My Soldier Story

i went to USM in penang for MASUM-Majis Sukan Universiti Malaysia for swimming. from 13-15 mac 2009. Even though i’m not very good but there is no other swimmer in upm so i’m the few lucky ones that have this opportunity to wakil upm.. anyway, this is not what i want to blog about today.

so in Penang, on 14 Mac 2009 night, we wanted to go out to eat some Penang Food. So Bilong’s friend named Faisal came with his Kancil and fetch us (Bilong, Willbert, Clair, and me) to town. we came to this makan place near the beach. the makan place got two parts, one is the chinese half, and the ohter is the malay half. so Faisal being a malay, we sat in the malay half.

Clair and i want to eat “Ow Jian” (the oyster egg omelete) and i wanted the Balitong(a kind of siput that u need to suck to eat) so we went to the chinese half to buy and tabao so that we can eat togather. so we tabao and paid. then we joined back and eat togather with Bilong they all at the malay half. As i sit down, i ordered my drink. then there are 2 little Myanmar gilrs came and begging for money. i ignored and they left. Moments later the drinks arrived and i need to pay. “OH SHIT! WHERE IS MY WALLET??!” (the time was 10pm)

i looked around but dont see my wallet, i asked around but nothing much can help me.. die lo..

then i met that two Myanmar girls again and ask them about my wallet. the older girl with green tudung said that her “friend” with red tudung and orange cloths had “found” a wallet with alot money and she’s gone back. this green tudung girl’s name is Norkaidah. we leanrt that this Myanmar begger kids will take the last ferry everynight to go back to seberang Prai. so Faisal called up his friend named Hanif. then Hanif came with his Waja.

at this point Bilong, wilbert and Faisal went to the jetty and try to look for them. Clair, me and Hanif walked around then we saw other Myanmar begger boys. we approched them and asked them about “who is this red tudung girl with baju oren?” then one of them answer ” ah, itu ialah adik dia” pointing to his friend, a little boy. immediately Hanif hold that boy’s hand and did not let go.

then, asking the others to go and find her. we ask about where is his sister. this little boy just talk all kind of lies and nonsence and ask to be released. Hanif keep on giving the boy pressure threatening him that we would bring him to balai polis.. after some time, (12.00am) that boy then took out RM81.00 from his poket. (yes that is surely my money, nobody would give a begger small boy RM50+RM10×3) that is my money.) where is the rest of my money? (in my wallet i had about RM300+) he said Norkaidah is the one who gave him the money.

At that moment i really felt like i’m an idiot because before that i’ve been speaking to Norkaidah.. why did i not spotcheck her that moment?? arh.. (but we never know whether this boy is lying or telling the truth, they speak their mother tongue and we will never know what they had already pakat.)

this small boy said Norkaidah gave out my money and my wallet was left at the park. so we ask him him to show us where is the place my wallet was being thrown. he lead us to to park just next to the makan place. Nope! no wallet could be found. at that park there are other ppl , kids and families there so many other ppl had taken my wallet or some how its not there anymore (but once again, we never know is he telling the truth or not.)

no wallet. so i ask him where is Norkaidah, where is his parents?where is Norkaidah’s parents? he was now scared and begging for us to let him go. he said Norkaidah with her mother stay at the tokong cina kecil. and he lead us there. but we  dont want to walk there so we got up the Wajar and Kancil to go to this tokong cina and indeed we saw them. Norkaidah sleeping with papar cardboard, with her younger sister, her mum, and another lady with her newborn baby. all of them at the floor outside the temple , beggers.

we approuch them and ask them about my wallet and the mother then just dont stop talking all kinds of stuff saying its not Norkaidah, saying they are poor, hand got accident, she got heart problems, her husband in jail, her child was sick.. blah blah..

