Monday, May 19, 2008

A New Friend

This post is dedicated to En. Ariffin Mamat (Pakpayne), a new friend from Dubai.
It was a beautiful surprise when I read Pakpayne's post entitled He Sent Me A Semutar. It was just a small gift from me but he must have felt like I have given him The Burj Al Arab.
Everything started after my getting some comments on my blogsite from Pakpayne from Dubai, I decided to send him a small gift via my cousin Kamal who was on a business trip there. Since the gift was just a kilogram of sambal daging or serunding daging as the non Kelantanese prefer to call it, Kamal was willing to carry it. Later I decided to send some kain batik lepas to be used as semutar after seeing Pakpayne using some other kind of cloth as a semutar during his bekwah (feast) in Dubai. I know such small gifts will definitely be meaningful to those staying faraway from home.
Pakpayne is a trueblue Kelantanese as he hailed from Kemubu which is a village on the otherside of the Kelantan River from my village of Chekok, Jaba. I used to remember those football games between our two villages in the olden days.The came by boat from across the river.
What I want to tell you now is that how the small gift was appreciated by Pakpayne especially the semutar. He picked my cousin Kamal and Zul from the airport and feted them to lunch at his house. Immediately after receiving the gift of kain semutar, he wore them and asked his son to take a photograph with the three of them wearing the semutar of different colors. His son couldn't help it and quipped a comment that the three of them look like from a Hindustani film.



Pakpayne wearing a semutar. He looks like a true Kelantan Malay warrior.
From left to right: Zul, Kamal and my new friend Pakpayne.


When Kamal came back to Malaysia, he immediately called me from KL and spoke in superlatives of how Pakpayne treated the both of them in Dubai. Though it was their first meeting, they felt that Pakpayne was like a long lost friend.

I didn't meet Kamal until he came to the house on Saturday 17th May when we had the solat hajat kesyukuran. Kamal passed me the two gifts that Pakpayne sent to me all the way from Dubai.



The plate is edged with 24K gold with a picture of Burj Al Arab Dubai and it is made in Japan. The other gift is the Arab pipe which we call the hoogah. What more can I say about this friend that I have yet to meet? Come July he will be back in Malaysia and I am planning to take him somewhere in the jungle to see the precious ikan kelah (tor tambroides). The kelah is at the sanctuary somewhere in Taman Negara Pahang. It is purported to be one of the best freshwater gamefish. Though he wont be able to cast a rod there, hopefully seeing the river teeming with this precious fish will satiate his desire to eat them. Who knows, maybe one of the fish may jump out of the water into our pot? Sometimes we just get lucky.
Till we meet in July, I wish you the best of everything for you and your family.

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello, nak jemput saudara join Kelantan Bloggers. http://kelantanbloggers.blogspot.com/

Unknown said...

pak zawi :-)

you made my day!! tq for an attribute to a friendship which was found only very recently.

i look forward to our meeting and trip into the heart of Malaysian nature. i can already hear the rustling of leaves, rumblings of waterfalls, and musical sounds of cengkerik dan all of its cousins.

The Kelah would be a nice bonus...
but but, kenapa tak boleh memancing?

Kamal and Zul were great guests. They are true entrepreneurs and I wish them success in pursuing their vision.

I have cousins and second cousins in Chekok - Jaba. Will 'bertitih' when we meet.

my best wishes for great health and happiness for u and ur family.
Doa kesyukuran dari saya untuk azura juga!

pakpayne

Pak Zawi said...

kelantan bloggers,
OK I will be joining soon.

Pak Zawi said...

Pakpayne,
There is another alternative for fishing, The Pergau Dam. There are cages for rearing various types of fresh water fish like tilapia merah. So if you fail to catch a fish, the caged fish will always be there.
KESEDAR has some floating chalets for rental. It will be quite comfortable and the staff there will help to cook.
The one in Taman Negara is a sanctuary where the kelah are allowed to breed. Those which escaped downstream can be caught. I will have to get you more info on both places before you make the decision. Both are great places but your KL friend's travelling will be nearer if it is at Taman Negara Merapoh near Gua Musang.
Hopefully you will be better acquainted with Kamal and Zul in the near future. Heard from Kamal that they want to host you in KL.
Yes we will bertitih when we meet. Unfortunately I dont know very many people in my old village of Chekok except for my own close relatives because like you I have left my kanpong a long time ago to cari makan.
Thank you for the wishes.

Anonymous said...

Assalaamu'alaikum Pok Zawi,

If you serach the word "semutar" at my blog, you shall find this which I think is rather touching.

BTW, pakpayne took me out :-(

:-)

Pak Zawi said...

Mazle,
Read it. Very touching indeed. Now I am more resolved to blog about the semutar as it plays a big rolein the life of many
Kelantanese of the older generation. My own father never left home without it.

pB said...

assalamualaikum Pok Awi ....




Pok Payne tu memang fren lie

stakat ni jupo doh dio duo kali ...

