mak siap lukis fesyen baju yang dia nak tu atas kertas dan tunjuk kat tailor. Selalunya fesyen-fesyen terkini, sebab dia rajin beli majalah, buat scrap-book dan kemudian improvised design-design yang ada tu..

- sampai sekarang pun kalau no idea, bawak saja mak pegi shopping dan suruh dia pilihkan color or fashion, selalu saja dapat pujian kalau pakai baju-baju yang mak pilihkan..

- dulu-dulu masa baru-baru kerja, kalau nak ambil mak punya baju ke mekap ke, ambik je, pakai. Tak payah mintak, tak pulang pun takpa, mak kata dia lagi suka tengok orang suka pakai baju dia..baiknya mak..saayaang mak!

8. mak sebagai best friend!

- mak akan sentiasa sedia mendengar apa yang kami nak cakap. Walaupun kalau dia dah mengantuk, dan kami cakap, “mak..dengarlah ni..”, mak akan cuba besarkan mata dia dan kata, “ya, ya, apa dia..ceritalah..”

- cakaplah apa saja dengan mak, sama ada nak berangan gila-gila atau tak berapa confident nak buat sesuatu..cakap aje dengan mak, “mak..boleh tak mak? mak ingat boleh ke? takpe ke?” Mak akan jawab, “boleh aja..asal ada usaha, apasal pulak tak boleh!”

- kalau geram dengan orang lain, ngadu ngan mak. Kalau rasa ada orang dengki, cuba aniaya, atau mengata..ngadu kat mak. Nanti mak cakap, “biasalah..orang hebat, mesti ada orang dengki. So sabar aje. Tuhan bagi dugaan pun dia timbang-timbang kekuatan kita, kalau kita kena dugaan kuat tu, maknanya kita insan terpilih, yang lebih kuat dari orang lain..” hmm..

9. mak baik hati!

- mak akan sentiasa menolong, bukan saja kami, tapi juga orang lain yang dalam kesusahan. Mak pernah tolong gadis yang termengandung, beri tumpang kepada remaja yang terbiar, beri tumpang anak yatim-piatu, kucing yang cedera, walaupun pada saat-saat kami sendiri dalam kesusahan

- mak pernah kena hina, kena kata, umpat keji dengan saudara sendiri, ipar-duai sendiri kerana buruk sangka dan busuk hati mereka, tapi mak tetap sabar, mak kata “biarlah..tuhan tahu siapa kita..”

- mak sanggup buat dan redah apa saja untuk kami. fuhh..takkan ada orang lain yang akan buat begitu untuk kami di dunia ini. Sebab itu, saya akan teruskan tradisi itu. Saya akan lakukan apa saja untuk adik saya dan keluarga saya. Apa saja..

10. mak sentiasa ambil berat!

- sampai sekarang pun mak akan sentiasa ambil tahu di mana kami berada, setiap malam sebelum dia tidur. Dan kami pun akan pastikan mak mesti tahu kami di mana. Kalau kami bagitau mak..jangan bagitau orang kami di mana..mak akan simpan rahsia tersebut. Dijamin!

Sayangnya saya pada mak, setiap penghujung solat pasti ada doa untuk mak, dan saya akan pastikan selagi mak hidup, kami tidak akan tinggal berjauhan, saya akan bawa mak ke mana saja saya tinggal. My mum and my brother are coming with me, anywhere my family and I live.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO EVERYBODY..
appreciate your mum while she is still around..

Close Encounter with the Unusual Kind..

I once worked on contract with one government agency in Kuala Lumpur, under their Property Department. I was the officer in charge of the building maintenance, in other word, unofficially I was the Building Manager. I had a team of cleaning contractor, landscape contractor, security guards, maintenance contractor, besides the in-house security guards, lifts attendants, maintenance crew, technical crew, administration staffs and a list of suppliers and contractors under my wings.

Although my working hours were actually from 8.00 am to 4.00 pm, my routines normally started early in the morning and ended around 9.00 pm. I also had to come when there were emergencies at the building, sometimes I had to work during the weekend when major repairs needed to be done and when some events were held in the building. At that time, my life was my work and my work was my life. My pager was with me everywhere I go.
One night during a weekend, my pager was beeping, and the call was from my chargeman. He said it was raining heavily in town, and that our building was flooded. The crew were going to shut-down all the flood-gates at the basement parking and he wanted me to be around. So I dressed myself in jeans and sports jacket, and rushed myself to the building. My technical assistant, Mazlin was already there with the maintenance crew. We hurried to Basement 2, it was lighted dimly, the rain became heavier, and gushing in like a waterfall into the basement area. We started closing all the flood-gates.

