Five years. That was how long I stayed in Kelantan. 1984 until 1988. Leha had moved back to Ipoh after she got married to Zainuri, our senior. Lat had moved back to Penang. Enny had returned to Ipoh, too. There was nobody left but me...:-( So, what could I remember of my life there?
Initially, it was difficult. I had to adjust to the culture of Kelantan malays. It didn't help that I was in an environment of totally 99% Kelantanese malays!!! Dressing, dialect, food, way of thinking, way of life ... especially food! Finally, I opted to cook my own food especially for dinner. It was very simple for me - as long as I had my bread, vegetables, fruits... slowly over the years I quite enjoyed the food. I learned to eat mee ladna, roti canai with curry and added sugar in it :-D kuzi kambing, nasi mandi, nasi ambang, nasi dagang ... the list would be endless. Let's not forget lompat tikam, kuek akok, kueh made from pulut .... Whenever I visited Nani in Kota Bahru, Ma would cook ayam percik and nasi kerabu since I didn't quite get the hang of eating nasi dagang. She would also cook for me udang galah. Reflecting on their warmth, kindness and generosity - I was always pampered by Ma and Ayah. Nani's father owned a kilang papan (sawmill) business. Yet, I could not accept Abang Yie as an obligation to return their kindness. The gallivanting and many trips to the beaches, waterfalls, Taabah (Thailand border near Tumpat) and the shopping. Nani and her family spoilt me in their own way.
If I followed Yah home to Beris Kubur Besar, Mak and Cek would pamper me in typical kampung Kelantanese style. Simple home cooking style since they were quite elderly. Yah's parents owned a ladang tembakau. Thus, we always ended up at Mek's house (Yah's older sister) or Abang Din's house. I would never forget the kindness they showered upon me. Not only with food but with lots of love, acceptance and warmth. I always remembered my mother's advice - "pandai-pandai bawa diri. Kita merantau. Jangan sombong." That was my advice to my boys when they left home for school and now, university and college.
Who could forget the introduction to my first formal class? I had to teach upper forms i.e. forms 4 and 5. It was a large school of over a thousand students. I was the form teacher of this form 4 class. When I checked the register, there were two young men who were older than me! I was 22 at that time. They were already 23 years old!!!! They were Sabahans. Imagine I had to teach someone who was older than me! I was definitely embarassed and they were also quite uncomfortable with me being their form teacher. The reason, I found out later, was because they could not be promoted to the next form because they failed their hafalan or SMA (Sijil Menengah Agama). This school had a stringent and extensive exam system - you started with PMR in form 3, SMA in form 4, SPM in form 5, STAM in Lower 6 and finally the STP in Upper 6. It's exams all year round. Besides that you had to pass your hafalan at every form - Surah Yaasin, Surah Kahfi, Surah Al-Mulk...etc. Most of the students were from around Kelantan, south Thailand, Brunei, Sabah and Sarawak. When I first came, English was 0%. They had no trained English teachers. Most of them were uztaz and uztazah who returned after studying in Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Indonesia or other Middle East countries. The academic teachers were those who taught based on their qualifications. Nobody was from a teaching college. Everybody was pure Kelantanese and under Yayasan Islam Kelantan.By the first year, I managed to increase English to 12%. When I left, there were already 3 other English trained teachers from the Education Ministry.
My batch was the first batch of teacher trainees sent to all state Agama schools. The Ministry planned to take over their education system. We were sent to Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang. A few of us got back to be posted to their hometown while some of the guys were sent to Sarawak. Thus, the school had no record or files on us. The state education department was in charge of us and our salary. When I first came, I was the only one. Second year came cikgu Syed, a BM trained teacher, single and slightly older than me. The school tried to match make us to the extent they printed a wedding card! It was a scary joke! He was a nice, quiet guy but I was just not interested! They left me alone when Mudir Nordin (the Principal) said that he had someone in mind. I could only pleaded with them to leave me alone. It did not help that by this time, Nani had got married to Wan and transferred to Kota Bharu. Yah was also getting married and leaving Pasir Mas. They were very nice but I did not think I would survive living in Kelantan. My mind would be so stifled. I would be so oppressed and suffocated. This was when I started to really work hard at getting my transfer out.
