BEYOND ECSTASY: KAMA SUTRA

SLOPPY ALOP ON SOAKY SLOPE

"Sloppy ALOP on soaky slope" - a nightmarish tounge twister for tax payers, officials, politicians, and environmentalists.

Nestled among the greeneries at about the highest point of a ridge that divides Hulu Langat and Ampang is ALOP, short for Ampang Lookout Point. It is under Kajang Municipality.

Apart from getting a good view of KL from the lookout point, visitors come to enjoy the cool air, food and lodging. Alas, ALOP has been closed for the last 2 years according to a jaga.

Recently, a massive landslide at the lookout point renders it unsafe. For one thing, the massive building of the lookout point was built too close to the edge of the slope. During heavy rains the slope becomes soaky. Hence, without proper foundation, embankment and drainage it is foreseeable that double-trouble will come sooner or later.

This harks the grand enquiry. Is it the end of ALOP? What is the post-mortem on the mess they are in? Who are responsible for the debacle?

Indeed, we have not learn from the power of geography!

SAGO GRUBS - EAT THEM RAW!

If you want to eat sago worm (bL), ulat mulong or siet in Melanau raw or fried, experience it at Mukah. It is likened to a 'micro-cow' because of its high protein (17%) content and plenty of fat.

The heartland of sago palms (aR) in Malaysia is in the Mukah district of Sarawak. An there also is found the heartland of the Melanaus especially around Mukah, Balingian, Igan and Dalat. They cultivate sago in the swamps and along river banks providing them income, food, shelter and material culture. Their culture has co-evolved around sago as evidenced in their dance and music also.

Usually one can buy live siets in plastic packets at the daily market (aL) at Mukah. To buy a kilo is expensive at RM25! The pasar is just by the river bank (aR).

The worms are actually caterpillars of kumbang sagu (striped beetle). The beetle bore boles in harvested sago logs floating in the river (aL) or rotting trunks in the farm and lay their eggs which hatched into caterpillars. Enterprising villagers would rear them in sago fibre waste (aR).

The fried ones (aL), with butter, salt and chilli api taste better and crunchy. To eat a live one, grip its head with two fingers, bite off the body, munch and swallow. The head is discarded. Ah, I have quite forgotten the taste! It was years ago. There are cases eating them raw can cause allergic reactions - rashes, vomitting and fever.

Another kind of leaf-eating caterpillars of seasonal availability usually fried and eaten (aR), has bitter taste and not as good as the fried grubs.

AKU PILU, VAN GOGH MENANGIS

Semenjak lebuhraya Plus dibina dan adanya R&R, pekan Tg. Malim tidak lagi menjadi tempat persinggahan mid-way yang popular seperti tahun2 lampau. Pau Tg Malim pun ramai dah tak teringin.

Dulunya Tg Malim bersejarah dengan Sultan Idris Training College (SITC, kini UPSI).

Puluhan kali lalu Tg Malim tetapi hanya 4-5 kali berhenti melihat2 pekan tersebut. Ahad sudah sempat singgah di Tg Malim agak lama.

Isteri saya (dan adik-beradik) masa kanak2 kerap  menaiki keretapi ke Tg Malim dari Butterworth. Bapa dan emak  akan memandu kereta dan menunggu mereka di stesen Tg Malim.

Sejak rail double-track siap digunakan 5 tahun dahulu, stesen keretapi lama tidak digunakan dan kini terbiar. Pilu melihat keaadanya.

Paparan lukisan Van Gogh (1853-90), pelukis Belanda terkenal.




Yahya Imail, pengurus kantin yang terakhir.

Quarters railway terbiar (kiri); stesen baru berdekatan yang lama (kanan)

Jutaan manusia berbagai bangsa-rupa telah turun-naik atau melalui stesen Tg Malim - Mat Saleh, buroh India, polis Sikh, pegawai kerajaan, penuntut/pengajar SITC, pelancung dll.

Stesen Tg Malim membawa kenangan untuk SITC dalam sejarah pendidikan, politik, dan pengorbanan. Masa silam keretapi merupakan pengangkutan yang mudah. Antara mereka yang terkenal akan rasa hiba (yang masih hidup) bila melihat stesen Tg Malim ditelan zaman:

