Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Proud of Malaysians Doing Well Abroad

A Kadir Jasin

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WHENEVER I travel, at home or abroad, I am reminded of the Malay saying “jauh perjalanan luas pemandangan” which, literally translated means, the further we travel, the more we see.

My early travel, as I had written before, was confined to visiting my aunt in Selama, Perak. We either went there in my grandfather’s Austin A40 car or by bus and train.

The train journey was exciting. We would first take a car to Pendang and then a bus to Kobah railway station. There we took the train to Bukit Mertajam and again a bus to Selama. The town is divided into two by the Krian River that forms the boundary between Kedah and Perak.

The next and the furthest journey was a sixth form excursion to Cameron Highlands and after the Higher School Certificate (HSC) examination in 1968 I joined a dear friend, late Abdul Razak Lazim, on a hitch-hiking trip to Batu Pahat, Johor, to meet his penpal, Ruby, who would later became his wife.
  
Beaten Up on Hitchhiking Trip

We hitched rides on a PWD dum truck,  newspaper vans and private cars. We spent the nights at roadside mosques and ate cheaply. It was in Batu Pahat that I spent my only time in hospital after being beaten by local thugs. The police told us that they were from the bicycle gang from Sungai Ayam. So I referred to them as “Samseng Sungai Ayam.”

These days we hardly see hitchhikers on our roads. Transportation is easy and the fares are reasonable. Furthermore, not many motorists dare to pick up hitchhikers for fear of robbery and other crimes.

My first journey abroad was to New Zealand in 1971 to do a journalism course at the Wellington Polytechnics under the New Zealand government’s Colombo Plan Scholarship.

I flew via Singapore on an Air New Zealand’s Douglas DC-8 jetliner. It made a refuelling stop in Perth before continuing to Sydney. There the Wellington bound passengers we transferred to the propeller-driven Lockheed L-l88 Electra aircraft, also of Air New Zealand.

The City of Old People

 Since then I have gone back to New Zealand more than 10 times for holidays and work. You can say that New Zealand is my favourite foreign destination. I have just returned from that country after visiting the people who opened their hearts and doors to me when I first landed in the rural town of Wanganui (in 1971) to do practical training at The Wanganui Herald.

With Roy and Wendy at Wendy's Chinese Restaurant

 
Roy McIntyre, at whose house I stayed back then is 79 now. His wife, Lucy died some years ago. He lives alone in a nice hilltop house. My dentist friend Dr Darell Grace will be 90 soon. He too lives alone since his wife, Ann was committed to care home. Then there is Elva, the widow of my late news editor and mentor at the Herald, George Abbott. She also lives alone in a beautiful two-bedroom house in a retirement village. On this last visit to her, she dug into the drawer containing George’s old cloths and gave me a woolen sweater.

“I would give George’s favourite things only to my favourite people. Ke-dia (Kadir) you’re one of them,” she said. Elva is an accomplished painter.

Dr Grace the dentist who treated me in 1971

Elva with Datin Zaiton at her retirement home

  
Doing Fine Away From Home

The trip, with a stopover in Adelaide, Australia, also yielded new Malaysian friends. At the South Australian capital, I met Sayuti and his fellow post-graduate students and Shukri, the director of Tourism Malaysia for Western Australia, the Northern Territory and South Australia.

We met at Azam’s Swingging Bowl (mangkuk hayun) Satay Restaurant in the chic Rundal Mall in the heart of the city to talk shop. I told them to study and work hard in order to become dependable and defensible Malaysia. (Melayu yang boleh diharapkan dan boleh dipertahankan.)

I was window-shopping along Victoria Avenue in Wanganui, New Zealand, when an Asian-looking man called out: “Melayu ka?

He turned out to be an expatriate Malay from Kluang named Mason Esa. He and his wife, Rohani -- with the help of their children -- run an Asian restaurant at the Victoria Court called the Curry Puff Café. He also runs a professional test centre across from the café.

