Story from my mother II

I wrote this after subuh, the ayam hutan (jungle fowl) hasn’t stopped crowing since the break of dawn. They live on sukun trees (breadfruit) behind the house. I took these pics yesterday. These jungle fowl are much smaller that normal chicken, less than ½ kg for full grown cockerel. They can fly short distances like birds.

Story from my mother II

Most of the people from my father’s generation in the village have died. At the cemetery yesterday, I notice that the grave beside my father’s was fairly new. It has the name Supian b Salikon incripted in the batu nesan. I knew that man, he was the night guard at my primary school when I was a there. Her daughter, Salmah Supian was my classmate all those years when I was in primary school, Sekolah Kebangsaan Datuk Manan. My mother told me that he died in the Bulan Ruah (the month before Ramadan), ie about 3 months ago. Salmah Supian was a brainy girl back then, she went to boarding school after primary years, and then went on to study in the UK.
Also next to my father’s grave, is a new one, my sister told me it belongs to Mbah Tusiah. She died 3 days after my father. She is related to our family. Her first husband was Mbah Yaacob, who was a brother to my late grandfather on my mother side, Haji Daud Marhakim. She had a few children; one of them was my classmate in primary school, Samsuddin Yaacob.
My mother also told me that all those good knowledgeable men in the village have died. Pak Maulan, one of our neighbour has died about a fortnight after performing hajj the year before. He was lucky, my mother said. After performing hajj and taubat, your sins would be forgiven by Allah, so he died as a clean person. Now his son Din (Khairuddin? I don’t remember his name) came back and live with his mother. He works and commutes to Klang. That is a good son, taking care of his mother in her old age.
Ustadz Kinon lives by the main road to town, near the river. He died in his kebun at Kampung Tiram Buruk. The story was that he went to his kebun that day, but he didn’t came back in the evening. He drove his car far into the kebun (palm oil) that the car was not easily seen from the road. So when his relatives were looking for him around 7pm, they couldn’t find him. He was found dead by the villagers of Kampung Tiram Buruk at 1am. A few of the villagers gotong royong looking for him using kerosene light that night.
Another neighbour, Auntie Mariam died about 3 month ago. My mother told me that she got bone cancer on her leg. She couldn’t use her legs in the end. Her son, Rahmat was my childhood friend. We used to play together everyday. My mother told me that Rahmat got married 2-3 years back with a janda kaya (rich woman who was divorced or whose husband died) from Sekinchan. They have a young child, and live in Sekinchan. Now Robiah and Asiah live there.