“Aunty SENYAP!, jangan cakap, saya mau dengar Norkaidah yang cakap aunti SENYAP” by Hanif.. Norkaidah never admited anything and said it’s that “tudung merah,baju oren”.. blah blah..(all lies) OKeh! kita pergi balai.. the mother just cant shut her mouth and soon the penang crowd gathered around just and all talking their Hokkien which i dont understand.so we need to get away from the crowd. we pull Manu-(the small boy, now we know his name) out toward the place where we park our car and also the younger little girl.

we ask the little girl about the money and she said “Duit sudah bagi kat emak.” then we argue again near the car and again the crowd gathered. “OKeh Fine, kita selesai di Balai!”  Everyone got up the car. they (the longakang smell) got up Hanif’s Wajar, we hop on the kancil. going to the balai.

then Hanif stop the car and we try to talk again. (at first, we dont care much about my cash, and all i want back is my wallet and my documents like Mycard, Driving Lesen, Matrik Card, ATM cards. But now my wallet is missing and cant find it back anymore. so now that i cant have my wallet back then please give me back my cash then i’ll let u all go. see that Manu had given me back RM81 and little girl said the rest of the money is with u!)

so now if u just give me back RM200 then i let u all go and no need to go balai. (reminding that tomorrow we stil need to swim and its now late 2.00am. so if we all go balai this will not settle until 5.00 am. so if we all go balai in the end i stil wont get back my wallet and u ppl will be in lokap. so now no point going to balai for no body get any benefit out of it.

but they said no money..  “SPOTCHECK!”

we dont really find anything in their bags. then  the lady try to give out her money , its their hard earning begger’s money of many crumbled RM1.00 notes.. NO.. this is not my money (my money is RM50.00 notes. not these RM1.00 notes) now the children are terrified and crying. Ahiya, tak kan i want to put my hands into ur bra and under ur panties to korek for my cash right?

in the end .. fine now i cant get back my wallet nor my cash. memang saya nasib malang. what to do? … just let them go.

so pusing balik to tokong and let them go.

lapor polis (never mention anything, just said tercicir)

go back and sleep.3.00am

人生于世上有几个知己
多少友谊能长存
今日别离共你双双俩握手
友谊常在你我心里
今天且有暂别
他朝也定能去聚首
从使不能会面
始终也是朋友
说有万里山
隔阻两地遥
不须见面，心中也知晓
友谊改不了

傲气傲笑万重浪

热血热胜红日光

胆似铁打，骨似精钢

胸襟百千丈，眼光万里长

誓奋发自强，做好汉

做个好汉子，每天要自强

热血男子，热胜红日光

让海天为我取能量

去开天辟地，为我理想去闯

看碧波高壮，又看碧空广阔浩气扬

即是男儿当自强

昂步挺胸大家作栋梁，做好汉

用我百点热，耀出千分光

做个好汉子，热血热肠热

热胜红日光！

 as a christian, being in rotu sometimes makes me think and wonder.. imagine during the day when i’ll be di tauliahkan by YDP Agong, i’ll be wearing that white colour “One -dress” they called it; i’ll be wearing a songkok and every single button on my dress will be marked with “allah” and “muhammad”  and the badge on my beret will be “allah” and muhammad” too and there’ll be “allah” and “muhammad” all over me. and one the pangkat of bunga on my shoulder:”pegang teguh kepada allah”.. well , that’s the kind of “umbrella” i’m fighting under palapes.. perphas no wonder not much chinese join rotu, due to “less sense of belonging” and here they almost treat me like a “malay” and given me a malay name: Ahmad Nisfu, whereby “Nisfu” means “half” as if i’m half of a malay.

no matter what, i’ll be who i am, stand firm in the LORD tommy!

lepas belajar tingkatan lima,
masuk dalam khidmad negara.
nasional Service, short form Ns.
banyak kenangan pahit dan manis.
celoreng biru, pakai spike but,
tiap tiap pagi nyanyi Negaraku.
PT pagi, kelas CB,
Jumpa awek yg ku sukai.
percintaan pertama malu-malu,
lu suka wa, wa suka lu..

tiga bulan belum habis,
kena balik belajar form six.
lambai- lambai kepada kawan,
menangis nangis di dalam bas.

belajar tekun STPM,
tak ade masa beromane romane.
ingat seumur hidup bersama Michelle,
rupa rupanyer tidak kekal.
nafsu remaja terbakar bakar,
hingga tak ingat lagi BAPA.
bercumbu cumbuan dalam kotak merah,
Pastor tahu teramat sangat marah.
"baik korang berdua berpisah!"
punya lah kesal tidak berguna lagi,
belajarlah aku dari  pengajaran ini.
hati jiwa masih berpilu, orang sudah berlaki baru(celakha)

Lepas NS masuk PALAPES.
siapa suruh masuk askar,
Annual kem tiba kena belasah.
duit elaun ada pun habis,
untuk beli baju No1 dress.