He is a Jack of all trades, including initiating the Wanganui Saturday Market aka Pasar Tani with six Pakehas (Maori word for White Men) in 2003. There he sold anything from fresh fish to Malaysian “kueh-mueh”. The latter became popular with the Maoris, the Pakehas and the Asians, including a handful of Malaysians.

Mason’s wife cooks the best nasi lemak I have tasted for years. Her think dark brown sambal bilis reminded me of the nasi lemak bungkus that I used to eat along the Muar-Batu Pahat road in the 1970’s.

Malaysian doctors and trainees at Mason's restarurant
No wonder in a period of less than a week that I frequented Mason’s café, Simon Tay, a Malaysian expatriate IT specialist in Willington and his wife, Merriane took a three-hour road journey to visit Mason’s kedai kopi twice. On the second trip, he “tapau-ed” two orders of “rendang” and one order of “ayam masak merah” for his dentist son in the nearby university town of Palmerston North.

Mason doubles as “father” to young Malaysians in the area and the Iman of the local mosque – the El Bilal.

We stayed at Wendy Ng’s very nice house in the wooded Peat Street. Wendy, a single mother, is a workaholic. She runs a Chinese restaurant in town. And like Mason, she opens for business seven days a week. Her life is devoted to work since her husband died many years ago and above all to her only child, Doreen who is the final year at the University of Otago Dental School in Dunedin.
Victoria Court, Victoria Avenue, Wanganui
During one of the many visits to Mason’s café, he arranged for me to meet four young Malaysian doctors and a medical student – Dr Wan Ahmad Firdaus, Dr Syed Mohammed, Dr Alina and Alina. They are attached to the Wanganui Hospital.

I am always very proud and pleased to see Malaysians and ex-Malaysians doing well abroad either in their studies or professions – the people like Azam in Adelaide, Mason Esa in Wanganui and Simon Tay in Wellington.

Away and detached from home politics, these expatriate Malaysians are true Malaysians. I too feel liberated from the politics of home when I am abroad although in these days of bits and bytes, news of home is literally at one’s fingertip.

It was good to be away, but it’s better to be home.

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing your experience with us Dato. That mangkuk hayun thing really make me laugh. :)

Legal Cat said...

I truly believe you don't to be in Malaysia to be Malaysian. Let Talent Corporations learn this lesson too when they entice Malaysians to come home. Malaysians can still contribute even if they are not physically in Malaysia

ORANGUTAN PENANG said...

Gidday Tok Ke-dir,

Of course we will do well anywhere especially when we are labelled as hard working Malaysians instead of lazy malays in our own country.

Its worst when we are the ones who dance to the tune of others,running down our own race.Damned!

Look around abang abang kakak kakak,THE MALAYS ACHIEVEMENTS,in fact we are better due to challengers we have to go through day in and day out.

New Zealand reminds me of Mount Ruapehu,25 years ago when i crawled towards the the top whereby the mat salleh kids including the girls sort of running toward it.

Well,the days of inferiority and lack of confidence are all behind,believe me,we are as good as anyone,when we put our heart and soul on anything.

TQ

ab said...

Salam dato,



BAGUS mengetahui mereka berjaya diperantauan.



Pindah/hijrah adalah sebahagian dari islam,untuk lebih baik dan mencari lebih lagi kemajuan/ kejayaan diri,keluarga dll...


TETAPI ramai melayu tak mau hijrah,sebab depa kata `dah takdir,dah rezeki had tu, dll alasan'......


Rasullulah pun terlalu berjaya diperantauan dan wafat diperantauan
juga...


SEPATUTNYA kita ikut begitu laa..



Kalau depa mai balik kampung bolih la ajak lagi yang lain pi cari rezeki disana!...



Abu Bakar Ab Rahman

MalasKerja said...

Saya pun teringin nak merasa menetap kat luar negara nun. Rasa nak berhenti kerja sekejap, buat study leave ke. Kos kehidupan kat New Zealand tu tinggi dok, Pak Kadir?

Anonymous said...

Makanya, perdebatan tentang tongkat apa kesimpulannya? TDM dulu kata buang tongkat tapi tahun ni kata jangan buang tongkat.

