Sep 2005 Editorial

As parents we cannot help feeling very sorry and sympathetic with the predicaments, anxiety and misery that Farah, Arman and little Aisya are facing with the split family arrangement that they have to face and to go through for some time to the future until such time when Arman get himself settled in Chicago to have the family together again. Not by choice but by economic needs and manly pride as a responsible head of the his family, Arman had to go back home again to the States to secure a living for the family. Farah without a doubt could easily maintain the family here in KL and with the support that we do for them too, it is not a hardship for them. Such is life after all. We all have our priority and to this nobody needs understand except to the beholder.

We pity all those married couple especially the newly wed when husband and wife have to live separately simply because they hold jobs at different towns. Our own uztaz faces this marriage hardship and for them it is even worst. Besides the fact that the wife is in Kota Baru Kelantan and he himself in KL, and added to it, he is Indonesian and his wife a Kelantanese, nothing could be worst for them. Before long, his Visa will expire and he will have to find a way to stay on. For visitors from Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Burma, India, Vietnam and Myanma their extended stay after the initial three months is only a month and after that two weeks. Our uztaz will face this problem soon. This is what the old saying says " Love is blind and lovers cannot see ". Why in the first place did they get married knowing fully well these problems will be there ? When this happens, we as parents suffer too. We share the misery of our children. Such is life !

In my article last month , a mistake was pointed out to me by Farah, to which I apologize for the inadvertent error, indeed she was there at Izzat/Aida’s wedding reception dinner at the Bombay Palace. At my age and time, such memory slips are not uncommon as the saying goes, "been there, done that, cannot remember !"

During my childhood in the small village of Sri Menanti, the period before and after the war, there seemed to be tranquility too then but for the Japanese occupation of our country and thence the take over by the British after the Japanese surrender. I was then six years old and I could recall meeting and seeing some Japanese soldiers. I remember having to learn to sing the Japanese song at the raising of the Japanese flag at the school's flag staff each morning before starting classes. Of course I was not in school yet but I used to follow my elder brother then. To my impression then, Japanese did not seem to be that hostile, although later on I heard the contrary, especially when they forcefully recruited all able bodied youngsters and adults to work at a special campsites at Gemas to work at the railway tracks there. At times, the Japanese troops would raid our village for anything that live, such as chicken and ducks and even cows and buffaloes to feed their army. Of course our whole village saw no padi growing since every time we grew padi, the Japanese would come at harvest time to take away all the harvested and stored rice leaving virtually nothing for ourselves.

That was the time when we all subsisted on ubi kayu, bananas and occasional sweet potatoes and sweet corn. The lack of nutrition in our staple food made beriberi and elephantiasis very common diseases for the growing kids. My own younger brother, Farok died of beriberi in Klang then, although my father was working with the Japanese then. However, all these hardship seemed to disappear almost over night one day when we saw British troops marching into the village and supplying us with some kind of food rations for all of us - at least that's what I thought was happening then ! What I remembered was I was handed a thick bar of black chocolate and hard wheat biscuits. The biscuits were especially great tasting to me then so much so in later years whenever I spotted these in the shops, they became my favorites.These days I fail to see or get these wheat biscuits anywhere.

Our small village saw no war actions of any kind. If at all, there was a brief moment when we saw all the Chinese in the village suddenly appeared in khaki uniforms with special caps that bore three stars. Later on I was told that there were the Chinese Kuomintang troops or "tiga bintang" as they were better known to all of us then, which later on became the Communists of the country. The rule of the Kuomintang apparently lasted only two weeks. It was the interim period before the arrivals of the British and at the fall of the Japanese. The short Kuomintang rule was a bloody one for our people when a lot of our young men were killed by these Chinese troops - accused by them as Japanese collaborators.

After the country was taken over by the British, there was a kind of pact made by the British with the Chinese Kuomintang force but the pact completely failed. The Chinese Kuomintang / communists wanted to rule the country together with the British, but the latter refused to agree in any form whatsoever. As a result of this disagreement, the Chinese Communists went into the jungle and thenceforth the beginning of the jungle warfare between the British and the Chinese communists. The whole country was later on placed under EMERGENCY RULE when everybody became to be suspect Communists or their sympathizers. The so-called Communists warfare in the country went on from 1945 till 1956, with a lot of innocent people being killed by these communists and our own army and police forces without exceptions too.

