Monday 17 May 2010

...the early years..

....I was not born into property..there were no inheritance of any kind..and when I set myself adrift in KL in the sixties, preferring work to studies, I knew that in the country of my birth, I do not have a home that I could go back to..my late mother was staying in a house owned by her husband's relative in Jalan Gajah Mati, Kota Bharu..not having born nor spend my growing up years there, the house sheltered no fond memories that I could relate to..
..sometimes I did not even bother to go back for Raya..preferring, instead to linger in KL, my adopted city..even though home was in Brickfields, where I rented a 3bedroom flat with 5 others, I was familiar with almost every part of KL, having covered every nook and cranny..
..but there was only so much of KL that you can take...even a stone gets tired of rolling after some time..I was 25..and tired of the tinsel and neon..tired and ridden with little debts..kedai mamak to the bookstore..and still slightly immature to see through a relationship..I needed to start anew in Kota Bharu..a cooperative loan settled all my debts and I was off to Kelantan, on a transfer that was approved within a week of putting it in..and it was early 1969..to a town I was not familiar with..hardly the hometown that I would like it to be..but it was a swinging town, then..and it did not take long before I merged with it..enjoyed its vibrant night life and took part in its nocturnal activities..I embraced the town as it accepted me and I met my wife....my first wife...

12 comments:

Pak Idrus said...

Youngman a great narrative of living indeed. KL in the sixties is the place to be but I did not really get there not until the early seventies and even that it was a happening place. Like you I did enjoy my life in KL although I am already married with kids at that time. We, my spouse and I often go together to the watering hole in the happening places of KL and we did had a colorful time in our youth. Both of us are in our golden age now and still living in KL and would not part it since it has became our culture.

As for KB in the sixties when I was working in Kuantan, it was the place for us to enjoy the Paris of the east. It was another world then and no one would believe us if we tell them what was really happening there, the red district, the Biraze Park and those many watering holes.

Boy! what a life of my youth and I believe yours too. Pakmat I believe we did enjoy life and never regret for one seconds those colorful era of our lives. Have a nice day Sir. Take care.

hazeleyed lady said...

...tell us more pakmat...
and cherish every minute of your life.
Take care

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Abe Mat,
Tell me more...tell me more.... purrr...meow!

Unknown said...

pak Idrus..sometimes I missed the KB of old..and the floods that drowned the town..and the damsels wading knee high water with an umbrella and an ever ready smile..and pakmat looking out thro the office window as they slithered by..those were the days, indeed, pak Idrus....Paris of the East..ahh.. the stories that went untold..the trysts and rendevous on streets and rakits..every lil excuse for a party..and pakmat getting the girls in a hired car..
..and you take care yourself, pak idrus..

Unknown said...

my dear car and hazel..old men cannot marshal their thoughts in sequence..but I will try not to disappoint..:)cheers

Anonymous said...

Dear Pak Mat, not sure why but as I read this beautiful narrative prose of yours, Lat's cartoons of a slick kampung boy in the big city kept entering my mind. Perhaps I have been having alittle too much Lat comics diet of late. Perhaps it is the way you so beautifully captured the essence and soul of a young man with so little words. Perhaps you should consider expanding this and writing a book..... boleh la, Pak Mat.

Unknown said...

..you r having a lil too much on Dato Lat..:) and u flatter an old coot..but I like it..hard to get compliments at my age..but I do see me sometimes as that tousle-haired mamat of Lat's..cheers Andrea..you take care..

Tommy Yewfigure said...

Hey Pakmat, reading what u had just wrote, despite those bumpy roads, u had a jolly good ride just the same, didn’t u? And u wouldn’t have it any other ways too…kekeke…macam tu Robbie Williams says;

No Regrets

And since u sooo enjoy my url that much, here’s one bonus issue more suited to your time;

Love’s Been Good To Me

Ya, LG – Life’s Good!!! I did not do too badly too myself, u don't say...kekeke.

Cheers,
Tommy

Unknown said...

hi, tommy..yes, I do enjoy your urls..leading to songs that I have since forgotten..:) but I cannot say that I have no regrets..there are some..and I am sure you did not do too bad yourself..hehe..anyway, here's a song from my youth..marking those times in Brickfields..serenading with a kapok guitar the girl on the 2nd floor..a song that, perhaps, predates you, tommy...cheers..


pretty blue eyes

..I sang it pretty brown eyes..for she had the prettiest brown eyes that I ever did see..

Tommy Yewfigure said...

True2 predates my time, how about this from Mrs Steve Lawrence, the famous Miss Eydie Goh Mei Kwee....kakaka

Blame it on the Bosz

Cheers,
Tommy

rizal hashim said...

PakMat, you and Tommy can go to concerts together lah....hahahahha


Brickfields, yeah and you remember the walks you had at the railway station and the railway padang...

girls in hired cars...

you sure had a gala of a time...

Unknown said...

yes, lc, tommy is some guy..I think he is in his early fifties..and Brickfields then was a peaceful place to be..a melting pot of all races..1mlaysia in the sixties..

..some girls need to be fetched in cars..refusing to ride pillion..