Yang pasti, tahniah buat melayu New Zealand kerana tidak bertongkat malah mampu bersauh dengan kudrat dan ketekunan diri sendiri.

Sayang ye undang-undang Malaysia tidak membenarkan mereka jadi pengundi semasa mereka berada di sana walaupun mereka masih kekal melayunya dan Malaysianya setelah sekian lama di perantauan.

p/s Alangkah bagus jika DAKJ dapat bukukan jatuh bangun mereka diperantauan (ala travel log; contohnya buku Travel Log Haji oleh PTS); untuk rujukan anak-anak muda kita. Malah jika mahu dijadikan rujukan teks sekolah nanti pun saya akan sokong.

Fed Up

zainal abidin awang kechik said...

saya setuju sangat tok.. punya pandangan. masalahnya bila anak anak ini balik ke malaya ..gaji depa kecik sangat.. bagi la gaji depa besaq sikit.. kesian kat depa,

DR di malaya gomen bayaq kecik sangat gaji depa

salam untuk datin 1

Unknown said...

Datuk,

Saya terbaca satu berita di Mstar hari ini yang mana NGO-NGO Cina dan India pula membantah novel Interlok kerana bermotifksn ketuanan Melayu. Walaupun perkataan "Ketuanan Melayu" tidak disebut di dalam novel berkenaan, mereka membuat andaian kononnya mereka digambarkan sebagai kaum pendatang. Persoalannya, adakah mereka itu semulajadi berada di bumi Nusantara sejak berkurun-kurun dahulu? Bukankah suatu masa dulu datuk nenek mereka berhijrah ke Tanah Melayu? Apakah mereka mahu diiktiraf sebagai Bumiputera? Apakah mereka lupa atau buat-buat tak tahu sejarah asal-usul mereka di negara ini? Inilah padahnya "kemerdekaan separuh masak" yang diperjuangkan oleh pemimpin-pemimpin melayu terdahulu. Jikalau kaum-kaum pendatang ini tidak diberi taraf warganegara dari mula lagi, kita dan anak-cucu kita tidak akan menghadapi kerenah dan masalah ini. Mereka ini seolah-olah cuba mengambil kesempatan ke atas perpecahan dan kelemahan (kealpaan)orang-orang Melayu pada ketika ini, yang mana pemimpin-pemimpin Melayu lebih gemar bercerita mengenai seks dan skandal dan tidak berminat langsung untuk memperkatakan hak-hak mereka, apatah lagi mempertahankannya. Jika ini terus dibiarkan, saya rasa tidak lama lagi orang-orang India dan Cina akan bangun berdemonstrasi di jalanan ala Timur Tengah dan pihak Barat akan "menyerang" Malaysia kononnya atas nama "Demokrasi". Bila ini berlaku, orang Melayu akan berputih mata saja, tanpa berputih tulang sebab orang melayu hanya akan akur kepada kebodohan dan kealpaan mereka sendiri. Harap Datuk dapat ulas sedikit mengenail isu ini. Bagi saya orang-orang Melayu sekarang berada dalam keadaan yang "nazak".

Wassalam.

Nurol huda Mason said...

memang susah untuk hidup di perantauan.saya melihat sendiri kesusahan kedua ibu bapa saya..tapi demi meneruskan hidup..alhamdulilah.syukur dengan rezeki yg tuhan bagi.dimana-mana pun tetap bumi Allah.sampai jugak dato di cafe parents sy.memang sedap nasi lemak mak saya.saya sebagai anak rasa berbangga.

nur mason

A KADIR JASIN said...

Sdr Abu,

1. Mengenai Interlok, saya sudah komen. Sila baca rencana "Pindaan Interlok Saat gelap Kebebasan Berkarya" pada 28 Jan. 2011. Sila rujuk;

2. Bagi saya bagaimana Umno dan perwakilan Umno dalam Kerajaan menangani isu ini menjadi "jerami yang mematahkan belakang kerbau" dalam perhubungan saya dengan Umno;

3. Di Malaysia kita tak guna unta (camel) sebagai haiwan angkut. Kita guna kerbau. Saya tidak pasti yang mana lebih cerdik, kerbau atau unta;

4. Saya rasa Umno bukan saja terlalu bertolak ansur, tetapi yang lebih berbahaya adalah ketidakmampuannya untuk berfikir dan mengartikulasikan isu-isu yang menyentuh kepentingan Melayu;

5. Bagi saya, dalam bahas Interlok ini, belakang kerbau sudah patah. Kerbau sudah lumpuh.

Terima Kasih.