It was very trying and in a way frightening time for everyone. The burning of rubber estates and the houses therein and even village houses by these communists became the norm for quite a while then, and communists ambushes of army and police convoy vehicles were very common indeed. So much lives were lost and the country could not see how it would exist for the coming years.

The EMERGENCY years as it later on came to be known were horrible years and very trying time for the people and the country., but it was during this time that the Malays started to rally themselves into a unifying force under the banner of UMNO the political forerunner to the independent movement of later years. Dato' Onn Jaafar initiated the formation of UMNO but it was Tunku Abdul Rahman who shaped it into a forceful political arena for the Malays , and unify the Chinese MCA and the Indians MIC into a political coalition that eventually led to the Independence of Malaya from the British rule.

Malaya became Independent on 31st August 1957 at an almost bloodless hand-over by the British, but for the Communists activities which still dragged on till the later years. However, thanks to the British and to combined forces of Australia and New Zealand who continued to station their troops in the country to fight the Communist terrorists,( which in reality what they had become by then) the terrorists were driven into the deep jungle and eventually decimated and almost completely obliterated. However, it is to be noted that there were numerous attempts by the Communists to infiltrate the country through subversive movements such as through the Chinese schools, Trade Unions and even political parties, and the army too, when at one time we had a special all Chinese regiment purportedly trained to fight the communists but as it turned out and uncovered in time, was in fact, a disguised communists infiltrators, thanks to the early detection and intervention of the British and Malayan intelligence agencies. As a result of this experience, the army never again until many years later and that is even a rarity, promote any Chinese to run a brigade.

Recently on 31st August 2005 we celebrated our 48th Independence Day. We are free from Communist threats of old now because the country has prospered and the impoverished poor is almost eliminated, but most important of all, our people are almost 99% literate and educated, both of which contribute to the easy dissemination of ideas for present and future development of the country as a whole. Thanks to the liberal education policy of the Government.

But of course this cannot be all paradise for us . In any developing country, there is always elements of discontents which in most cases fueled by those who cannot achieve their political and personal objectives. For as long as these elements confine themselves to academic arenas to fight their causes, everything should end healthy. What scares us are the facts that there are elements that wish to disrupt our fine living by terrorists activities and the use of fire arms.

The worst thing that has taken place of late is our country being classified by the Americans as a country that harbors terrorists. This accusation had culminated with the September 11th bombing of the New York twin towers of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon building which resulted in the death of over 5,000 lives. Both incidents involved the crashing of commercial planes directly to the two areas in the early morning of 11th September. It was a shock to the whole world and its immediate effect was to shatter the myth of the invulnerability of American air defence. The whole of America was in shock , not only from the tragedy but in fear of another similar attacks on their other cities and tall buildings and even airports.

We were "privileged" to be in the States at the time of the incidence. To be exact, we were then spending our vacation at a cabin by a lake in North Wisconsin with Farah ourdaughter, Arman John Jennrich our son-in-law and Jim his father. It was normal for Jim, my daughter's father-in-law, to switch on the TV as soon as he was up. Imagine the consternation and surprised shock he shouted on then to all of us that their WTC Towers had been attacked and destroyed completely. When I first saw it on TV I thought it was the latest Hollywood movie ! Indeed it was spectacular !

For the next few days, all Hell broke loose in the States. A Nationwide safety emergency was alerted. All public transportation system ceased, with the resultant effect of thousands of travelers , Americans and foreigners alike, left stranded all over the country's airports, trains and bus terminals. President Bush made a declaration of war against terrorists and their apparent leader, Osama ben Laden, A Saudi Arab from a very wealthy family, who now lived in exile in Afghanistan. Of course there was no real proof of Osama's direct or otherwise involvement in the attacks on American properties, but all the same, the President had to make an accusation so as to show to his people that their intelligence is supreme ! The fact that the incidence was not averted in the first place was never highlighted, of course.

Anyway, for our part, we felt insecure too by the fact that we are Muslims and already the Americans are pointing their fingers on all Muslims as being the culprits of this attack. In the next few days, quite a few of the Muslims, especially those who dressed and resembled Arabs in looks, were either physically attacked or verbally abused by the uninformed Americans. There were incidents of mosques being dirtied by the presence of pigs meat and carcasses being thrown on, whilst unmistakably two Singhalese were killed simply because they wore turbans which to the Americans they looked like Osama ben Ladin's followers !