O.T. Dussek - pengasas dan pengetua pertama
Abdul Rahman Muhammad, 1950an
Abdullah Sidek (Anggerek, Khadam Melayu), 1929-1931
Ahmad Abdullah (Cikgu Mat) ,1923 (pengajar)
Ahmad Kamal Abdullah (Kemala), 1958-1962
Ahmad Murad Nasaruddin (Darum), 1928-1929 (penterjemah)
Awang Had Salleh (Kals Khalid), 1951-1954
Embong Yahya (Ngumba), pertengah 1950an (pengajar)
Harun Mohd Amin (Harun Aminurrashid), 1924-1926
Hassan Muhammad Ali (Hasbi Asmara, Hasbima), 1948-1950
Kasmani Ariff (Wang Tunai), 1931-1933
Maarof Mahmud (Merak Mas), 1937-1939
Mahmud Ahmad (Teruna Jaya), 1926-1929
Masuri Salikun (Masuri S.N.), 1946-1949
Mohd Noor Yusof (Pangeran Derma), 1949-1952
Muhammad Yasin Maamor (Pungguk), 1929-1931
Shaharom Husain (Dharmaya), awal 1940an
Shahnon Ahmad, awal 1970an (pengajar)
Suhaimi Muhammad (William Polmer, Suria Negara), 1957-1959
Yahya Abu Samah (Yabas), 1949-1952
Zainal Abidin Ahmad Za'ba), 1924-1939 (penterjemah)

Sejarah, memfaatkan keunikan dan budaya jaga harta tidak ada erti pada KTM. Pertalian sejarah dan imbasan lampau antara generasi silam dengan  yang baru/akan datang dibiarkan terputus begitu sahaja.

Melayu sukakan yang baru, lupakan sejarah. Baju baru, istana baru. 

GANGNAM FOR ISTANA

13 is Dollah's number. And PRU13 is here.

After the 13th Agongs' stay in the first istana the current one got a RM180million palace.  How fortunate! How many  centuries the Buckingham Palace been around?

Who was the architect of the previous istana?

The old istana will be open for tourists to be greeted by pahlawan guards at the main entrance.

Hope there will be more things to see, tempat bersemayam- beradu, keris-lembing and all that. Apart from silat, and to be in vogue, Gangnam by the pahlawans or Psy and his troupe once a while perhaps!

AMONG UMNO (WOMEN) STALWARTS, 1960s

In the early years, women UMNO members played their roles well especially among the ordinary rakyat. I know that for a fact. "Nak pergi kutip duit (ahli) UMNO", my mother used to say.

The recent PAU12  was poetic, ego boosting, rhetorical, theartrical to the point of satirical. Were they afraid to shoot their foot if many issues are raised?

To reminisce stalwarts of the 60's and their contributions:

Source: Victor Morais (ed). The who's who in Malaysia, 1965. J. Victor Morais, K.L. 489pp

PATRIOT AGUNG - TS YUEN YUET LENG

"Tiga kali saya kena tembak," kata Tan Sri Yuen Yuet Leng.

"Masa dulu susah. Saya minta emak jual gelang emas, beri duit kapada orang Melayu untuk beli makan," tambah beliau.

Pernah terbaca berkenaan Tan Sri sebagai CPO Perak, selain daripada itu saya tidak tahu langsung siapa patriot ini. Pertengahan bulan September sudah  saya sempat berbual sekejap dengan Tan Sri di Hospital Ampang. Ia melawat adiknya bersebelahan katil isteri saya.

"Saya nak masukan Tan Sri dalam blog". Memandang perjumpaan itu hanya beberapa minit sahaja, "Google nama saya" jawab beliau.

Dua hari sudah saya layari Mozilla Fox nama Tan Sri, ia menunjukan 47,500 results!

Tan Sri Yuen Yuet Leng, PSM,SPMP,DPCM,PNBS,JMN,KMN,PPC,PBS, AMN,CPM dilahirkan di Larut Matang pada 15.9 1927. Beliau lulus Senior Cambridge, 1947 dari King Edward 7th, Taiping. Pelajaran beliau selanjutnya di Technical Institute terhenti kerana kekurangan wang.

Special Branch Deputy Director dan ketua perisik unit kod 'God's Little Acre'; CPO, Perak; Commissioner of Police, Sarawak adalah diantara tugas yang Tan Sri jalankan dengan penuh dedikasi.

Bukunya 'Nation before Self' (2008) dan 'Operation Ginger' (1998) memberi maklumat lanjut kehidupan dan pengorbanan beliau demi negara.

Beliau kini menetap di Ampang. Walaupun tidak aktif dalam politik tetapi kerap memberi ceramah memberi kesedaran perjuangan dan keamanan negara.

Beliau keturunan etnik Hakka, saya setengah Hakka!

Malaysia sangat bertuah dan terhutang kapada Patriot Agung ini (diantara mereka yang lain) berjuang menggadai nyawa demi kemerdekaan dan keamanan negara.

Syabas Tan Sri Yuen Yuet Leng! May God bless you.