Anonymous said...

Salam Dato’ Kadir

I went to the country few years back for a holiday. It was amazing, chills and clean. Aukland is their biggest city and is also known as city of sail. There are full of boat and yacht in its basin. During the summer season, everybody will be in their boats and yachts and lots of people sun bathing at the foreshore. It inspires me to buy a boat, and I prefer fly bridge Azimut yacht, which is made by Italian people.

However, if you notice, most of them using old cars. Toyota Estima model 1997 is very famous for a family car. Probably, they want to save money to buy a bigger boat instead of a bigger and newer car. I think, our light train service is far better and efficient. They don’t have any LRT, monorail, underground tube or MRT.

One segment in the museum shows a conflict between aborigine and foreigner with a warning sign of few articles in this area might cause disgust. Luckily, their citizen takes it as part of their history. In Malaysia, Interlok novel is labelled as racist although it tells the fact and the truth. To me, it just reflects the mentality and maturity of some of our citizens. TQ.

OKJ
maaf Dato', tak boleh masuk blog sendiri, kena hack kot.

Anonymous said...

Datuk Kadir & Saudara Abu,

Selepas tsunami 2008,banyak isu-isu timbul yang belum pernah dibangkitkan dan maacam-macam lagi lagi tuntutan dari mereka ini, bagi saya perlu ada pertubuhan melayu yang boleh membuat tuntutan
kepada kerajaan biar mereka tahu ada lagi melayu tak puas hati biarpun mereka ini tuan tanah nama je tuan tanah nanti semua yang ada akan hilang kuasa politik pun dah macam.... ekonomi jauh sekali

-RAMLI

RAMLI-

RAMLI.

Anonymous said...

Assalamualaikum Datuk!

Kesimpulan Datuk mengenai isu Interlok memang tepat dan rasa saya ia dikongsi banyak pihak. Cuma mereka tidak menyatakannya secara terang-terangan saja.

Saya ingin bertanya pandangan Datuk sama ada sikap kita yang selama ini hanya meletakkan harapan kepada satu pihak saja untuk menjaga kepentingan kita telah memakan diri?

-- BALANGLAMA

samurai melayu said...

SALAM KASIH DAN SAYANG
DAKJ
Izinkan,
Nostalgia kami membaca pengalaman 'hitch-hiking trip' Datuk.
Pengalaman pertama kali (selepas MCE) adalah ke Teluk Kemang(TK)..perjalanan pergi ada maaf juga lah..dapat tumpang 2 buah lori sampai PD..Hala pulang masyaallah SIKSAnya..dah lah panas terik, tak dapat tumpang pulak. Akhirnya naik bas..

Sdr. Fed UP,
Bagi kami yang pernah dipanggil 'MELAYU BODOH' kerna menjenguk kedalam sebuah kelinik Dr. 'Towkay' (sebelum adanya DEB) berasa bersyukur kerna 'Tongkat' lah Melayu sudah tidak lagi BODOH dan Cina sudah tidak lagi TOWKAY.

Selagi masih wujud persatuan2(Tongkat perkauman) Hakka, Cantonese, hokkien dll, janganlah Melayu nak tunjuk berani (sombong) buang 'tongkat' kerna mati hidup balik MEREKA tidak akan bubarkan PERSATUAN mereka.

Dengan motto mereka 'By hook or by crook' dan 'Selagi Ayam Makan Gandum' jangan harap Melayu (terkonteng2) boleh setanding dalam ekonomi 'melawan' kekuatan (kewangan dan peralatan) TONGKAT2 mereka!