All flights, local and International were frozen whilst USA get to implement a new and more stringent measures to check passengers and their luggage. We ourselves had to cancel our scheduled trip to Las Vegas and instead resorted to finding an earlier flight back home. But it was to no avail. There simply were no immediate flights. Thus, we spent most of our time at our children's home, whilst my wife occasionally went shopping. I stayed glued at the TV news. The one thing that fascinated me was the complete transparency of the news here. People could be outspoken when interviewed and a direct telecast was made of the debate about the need for the country to give immediate financial aids to the almost collapsed airlines industry of the nation. The news were filled up with the so called "Attack America" and numerous speeches by the President to announce the various counter measures that he has planned to stabilize the country and to counter attack the Talibans in Afghanistan and capture or kill Osama ben Ladin. Coming to grips with the American's plight was Britain with its Prime Minister, Anthony Blair making his presence in the States with full support assurance.

It was almost two weeks later that we eventually got our flight home. However, it was not on the Northwest American plane originally scheduled but re routed via Amsterdam by KLM planes. Might as well, we thought. Who knows how we might be treated on board an American plane if the original plan had materialized. The thing worth noting here is how lucky we were that we had no problem over our luggage inspections. In fact there were never inspected, thanks to Allah's blessings! An American who later became our friend in KL told us of the harrowing experience he had to go through when his luggage was subjected to 100% thorough checks by the airport securities . Apart from the fact that he missed his earlier scheduled flight, the personal checks on his own body was something he had never contemplated could take place. He had to almost strip naked completely whilst his shoes and even his socks were completely scrutinized. And the worst of it all was, when he reached his final destination in KL, one of his most precious luggage which contained his jogging gears and personal gifts to friends, were missing and never recovered. The unfortunate part was, he was on Malaysian Airlines !

There is no ends to mourning. Just as the Americans and the Afghanistans , the Talibans and others involved and connected to the September attacks on the US and the US attacks on Afghanistan, back on our own soil, on 22nd November 2001, the Nation lost it's King, the 11th Yang Di Pertuan Agong, Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Sha al-Haj Ibni Almarhum Sultan Hisamuddin Alam Shah al-Haj, who was the 2nd Agong who also died whilst he was King then. The difference is with the latter who only ruled six months, Sultan Salahuddin’s reign lasted for slightly more than three years. With his demise, his son now succeeded him as the new Sultan Selangor, who is now known as Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah.He was 55 whilst his father passed away at age 75. The conjecture then was who would be the next Agong ? According to the Federal Constitution, the Supreme Monarch or the Agong would be elected by the fellow Sultans - nine in all - according to seniority - although that would be no longer applicable since all of them had by then taken their turn to be the Agong. A turn would be the logical move in this case rather than by seniority. At that time, the Sultan of Trengganu, who was the youngest Sultan, was already the acting Agong, since he was the deputy Agong then.

When the King was buried at the Selangor Royal Musoleum in Klang, and a new Sultan took over his place in Selangor, the Nation awaited the election of the new King by their fellow Rulers when they met a fortnight's later. Speculations were rife that possibly the Sultan of Trengganu, who was the Deputy King would not be King after all since it's not his turn yet. Likelihood would be the newly installed Raja of Perlis, whose ailing father , now deceased, should have been the Deputy King but was not available at the time because he was seriously ill. Whatever happened in due course would see the Nation having two very young monarchs who had yet to experience International exposures . The country was however in the hands of a very reliable , famous and hard-working Prime Minister, Dato' Seri Dr Mahadzir. The country being a constitutional monarchical rule, stability is almost assured for as long as the ruling political party abides by the Constitution and plays fair to everyone irrespective of racial diversities which we are noted for. But for the famous racial incidence of May 13th 1969, our country had remained stable politically and financially - a cap to the ruling coalition government of UMNO / MCA / MIC. We then waited for the new King !

