Goreng

Masak tauge goreng lada
Lada ditumbuk lada putih,
Tuan menagih pada yang ada
Saya merajuk pada yang kasih...

(pantun dari halaman web DBP)

Dalam mencari maksud pada perkataan 'goreng', saya telah merujuk kepada Kamus Dewan yang saya miliki (edisi keempat tahun 2007). Terdapat dua (2) definisi bagi perkataan tersebut iaitu :

1. Yang dipanggang dalam kuali, yang dimasak dengan minyak.

2. Kecekapan memetik gitar mengikut tempo rancak (bahasa percakapan)

Maksud yang pertama itu adalah jelas dan tidak perlu dihuraikan. Maksud yang kedua pula adalah satu slanga (percakapan tidak rasmi) bagi aksi bermain gitar di mana petikan tali gitar itu dibuat dengan rancak dan nyaring, terutamanya pada bahagian 'gitar solo' dalam sesebuah lagu.

Para peminat muzik sudah tentu faham maksud kedua perkataan ini. Antara pemuzik tanahair yang pandai 'menggoreng' gitar ialah allahyarham M Shariff dan allahyarham A Rahman Hassan. Bagi saya, penggoreng gitar barat yang paling saya minati ialah Mark Knopfler.

Sebenarnya, rujukan yang saya buat ialah untuk mencari satu lagi maksud perkataan 'goreng' yang saya mula dengar ketika zaman persekolahan berpuluh tahun dahulu. 'Goreng' yang dimaksudkan ini juga digunakan dalam percakapan tidak formal. Tidak pasti pula samada istilah ini masih disebut oleh pelajar-pelajar masa kini.

Oleh kerana Kamus Dewan saya edisi lama, saya pun membuat semakan di internet. Manalah tahu, mungkin sudah ada definisi baru. Maaf... tiada definisi baru di laman web DBP.

Jadi, bagaimana ya untuk saya terangkan maksud ketiga perkataan 'goreng' ini (ikut pemahaman saya lah)? Mungkin saya boleh beri contoh pengunaannya.

Contoh 1 : Soalan karangan dalam kertas periksa BM tadi susah betul. Ceritakan satu keadaan yang boleh menerangkan maksud peribahasa 'Lalang ditanam, takkan padi yang tumbuh!'. Saya tak pernah pun dengar perumpamaan itu. Mana ada orang tanam lalang. Saya pun goreng je jawapannya.

Contoh 2 : Aku duk dengar dengan tekun mamat tu bagi ceramah tentang periuk masak yang terhebat di pasaran. Boleh grill, steam, air-fry, bake, smoke dan segala macam metode memasak. Dan bagaimana kalau kita jadi ahli, boleh tingkatkan jualan dengan hanya dapatkan tiga orang `downline' dan terus jana pendapatan beribu-ribu dalam masa beberapa bulan sahaja! Dalam bab menggoreng ni, tiada yang lebih hebat dari promoter MLM.

Kecekapan menggoreng cara ini kadangkala ada munafaatnya. Tetapi haruslah berhati-hati... terlebih goreng boleh jadi hangus.

Lima ratus negara tu memang sah-sah lah menggoreng. Tersalah sebut, katanya. Yang dimaksudkan ialah 500 peserta dari seluruh dunia. Ok lah... saya pun tidak pasti sebesar mana sesi 'video conferencing' yang dianjurkan oleh Pertubuhan Kesihatan Sedunia. Mungkin talian sambungan mereka tersangatlah lancar dan jelas. Kami kumpulan rakan sekolah lama, buat panggilan video guna Google Duo, seramai tujuh atau lapan orang pun tersekat-sekat.

Panjang juga celoteh saya pada hari ini. Terima kasih kerana sudi membaca.

Gambar sekadar hiasan. Tempe dan tahu goreng. Enak di makan dalam waktu pergerakan terhad PKP.

Tempe dan tahu goreng dari Segamat Station Kopitiam

Barely alive

In some of my responses to social media comments from friends, I often use the Malay idiom nyawa-nyawa ikan to describe the present political career of a certain minister. The phrase has a graphic impact and apply to a condition (life, career or business situation, for example) that is barely alive or in its last gasp of breath before expiring.

As usual, after using such a phrase, I often wonder how it originated. Sad to say, all my online search for Malay word or phrase origins have revealed very little. Apart from telling us what the idiom means, no website has provided information on how, when or who created the phrase. There aren't any websites whose authors or administrators are even willing to offer a theory on how such sayings came to be.