SUDAH CUKUPLAH BANGSA MELAYU BERKORBAN DITANAH KETURUNAN MELAYU INI. MEREKA LAH SEPATUTNYA KORBANKANKAN TONGKAT2 PERKAUMAN MEREKA DAHULU DAN BERANI TUBUHKAN PERSATUAN PERNIAGAAN BERBILANG KAUM. BARULAH SAMA2 BERTANDING DIPADANG YANG SAMA RATA.. BARULAH ADIL SURUH MELAYU KORBANKAN TONGKAT!

Kalau Kita Anak Malaysia Insaf (KAMI) semua boleh kasi korban itu perkauman, baru boleh cakap pasal meritokrasi lah!

MELAYU TAK HILANG DIDUNIA BUKAN DENDANGAN TETAPI LANDASAN PERJUANGAN.

ALFATIHAH, AMIN.
Ps. Kami tidak pernah menikmati hak istimewa Melayu termasuklah anak kami yang melanjutkan pelajaran keluar negara.. akur kepada Qado' dan kada'.

ORANGUTAN PENANG said...

Saudara OKJ,

To most mat salleh,a car is an object for them to move from point A to point B.

In Malaysia, Im blessed with those who 'syok sendiri' with expensive cars.

GOOD PLOFIT MAA!

TQ

Anonymous said...

Dear Datuk,

Thank you for sharing ...

1. Appreciate that misspelling ... Ms Ruby the wise ... yes wife is always wise except when miffed ...:-)

2. The gentle 90 year old Dr friend ... what's his health's secret? New Zealand must be good for good health and longevity ...

3. Own lesson learned from being aboard ... one, any SALAM from a stranger would make your day ... two, when someone asked, "are you from Malaysia," your heart swelled ... three, we read the ingredients and compared prices when shopping and kept journal (now blog :-))of your every penny spent, ... four, sooner or later would miss real chillies, then you would start looking for "asian" stores, ... five but not the last ... we learned to get lost, explore, discover, observe, compare, differentiate, appreciate, accept, share, reject, get back on track and move on ...

4. Agreed, it's always good to be home ... and start fighting our own "war" on a better breed of kerbau :-) This jerami and kerbau thing is new to me, thank you ... Welcome back.

XERONINE

A KADIR JASIN said...

Debater XERONINE among, other things, said: "4. Agreed, it's always good to be home ... and start fighting our own "war" on a better breed of kerbau :-) This jerami and kerbau thing is new to me, thank you ... Welcome back."

Well, I was trying to be different. We usually say the straw that breaks the camel's back.

We have no camels in Malaysia except in Zoos. But we still have a lot of kerbau (buffaloes).

In my younger days, the buffaloes were the beast of burden. We load jerami (padi straws) on their backs and we rode on them. We also used them to pull carts and "anor" -- the Malay sledge.

So I replaced the straw with the jerami and the camel with the kerbau.

Mind you, kerbaus are not as stupid as we think they are. The can be taught to pull a plough and understand verbal and physical commands.

Unlike cows, when buffaloes are kept in an enclosure, they poo at a specific corner so that their sleeping place is not soiled. They wallow not because they are dirty animals because they need to cover themselves in mud for cooling and keep away flies.

I can go on and on about buffaloes but I do not tolerate kerbau among men.

Thank you.

Anonymous said...

Salam Dato’ A Kadir (maaf lari tajuk)

KUALA LUMPUR 1 April – Ketua Polis Negara Tan Sri Ismail Omar hari ini mengesahkan video seks yang didakwa melibatkan salah seorang pemimpin parti pembangkang adalah tulen.Menurutnya, kesahihan mengenai rakaman dalam video itu telah disahkan oleh pakar yang membuat kajian terhadapnya.Beliau berkata, rakaman video itu akan diserahkan kepada Peguam Negara dalam masa terdekat manakala siasatan kini di peringkat akhir – Utusan

Wahai orang-orang yang beriman! Jika datang kepada kamu seorang fasiq membawa sesuatu berita, maka selidikilah (untuk menentukan) kebenarannya, supaya kamu tidak menimpakan sesuatu kaum dengan perkara yang tidak diingini dengan sebab kejahilan kamu (mengenainya) sehingga menjadikan kamu menyesali apa yang kamu telah lakukan.” (TMQ al-Hujurat [49]:6)