Pak Zawi said...

pb,
Bagus la kalau pernah jumpa. Pak Awi yang belum pernah jumpa pun rasa begitu mesra sekali. Kami pernah cakap mellaui telefon je dua tiga kali. Bila dia balik nanti baru nak jumpa.

Rusdi Abu Bakar said...

Salam Pok Wi,
Bulih ko ambo panggil pok wi ni?

Ambo ado di rumah pok payne masa bekwoh hari tu. pok payne mmg true kelantanese, dio g smyh jumaat hari tu pun pakai semutar kain arab.

Rindu nok balik kapong
Rusdi.

Pak Zawi said...

rusdi,
Buleh doah nah kalu nak panggil Pok Wi pun.
Lepah ni dia buleh guna kain batik lepah la kalu nak pakai semutar gak.
Kg Rusdi mano di Kelate? Kelik la sekali ngan Pakpayne nanti.

Fauziah Ismail said...

Pak Zawi
Salam from Tokyo.
The semutar to me is not simply a headgear but one of Kelantan's icons. And it looked good only on Kelantanese, yes?
And of course, nothing can beat sambal/serunding daging from the state.
p/s Mak packed Brahim's serunding daging and serunding ayam for me this trip.

Pak Zawi said...

fauziah,
What are you doing in Tokyo?
The semutar is called so when it is placed on the head as a head cloth when kain batik lepas is used. It may look good only to the eyes of the Kelantanese. When I gave the semutar to some French boys as a souvenir to take home, two of them wore it from Kota Bharu all the way back to France.
Anyway a kain batik lepas has so many uses. I will give you some examples of the uses and hope you can turn it into an article after that.
You should have brought some serunding daging with you to Tokyo. Me and Fatthiyah survived on that with precooked rice from the convenience store when we were in Japan for two weeks. Didn't even touch the maggi stock and passed the Berahim;s food to Malaysians friends living in Osaka.

Rusdi Abu Bakar said...

TQ pok wi singgoh blog ambo hok tak dok gapo satu tu ;-)

Ambo duk Wakaf Bharu pok wi, Kota Kube Labu.

InsyaAllah ambo kelik minggu last poso, tiket pun beli doh.

Pak Zawi said...

rusdi,
Jumpa nanti di Wakaf Baru. Makan mee celup Pok San.

Rusdi Abu Bakar said...

Bulih Pok Wi, rumoh ambo belake mee muloh pok se tu jah. specific belake balasoh.

Unknown said...

Salaam Pak Zawi,
You see, that gift of yours looks pretty simple but memory, perhaps emotional provoking for true-blue Kelantanese :)
Hindustan hero is just the right word. Amitabh Bachan of Veer Zaara sort of Hindustani hero hehehe.

Hi&Lo said...

Pak Zawi,

Great to find soulmates between you and Pak Payne.

The semutar looks nice only on Kelantanese? Ohh, am jealous.

BTW, I syukur for Azura. Pls kirim my belated Happy Birthday to her.

Pak Zawi said...

Rusdi,
No problemo, mesti jumpa. Cuti sekolah ni ada kenduri rumah Wan Hamzah bekas Ketua Pos Wakaf Baru, dia tu classmate hamba.

Pak Zawi said...

Akmal,
You are right. Pakpayne really value the gift. Maybe he was longing to be home.

Pak Zawi said...

hi&lo,
The semutar will look nice on you too la. When you come to Kelantan I will give you one. That piece of cloth has many uses. You will be amazed when u know about it.

Unknown said...

Pak Zawi,
*ssengih ssoghe dock baco semuo komen2 nih* hehehehe

I wanted to keep something as a secret, but I have decided now to share.

Pagi buat bekwoh tuh, lepah pakai semutar kain serbae arab tu....tak tau bakpo, maghi satu perasae payoh nock roghoyat lagu mano. Jadi sedih sangat. Terpaksa laghi masuk bilik air sbb air mata berjurai jatuh ke pipi.
Nasib baik maso tu tetamu belum tiba...
Bilo dua tetamu pertama tiba tu, mato mreah lagi hehehe.

Nostalgia weish....

Tupae lalu......nock tegur adik ambo hock namo PB tuh....hehehe
suko sokmo kalu berkecek dengae PB tu gak...kiring salae ko ABear dengae Tock mA deh pb....

Pak Zawi said...

pakpayne,
Dalam hati kecil kita akan sentiasa ada satu ruang untuk perasaan sedemikian. Ini adalah bagi manusia yang berperasaan kalau tidak ada perasaan sedemikian maka tak ubah lah seperti yang bukan manusia. Kita memerlukan ruang ini.
Lo ni ambo pakai semutar nak gi ke pasar Pasir Mas nak beli kain batik lepah lagi nak buat hadiah bila tamu datang. Sambil tu nak ambik gambar untuk blog mengenai kain batik lepah dan kegunaannya. Sebenarnya kain batik lepah ni buke untuk digunakan sebagai semutar semata mata. Tunggu la blog saya mengenai perkara ni.
Bila di Kelantan nanti kita pakai semutar deh nak gi mano-mano, biar la ore ak kato gapo.