This pales in comparison to websites that offer the etymology of English words and origins of the most popular and common phrases. Malay language and literary scholars still have a long way to go, it seems.

In the absence of such theories, I guess I'll offer one of mine :

Nyawa-nyawa ikan ~ when a fish is caught on a hook and pulled to the river bank or into the perahu, it would flop here and there, gasping for water and struggle for a bit before finally reaching the end. The duration from the time it is taken out of the water and the time it stops moving is not a terribly long one. Some wise wordsmith of old then thought that this situation would aptly describe someone who is in his final throes of survival.

Not a nice situation to be in...

On sale at our local fishmonger at the central market

The hornet's nest

I have a friend from childhood days who now works at the military airbase in Butterworth, Pulau Pinang. He is very knowledgeable about military aircraft, whether they come from US, Europe or Russia. I, on the other hand, am quite ignorant about airplanes. Perhaps the only significant combat plane that I can identify is the British Harrier Jump Jet, the amazing aircraft that can do vertical landing and take-off. This jet was part of the fleet that saw action during the Falklands War in 1982.

My friend recently posted an interesting trivia to our Whatsapp group. The British RAF 100 Squadron has a Malay motto on their badge. It reads :

`Sarang Tebuan Jangan Dijolok'

The literal translation of this Malay idiom is `Never stir up a hornet's nest', meaning that one should not be looking for trouble on purpose. When applied to the macho men of the Air Force, the underlying message would be, `Better not mess with us. Or else we'll come and hurt you real bad!'

To confirm my friend's story, I googled the 100 Squadron. Indeed, their badge does have a motto written in Malay. The webpage gives a brief history of the squadron but does not provide any information on how and why the Malay motto was adopted. It does however say that the squadron was once based in Malaya in 1950, so that was probably when they came across a Malay idiom which took their fancy.

The link can be read here -> RAF 100 Squadron

Selamat hari raya Aidiladha to my Muslim friends and readers. The noblest aspect of sacrifice is expecting nothing in return.

The hornet's sting may kill you...

Coarse bamboo

In the late 1980s at my first workplace in Johor Bahru, I was in charge of the construction of the Islamic religious schools throughout the state. The project was funded by the State Government and the organisation I worked in acted as Project Managers.

Most of these schools were located in rural towns and villages where access were sometimes a problem. I loved my short stint while being involved in the project. It gave me the opportunity to travel to all corners of Johor state and reach the remotest of places in all 8 districts.

In the district of Segamat, there is a small town on the main road heading north to Kuala Lumpur, called Buloh Kasap. I have passed by this place a few times on my trips to KL but the first time I actually made a stop was when I attended a handing-over ceremony of a completed school. In the days before the North-South Expressway, a trip to Segamat from JB would take up to 3 hours. That can be considered as a very far distance but I was a young man then... any outstation trip to visit projects was always fun and worth the drive.

Buloh Kasap got its name from a certain type bamboo plant that is said to have grown abundantly in the area... at least, that's what historical reference sources tell us. Buloh is bamboo while kasap means coarse or rough. I take it that this refers to the skin or surface of the bamboo. I don't actually know how a coarse bamboo plant looks like. The ones I see growing in jungles or by river banks are normally dark green and have smooth outer surface. These are the type that lemang-makers use.

This clump of bamboo is certainly not the kasap variety. Definitely not suitable for making lemang.

The term `buloh kasap' is also widely-known as being used in a Malay proverb. According to Dewan Bahasa & Pustaka, the full proverb goes like this -> Berniaga bagai buloh kasap, hujungnya hilang, pangkalnya lesap. The Malay saying means wasteful work being done by someone who doesn't have the knowledge or skills to do it. In particular, it refers to a loss-making business venture caused by the person's own weakness.

As always, I like to ask the mystery question. How does a particular type of bamboo plant gets connected to poor business decisions?

The idea for this post came after I heard my mother use the saying the other day. My youngest sister has started a small makan business selling nasi lemak, satay, mee siam and a few other stuff from a rented stall. She has asked our mother for some cooking tips on how to make her dishes more tasty. Mom would of course, share her secrets... but not before nagging to my sister to be careful about this, be aware about that, take care about the cash collection, don't pamper your workers, don't hutang too much, plus a whole lot of other business advice. She knows what she's talking about, being a small-time businesswoman herself when she was younger. `Jangan berniaga macam buloh kasap,' she warned, `Untung tak ada, modal pun lesap.'