Once the flood-gates were closed, the basement became dimmer, and quieter. I looked around to see if any of the cars there were damaged. There were only a few cars around. Suddenly my eyes caught a figure standing on the stairs watching us. I thought he was one of our crew, then I noticed he had a totally different uniform. He was wearing an oversized shorts and shirt, like those worn by the people from the Japanese invasion era, and he had a rifle in his hand and he was also wearing a hat. He looked like an army or police from those old days. I was so scared, I couldn’t move an inch. I whispered to Mazlin, she turned around and saw him too, she said, “Askar zaman Jepun mana pulak ni, biar betul! (Japanese army, you must be joking!)” Then we tried to get our chargeman who was standing a little bit further from us, to come nearer and have a look at the man standing around 80 meters away from us. He came nearer and when we told him and he turned around to look, the soldier just disappeared into thin air.

Our maintenance crew and security guards went to search for the man in every corner of the building, but he couldn’t be found. We were puzzled because, as the flood-gates were downed (closed), the whole building was in total locked-up position, and all the main doors and entrances to the building were closed and guarded by our security men. So where did he came from, and where did he disappeared?

Mistik Tok Mat II

Mersing - Suatu Ketika Dahulu, semasa saya berusia satu hingga lima tahun..


Sebenarnya Tok Mat pernah juga menolong ayah sebelum peristiwa kaki saya cedera tersebut. Kali pertama Tok Mat membantu ayah adalah ketika ayah baru sahaja berkenalan dengan beliau. Kami sekeluarga baru sekali sahaja bertandang ke rumah Tok Mat. Pada ketika itu saya demam panas. Mungkin kerana saya masih kecil dan kerap berjalan jauh bersama ibu dan ayah iaitu pulang ke kampung halaman di Johor Bahru, dan selalu pula mengikut mereka berdua berjalan di malam hari ke funfair, saya keletihan dan terkena demam dengan suhu yang agak tinggi juga.

Saya telah meracau-racau, dan mula sawan hingga anak mata tidak kelihatan dan bibir terkatup rapat. Ibu saya telah melakukan sesuatu yang mungkin menyelamatkan nyawa saya iaitu menyelitkan sudu di celah bibir saya dan membolehkan udara masuk melalui rongga mulut saya, lantas sawan pun berkurangan tetapi saya seolah-olah tidak sedarkan diri. Ayah mulai panik dan mengangkat saya di dalam kendongannya lantas berjalan keluar bersendirian menuju ke jalan besar. Ayah telah menahan kereta yang lalu, dan meminta bantuan untuk menghantar kami ke klinik yang terdekat. Tiba-tiba di pertengahan jalan, ayah telah berubah fikiran dan meminta pemandu tersebut membelok dan menghantar kami ke rumah Tok Mat, kerana hari masih awal pagi dan klinik tentunya belum dibuka. Setibanya di rumah Tok Mat, beliau sedang memberi ayam makan di luar rumah. Ayah terus menerkamnya dan menyerahkan saya kepada Tok Mat. “Pak Mat, tolong saya, saya tak tahu apa nak buat. Tengoklah anak saya ni..”

Tok Mat pun mengendung saya dan membawa saya agak jauh sedikit dari ayah. Beliau mengeluarkan sesuatu dari koceknya, dipercayai batu permata ‘buntat rimau’ dan melumurkan batu tersebut di mulut saya sambil mulutnya sendiri terkumat-kamit membacakan ayat-ayat suci Al-Quran. Serentak itu saya menangis dan muka pun merah serta bernafas kembali. Saya pulih sepenuhnya, dan jarang demam lagi selepas itu. Kata ayah, dia tidak pernah dan tidak akan percaya dengan pengamal ilmu alternatif lain kecuali Tok Mat.

Tok Mat menjadi keluarga terdekat sepanjang kami di Mersing. Tok Mat sentiasa menyediakan air Milo untuk saya apabila saya berkunjung ke rumahnya. Ketika saya sudah besar dan telah kembali ke Johor Bahru, Tok Mat berangkat menunaikan Haji di Mekah dan beliau telah meninggal dunia serta dikebumikan di sana. Inalillahi wainalillahi rajiun..

