Terkenang semasa dulu 13 aka Kerpomovic's tag.

Salam to all.

I was toying with the Astro remote control tonight after watching Ang Lee's Sense and Sensibility.
Pressing buttons here and there and there was the wrestling programme WWE. And I remember Ahmad Kerpomovic had sort of tagged me about some 15 whatever about oneself.And I started to think,really think about myself. Is there anything special or interesting about myself? Is there any trademark that made friends remember about me or associate it with me.

I dunno,for I personally think I'm just a plain and sometimes boring guy( well to some its boring all the way).I'm not trying to be 'merendah diri' or what here. Its just that I think I am not an interesting guy who will not get any datukship even from Melaka or Ethopia or Eritrea.

Anyway, here are 15 facts about me. So Kerpov. I am a sport huh!

1- Born in the year of the Tiger in the month of the Ram. Unfortunately I didn't have any stripes like the Pak Belang nor horns like the Ram. But I do keep a goatee. Its just to follow Sunnah Nabi and not sunnah Ram.

2-I don't know if my father follow the fung shui or what, for he enrolled me into a tiger school(King Edward VII). I would like to think its because I was born in the year of the Tiger but my younger brother who was brn in some other animals year also went to tiger school.

3-Mak and Tok told me I broke my nose when I was very-very tiny.

4- When I was a toddler Bapak and Mak rented a house in Kg Datuk Kramat,KL circa1962.Bapak was attached to a camp nearby most probably at Jalan Padang Tembak. One day a neighbour held a wedding kenduri. That night there were kompangs and marhaban and singing at the neighbour's. And Mak said I cried and cried and cried and she can't make me stop. Finally the bapak and mak pengantin ask all the kompangs and marhabans and singing to stop.Only then did I stop my crying and went t sleep.So I was a kacau daun baby. Even though Mak was telling the truth about that incident,I still refuse to believe. Takkan aku lagu tu kot!!

5-We had 2 bicycles . One for Bapak to cycle to Kem Angkut in Kemunting and another was Mak's which she cycles to school( Sekolah Rendah Assam Kumbang). Despite having 2 gherek I only learned cycling in standard 5 after the Peperiksaan Penilaian Darjah Lima. But I was not allowed to cycle to Taiping. Only when I was in Form 1 was I allowed to LSS in Aulong for the morning co-curriculum( I know of one doctor in Kota Samarahan who would say kau korekkulum. Aik mamat!! Kau tak ngaku pulak eh?). I was grounded for several offences. One was when a friend came up with a brilliant idea to make a 'police siren". We would attached a 'pot susu' with a 'tali guni' to the free wheel of the bicycle. The 'bunyi siren' it made was sweet and melodious to us kid but it sure made adults popped out their eyes and most probably made their 'taik telinga menggelegak' too. Another one was when I rode really fast,once .No, not to emulate any Malaysian cyclist of that time, but to impress a beautiful girl in our lorong.

6-My first 'tengok wayang' movie in a real cinema was for the film Haathi Mere Saathi.Maybe I was in standard 3 or 4. No, I didn't go with Bapak or Mak. Bapak never went to movies. It just happened when Haathi Mere Saathi was screened in Taiping, a cousin and her family came. Her husband borrowed Bapak's gherek and took me to 'tengok wayang Hindustan' and Taiping's Lido. It was a box office and we couldn't get any tickets. Finally cousin's hubby manage to get a black market ticket from some 'ulaq ayaq' at RM 2.00(for a 3rd class ticket which actually cost 40 cents. We got the frontmost row which was about 10 feet from the screen. I had to sit on the floor coz we only got 1 ticket. several hours later, we came out with a sore neck.

7-In 1974 Mak's friends from Sekolah Kebangsaan Sungai Kepar(Semanggol) with some Belia group organised a Malam Amal. They invited Ahmad Daud,Sa'adiah,Rose Iskandar and her uncle a comedian who looks like Alias Congo( I can't remember his stage name). When these entertainers arrived they we brought to Che'gu Zainal's place. His wife Che'gu Che Amah requested Mak to help out with the cooking and keeping Ahmad Daud and Co company.
There was a jackfruit(nangka) tree behind the huse and a jackfuit was already ripe. You can smell the sweet aroma when passing by the tree. Che'gu Zainal wanted to pick the fruit. I volunteered to climb with a knife in hand. After cutting off the buah nangka and carefully dropping it down, I started to climb down. Haf way( maybe about 6 feet from the ground) I threw the knife and the blade went just nicely down piercing and getting stuck t the ground. Without thinking I just down. When I was getting to my selipar Jepun, Ahmad Daud noticed my right sole bleeding. True enough. About 6 cm of my sole was gapping wide open and blod was spurting.There was no pain. Che'gu Zainal drove me to Taiping hospital and got the wound sticthed up. That night,I was not allowed the pleasure of watching Ahmad Daud,Sa'adiah and Rose Iskandar perform. And I'm still carrying the scar. And since that day a became afraid of heights( gayat le...)