Mothers... they may nag non-stop, but they have the welfare of their children at heart :-)

A rolling stone...

Wow, it's the new year already. On New Year's Day last year, I was in Temerloh attending a friend's wedding before heading to Kuantan where I spend the night. An unplanned exchange of messages during breakfast the next day saw me having afternoon tea with blogger Versedanggerik and her family. Later on the way back to Kuala Lumpur, I made a detour to Triang, somewhere deep in the Pahang heartland, to visit a nephew whose wife had just given birth.

For the first post of 2012, let's have a discussion on English proverbs for a change.

I spent the first half of last year based in KL, with my family rooted in JB. It was a regular trip up and down the North-South Expressway every other weekend. Sometimes driving but mostly on the express buses. It wasn't something I particularly liked but what to do? Later on in June, a friend introduced me to a job opportunity in Pontian and after a quick interview, I was offered the post. Unfortunately, for one reason or another, that job didn't last... but I decided to remain in Johor Bahru and look for something new. Alhamdulillah, I recently received an offer for a job that would put me back at familiar grounds.

I am what you call, a rolling stone. The full English proverb goes like this : A rolling stone gathers no moss. Now why would we want to gather moss, you may ask. Why not gather something more valuable? Well... proverbs being based on metaphors, are not meant to be understood literally. The meaning of this particular proverb is that if we move around too much (as opposed to sticking around for a long time), then we wouldn't be gaining much experience. Jumping from job to job is an obvious example.

I hadn't actually made a count of how many companies I have worked for since I graduated, until a few days ago. While updating my resume to include this latest appointment, I realised that I have been employed at eleven (11) different firms throughout my 27 years of working life. That number does not include a few short stints at companies owned by friends and relatives. Some people say that this hopping around is not a good thing. Perhaps they are right... but it is not that I purposely seek new jobs every few years just for the fun of it. Each and every job resignation I went through has its own story. Sometimes, things happen that are not within our control. But I'm not the type to live in regret although I admit that the constant job changes had caused difficulties.

I therefore do not fully agree with meaning of the proverb about rolling stones. While I may not have gained a deep knowledge of one particular field, my different job postings have afforded me with a varied exposure of civil engineering disciplines. In which case, another familiar English proverb would apply : a jack of all trades but the master of none. It's okay... I have accepted that I'm not a master, but the little that I know of a few specialised areas are valuable enough for me to survive on. Nonetheless, I do hope this present job will last for some time. A rolling stone can't go on rolling forever.

I may not have gathered moss by not staying still but I can tell you what I've gathered over the years... bank accounts. For the purpose of salary payment, different employers want me to open account at banks of their choice. To date, I have/had accounts at the following financial institutions :

- Malaysia Credit Finance (now defunct)
- HSBC Bank
- Bank Bumiputera (a/c revived as Bank Muamalat when BB went kaput)
- Public Bank
- Maybank
- CIMB Bank (this is the latest)

As I have mentioned previously, nak harapkan akaun bank je yang banyak, duit dalamnya tak se berapa...

The stones in Sungai Bernam that no longer roll...

Ditelan mati emak...

Back to another posting about Malay proverbs. In a previous post, I had mentioned how the late Pak Sako gave excellent commentaries on the use of peribahasa Melayu to suit any given situation. In general, the old Malay proverbs make use of metaphor to get the message across. Most of such sayings have deep and sometimes sarcastic meanings, but there are some that actually sound a bit inappropriate, whether used in the distant past or mentioned in the present day. Pak Sako took swipes at some of these and the following is an example.

`Duduk sama rendah, berdiri sama tinggi' or its equivalent `Hati gajah sama dilapah, hati kuman sama dicecah'.

The underlying message behind both these proverbs is equality. Not of the sexes, but of class. The Malay word for it is darjat. More often than not, the users of such sayings are those who are well-to-do and they apply the usage to curry favour or empathy from those who are not. According to Pak Sako, in almost all occasions (events, ceremonies, wedding receptions), persons of a certain standing will always be treated a bit special compared to the common folk. No such thing as equality. Which sort of reminds me of the quote from George Orwell : All animals are equal... but some animals are more equal than others.

So why am I again writing on this subject of perumpamaan Melayu? Dah takde idea lain ke?