Mistik Tok Mat I

Mersing - Suatu ketika dahulu, semasa saya berusia satu hingga lima tahun..


Saya ni memang ibarat alim-alim kucing, nampak diam tetapi sebenarnya dalam kepala saya ni sentiasa merancang dan memikirkan sesuatu. Air tenang jangan disangka tiada buaya..Dalam diam-diam, saya suka buat kerja panjat-memanjat.

Pada suatu hari saya rasa begitu teruja untuk memanjat naik ke atas singki kegemaran ibu saya. Apabila ibu sibuk di dalam bilik, saya pun naik ke atas singki dan kemudian terjun semula ke bawah. Kelempung! Saya jatuh dan terseliuh kaki..aduh sakitnya sehingga tak boleh berjalan. Ibu pun kelam-kabut ke kedai untuk menelefon ayah di pejabat. Ayah pulang serta-merta dan terus membawa saya ke hospital. Kaki saya dibubuh ubat dan dibalut. Selepas seminggu sepatutnya saya sudah boleh kembali normal dan berjalan semula, tetapi oleh kerana kedegilan dan mungkin serik merasa sakit apabila memijakkan kaki, saya masih tidak mahu berjalan selepas sebulan terseliuh kaki. Ayah mula pening kepala, saya diupah bawa balik bercuti ke Johor Bahru, Datuk dan Nenek kedua belah juga datang melawat tetapi saya masih juga belum mahu berjalan semula. Akhirnya ayah bosan dan membiarkan saja saya berdukung ke sana ke mari. Ianya berlarutan sehingga lebih dari sebulan.

Pada suatu subuh yang gelap, tiba-tiba pintu rumah diketuk dan salam diberi. Tok Mat terpacak di depan pintu, dan minta agar ayah mengambil saya dan memberikan kepadanya untuk dijampi serapah. Tok Mat telah membawa saya ke laman, menyapu ‘buntat rimau’ di kaki saya sambil membaca beberapa ayat suci Al-Quran. Kemudian dia menyerahkan kembali saya yang masih tidur kepada ibu saya dan minta diri untuk berangkat pulang. Ayah berdiri tercegat dan tercengang-cengang dengan gelagat Tok Mat.

Tok Mat adalah pegawai kastam yang menjadi bapa angkat ayah semasa kami di Mersing. Di waktu lapang, kami sekeluarga selalu ke rumah beliau dan saya dianggap cucu angkatnya. Ayah pernah memberitahu Tok Mat tentang kerisauannya apabila saya tidak mahu berjalan semula. Tok Mat sekadar berkata, “Nanti aku tengokkan..” Tiba-tiba beliau muncul tanpa undangan di waktu yang paling tidak disangka-sangka. Menurut kata orang, Tok Mat sebenarnya pandai mengubat orang tetapi tidak mahu mengaku dirinya bomoh. Tok Mat rajin berburu dan pernah terserempak dengan harimau yang memuntahkan sebutir batu permata dipanggil ‘buntat rimau’, sebelum harimau itu masuk mandi ke dalam sungai. Tok Mat percaya batu permata ‘buntat rimau’ tersebut sebagai ada khasiat dan menggunakannya untuk mengubat orang yang rapat dengannya sahaja. Ayah sebagai seorang yang sangat open-minded dan Americanised, enggan mempercayai perkara-perkara mistik seperti ini.

Walaubagaimanapun, tengahari itu saya bangun dari tidur dan menjerit, “Mak! Dah boleh jalan, tak sakit pun!” Ibu terlalu gembira lantas menelefon ayah di pejabat, ayah terus mengambil cuti dan pulang segera ke rumah serta menimang-nimang saya penuh kegembiraan. Malamnya kami sekeluarga ke rumah Tok Mat untuk mengucapkan terima kasih kepadanya.

..bersambung ke Mistik Tok Mat II.

The Army Truck - Encounter with Ghost..The Fourth Time..

I was in my second year when it happened. This time I was staying at a different hostel, Desasiswa Cahaya or Desa C, just next to Desasiswa Permai. But the occurrence did not happened there. It happened one night when my best friend and I were walking back to our hostel. We had just finished some work at our studio, it was actually early morning around 4.00 am, and was drizzling. We walked together in the rain under one umbrella. My friend and I were feeling extra scared that morning. We tried to walk fast but it was too dark.