Kepada pemimpin-pemimpin yg tersalah arah, eloklah meletakkan jawatan beramai-ramai dan bertaubatlah dengan taubat nashuha serta bubarkanlah parti kamu yg membawa kepada kesesatan kepada kurang lebih sejuta orang mu’mim. Sesungguhnya azab pemimpin yg zalim dan berkiblatkan orang fasiq tidak tertanggung oleh badan di padang mahsyar nanti. Bertaubatlah sebelum terlambat dan anggaplah ini sebagai kasihnya Allah kepada hamba-hambanya yg di dalam kekeliruan. Nauzubillah. Sekian TQ.

Iklas dari OKJ (orang kampung je)

Forex said...

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husin syedmohamad said...

Datuk,
1/ Interlok- satu symptom mencerminkan kebimbangan dan ketidakberanian "mereka" untuk bertindak benar, berani dan tegas.
2/ Pernah kepelusok perantauan di Wachita dan Albuqerque ( USA). Berjumpa seorang insan dari Jitra bekerja di Albuerque selama 10 tahun.
3/ Membaca rencana Datuk di Malaysian Business March 16th. Tidak dapat menangkap sasaran maksud Syarikat UMV.

Anonymous said...

Sdr Samurai Melayu,

Adakah kita menggunakan definisi yang sama bila menggunakan perkataan "tongkat"?

Pernah dengar dulu zaman 80an ada dua cerita melayu bodoh yang kerap diperkatakan di kedai kopi:

1.Kisah satu mak cik yang naik kapal terbang untuk menunaikan haji. Mak cik ini tekan flush untuk dapatkan air bagi wudu'.

2.Kisah satu peneroka Felda yang pergi ke pekan. Semasa menunggu bas, syiling untuk bayar tambang bas terjatuh dalam longkang. Memandangkan hari sudah gelap, peneroka ini membakar sekeping wang kertas untuk menjadi suluh bagi mencari syiling yang terjatuh tadi.

Saya tidak tahu cerita ini cerita benar atau tidak tetapi ramai melayu yang suka menggunakan cerita ini semasa berbual-bual kososng sesama sendiri (masa itu).

Saudara ada pengalaman buruk. Saya pun ada pengalaman buruk. Yang penting jangan jadikan ia satu igauan. Pandang kebelakang semasa sedang melangkah ke hadapan hanya akan menyebabkan kita terbongkang dalam longkang.

Saya tidak nampak kenapa ada melayu yang perlu begitu emosi bila ada melayu yang mahu membuang tongkat.

Sdr kata jangan saya mimpi. Biarlah saya mimpi kerana melayu tanpa tongkat adalah mimpi yang amat indah.

Bila cina ada persatuan itu ini, bukankah kita juga ada persatuan itu dan ini. Jika persatuan cina kuat, kita hanya perlu preskripsi untuk menjadikan persatuan melayu kuat.

Satu contoh.

Kenapa Dewan Perniagaan Melayu tidak menawarkan biasiswa? Kenapa pula Dewan Perniagaan Melayu tidak mengambil peranan sebagai NGO dalam pendidikan keusahawan dan kecelikan pengurusan kewangan? Atau setidak-tidak menggalakkan ahli untuk berbuat demikian?

Adakah saya tersasar jika mengatakan Dewan Perniagaan Melayu hanya mempunyai agenda perniagaan ahli tetapi tidak mempunyai agenda melayu?

Itu hanya satu contoh.

Dalam mimpi saya, ujud NGO melayu yang menerima geran bantuan kewangan sebagai tambahan kepada dana sendiri untuk membasmi buta huruf dan buta IT dikalangan anak melayu.

Dalam mimpi saya, ada berpuluh-puluh yayasan milik melayu seperti Yayasan Bukhari yang ada personal touch dalam pendidikan anak-anak melayu.

Dalam mimpi saya, guru dapat menumpu kepada proses P&P dengan penglibatan pengurusan dan pentadbiran yang amat terhad.