Besides school, I was introduced to Golok courtesy of Lat, my house mate. We did not have any passports to cross the border to Thailand legally. So, we followed the local folks via sampan. It was only 3 kok or 30 sen. It was like a 10 minute journey crossing Golok river and reached the back streets of Golok. To get to the town, we had to ride pillion on motorbikes (Honda cup). We sat like how Saloma sat in P. Ramlee's movies. Side saddled. It was only 5 kok or seamar (50 sen). It was actually very scary because we were separated and they took us along backways and alleyways to reach the town. I meant we could just be taken any where!!! Yet, at that time, maybe we were young and adventurous and of course, naive and had faith in people, we just went along for the ride. Well, I went only twice before I started to get afraid for my own safety. It was interesting now that I recalled it. It's not that we bought anything much there as everything could be found at Rantau Panjang.
What could I remember of the students here? They were disciplined and did not cause much problems. The ones from southern Thailand were fighters for Islam. They came here to study with whatever they had - most of the time they did not have much - with the sole purpose of returning to their homeland and fought for the upraising of Islam dominated state. Maybe they were part of the fighters that were killed by the Thailand army in southern Thailand. I would like to think that they had achieved what they wanted to do. May their souls rest in peace especially as their fight was for fisabillah. I remembered we made a trip to Cameron Highlands. We went by 2 vans. The Brunei students went along. These students' allowance or scholarship from their country was more than our salary! So, they sponsored some of the others' expenses. Kak Hajar had booked a dorm as it was cheaper at Ringlet. She hosted a barbecue for us at her house at Spelling Horse Station. It was an all boys' trip. It was my first time organizing a trip out of Kelantan.
I had to teach Sejarah Islam during my years there. I qualified to teach because I sat for that paper in my HSC. :-} as simple as that. I had to teach Form 6 Usuluddin class. They were all very, very good in their hadis and ayat Quran. When there was a reference to an ayat or hadis, they would recite for me. I really studied this subject! I would have gotten an 'A' for this paper if I had to resit. :-) They challenged me by answering their exam in Jawi. I surprised them by reading their answer scripts in class. :-D It was a disappointment to them as they could not pull their prank on me. Oh yes, even though they were agama students, yet they were just normal kids. They brought a frog and put in nicely in a box as a teachers' day present. I would never forget this incident. I HATE SLIMY CREATURES!!!! The school practised public caning. During my 5 years there, only one case of public caning was carried out. The teachers caught a boy playing truant and ran away from school. He was brought up during assembly and uztaz Mohamad (surprisingly I could recall his name) executed the caning. I hated it. I could still hear the sound of the cane hitting the boy's backside. Three strokes. I refused to acknowledge capital punishment. That boy became one of the best students of the school in later years. I was thankful that there were no more such punishment during my teaching there.
I was the library teacher and set up a maktabah or library with Nani. I was also part of the exam department team. The coach and manager for the girls' volleyball team. The school's environment was not rigid or suffocating. It was just what you would expect of any other government schools. I had fun getting used to the life here. In a way, it helped me to forget my grief and heart aches. It healed me. It taught me humility and respect for the students here. With so little financial resources, they still managed to pursue their dreams. I learned to make do with whatever I had. I learned about respect and being respected. I learned to avoid relationships and hurting other people. I learned being responsible for myself and not be so naive. Yet, most of all I learned humility. I learned to return kindness and love. I learned simplicity as a way of life. I learned to adjust, adapt and adopt. This helped me in getting used to the life in Kedah after I got married. I learned to be grateful for my 5 years there. It helped to shape me into a simple and humble person. Part of what I am now is credited to my five years there. Thank you, ya Allah, that in my fate, you put me there. My life had become richer because of that. Alhamdulillah.
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