RowCall! rowcall !rabu pagi,
Pakai uniform number three.
masuk baju dalam undie,
kilat kasut dengan kiwi.

dua jari kiri satu kanan, itulah jarak beret dari kening.
Sabtu Ahad balik rehat, kami pula buat training.
kalau  dapat bertahan tiga tahun,
Lt. Muda di atas bahu.

kini masih di UPM,
Bac. pertanian sains ternakan.
pinjam duit ptptn, program ini 4 tahun.
Katjang kambing, lembu kedah kelantan.
kambing di kandang, lembu di ladang.

cuti cuti second semester,
balik untuk chinese new year.
takut hilang dicuri,
laptopku dibawa sekali.
sekeluarga keluar makan supper.
bila balik terpingga pingger,
pintu lampu semua terbuka.
sakit hati anak dan bapa,
harta berharga sudah tak ade.
laptops, handphones camera,
jam, rantai, bateri charger.
lapor polis dengan segera.
inspektor datang betanya-tanya,
tengok sini tengok sana.
habis mencatat habis cerita.
sedih betul raye cina,
sungguh sial, sungguh celaker.!

Sun rise

Suddenly, I’m back into my old house in 62, jalan limau manis. I’m still a kid. It was getting dark, I think its about 7.30 pm. I’m at the back of the house, closing the back gate as if I’m going out to mummy’s shop no 11. there I saw a man, I’m sure it was yeye my grandfather. I didn’t look at him in the face, it was dark and I cant see clearly, but I know that was him. He was there observing my movement. Felt like being watch by him. He was there behind near the back street. But he didn’t talk or speak.

            Then suddenly my handphone rang and woke me up. It was a dream. I look into my ringing hand phone screen, it was mummy calling me. I answer the call. And mummy told me “Ah Loong, Yeye gam jiu zhoi gor hoi shen .”(yeye had past away this moring) and I said  “huh?”. Then mummy repeat it again. Then I ask again and she said it for the third time and “papa is coming to UPM to fetch me home” she added.

            On my bed, I saw the ray of the sun shine into my room, sun rise. It was 6.40am. With the shocking news and the rising sun, suddenly a song played in my  mind “Hong hong de thai yang wang shang pa, ya wang shang pa, Yeye ai wo, Wo ai tha ya-a-a” a song that Yeye tought me how to sing when I’m just a small kid. Meaning: the red-red sun climbing up, climbing up, yeye loves me,I love him too.

Immediately I started tearing.

            Then I put on my

PO

(with shirt with black tie and pants) and went on my way to the collage guard house to wait till my dad came to fetch me. On the way walking there, I sang that song aloud, I cried out.

            Yeye  taught me a lot of things. I’m the eldest son of his eldest son. He rise me up since a child. Bring me to many places. He is the one who taught me how to draw animals such as crabs,prawns, sotong, elephant, rhino and many more. But mummy was the one who taught me how to draw fish. he taught me caligrafy,He also taught me how to make origami aeroplane, a type that looks like a dragonfly. And I believe no other friends of mine know how to make that unique plain and it does can fly .

            Yeye also taught me how to use the sowing machine. The “ta been gay” and “jump che” I can still remember that I cause him injury while teaching me. He was a active and creative person, he help me in my school science projects in building a crane. And a snake stuff with cotton for art class. During standard 1 in SRJK(c)  la Salle, I drew a turtle climbing a mountain that enable me to get the first place in drawing competition. That was my first gold medal award, and he was there on the day I receive my award. And on that day as we’re going back, on the road we pick up a turtule! And brought it home too. Since then, we start to have turtles in our home as pets. He made a cement aquarium for the turtles too.