Whilst the country waited for its new King, over in Afghanistan, it looked like the end of the Taliban when it was reported that they were making their last stand at Kandahar and that Osama ben Ladin had fled the country.
The Raja of Perlis, Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin ibni Al-Marhum Tuanku Syed Putra Jamalullail, was elected as the 12th Yang Di Pertuan Agong by the brother Rulers during their closed door meeting. It became clear that the Rulers did not want to upset the precedented "state turns" that had been practiced the last forty years. Whilst the young Sultan Trengganu was the Deputy King prior to this, it was a well known fact that he was nominated then in liew of the ailing Raja of Perlis, the demised Tuanku Syed Putra Jamalulail, who could not possibly function as the Deputy King at that time.

Whilst we are on the subject of the Yang Dipertuan Agong, it is well worth the while noting that the past Kings had been:

Aug. 3, 1957 - April 1, 1960 Tuanku Abdul Rahman ibni Al-Marhum Tuanku Muhammad - Yang Di Pertuan Besar Negeri Sembilan;

April 14, 1960 - Sept. 1, 1960 Sultan Hisamuddin Alam Shah ibni Al Marhum Sultan Ala'iddin Sulaiman Shah - Sultan of Selangor ;

Sept. 21, 1960 - Sept. 20, 1965 Tuanku Syed Purta Syed ibni Almarhum Syed Hassan Jamalullail - Raja of Perlis ;

Sept. 21, 1965 - Sept. 20, 1970 Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Zainal Abidin - Sultan of Terengganu ;

Sept. 21, 1970 - Sept. 20, 1975 Sultan Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah ibni AlMarhum Sultan Badlishah - Sultan of Kedah ;

Sept. 21, 1975 - March 29, 1979 - Sultan Yahya Petra ibni Almarhum Sultan Ibrahim - Sultan of Kelantan ;

April 26, 1979 - April 25, 1984 , Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Al- Mustain Billah ibni Al Marhum Sultan Abu Bakar Riayatuddin Al Muadzam Shah - Sultan of Pahang ;

April 26, 1984 - April 25, 1989 - Sultan Mahmood Iskandar ibni Al Marhum Sultan Ismail - Sultan of Johore ;

April 26, 1989 - April 25, 1994 - Sultan Azlan Muhibbuddin Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Yusuff Izzuddin Ghafarullahulahu - Sultan of Perak ;

April 26, 1994 - April 25, 1999 - Tuanku Jaafar ibni Al Marhum Tuanku Abdul Rahman - Yang Di Pertuan Besar Negeri Sembilan ;

April 26, 1999 - November 21, 2001 - Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz ibni Almarhum Sultan Hisamuddin Alam Shah - Sultan of Selangor.

Thus it is interesting to note that amongst the ruling Kings, only two Sultans , namely Selangor and Kelantan never completed their Kingship terms with the shortest reigns being two Sultan Selangor - the father and the son !
The Deputy King, Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin ibni Al Marhum Sultan Mahmud Al Muktafi Billah Shah became the youngest Sultan in the country as well as the Deputy King. It all reflect what a young country Malaysia still is in this year 2005. The ruling cabinet led by Dato Seri Dr Mahadzir though is a well established ruling composition of veteran politicians, especially Dr Mahadzir who is definitely the most successful and illustrious Prime Minister the country had ever had. Through his visionary policies, the country heads towards self sufficiency which is targeted at 2020. However, as the story goes, Dr Mahadzir , now Tun Mahadzir, chose to retire from his premiership on October 21st 2003, giving way to the present Prime Minister Datuk Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Long Live Malaysia !

It has been fun to be able to touch base again with you all, hopefully, the avid readers of tunku.org. May be, Insyallah, we will meet again next month, with another historical and current ramblings from me.God willing, my wife and our sister-in-law Mahatun and daughter Fadzlinatun will go umrah before month's end and experience the early days of Ramadan in Medinah and Mecca. Both of us including Farah and Farahat had experienced Ramadan at these two holy cities in 1996 and we really savour the experience. We even saw and experienced the first day of Hari Raya in Mecca. Unlike over here when everyone are colourfully dressed in their best attires for the day , the whole of Mecca was quiet. Everyone seemed to be sleeping at home.This was as a result of the all night prayers that everyone did at the Kaabah or the Great mosque on the eve of Hari Raya.

For those of you who have found time to have a look at http//www.movie.ws/pagaruyung38, I hope you have made a positive choice for your future. After just two months with GDI, I have made significant progress and I will continue with my life mission in GDI, Insha Allah !.
God Bless !