SAWAHKU KAMPUNGKU

I was born in Parit 4 Timur and my wife comes from Parit 2 Timur. Both of us come from the 'jelapang padi' of Selangor. We still like going back to the 'sawah'. We enjoy looking at the vast padi field and breathing the fresh air. Sabak Bernam and Tanjong Karang were the first padi area in Malaysia that introduced double-cropping enabled by modern irrigation system.
Mechanisation and fertilizers were introduced so as to make padi farming more productive.

When I was small I used to help my parents working on the padi farm. At that time working on the farm were done manually. We used parang and changkul to plough the field. It was torturous working in the hot sun. Today I don't complain about the hot sun when I play golf!

With double-cropping the farmer's income almost doubled as well. Some farmers could afford to change their old bicycles to motorcycles. Not many households had motorcycles, what more with cars. My late father had an old Hillman car, black colour(not metallic!). I remember when we visited our relative's house for kenduri the kampong boys would be crowding around the car curiously admiring the rare invention. At that time there were less than 15 Malay kampong individuals who owned a car in the whole district.

I own a small acreage of padi farm which I inherited from my parents. But since 1969 when I left my kampung to further my studies in KL I have never step into the field anymore. My brother-in-law manages the farm.

As the population is small most people know each other well. They are friendly and helpful. We feel proud that many of them still can recognise us and greet us whenever we go back home.

When I was small I used to cycle to nearby kampongs visiting schoolmates, which can be miles away from my house. Sometime during school holidays I even slept at their houses, except female friends. Those days boys and girls could only talk to each other in their school. Outside school even classmates would not dare to meet if they are of oppposite sex. The orthodox kampong folks would be embarrassed. They would become suspicious and start gossiping among themselves.

In our hometown things are cheaper than in KL. Fresh fish are sold by the Chinese fishermen in the small town of Sungai Besar. The Chinese 'bagan' (fishing village) is by the seaside a short distance away. I can recall some of my Chinese schoolmates by names like Tan Soon Eng, Tee Hock Bee,Tang Soong Kiew and Chia Kwang Meng.

Sometimes when I go back to hometown I would drop by at small food stalls for a drink and eat local kueh. On one occasion I paid RM16 only for the drinks and kueh taken by 10 old friends whom I accidentally met there. You won't be able to 'belanja' 10 friends in KL if you have only RM16 in your pocket!