8-Here's a confession. I can't swim. Unlike Mat Salo who represented Perak in MSSM. But like any other kids in those days, I like water very much. Bapak and Mak used to take us kids a a stream near Zoo Taiping to have a family picnic(sometime 2-3 families with our neighbours tagging along).Well take he bus from Kg Pinang to Taiping Bus Stand and then walk for about 2 miles to the Lake garden carrying plates and utensils and towels and 'seluaq mandi'(which is actually our PE shorts) and tikar mengkuang.Bapak would cycle with the nasi lemak and sambal tumis telor. The stream was only knee deep in those days(now its ankle deep) and Bapak was there to watch over us. Its a controlled envirnment.

When I was in Standard 5, I did one foolish thing. Me and my 2 brothers and 2 other friends when to our usual fringe jungle nearby. Beyond the jungle were several mining pools. Since the day was really hot, a friend suggested we take a swim in one of the lombong. As kids act on impulse, all of us agreed without even thinking about the dangers of swimming in a lombong( mining pools are different from rivers or the sea.Lombong acts differently. It had the suction action and its beaches are very unsteady). Using a wooden plank left there by some other kids I swam.Both hand holding the plank's edge and and my legs kicking. When the sun starts to set we call it a day and parted ways. Me and my brother headed home with our skin becoming pale, our palms wrinkling and our hairs having withish powdery appearance( you'll have that after mandi lombong). From afar we saw a car within our compound.It had the Penang registration number and I knew it must be someone from Merbok visiting us.O ne of my uncles must have chartered the car(plus driver).

In order to avoid any unpleasantary, we walk quietely to the bathroom.Upon opening the bathroom door(the bathroom was attached to the kitchen) we saw Mak making drinks.And mak saw us. Oh..oh... we're in trouble.
"Hang pa mai mana ni?Ni mesti pi mandi lombong"
"Dak aih mak...kami tak mandi lombong aih...Kami main di rumah Cik Bedah Leman"
"Ohh...sapa ajaq hang muhong ni?Mak tau hang bawa adik-adik hang mandi lombong. Kalua dak tak kan kulit hangpa kecut lesi sampai pucat.Bijik mata merah rambut sampai naik putih?"
"Dak mak..."
"Ooo...hang tak mau mengaku noo...Tu di depan tu. Tok Nah ngan Pak Ngah Aji Man mai nak tengok hangpa, tau-tau hangpa hilang pi mabdi lombong noo..."
"Dak aih mak...sungguh kami tak mandi lombong"
"Hang jaga .Hang tunggu situ jangan dok pi mana.Mak nak hantaq ayaq kopi kat Tok hang. Satgi hangpa muleh laa...."

Then Mak came back to us. She snaped a branch of Jambu Air and gave us 3 kids a chase. And we 3 kids with our Mak ran around the house like a 4x 400 relay race. Each of us got several strokes( of couse I got the most...dah abang kan...) Those stroke were because I tried lying to Mak.

9-Here's another confession. Form the second term of Form 1, I was admitted into Sultan Abdul Hamid College(SAHC/KSAH).Since there were no vacancy in the hostel I was taken in by my aunt, Makcik Jah who was then staying in Kg Gunung Keriang. Bapak stayed on for a few days until all were settled and he had to go back to Taiping. The first night without Bapak, I cried in bed. Really cried. In 1975, we didn't have phones yet.All communication are by the snail mail.
The next day I became normal and no more crying. Betulll....percaya lah.

10-At the foot of Gunung Keriang there is a huge mata air(spring). The water is fresh and cold and it never dries even during the drought seasons of March-June in northern Kedah. Almost daily me and few friends in Kg Gunung Keriang will take our bath at this spring. At the foot of Gunung Keriang there was a quarry(the blasted 3-4 times a week) and there were many huge rocks around which were left. Between these huge rocks were instant open air lavatories or open air jamban. Boys and men will look for unoccupied jambans to get off their turds. If one if not careful, one might step on recently used jambans.
Since I was staying in Gunung Keriang I have to do what the Keriangans did.
I don't do that anymore,okay!!

11-I like to talk and talk and talk. And I like to listen to people talking. I get lots of info when talking( not talking alone lah) and listening. And when there is no one to talk too...tidur lagi baik. Dak ka?

12- Another confession. I like reading when sitting on the loo. Hah3...sudah banyak buku dan novels selesai di khatam dalam jamban daa....Kalau tak ada buku...IC pun boleh di baca dan di ulang kaji.

13-Started to listen to Western songs and music only my varsity days. Thank you Raja Amin,Zain Azlan, Rosli Ibrahim.

14- Belajaq isap rokok di Universiti Malaya. Masa sekolah dulu cek budak baik. Tak pernah isap rokok pun di hostel.

15-When sleeping : ada air menggelagak or babi lemas. Go figure it out!

So,Ahmad Kerpomovic I had finally responded to your tagging.
Now I will tag......who ever that is willing to share part of their lives with us.