The picture below is that of Rahim on the left and Ezani on the right. They came to meet me when I was in Bangi during the time when I was serving as an external reviewer at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
We first met when we were about 13, both were classmates of mine. I came from Sekolah Kebangsaan Pak Badol whereas Rahim and Ezani came from Sekolah Rendah Kamil. We were together in form 1, equivalent to grade 7 in the States. Rahim and I were together and on to upper grades and also in scouting. We sat for a national examination during grade 9 and the results influenced the route of our next journey. Whereas Rahim and I went on to Sekolah Menengah Sains Pulau Pinang, Ezani went to Sekolah Menengah Teknik (if I am not mistaken). That was the first time I met Ezani since 1972. I saw Rahim last when he came to my sister's wedding in 2007. Rahim and I share a unique bonding. Our contacts are far and few in between but when we met, it was as if we never left or be away. There is something about him that I feel an affinity with and close. Whenever we are together or in contact, he may not agree nor like what he has just heard or observed but I know his concerns and caring are genuine and real. He may not realize it but on occassions, his words that he uttered touched me profoundly. I truly feel his warmth and regards toward me. He is the one person whom I feel is truly a phone call away - dial his number and he would be there. For some reasons and unable to adequately articulate myself, I do know that he is in a special place deep within me. I just know that I do.
I joined him and his father and a few others soon to be classmates travelling from Pasir Mas to Sungai Golok, on to Hadyai to Padang Besar and we arrived in Penang, staying a night at his father's friend who was a policeman somewhere in Keramat. Yes, those were the days when travelling from Kelantan to Penang was arduous to say the least. We Kelantanese have to travel via Thailand in order to reach the other side of the Titiwangsa mountain range. There was no highway linking east to the north west of peninsula Malaysia. The highway came much later, perhaps a decade or so later. The next day we went to Penang Free School to register. I remembered the year was 1973, the year when P. Ramlee passed away. In 2007 I took my wife and daughter to travel the highway from Kota Bharu to Penang on a commercial air-conditioned express bus. My wife swore never to travel of an express bus again especially in Malaysia after that trip. She was concerned about the highspeed the bus was travelling in the winding mountainous highway with deep valleys just inches away. The air condition was a bit too cold even to a mid-western American wife of mine. I have to give her my jacket to wear for her comfort. The driver seemed to be in perpetual mode of being in a hurry and I was sure my wife would be in a constant prayer throughout the journey. In 2009, I flew a direct flight between Kota Bharu to Penang, some 45 minutes ride. All these advancement in traveling mode is very telling of how much progress we are able to witness in a peaceful country of Malaysia.
Rahim was there in person on the day my father died but I was not with him in person on the day when his parents passed away. I only managed to converse on the phone when he was busy trying to purchase airtickets to attend to his parents' funeral in Saudi Arabia. I visited Rahim and his father in 1986 when I was about to leave for the United States for the second time. That was the last time I saw Cikgu Hussein of Sungai Petai who later ran for state representative from Semerak and became a state assemblyman.
Rahim may not realize it when he visited me in 2007 at my mother's house in Pak Badol, he remarked that he was reminded of his mother when he saw mine. His words touched me. We may not be blood related but in spirit, he is my brother!
[more to come]