            But yeye had a hard time while he was small, as a teenager he went through the Japanese occupation hiding in the jungle. They all were hardcore survivors. My grandmother’s sister was being tied up and burnt alive in their house. During that time, my great grand father was a Shaman performs black magic and voodoo. There was a taboo that prevent them to be rich or possessing inheritance. Even if they bought new cloths, they had to make hole in them with “colok”. If got any money, they’ll spend it.

So all these cause them to live in hardship and poor. To me all these bears a curse into the family.

             But during the Zaman Kegemilangan of my grandpa, yeye was actually became a rich and powerful person. And he was involved in some kind of gang. As a ketua he own a lot of respect from people from his “territory” during that time he always wear white coat and white pants, a very smart and handsome man. But he also gamble hell a lot of money, “boros” and “berfoya-foya” in the end all wealth and money was gone just by big time gambling “Mah Jong”

            When the money was use up and debts were all around the waist. Things got worst. He was a brutal man. He beats grandma not with stick but with “tiub tayar motor” which leads to bloody scars, so badly wounded worst than a dog. My grand father’s mum was also a big bully to my grandma. And sadly my father and his siblings grew up in that kind of environment, with no parental love, care and also money but beatings. As brutal as he can be, he hate dogs or animals being inside of the hosue. If he saw Bobby in the house he would just grab anything that he can and flung it at the dog. And don’t you think about having hamsters, he’ll treat it like a rat and once he grab it , he’ll slam it to the marble floor. “Piack!” die.

            Beside animals, we’re also his “mangsa” when we did some thing wrong and he wanted to Rotan us. Matche only kena once of his rotan session-the first and also the last. Her strategy of “Mogok Lapar” works! Since then, I never see her being rotan by him anymore. But for Yokeyoke and me some time once in a while will kena from him from time to time. Due to “pilih kasih” and I’m the son, she kena from him more than I do. She sangat mahir in climbing the door-frame to get the rotan and hide it somewhere or throw away or just simply break it into two then putting it back. But this strategy does not apply to yeye because he was able to take his parang and just cut a branch from the pagar cherry plant, pull off the leaves and shoots and “Tada!.. a new rotan buatan khas” and that special rotan is rough and spiky. Once I kena for speaking foul language and I really kena from him. That night I knew that he’s gonna rotan me, just after he finished watching the Chinese news on 2. that time I hide at the corner the right which there a little hidden space of the balcony out side Matche’s room. He found me. Cane me till I cried out for mercy also he did not stop. Bloody legs.

            After some years, we grew up to be well behaved teenager. And there are no more rotan or scolding. Time past by so fast.

             Yeye was still strong and hardworking for his age, he likes farming, planting sugar cane. When we’re all grown up, he’s old and he doesn’t like garang anymore, he became a peaceful and calm. Even he was sick, he do not want us to worry, tahan sakit by himself. At one point he doesn’t care much of me being a Christian anymore, he does not ask questions or object.

             I still love him, each time a see him, I’ll give him a hug. And he longs to see me while he was in

Ipoh

.

yeye ..good bye.

SAVING MYSELF FOR MARRIAGE- Hew Teck loong (Tommy)

Believing in saving myself for marriage, I make a commitment to myself, my family,my friends, my future spouse and my fututre children to be sexually abstinent from this day forward until the day i enter a lifelong, committed, monogamouse marriage.

This is my PLEDGE; be one of my witness, please post a comment to this.(we all want Healthy Relationships)

ABSTINENCE. IT WORKS EVERY TIME.

Love is like a Butterfly

hold it too tight, u squeesed and killed it

hold it too loosely, it flew away…

well.. i agree with with what Cherlynn said,

1. Dont miss the boat
2. Remember that we are all in the same boat
3. plan ahead. it wasnt raining when Noah built the Ark
4. Stay fit. when you’re 600 years old, some one may ask u to do something really big
5. Dont listen to critics; just get on with the job that needs to be done
6. build ur future on high ground
7. for safety’s sake, travel in pairs
8. speed isnt always an advantage. the snails were on board with the cheetahs
9. when u’re stressed, float a while
10. remember, the Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals
11. no matter the storm when u are with God, there’s always a rainbow waiting..