Growing Up Part XIX

 Assalamualaikum. My last story was in 2010. That was 12 years ago. If I kept procrastinating, may be someone will start writing about me!

Finally after four long years in Telok Anson (Teluk Intan now), Bah received his transfer notice to move to Tanjong Malim as Principal of Maktab Perguruan Sultan Idris. Today it is known as Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI).

Tanjong Malim is not that far from Teluk Anson. As the norm when we have to move, my mom became the chief in getting things organised. Like a general, she put us mere soldiers to hard work. 

All glass wares were to be wrapped in newspapers and arranged in boxes carefully. What I don't understand was that each time we moved, it seemed that we had more items than before. Bah's task was to organised the orchids that he wanted to bring along.

Finally we were ready. All the stuffs were boxed up. It took 2 large train box carriages filled to the brim to be transported to Tanjong Malim.

It was decided that my brother and I were to stay and continue our schooling in Teluk Anson. Bah arranged this with the headmaster who provided us with a boarding facility near the school. My brother had completed the LCE and would continue to Form 4 there, whilst I would be in Form 3. So what was needed for us both was to be put at the hostel.

Both my brother and I were excited to be away from home on our own for the first time. Although we were free of my mum's firm and fierce supervision, we were also not looking forward to be under the care of Brother Damien, our headmaster, who was known to be a hard task-master. Such was life for us. Out of the frying pan and into the fire!

Bah promised to get us over the weekends to Tanjung Malim. Guessed that would helped us with the laundries and home cooked meals.

The house allocated to Bah was a huge double storey bungalow. We moved to Tanjong Malim but had to stay at the Guest House (a hotel mainly for government employees, in those days). Our stuffs arrived by train and were transported to the house. We couldn't move into the house yet as it was being renovated and painted. So we had to stay in the Guest House for at least a week.

An unhappy incident occurred to me whilst we were there. Before this, as a present to my brother and I, Bah bought for my brother a new watch. I however was given the watch that my brother had. Such is the fate of the second borned! But I was over the moon because I never had a watch before. It was a good one, a Seiko. I loved it, wearing it all the time and wind it up when needed. Those days watches were manual if you guys and imagine.

One morning, my brother and I with Bah's gardener from Teluk Anson (Bah brought him along to help us with the moving) went to our new house to have a look. It was our first time to see it. During our visit, there were three other workers from JKR, (Public Works Department) inspecting the place too.

It so happened that I needed to use the toilet. The first thing I did was to remove my precious  watch and placed it on the sink while I did my business. When done, coming out of the toilet, the 3 JKR guys were outside. They wanted to inspect the toilet. So I left to join my brother.

All three of us went outside to look at the huge garden. We were so thrilled that beside our garden was a beautiful stream. The water was clear and clean. It was not shallow nor too deep. My brother and I knew that we could swim there any time when we were here. After that we left to go back to the Guest House.

Upon arriving at the Guest House, I realised that I had left my watch at the toilet. Without much hassle I asked the gardener to take me back to the house to get my watch. My brother was already shaking his head.

When we got there, the 3 JKR workers were still there. I rushed up to the toilet to get my watch. To my horror it was not there. Even after searching the toilet thoroughly, I still couldn't find it. I ran to the gardener and told him that it was missing. The only possibility was that one of the 3 JKR worker had taken it. So I asked the gardener to inquire with the 3 guys as to whether they had seen my watch and kept it for me. The gardener told me that the guys said they had not seen my watch. I was horrified. It meant that they had stolen it. I told the gardener to search them,. But he didn't want to. He told me we should go back. Reluctantly we went back to the Guest House.

I was in a state of melancholy, but more that that I was in state of trepidation. What was I going to tell my mom and Bah? It was an expensive watch. My mind went wild with anticipation of the disaster that was to befall on me. 

Upon reaching the Guest House my brother was there waiting for us. So I had to tell him what transpired with the backing of the gardener. Surprisingly, my brother was sympathetic, a bit out of character, but well appreciated by me. It was he that suggested that I should tell Bah first when he came back from the College.

Waiting for Bah to come home, the time passed agonisingly slowly. I still remembered the time I lost my overcoat in England. That was bad, but this could be worse.

Finally, Bah came back, and I gathered whatever courage I had left to approach him. I had to do this before he went to the room. If he had done so, then I had to face both him and mom. The latter was whom terrified me most.

Together with the gardener and my brother I told him what happened. After listening to me, he talked a bit with the gardener. He then went to the room without saying another word. I was downcast. Bah must be angry with me and disappointed. I felt very sad in letting him down.