Well.... earlier today, an old schoolmate named Zaim Mahmood, posted on his FB wall, a list of modified peribahasa purportedly uttered by the TV3 news reporter Karam Singh Walia, who's famous for such idiomatic quotes. Most of the sayings are hilarious and I doubt if Mr Walia actually said them, but even if he didn't, I'm sure he wouldn't mind the credit. I have chosen some real classical samples to share :

1. Terlajak perahu boleh diundur, terlajak kereta pun boleh undur. Terlajak kapal terbang takde gear reverse, sori.
2. Sudahlah jatuh ditimpa pula tangga, lepas tu tercium pulak tahi ayam.
3. Biar mati bini jangan mati anak (boleh kahwin lagi ape...)
4. Kalau tiada rotan, pelempang ajelah....
5. Hujan emas di negeri orang, hujan batu di negeri sendiri. Kalau macam tu lebih baik tak payah hujan.

There is plenty more from where that came from. Muahaha!

Ok then..... let's end this post with another of my own contribution : Ditelan mati emak, diluah mati bapak. Habis tu, kalau tak telan atau tak luah, sendiri yang mati lah ye....

Give it back

I am still on the subject of Malay proverbs, this time touching on the short phrase form known as Simpulan Bahasa. The phrase I choose today is buruk siku. There seems to be no direct or proper translation for this idiom, nor is there an equivalent English saying that I can think of.

`Buruk' can be translated to bad, decayed, foul or worn out. `Siku' is literally the elbow but can sometimes be used to refer to a sharp corner or edge. The direct translation of `bad elbow' is not correct because in Malay, the adjective normally follows the noun. However the order is reversed when the words are used as an idiom. A few other examples : keras kepala, buah hati and panjang tangan.

The meaning of buruk siku is asking a recipient to return something that was previously given. Don't ask me why the human elbow is connected to such deplorable behaviour. I've tried to research the origin of this simpulan bahasa but have not been successful so far. In fact, I have yet to find a website or book that explains the origin of Malay sayings.

Anyway, why am I talking of this phrase? Because it aptly describes the extraordinary action of the Recording Industry Association of Malaysia (RIM) in revoking the Best Song award given to singer/songwriter Yuna during the 18th Anugerah Industry Music (AIM) ceremony held almost 2 weeks ago. Read the news report on Malaysian Insider here -> Yuna loses award.

It seems that RIM and their professional auditors made a blunder while tallying up the scores for the best song. Apparently, the winning song should have been Anuar Zain's Sedetik Lebih.

Maybe Sedetik Lebih is a better song than Penakut.... it doesn't matter to me because I like both songs, but it goes to show that even experienced professionals make the most basic of mistakes.

I feel sorry for Yuna because I know she is very talented. I was lucky enough to watch her perform live during an impromptu session some time last year. My friend invited me to join him and his staff for a simple company dinner at a restaurant in Subang Jaya. This restaurant has a small stage where live music is performed. My friend also invited Yuna's father who is his friend from student days. Yuna's father in turn, brought along his family but never promised if his daughter is willing to sing. The young lady was sporting enough to come on stage and entertain us with 4 songs, including her famous debut hit, Dan Sebenarnya.

Adakah perasaan benci ini sebenarnya.... cinta...

With her young fans...

Don't fret too much about the buruk siku action of RIM, young lady. With your kembang sayap efforts to popularise your music overseas, I am sure you'll go very far.

The art of saying things indirectly

I have previously written about my interest in old Malay proverbs or peribahasa Melayu in a post last year. It takes a certain skill to know when a proverb can be aptly mentioned to apply to a particular situation. Sometimes the reader or listener may not actually know the meaning of the saying but when applied to the situation of the moment, the reason becomes clear by way of inference and comparison.

I still have not yet mastered such skill... and that is why I continue to read and re-read books by literary craftsmen on the subject. I am presently re-reading the first volume of Pepatah Petitih by Pak Sako. The book, first published in 1989, is a collection of articles written by Pak Sako for a local humour magazine called Gila-Gila. In his articles, the writer deftly explained the use various perumpamaan Melayu in different situations, one such common area of use is in satire. Since Malays have this habit of not being able to deliver criticisms directly, many proverbs came into existence to cover for the situation. Sometimes, a properly placed proverb carries more sting than the direct comment. Pukul anak sindir menantu.