Suddenly an army truck passed by and then stopped. It was quite normal for an army truck to go in and out of our campus, since there is a ROTU centre in the campus. I myself was once a ROTU but had to drop-out of it due to my packed schedule. The person next to the driver waved his hand signalling us to get into the back of the truck. We looked at each other, we thought why not, but how do we climb up the truck, it was quite high. Surprisingly both the army did not get out to open the back of the truck and help us to climb up. That was quite unbelievable, but we decided to climb up the truck no matter what. So I helped to push up my friend and then she pulled me up. Yippee! We finally managed to climb up, and the army immediately drove off heading towards our hostel. We almost fell off from our seat. We were quite shocked to find that they seemed to know the way without us telling and showing. So we asked them whether they know where they should send us. They suddenly said in stern voices, “Kami tahu, ni tempat kami main-main. (We know, this is our playground.)” We quickly got down and they drove off.

When we reached our hostel block, a group of girls were still up studying together at the lobby lounge. So they asked us where we had been and why we were so brave to walk in that kind of weather at that particular time. We told them that we were sent back by an army truck from the ROTU unit. One of the girls’ eyes almost popped out of their sockets the moment we told them of the ROTU army truck. She was a senior and a ROTU herself, and to her knowledge NO trucks will be moving in and out of campus after office hours. There were no reasons for them to do so and any vehicle movement must be recorded. So to clarify the matter, she said she will check with the ROTU office the next day. The answer was as expected, no army trucks were around at all at that time and no record of any movement of any vehicle. The ROTU office was closed after office hours on that particular day.

My friend and I must have met with two ‘friendly ghosts’ who ‘drove’ us back safely. Just in a bid to console myself, I suddenly remembered being told that the campus was once upon a time, a battleground and an army camp.

The Permai Ghost - Encounter with Ghost..The Third Time..

This time I was already in a university up north of Malaysia. It happened when I was in my first year. I was among the lucky ones to be sent to the newest hostel in campus, the Desasiswa Permai, in short Desa E. And to top it all, I got a room at the top floor and the very last room at the end of the corridor. There were only two rooms on the floor and next to my room was the toilet inclusive of the laundry sinks. A few steps below were the next level, the hostel was designed with split levels all over its building.

My room mate was an Eurasian girl, Rachel. She is one of the nicest person I have ever met in my journey. She was from PJ, so she went home most of the weekends and semester breaks. As for me, sometimes I had to stay back at the hostel during semester breaks because I did not have enough money to go anywhere, and because of the nature of my assignments. There were a few other girls around but they were on the other levels. Once I was the only one who stayed back on the top most floor. I normally slept with the littlest light that came from my study table.

One night, as I was sleeping alone, I suddenly felt my bed shaking. I thought I was dreaming, so I sat on my bed and waited for awhile before resuming my sleep again. I was sure I was already wide awake, when the bed was shaken again. I looked around and I could see it was actually shaking. Then it stopped and transferred to the door. The door knob was then shaking as if someone was outside and trying to open it. I was so scared, but at the same time angry, I wanted to end the torturous moment. I suddenly became brave, got up from my bed, went to the door and opened it. Tadaa..nobody was outside. I walked a few steps into the corridor to check if anybody was trying to play a trick on me, but there was none.

As I was about to re-enter my room, the door knob of the room opposite mine was shaking, as if someone was trying to open it from inside of the room. I was nearly mad at that time, I went to hold the knob and shake it myself. It kept on shaking until I got fade-up and went back into my own room. I locked my door, put a chair, got on my bed and read some surahs from the Quran. Then I went back to sleep with all the lights on till the next day. Nothing happened. I won.

But the disturbances did not stopped there..

Another time it happened when my room-mate was around, and in broad daylight. I was sleeping as I had just submitted a project and had not been sleeping the previous night. In my sleep, I dreamt a big black hairy thing was on top of me and I almost could not breath and move. Then I realised I was already awaken and I could see Rachel standing in the room. I could feel the big black hairy thing on top of me, I tried to recite the Ayatul Qursi, it went so slow, I thought I must have taken around twenty minutes to complete it. I struggled with the recitation but managed to complete it and the Thing disappeared the moment I finished the last sentence of the Qursi.

