TALIB HARIMAU, MY PAK ITAM: Part 2

Talib Harimau loves freedom to do what he likes to do. A pendekar needs no master, responsible to no one but his own. During his prime marauding age somebody asked him to be a gocoh (silat ring fighter) in Kota Bahru to earn money. He won 4 fights and lost once. The winner received $90 and loser $50.

Pak Itam (back)  is at home with elephants to be a mahout. The scene was at an elephant capture to be brought to Kuala Gandah, Pahang.


He worked once in a sawmill at Kuantan. The Mat Salleh boss seeing Talib a bit playfull told a worker that Talib bodoh and Raja bodoh. Talib was told about it and made him furious with anger especially for the latter remark. His boss need to be taught.

After lunch the next he impatiently waited for the boss to come in. Talib wished him "Good morning" which made the boss angry for the wrong calling. Talib lunged at him with a punch but the well built Mat Salleh didn't fall. After a couple more punches the latter was on the floor. If not for the other workers stopping Talib, the boss would be in dire consequence. When the palace got wind of the incidence Talib was called by the Sultan. Talib knew the power of the Sultan's tight slap which he was fond to punish with, and afraid of the pelempang he seeked refuge in Kelantan for sometime.

The Harimau said that his father was the son Tengku Abdullah, a sibling of Sultan Mulut Merah of Kelantan. He left Kelantan for Pahang and called himself Awang Sulu and became a guru silat at Semantan. Then he went to Nenasi.

It was about a dozen years that I didn't visit him because of being in Sarawak. Around mid-February last I drove up to Kg. Badak, Kuantan and reached there late afternoon. He was not at home but at his floating hut on the river nearby, catching fish with jala. I went to see him on the river and to my surprise he has lost recognition of me! Apparently his memory is fading.



That evening I belanja them at a seafood restaurant for his 66th birthday by coincidence. Talib was in a jubilant mood saying poetry, praising me and joking with the girls serving food. I realised now that he is or was rather quite a woman's man!

His wife urged me to take him as my bodyguard which she has said a couple of times before. I was elated but I'm no millionaire!

Another of Talib's ilmu he passed to me long time ago (L).

Talib Harimau is out of tune with the modern concept of life. Palace intrigues are of different nature now. We don't fight with silat but use bullets.
Yet, he managed to fit in a marginalised world trying to live off the land and be contented but not necessarily happy.

He was keeping many cows at one time but were poisoned. His motor for the fishing got stolen. He got to floor with a quick silat move on one of the kampung folks when they talked bad about him. Till now no one dares to interfere with life though somewhat poor.

I did ask him to do a favour for me before I left!

TALIB HARIMAU, MY PAK ITAM: Part 1

In a previous posting I wrote about a Pak Itam, a Canadian Mat Salleh aka Hj. Kadir who lives by the BOH Plantations of Cameron Highlands.


This time I want to tell about another Pak Itam that I came to know some 23 years ago by virtue of a common interest, horses. He lives at Kg. Badak at the outskirt of Kuantan and used to keep horses to herd his cows on free range.

Pak Itam (L) and his younger son (R) riding on Taba.

During one of my official trips to the East Coast  I passed by his house by the roadside and saw this fine horse and stopped to enquire about it. The owner, whom I came to be introduced as Talib Awang aka Pak Itam said its name is Taba, a stallion, a buro (a breed bigger than kuda padi but smaller than the normal horse) bought from Takbai at the Kelantan-Thai border. Buro's temeperament is much better than kuda padi which tend to kick and bite.


On my next trip, I bought Taba for RM800 and personally transported it in a horse trailer pulled by Pajero to Teluk Intan where I was staying then.

Rene (L), foal (C) and Taba (Front) grazing in a fishery hatching compund in Tapah.

Some months later a female horse by the name of Rene, also a buro was bought from Kuala Terengganu and brought back to mate with Taba. They gave a number of offsprings. I also bought a kuda padi at Teluk Intan and named it Horas. Keeping the horses within the house compound was another story! Luckily the neighbours were understanding.


Every time I passed Kg. Badak I would stop by Pak Itam's house to listen to his silat exploits and pry his ilmu. He was a guru silat before and his dada mesti berisi.

Once I persuaded him to bring me to the nearby belukar to show me some useful plants. Apparently, he is not a bomoh because I learned only a few things about plants but he drew a diagram (L) to determine when is the best time to do important things, to war for example. I could not remember what he said about the diagram nor could I decipher it now.

He also gave me several ilmu mempertahankan diri to memorise and practice. Under modern day situations such things are no more in vogue. Being no need of it, that traditional knowledge is being lost.

Pak Itam during his heydays is known as Talib Harimau. As a pendekar he plays a peripheral role at the palace on standby to serve the orders of the sultan. He is or was rather I could call as a model budak raja.