That evening we met was for dinner. Immediately upon sitting down mom started berating how careless I was, how expensive the watch was and of course she brought up all the similar old events emphasising my carelessness. However I noticed that her tone was more admonishing than angry. I realised that it must have been Bah that had told mom about the theft and it was probably due to theft rather than my carelessness. That's my Bah. He did not want to escalate the situation to put blame on others. He could have had made a police report, but he let it go, not wanting the thief to get into big trouble. After all it was only a watch. No one was injured or hurt in this matter. I know for a fact that it that were to be the case, he would be the first to take the most sternness action possible to protect his family. I thank Allah that night that I was let off, but most of all to that Allah for having such wonderful parents. However, on the downside, my parents never bought me a watch ever again!!!

So I never wore one until many years later when my brother gave me his Omega Seamaster watch. He was already in the army for quite sometime then. But the watch strap couldn't latch. He told me to get repaired. When he bought the watch it would have cost him about RM 3000. By the time he gave to me, a new one would cost about RM 13,000. Wow! So I went to an Omega service centre and enquired about replacing the strap. It would cost me RM 500 to replace it. Not wanting to pay an amount that would have gotten me a new good watch, I went to a local watch shop and had a cheap strap put on it.

I used it for a year or so. Happy to finally have a watch. But during one of my sister's wedding, after the event the next day, I was helping to put the rented chairs onto a lorry. When it was done and the lorry drove away, while sitting down having coffee with my cousin Abang Noh, I realised my watch was missing from my wrist. I searched the whole place thoroughly on the ground where I had been before. Alas without any positive result. I concluded that while I was passing the chairs onto the lorry, the strap could have gotten loose and the watch flew up the lorry together with the chairs. I had to accept the fact that that watch was gone for ever. So until today whatever watches that I had and wore, never cost me more than RM 50. I always bought counterfeits. It'll last me about 2 or 3 years. When it stopped working, I'll get another cheap one.

Now back to the time in Tanjong Malim.

A day after the incident, my brother told mom about the river behind our new house and asked whether we could go for a swim. Surprisingly she agreed. She brought along food and stuff. There she laid a towel to sit under a shaded tree and watch us swim. We had a great time. Like a picnic, we ate when we got hungry. After a long while mom told us we had to get back to the Guest House. I guessed mom wanted to give a treat before we went back to Teluk Anson.

Another two more days the house will be ready and we could move in. Unpacking was to be as tiring as packing. Once all had settled down, my brother and I would have to go back to Teluk Anson. We both had mixed feelings by then. Being in Tanjong Malim with a big house, a place to swim, a huge garden we could make use of (which we couldn't in Teluk Anson due to the cobras) could be a joy to us. On the other hand, being on our own in Teluk Anson was also an experience we didn't have. Events were to unfold that we would neither experience being in Tanjung Malim nor be on our own at the hostel.

That evening, Bah came back with a smile on his face. Patted us on the head as he headed to his bedroom, without saying a word. During dinner, we saw both Bah and mom were in a good mood. Finally Bah said he had good news for us all.

He had received a telegram earlier that day (for those of you who don't know what a telegram is, it is an urgent message sent to someone via the post office. Telegrams would be delivered to the receiver directly by a postman any time of day or night. Sometimes even policemen would deliver the telegram. Normally people dread to receive one because it would usually be to inform someone of bad news). In our case it was good news. Bah's transfer to Maktab Perguruan Sultan Idris was changed to the Day Training Centre for teachers as Principal in Johor Bahru.

It was a dream transfer for both Bah and mom. Finally they are back to JB where we can all be together with our Tok Bee and aunts as well as my beloved little sister Faridah.

The next few days were hectic. We had to reload all the stuffs in the house to the train. But before that Bah brought my brother and I back to Teluk Anson to get the stuffs we left at the hostel. Also it was an opportunity for us to finally say our good byes to our teachers and friends.

Bah's car, his Peogeot 403 was also put into the train. We were to go to JB by train, First Class compartments.

So that ends our episodes in Perak. We were finally back in JB. No more long Hari Raya trips to go back there.

Bah found a house in Jalan Haron, Kampung Bahru, not far away from 24 Jalan Dapat where he grew up in. My brother and were enrolled in English College, Bah's former school and also where he used to teach. My sisters went the the Convent School at Jalan Yahya Awal, close by the house where Tok Bee used to stay (remember the house that during a flood we had to ensure our trompahs and toilet bin didn't float away).

Once school started, where we could walk to school, I found that there were some of my old classmate from Ngee Heng where I had attended Primary 1.

Our life in Jalan Haron will be the next topic for me to talk about. Until then.

Wassalam.