The publisher of the magazine, Creative Enterprise saw it fit to publish the collection of articles in book form. The compilation comes in two volumes and I have both. The repeat reading of Volume 1 is now filling up my spare time during these days of wet rainy afternoons in November.

Pak Sako's real name is Ishak Haji Muhammad. He was born in Temerloh in 1909 and passed away on 7 November 1999, just one week short of his 82nd birthday. Reading through his writings, I am tempted to give my own twists to some of the old proverbs... especially those that apply to the present situation that I'm in. I'll start with the following :

Harimau mati meninggalkan belang,

Gajah mati meninggalkan tulang,

Manusia mati meninggalkan hutang...

That last line above is my own modification. The original ending to this pepatah Melayu is : `Manusia mati meninggalkan nama.' Well, if I were to die today, I doubt that I'll be leaving behind any name worth remembering.... tapi tinggalkan hutang tu memanglah banyak. Just a few minutes ago, I received a phone call from the credit card company, reminding me of overdue payment. Oh how I wish I can be debt-free. I guess it's time for me to change my spending habits. Besar periuk, besarlah keraknya...

Antan patah, lesung hilang

A friend's status update on Facebook last week caught my eye. He overheard a Malay proverb wrongly quoted by someone and lamented that it's damaging the language.

What he heard was, `Aku ibarat sepah, habis madu aku dibuang.' The original Malay peribahasa is of course, not expressed as such, although the intended meaning is not far off the mark. This twist in the expression seems more personal... the person who said it feels strongly about the situation to equate himself as the sepah, not caring that he has mangled the original saying in the process. The literal translation of sepah is residue or waste by-product... so you can see what the guy was getting at.

I have long been fond of the Malay peribahasa or proverbs, although I'm quite poor at remembering them, what more to apply their use in daily speech. The beauty of the Malay proverb is in the way a point or message is delivered by referring to something else. Call it metaphor or simile or inference or whatever you like. It is the art of saying something without obviously saying it. You just have to marvel at the way our forefathers come up with such literary gems. Some say that such proverbs were created because of the peculiar Malay trait of not being able to say things directly, whatever the reason may be. It is no surprise therefore, a well-placed peribahasa can sometimes have a more potent effect than just stating the obvious. Jika kasihkan padi, buanglah rumput.

There are hundreds of such classic phrases, but what puzzles me is how and when they originate. The books and online sources that I've read about peribahasa Melayu do not offer any clues as to their origin. Who actually first uttered the phrase? When was it said? Was there a particular situation or event that caused it to be said? When was the first time such saying was seen in print?

Compared to online sources about English word and phrase origins, there aren't any about the Malay language, at least not that I've discovered anyway. I sure hope the cerdik pandai in our universities make some effort in doing research in Malay word and proverb origins and share the research findings with us. It is not enough for me just to know the meaning of a proverb, I want to know how it came to be as well. I'd also like to know if there any recent or modern proverbs and whether it is possible for me to be the creator of one.

This subject of peribahasa Melayu reminds me of an acquaintance whom I met in 2001 while working on a construction project in Kuala Lumpur. This seasoned gentleman we call Pak Lang (short for Alang) is around 60-years old and was employed as the site supervisor. I loved chatting with him because his stories are freely peppered with lovely phrases. He always seem to have an appropriate peribahasa to fit any particular situation. He would tell me the story of some old relationship and then end it with, `Anak sungai lagikan berubah, inikan pula hati orang.' Or he would sound out a warning to one of the lazy workers by saying,`Kau ni macam pahat, tak ditukul, tak makan.' Or when I see him carry out a heavy task and tell him to take it easy, his reply would be, `Alah bisa, tegal biasa.'

I wonder where Pak Lang is nowadays. Hope you are well, my friend. Tuan adalah ibarat tiram di lautan...

Baik membawa resmi padi

The past weekend was spent at the wedding reception of my nephew held at his parent's home in Rawang, Selangor. Rather than post more wedding photos, I thought it would be better if I upload pictures taken while we were at Kedah and Perlis the week before.

While the groom and his family headed back to Rawang after the ceremony at the bride's place in Alor Star, we decided to drive a bit further north to Kangar in Perlis to stay at another brother-in-law's place.

We spent two days in Kangar. The first night, my BIL took us out for dinner at Kuala Perlis. We had our fill of fresh seafood. The next day, lunch was at this popular makan place called Anjung Keli. While I do not eat ikan keli (freshwater catfish), my sons love them. Later in the day, my BIL took us to Padang Besar where I bought some imitation football jerseys for my sons.

