SUNGAI CHOH (27) : Once Upon A Time | Flow Of Change

Flow Of Change

(Lagging Behind In Terms Ofc Progress)

Flow Of Change

Lagging Behind

A Normal Life

Feeling Of Love

Uninvited Guest

There were not many facilities to help improve the status of the village. By then Kampung Sungai Choh was not in the flow of change. Being in the upstream area of the State of Selangor was an area that was lagging behind in terms of progress. However, few facilities were available enough for every villager to live a normal life. But most importantly, calm and peaceful became the landscape of the village's livelihood, not to mention a sense of warmth and brotherhood among the people. Every corner was free from harassment and threats. Nothing to fear. Feeling of love and caring for each other, filled the atmosphere of the neighborhood. There was no restriction to roam around the village, even at night. But today's neighbourhood is full of suspicion and prejudice. Everyone is scared of dark corners. Surely foreigner will be treated as persona non grata, uninvited guest.

Pattern Of Evil

Negative Influence

Create Fear

Socially Restricted

Feels Missing

Nowadays criminals  will come even during the daytime. Usually they   will leave their crimes behind, without a trace. This is a pattern of evil in the west that is  beginning to spread in the East. So our country is no exception to its negative influence. Even media coverage has sparked more anxiety to the parents, not to mention, news of kidnapping, organ trafficking, rape and murder. All these create  fear for the families. Children are socially restricted and the family only hang out among themselves. Every now and then they seem to expect evil to happen. Not for a moment are they neglected to watch over their children. There seems there are no such thing as freedom and peace. Everyone feels missing in those days, when they felt so blessed and grateful without anxiety and fear.

Fostered Unity

"Gotong-Royong"

Sharing Food

Respected The Elders

Friendly Atmosphere

However in the mid-fifties and sixties, the relationship among the villagers of Sungai Choh was very close. They fostered unity and cooperation through “gotong-royong” and wedding ceremony. In fact, they really knew their neighbours. Sometimes sharing food and caring for each other in difficulty.  They even called each other according to their status in the family or their nature of work, such as Pakwo Long, Mak Ngah, Ayah De, Pak Iman, Tok Pek and Tok Mudim. So, as little boys we really respected the elders by their names, such as Tok Su Ali, Mak Tam Mun, Pak Long Lah, Mak Ngah Nab, Ucu Botit, Do Mud, Wo Piah, and various other names. Thus respect created a warm and friendly atmosphere. Even knowing each other also created a sense of belonging.

SUNGAI CHOH (26) : Once Upon A Time | Home Of Evil

Home Of Evil 

(A Team Of Disaster Rejection Rituals)

Infectious Disease

Common Sense

Cloud Of Evil

Faith Healing

God Almighty

That night after Isha prayer, I had the opportunity to watch a rarely practised Bangkahulu tradition, by a team of disaster rejection rituals. They walked in a parade as far as Kampung Hulu. Kampung Hulu was believed to be the home of evil. So when the infectious disease began to spread in the village, this team would seem to read sholawat or zanji and recite a few verses from Al Quran. Though it was illogical to our common sense, yet our kampung was then cleared from the cloud of evil. This was really a miracle of faith healing. Sometimes I found it difficult to understand. Anyway I believed, it was really the Mercy of God Almighty.

Couldn't Avoiod

Special License

Bomoh's Work

Abdominal Pain

For Freshness

So those were the days when Tok Bomoh and Mak Bidan were respected and trusted, not to mention Tok Mudin who was not popular amongst the boys. Yet boys couldn’t avoid meeting him. It was said that only Tok Mudim had the authority to give a special license to find a girl friend. Tok Bomoh and Mak Bidan eventually replaced the doctors to serve sick people in the village. Even my mother knew a little bit of bomoh's work. As “a self-made dukun” in the house, she would rub kunyit on my forehead if I got hedache and put a few nila on my swollen neck under the chin. To release my abdominal pain my mother would then give me ginger juice to drink. As well as she showered me with rice water for freshness, especially hair and skin.

Stop Bleeding

Mysterious Herbs

Cure Diseases

Herbal Medicine

History Of Medicine

As well as my friends, they used chewed keduduk leaves to stop bleeding from any scratch or wound. Gelanggang leaves were used to get rid of ringwarm or kurap on our body. Similarly, other leaves have amazing medicinal properties. What were mysterious herbs in those days? It really helped to stimulate the body's healing powers. Only then, did I discover that some herbs have the healing properties to cure diseases. But nowadays these medical herbs are ignored and gradually forgotten over time. However, herbal medicine is actually part of the history of medicine itself.  Undeniably some herbs can be very effective in the treatment of many conditions, such as dukung anak, kucing galak, rerama, ketumpang air, rumput mutiara, putri malu, semanggi gunung, ketumbit  jantan, and various others.

