AFTER ALL THOSE YEARS pt.2

(Continuation)

The first day at the College's Prep School where all new intakes of primary levels were housed, I found it to be a special place since almost everyone there was of my age although later on I found out that some have been there over a year earlier. My uncle Pa'Dor left very early the next day without my knowing that he had left which somewhat upset me and made me suddenly missed home. That was the rare time when I cried by myself when I was bathing. It was the very first time in my life too that I had to carry a bar of bathing soap already placed in a plastic container, my toothbrush and a small Colgate toothpaste all the way to the bathroom. There were nine bathrooms and similar number of squat toilets. Somehow, I must have been the latest to bathe that morning because I found the place desolate. By the time I got back to my dormitory which consisted of sixty beds in all, except for my immediate neighbor bed mate from my home state of Negeri Sembilan named Azhar bin Dato' Lokman, the rest of the dormitory residents had left for breakfast.

Breakfast time turned out to be something out of the ordinary for me. I had never experienced seated on and amongst rows of wooden benches which were seemingly joined together but in reality consisted of several benches of twelve feet each. The Dining Hall could accommodate one hundred and thirty easily. When every one was seated, I saw that at the heads of two table rows someone got up to speak to all of us. He introduced himself as one of the Prefects in charge of our Prep School and that his fellow Prefect was at the other table. The breakfast briefing was very brief which was mainly to welcome all of us and to make ourselves at home. Some basic rules were mentioned but at that moment nothing that was said of these rules ever entered my mind because I had never been acquainted with rules as such in my life at home. I could not quite recall what food was served to us then. All I can remember is everyone seemed to finish them all, making it obvious that we were all already hungry since the previous night's dinner took place at seven and no other food was available after that.

Azhar Lokman was seated with me at breakfast and we quickly became friends. He seemed to be extra intelligent to me in that he could utter some English words already. It was he who told and directed me to our classroom, which was called Form room at the College. Both of us found desks which were at the back of the Form room, the rest being already occupied by the early comers. Altogether there were only twenty eight in our class known as Form One B. It was at this time that I noticed my immediate right neighbor who was somewhat quiet looking but of friendly disposition when approached. He was Sabri bin Mohd Rejab from Kedah. We got into conversation somehow although I cannot recall exactly what it was but it was enough to convince me that this guy was a very nice person that I would wish to make as my close friend.. Indeed for the next few days later Sabri became my first best friend although he might not realized it at that time. It was later on when we started our English lessons that things became very amusing to all of us listening to the various ways English words were pronounced by everyone.

You have to understand that the College took in pupils from all the States and Straits Settlements of the then Malaya. Hence the colloquial dialect of each state residents was something new to me and indeed to all of us then. The worst ones that we could hardly understand were those from the States of Trengganu and Kelantan. Making it worst of course, the boys from these two States seemed to flock amongst themselves only, more especially those from Kelantan. Later on in life I found it's the norm for the Kelantanese to have a gregarious tendency and attitude. Politically today this accounts for the stronghold of the PAS party. There is no way that a non-Kelantanese could be accepted by the Kelantanese in their State without proven loyalty to the place first. It is not so with the Trengganu people though. Needless to say, I always proudly mention my origin home State of Negeri Sembilan when making my introduction to my new College friends then and why shouldn't I be when it was and still is a unique State which continues to practice its ancient traditions of Adat Perpateh until today.

The people of Negeri Sembilan were of Minangkabau origin who hailed from the Sumatra region better known as Pagar Ruyung. The story started in the early 16th century when a scion of the Sumatran royalty from Pagar Ruyung migrated to Sri Menanti in Negeri Sembilan. Sri Menanti then became the first satelite kingdom in the Malay Peninsula. Since then, there has been a constant flow of royal princes migrating from Sumatra, and they settled down to what is now called Negeri Sembilan. The royal followers found their newly settled land very much like their Sumatran homeland with its rolling hills, flowing rivers and the flat lowlands where padi, their staple food could be grown.

According to a story, the ninth prince made the final migration resulting in the formation of the present Negeri Sembilan translated as nine kingdoms. During those early days. The Sumatran immigrants would sail across the Malacca Strait, which was only about 26 miles at the narrowest point between Sumatra and Johore. To this day, this traditional occupation is still being carried out, but now without travel documents they are known as illegal immigrants.

The Minangkabau's contribution to the richness of the Indonesian culinary culture was its delicious food called 'nasi padang'. Steaming rice as the main item was complemented with a host of about thirty-five spicy dishes and local salad. The waiter would appear with both hands carrying several dishes expertly lined up on his two arms like an acrobatic juggler would adroitly lay the food-laden plates, one by one, on the table with ease. Once done it would be up to the diners to pick and choose their dishes of his delight, which could be plenty if one was real hungry.

I believe 'nasi padang' is the culinary link between the Malaysian Malays and the Sumatran Malays as a common gastronomical denominator. There is a natural affinity for Malaysians especially the Malays to look for 'nasi padang' restaurants whenever they visited Indonesia. This was not a difficult thing to do as 'nasi padang' restaurants can be found throughout the length and breadth of Indonesia , a testimony to its popularity.

The Minagkabau culture has also made its impact on the Malaysian culture so much so both cultures have been fused as one. It is really very difficult to separate the two overlapping cultures, as it is impossible to separate the milk and sugar in a cup of tea. Being made up of originally thirteen provinces or districts, Negri Sembilan is indeed unique. Over time however, only nine of these provinces were considered of importance with the smaller original four duly absorbed by the bigger ones with no significant effects. The State was established by wave after wave of Minangkabau immigrants from West Sumatra's Pagar Ruyung or Bukit Tinggi. These nine provinces are today known as (1) Seri Menanti, (2) Terachi, (3) Johol, (4) Rembau, (5) Jempol, (6) Sungai Ujong, (7) Gunung Pasir , (8) Inas, and (9) Ulu Muar, while the lesser four provinces are (1) Jelebu,(2) Linggi, (3) Gemencheh, and (4) Air Kuning.

Later , in 1895 the British Administration combined all these provinces into its present state as a single entity occupying an area of 6,000 square kilometers about the size of Rhode Island. The royal ruler of this conglomerate state is not called Sultan but a lesser title known as the "Yang Di Pertuan Besar or Yam Tuan'. Traditionally the 'Yam Tuan', a hereditary title is elected among the Negri Sembilan tribal 'Undangs' ( chieftains) based on seniority and unanimous decision. Maybe it is because of its uniqeness that Independence Malaysia's first Paramount Ruler or the Yang Di Pertuan Agong happened to be the Yang Di Pertuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan Tuanku Abdul Rahman who was followed on by his son as the tenth Yang Di Pertuan Agong, Tuanku Ja'afar ibni AlMarhum Tuanku Abdul Rahman, who happened to marry my aunty Tuanku Najihah Tunku Besar Buhanuddin, who is my late mother's younger sister.

( TO BE CONTINUED )