When we left Kangar the following day, I decided to take the old road to Alor Star rather than the highway, just for adventure. This journey took us past beautiful landscape of paddy fields stretching as far as the eye can see. The scenery reminds me of another Malay proverb that I have used as a title for this post.

A few kilometres before reaching the town of Alor Star, I spotted a roadsign showing the way to Kota Kuala Kedah. I decided to make a detour and was pleasantly surprised to come across a site of historical importance.

View from Kota Kuala Kedah towards upstream

Downstream view from Kota Kuala Kedah towards the sea

Kuala Kedah town and fishermen's jetty on the opposite bank

Kota Kuala Kedah is an old fort built in the early 17th century during the reign of Sultan Sulaiman Shah II. It is located on the north bank at the Sungai Kedah rivermouth. The ruins of the fort is now maintained as a tourist attraction.

The old Shahbandar's house has been converted to a tourist information centre. Note the old Portugese gate in the background.

The old Kuala Kedah lighthouse within the fort compound

After making a quick tour of the fort, we went to look for a place to have lunch. I saw a large signboard of a newly-opened eating place called Restoran Bahtera Nelayan. The way to this restaurant took us along small winding roads right on the edge of some paddy fields. When we finally reached the place, we found a new building built next to the river with part of the structure standing on piles by the water's edge. A wooden jetty connects the building to the river, past some mangrove trees. It was quite a peaceful setting.

Wooden jetty connecting the restaurant to the river's edge

View of Sungai Kedah from the wooden jetty

The restaurant is managed by the local Persatuan Nelayan Kawasan Kuala Kedah and of course, serves mainly seafood. Since I was in the adventurous mood, I had the waitress recommend they way the dishes should be cooked. We had ikan jenahak bakar basah, udang sambal thai and ikan sembilang masak gulai asam.

The bakar basah style refers to grilling the sambal-coated fish in a pouch of aluminium foil. This way, the moisture and flavour is kept within the pouch. The prawns were cooked in a spicy hot sauce that I have never tasted before. The ikan sembilang (saltwater catfish) which I also do not eat, was my son's choice. It was cooked in a simple sour soup not unlike tomyam but not quite. Also somewhat similar to asam pedas but not quite too. The soup contained cubes of keledek (sweet potato) to give the dish a hint of sweetness. A truly unique taste of gulai utara.

Udang sambal thai, gulai asam ikan sembilang and kailan ikan masin

All the dishes tasted delicious and the price was reasonable too. It was worth the trouble driving along the winding lanes to search for the place.

The lovely lunch meant that the driving back to Kuala Lumpur would be tough journey. We left Alor Star and entered the North-South Expressway to head south. We safely reached KL, made a brief stop at a sister's house before driving onwards to Johor Bahru. The full stretch from north to south in a single day.

On the whole, it was a very tiring trip but a very memorable one too.

Alang-alang menyeluk pekasam

Seems like I'm in the mood of using part of Malay proverbs as title for my posts. The full peribahasa Melayu reads, `Alang-alang menyeluk pekasam, biar sampai ke pangkal lengan'. It is an advice on not doing things at half-measure.

I've used this proverb so many times and yet I have never fully known what the word `pekasam' means. Until last week, that is. But we will get to that part shortly. I first like to continue with the story of my nephew's wedding from the previous post.

Some of you commented on the poignant moment when the groom cried while hugging his mother after the nikah procedure was over. This touching scene caused all the aunts (and some uncles) to shed tears too. The significance of the moment can be understood by knowing some history. Twenty-seven years ago, Fathhullah Azmie, was born two months premature. When he came out of his mother's womb, he was slightly larger than an adult's palm. The first month of his life was spent in an incubator. It was a touch and go situation. His parents were not sure he would make it. By the grace of Allah, he pulled through and survived. He has grown up to be a fine young man who is now a medical doctor posted in the rural outback somewhere in Pahang and on the way to starting a family of his own.

The nikah ceremony actually started in jovial mood. My wife's siblings are mostly jolly folks. We like to poke fun at each other. As we say in Malay, memang kuat bergurau. The bride, Nur Wahidah, being the newest addition to the family, is not spared either. But she's a good sport and she took all our jests in her stride. The following incident illustrates an example.