Itu mimpi saya. Sukar dicapai tetapi tidak mustahil.

Arwah ayah saya kata melayu yang pesimis adalah melayu yang masuk sojar sebab nakkan kerja tetapi menjadi yang pertama meniarap menyorok bila terdengar bunyi tembakan - tidak boleh diharap untuk menang perang (ini kisah masa Jepun).

Nak merialisasikan mimpi, kena bermula dari satu iktikad dan satu keberanian.

Saya percaya Mason Esa akan setuju dengan kata-kata "mimpi sukar dicapai tetapi tidak mustahil".

DAKJ tentunya perlu usahakan cadangan travellog saya kerana tentunya cabaran beliau lebih perih berbanding pengalaman sdr atau pengalaman saya.

Fed Up

samurai melayu said...

SALAM KASIH DAN SAYANG
DAKJ
Izinkan,

Salam kasih sayang Sdr. 'FedUp',

Antara yang tersurat dan tersirat...
Sdr. mampu menterjemahkan..

Terima kasih.

ALFATIHAH, AMIN.

Anonymous said...

Dear Datuk,

Thank you for clarifying.

I can sense your deep love for the REAL KERBAU. They produce such creamy milk. Must be due to their daily mud spa.

But as you've said, manusia itu is way beyond being a kerbau.

Unfortunately some have gone way below, wallowing in own pool of bribery and other unmentionable poo(s)... that even a kerbau will not tolerate.

May we continue to ingat mengingati ... Terima kasih.

XERONINE

Mike Harlem said...

Dear Datuk,
I like reading your travelogue. It also reminded me of our first encounter in late 1970s in Brussels, Belgium. I was then attached to the Malaysian Embassy as Trade Commissioner. I think you either came to cover the ASEAN-EU Meeting or our PM's official visit. I still remember that you stayed at the EUROPA Hotel, which is located just across the EU HQ and that you carry your camera wherever you go. I don't exactly remember what we talked about but since then, I have been following your writings very closely. I salute your thoughts and very frank views. You are indeed a credit to the profession and more importantly to your "ugama, bangsa dan negara". Salam dari M. A Halim

A KADIR JASIN said...

Orangutan Penang, among other things, said: "New Zealand reminds me of Mount Ruapehu,25 years ago when i crawled towards the the top whereby the mat salleh kids including the girls sort of running toward it."

You're right. The Mat Salleh kids are robast. I went on a South Island bus trip with them back in 1971. They could walk, talk, had fun and eat. The notion that civilized and safe surroundings make people soft is not true. At least not in the case of the Kiwis and the Swiss.

Later, I took my family up Mount Cook and Franz Josef Glacier.
I went fishing on Lake Taupo twice with my son. We did the jetboat but never had the courage t do bungy jumping. Gayat.

Yes Sdr M.A.Halim, I was in Brussels a couple of time. Once to cover Dr Mahathir's visit and another on the invitation of the EC. I have given up "professional" photography for quite awhile now. Recently I bought a fairly good digital camera. The pictures posted here are taken by that camera -- a Canon, but not the EOS range.

Thank you.

About Me

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I was born in 1947 in Kedah. I came from a rice farming family. I have been a journalist since 1969. I am the Editor-in-Chief of magazine publishing company, Berita Publishing Sdn Bhd. I was Group Editor NST Sdn Bhd and Group Editor-in-Chief of NSTP Bhd between 1988 and 2000. I write fortnightly column “Other Thots” in the Malaysian Business magazine, Kunta Kinte Original in Berita Harian and A Kadir Jasin Bercerita in Dewan Masyarakat. Books: Biar Putih Tulang (1998), Other Thots – Opinions & Observations 1992-2001 (2001), The Wings of an Eagle (2003), Mencari Dugalia Huso (2006), Damned That Thots (2006), Blogger (2006), PRU 2008-Rakyat Sahut Cabaran (2008), Komedi & Tragedi-Latest in Contemporary Malaysian Politics (2009) and Membangun Bangsa dengan Pena (2009).