SUNGAI CHOH (25) : Once Upon A Time | No Fancy Shops

No Fancy Shops

(Were Actually Mouth-Watering Favourites)

No Fancy Shops

Traditional Kueh

Kueh Gelembong

Mouth-Watering

School Canteen

Those were the days, when not many dishes were appetizing. Probably my "cc", that's cubic centimeter, was too small or I had no other choice. However, there were no fancy shops offering fast food like KFC, Macdonald and Fizza Hut and what  have you. That's why I only had 20 cents in my pocket. 5 cent for pandan syrup, 10 cents for nasi lemak and the rest for kueh. Many traditional kueh were actually my mouth-watering favourites, such as kueh gelembong, cok kodok pisang, lempeng gulung, kueh bengkang ubi and cucur badak. Well, that's all my spending  at the school canteen. Simple and not demanding, when it's time to eat. After all, just ate when I was hungry and enough when I was full.

Quite Expensive

Solely Contracted

Price Competition

Home Supplies

Extra Money

However, it is normal nowadays when our grandchildren spend RM3.00 or RM5.00 in the school canteen. Everything is quite expensive because the canteen is solely contracted by one tenderer. So no price competition and even not much of a choice. When worse comes to worst, they just eat whatever are available. To bring home supplies is a bit embarrassing. That's why we rarely see our pupils bring food to the canteen. It is better to drink only water than to  bring home food supplies. Maybe it's a culture of buying and eating. Sometimes when our grandchildren don't have  enough money to spend, we will not ask anything. Of course the extra money comes from grandfather's pockets.

Providing Food

Quite Competative

More Valuable

"Air Tangan Ibu"

Common Phenomenon

Back then, however, we had two or three sellers providing food for the pupils at the canteen. So food prices were quite competative and reasonable. Sometimes some pupils went to the edge of the fence, across the school field. That's near my friend's house, Wai Uyub, where two or three villagers sold their food. This place was an attraction for the pupils because of the "kueh gelembong kuah kacang", which was one of my favorites.  However, nothing was more valuable than my mother's cooking or “air tangan ibu”. How delicious to eat under a shady tree.  So then it was a common phenomenon every once in a while to bring food from home. Of course my supply was usually teh O in a bottle and fried rice kicap or cok kodok wrapped in a banana leaf.

SUNGAI CHOH (24) : Once Upon A Time | A Small Shop

A Small Shop

(By The Main Road To Tanjung Malim)

A Small Shop

Convinience Store

Learning Material

"Kedai Majid"

Store's Popularity

I did not really remember when my dad started his business. Just a small shop by the main road to Tanjung Malim. Occasionally villagers called it a convenience store. Of course not a mini market. At the time, the word "mini market" was quite rare to the ears. However all kinds of items were in the shop; candy for children, cigarretes for young people and medicines for older villagers, as well as teaching and learning materials for primary schools. By then “Kedai Majid” was quite popular among the villagers regardless of age. Anyway,  I also shared the store's popularity as Majid's son.

Cowboy Town

Merely Middlemen

Rubber Tappers

"Puntung Berasap"

Wooden Shops

At that time there were only a few shops in Sungai Choh, which I could count on with 5 fingers. Thus, characterised a small cowboy town with a wild west feeling. Yet no lawman or gunfighter appeared on a horseback. There were also shops owned by the Chinese. However there was no Chinese community in the neighbourhood. They were merely middlemen, buying rubber latex and rubber scrapes from the villagers. So that's how the villagers lived as rubber tappers as well as labourers and government servants for the rest of their lives in times of "puntung berasap". So those were the days, when a row of wooden shops with half-rusted zinc roofs occupied both sides of the main street. Serving as the main supplier of households.

Nasi Lemak

Less Crowded

Regular Customers

Customers' Hearts

Satisfied Customers

However I used to cross the road to buy pulut sambal bilis from Taha's coffee shop for my favourite breakfast. Occasionally nasi lemak from Junas's coffee shop. Since Sungai Choh was a small village with less crowded, my dad tended to know every villager. So there was not much of a problem getting regular customers. At That time the word “advertisement” was not in his vocabulary. He just believed that, "business not only sells goods but also buys customers' hearts". Thus, his words were a promise, but then I found out that my father was true to his words. So customers were always right, and only satisfied customers would be good advertisement.