The day after the akad nikah is the reception at the bride's home and it includes the bersanding ceremony. Our entourage arrived at the reception right on time and assembled at the road junction a few metres from the house. The bride was supposed to come out and meet her groom outside, after which both of them would walk together side-by-side towards the wedding dais.

All of us from the groom's family waited in line for Wahidah to come out. When she arrived, she stood in front of us expecting to be paired with her groom but Fathhullah was nowhere to be seen. We were all mischievously grinning when one of the groom's sister jokingly said, `Alamak! Kita lupa bawa suami awak la... Nampaknya tak boleh nak bersanding hari ni.'

Wahidah nonchalantly replied, `Takpe... bersanding dengan Ucu pun boleh.' Ucu in this case, refers to the groom's uncle who is also my wife's youngest brother (he's the guy holding the mike for the groom in one of the pics in the earlier post). As it happens, Ucu is still single.

We all had a good laugh.... way to go, young lady. You'll fit right in with our family.

The groom's entourage upon arrival at the bride's house for the bersanding ceremony

The bride wondering where her husband is. The groom is quietly sitting in the Camry behind her.

Jangan lah masam muka... kitaorang gurau je!

Upon arrival at the house, we heard two loud bangs. This young man fired the shots into the air, apparently as a form of greeting to the newly-weds. I had him pose proudly with his gun for this pic. Talk about a shotgun wedding!

Indahnya pengantin bersanding atas pelamin

The groom's family. My three nieces in this pic are all still available

Right... now back to the story of pekasam. Before the bersanding ceremony that morning, we went to the Pekan Rabu in Alor Star to look for some breakfast. At a foodstall on the ground floor, the wife and I had some mee hoon sup utara while our son had something called nasi goreng brazil (see pic above). How's that for being creative in naming a dish!

After breakfast, we browsed the other floors of the Pekan Rabu and came across some stalls selling ikan pekasam. It is the first time I've seen the pickled fish as they are not available in Johor. I later found out the the pekasam process involves fermenting the fish (generally the fresh water variety) in dry-roasted ground rice plus some salt. The two main ingredients of pekasam, namely fresh-water fish and rice, are widely available in the northern states as compared to the south. That is why I never came across pekasam before, except in a Malay proverb.

The array of ikan pekasam sold at Pekan Rabu includes ikan puyu, ikan sepat and ikan lampam

There's something new to be learnt everyday. Now if only someone can explain to me the `menyeluk sampai ke pangkal lengan' part...

Ikan di laut, asam di darat

It has been a very busy weekend. My nephew who is originally from Johor Bahru, got married to a sweet young lass from Alor Star in Kedah. On Saturday, we made the long travel up north as part of the rombongan pengantin lelaki (groom's entourage).

After the bernikah (wedding vows) ceremony, we took the opportunity to visit a brother-in-law of mine in Kangar, Perlis. We have just now returned back to JB from Kangar, a drive of around 750km. I have now driven the full length of the North-South Expressway.

The groom's father now lives in Rawang, Selangor. Next weekend is the reception at his place. It means that, for three consecutive weekends, I'll be doing some long-distance driving and becoming a loyal customer of Plus Expressways Bhd. Thank god for energy drinks.

So please pardon me if this post contains more pictures than text. I'll write about the wedding and the trip up north in upcoming entries.

My congratulations to Dr. Fathhullah Azmie Bin Nawawi and Nur Wahidah Binti Abidin. May the coming years be filled with warmth, joy and understanding.

Selamat Pengantin Baru. Semuga kekal hingga ke anak cucu.

The groom showing his array of gifts to the bride

The groom with his three sisters

Nine trays of hadiah hantaran

In the mosque with the Tok Qadi reading out the khutbah nikah

The Tok Qadi cracking a joke to relieve the groom's nervousness

The groom reading out his lafaz takliq

All clear... time to put pen on paper

The bride signing her agreement to be a wife

The groom is all-smiles even before the ink on the paper has dried

Handing over of the dowry from husband to wife

Part of the bride's gifts in return include a Sony Playstation 3. Now that's new!

The groom in an emotional embrace with his mother when it is all over and done

Footnote : The title of this post refers to a Malay proverb which in whole, reads : Ikan di laut, asam di darat. Dalam belanga bertemu jua. I do not know of an English equivalent but the approximate meaning is that though two hearts may be far apart (figuratively, of different worlds), it is destiny that they would meet one day and be joined in matrimony.