On other nights, I sometimes heard a very high-pitched scream on the roof-top, and dreamt of some of the worst dreams in my life, ever. It happened to Rachel too, until she sometimes did not want to come back to the room, and became a squatter at her best friend`s room downstairs. Once I simply fell down in the room and broke my arm, for nothing, the doctor refused to believe me. Rachel also got into a freak motor-cycle accident, where the rider was not injured at all, while she was seriously injured on her knees and could not walk up the stairs for months. So she had to stay at another room downstairs for quite some time, leaving me all alone to survive in the room. Well I managed to get through it all for one complete year and came out alive and kicking!

The Banana Tree Girl - Encounter with Ghosts?..The Second Time..

After my father passed away, we stayed on at the government house, received special permission from the government because we did not have our own house yet. The house was just next to the Saujana, the Johor Menteri Besar`s official residence, now all the government houses had been demolished to make way for the development of the Saujana Condominium.

With the absence of my father, my mother`s favourite brother Archer came to join us. Every night we will sit at the flower boxes, just outside the door, in front of the house. We talked and talked until 2.00 to 3.00 am. One night, or rather early morning around 1.00 am, a girl suddenly appeared in front of our house. She asked us to accompany her back to her house down the road, said she was afraid to walk alone. So my uncle, still a bachelor at that time, jumped to her rescue, my brother also could not resist the temptation. My mother being the suspicious one, asked me to follow them, so I went along.

We walked past the MB`s house to another group of government quarters. It was dark, all the houses were closed, and the environment was really quiet, everybody must be sleeping tight, except us the nocturnal. Suddenly, the girl walked fast ahead of us towards a group of banana trees and some bushes, where it was really dark. I immediately pulled my uncle`s hand to stop him from following the girl, he seemed stunt too. The girl waved, smiled and point to the bushes. Then she just vanished! I was so frightened I actually ran to the nearest house to knock and wake them, then I suddenly came to my senses, and decided to go back home as soon as possible. I saw my brother and my uncle staring blankly without uttering any words, so I pulled them back to head home. We did not say a single word until we reached home safely. Then only we talked about the strange occurrence that just took place.

We then remembered about the infamous eerie stories people had gossiped about the stretch of road just next to my house. It all originated from the accidents that happened almost every week at the junction down the road. People had said that the spirits of the people died in the accidents always roam that particular stretch of road. After that occurrence, we stayed in the house after midnight, and make sure we closed all the windows. It was better to have our chit-chat inside, with the TV on and coffee and keropok ikan (fish cracker) on the side.

The Roommate - Encounter With Ghosts

The Roommate - Encounter With Ghosts?!..the first time..

In my life, I have met with ghosts several times, you may call it ghosts, paranormal entities or what, but the point is, I was scared.

My first encounter with ghost was when I was around 16 years old and my family and I were staying at a government house. It was a semi-detached house with a courtyard in the middle of the house. My parents both work and me and my brother went to morning session school. I reached home at noon alone, while my brother normally came back late in the evening, he had to attend to some co-curricular activities in school.

When I reached home, I would take my bath before doing any other things. So a few times when I was in the bathroom, I would hear noises in the kitchen as if someone was washing dishes and rearranging the pots and the cutleries. So I went out to check if my mother had come back, but no one was around. It happened many times until I got used to it, and just ignored it the next time it happened.

Then one night..my brother and I were sleeping in the same room, he was in the bed near the window, I was in the other bed further in. The window was opened, my father never believed in ghost and always insisted for the windows to be opened to let fresh air in. As we were deep in our sleep, my brother suddenly jumped onto my bed, crawled into my blanket, and whispered “takut, takut (i`m scared, scared)”. I asked him “kenapa ni? (why?)”, and he said “ada orang dekat tingkap, muka dia teruk, pecah-pecah! (somebody is at the window, his face is terrible, smashed!)”. “Hah??” I wasn’t going to let myself see `the thing`, so I stayed in the blanket, hugged my brother and pulled the blanket tighter to cover ourselves.

I shouted from inside the blanket, “Mak, mak, takut, ada hantu! (Mum, Mum, we are scared, there`s a ghost!)” My parents came running in, they calmed us down, and my father closed all the windows, and asked us to join them in their bedroom for the night. Later on we realised that the occupant before us had a one and only son, and he was killed in a terrible motor-cycle accident, and that my room was actually his room. Hmmm..

The Banana Tree Girl - Encounter With Ghosts