Ignorant...?

Last night before going to bed I told “my little Hidayat” that Abang Long will be back for a holiday third week of February. I know each time I broke such news those 3,  Little Hidayat (Muhammad Hidayat), Aleh (Mat Salleh or Matt Destructo in Facebook) and Kak Un (Khairunisa) will be much more excited than me.  To them, Abang Long is just a good story teller, a joker, a good listener and they can be all out with him.

I still remember how he made them laughed over a story sometime December 2009.  It was all about him attended  a wedding somewhere in north Semenanjung with friends. He was then introduced to some old folks in the village as someone from Labuan. Some asked where Labuan is, some were ignorant of  Labuan status being a Federal Territory since 16^th April 1984. The worst part was when one asked, “Dah berapa lama duk Malaysia?”. Abang Long just smiled,  at that stage “Silent is best”.

It wasn’t really funny, I laughed because I saw them laughing, I was happy. I asked Little Hidayat (he was  11 then) why he laughed, then he said “Mom, abang Long was born in Labuan and Labuan is in Malaysia, he is a Malaysian and in Malaysia since born”.   Ooops..Labuan kids are more knowledgeable?

It reminds me of my story back in 1973. I was 14. I was among those from Labuan and other parts of Sabah selected to further our  study in Form 4 in Semenanjung (formerly known as West Malaysia). Why Form 4..at the age of 14? See, I stepped in Primary 1 as early as 5 years of age at GPS Kerupang (Government Primary School Kerupang) where my father was the Headmaster.  Back to those selected students, all expenses were borne by Sabah Foundation.  I was with other seven students (4 boys + 4 girls)  sent to Sekolah Menengah Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah (SMSAAS) in Kajang, Selangor. Stayed in a hostel just not the kind of life that I wanted but what to do? My father used to say, if you ever  have the chance to learn  don’t you ever miss it, grab it instead.    By order of the hostel warden, we the 4 girls  were not allowed to be in the same dormitory. I was in bigger dormitory (Dorm A) consist of 20 persons.  First problem, definitely  was the communication. Well, as Bruneian, it’s always “inda, ndada or au bah” in a sudden  I have to change to “ye, tak de, takpe….oh my God, my tongue was heavy and twisted……at this time Silent isn’t best because I need to communicate even if it sounded weird to them. I wanted the best result out of my staying in this school. It’s normal, new place with new faces, some friendly, some just didn’t care, some sincerely helped and some took advantage. My two years in the school has taught me a lot. There were bad and good memories. One occasion  that I will never forget for the rest of my life was when my dorm mate introduced herself and asked me, “hi, my name is Nora, I’m from KL , you all kan duduk atas pokok, buang air camane?   I replied, “ I don’t take bath in telaga but I showered in a bathroom in our house”