Anak ke empat CMP adalah seorang anak yang amat cerewet semasa kecil. Menurut ibunya Hjh Puteh menguruskan anak keempat ini menjadikan semua tidak kena baik semasa mengurus makanan harian mahupun pakaian sekolah. Makanan kegemarannya hanya ikan kembung goreng dan telur goreng yang tidak terlalu keras atau terlalu lembik. Sayur dan udang bukan kegemarannya. Jika makanan seperti nasi goreng disediakan, maka sayur dan udang terpaksa diasingkan dahulu. Begitu juga pakaian sekolahnya mesti diseterika kemas, kalau tidak kemas dia tak mahu memakainya. Memang budak cerewet! Walau bagaimanapun, dia sangat bagus dalam pelajaran. Di rumah, tidak seperti kanak-kanak lain, dia hanya membaca, tidak kira apa-apa bahan , buku sekolah, majalah, surat kabar dan lain-lain dan sebab itu di kalangan anak-anak CMP dialah yang pertama memakai cermin mata.
Kecerdikannya menyebabkan dia senantiasa berhijrah dalam dan keluar negara menuntut ilmu dan sekarang menetap di Johor Bharu. Pengalaman kembaranya dikongsikan dengan pembaca New Strait Times bertarikh 8 Disember 2010.
Penulis mengambil kesempatan untuk titipan semula pengalaman anak keempat CMP seperti yang tersiar dlm NST untuk tatapan:Kecerdikannya menyebabkan dia senantiasa berhijrah dalam dan keluar negara menuntut ilmu dan sekarang menetap di Johor Bharu. Pengalaman kembaranya dikongsikan dengan pembaca New Strait Times bertarikh 8 Disember 2010.
New Straits Times
08/12/2010
Two Wonderful Decades In Johor Bharu
MY first visit to Johor Baru was in 1978 when I was 15 years old. It was during the school holidays and I had just completed my Sijil Rendah Pelajaran (now known as Penilaian Menengah Rendah) examination. My late father had just bought a new Mazda car and announced that he was taking us down south to Singapore for a holiday. I do not know about my siblings Fauzi, Nasir and Amerul, but I was really excited because the furthest we had gone as a family was to Kuala Lumpur and to the east coast. In Johor Baru, we stayed at the Government Rest House for a few nights.
The rest house was situated where the Thistle Hotel is now. It was a pleasant place to stay at because it overlooked the Straits of Johor. We went across the Causeway to Woodlands, Singapore, which was famous for canned lychee drinks. I remember my mother bought some kain ela, for making dresses, as it was cheap. I cannot recall all the sights in Johor Baru, but I left feeling it was a nice holiday spot, especially Pantai Liko where we had a picnic. But it certainly did not occur to me that I would one day be a "permanent resident" of Johor Baru. In 1990, my employer, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, relocated from Jalan Gurney (now Jalan Semarak), Kuala Lumpur, to its permanent campus in Skudai. Of course, being a bachelor, I had mixed feelings about moving from the big city of Kuala Lumpur to a quiet place like Skudai. Furthermore, it meant that I would be further away from my family in Alor Star, Kedah. I shared a house in Taman Universiti, Skudai, with a colleague. Taman Universiti, a small, recently developed township, only had a single lane road at the time. It has since been upgraded to a double carriageway. Skudai residents used to do their shopping at Taman Ungku Tun Aminah. Johor Baru has gone through tremendous changes in the last 20 years. This is obvious to anyone who exits the North-South Highway at the Skudai toll and experiences a smooth drive through Skudai, Tampoi, Larkin and on to Johor Baru city centre. In the old days, the traffic build-up was really annoying. There were so many traffic lights along Jalan Skudai. Like many people from other states, my colleagues and I found it both strange and amusing to see Johor people enjoying goreng pisang with soy sauce for tea. Even though Johor Baru was a small town, there were many interesting entertainment outlets. The famous live music joints included The M16 at Merlin Tower and Mechita Club at Straits Views. A club called Juwita in Jalan Serampang was a nice place to enjoy live music. I remember hanging out there with my colleagues and listening to famous singers of the 1960s such as Hasnah Harun and S. Jibeng. Satay Wak Radol in Kempas along the Pasir Gudang Highway was famous for its chunky and juicy satay. In 1993, I married my wife, Noor Khaida Wati Mohd Faiyudi. Of Javanese descent, she was born in Johor Baru. Her mother's side of the family was from Stulang Darat, Johor Baru, and her father's family was from Pontian. We rented a house in Jalan Tarom, Johor Baru, which is only a five-minute drive from the city centre. Once a week my wife and I, and a few close friends would go to the Mee Rebus Lan Janggut stall, at the Komtar Building car park in Jalan Tun Razak. Mee rebus Haji Wahid was famous, but we preferred to eat at Lan Janggut because of the keropok. The late Lan Janggut had learnt to make delicious mee rebus while working for Haji Wahid. He had his own way of preparing the noodles -- using both hands, he would pour exactly the right amount of soy sauce and vinegar. Johor was unique at the time as the weekend for the public sector fell on Thursdays and Fridays, while banks and the private sector had their weekend on Saturdays and Sundays. I found it convenient as I could run errands and do my banking on Fridays. In the late 1990s, the state government changed the weekend for the public sector to Saturday and Sunday to be consistent with the practices of the Federal Government. My late mother-in-law's favourite kopitiam was Huamui restaurant in Jalan Trus. It's famed for Hainanese food, especially huamui mee (Hainanese noodle) and Western meals like grilled chicken chop and beef steak. I would say it was Johor Baru's equivalent of the Coliseum Restaurant in Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, Kuala Lumpur To this day, my wife and I sometimes have our breakfast of roti bakar and, chips and egg at Huamui on Sunday. Yong Nasi Padang, in Jalan Wong Ah Fook, was famous for its otak lembu masak lemak, which we would buy every time my parent in-laws visited us. If we wanted to eat Chinese food, we would visit the Straits View Gardens restaurant. This was before there was any development in Danga Bay. In those days, there was a live band at the open-air restaurant. During weekends, we would exercise at Kebun Bunga and Padang Istana Besar. We would complete the 5km jogging track and run up to the top of the hill where the Johor Military Force's mini orchestra would be performing for the public. It has been 20 years since I moved to Johor Baru and I have to say it is better to live here than in Kuala Lumpur. My youngest brother Amerul Muner is also living in Johor Baru and married to a local girl. The only complaint that I have about Johor Baru is it is a bit far from my hometown Alor Star. If it were not for the distance, I would definitely say that Johor Baru is home.
Mohd Khir Muhammad, 47, is the chairman of the Institution of Engineers Malaysia, Southern Branch. He stays in Bukit Jepun, Jalan Mariamah, with his wife.
Interview by Jassmine Shadiqe
Catatan:
1. Ahli keluarga agak terkejut kerana anak yang suatu waktu dulu pendiam dan baik mampu mengolah pengalaman hidupnya yang menarik melalui artikel tersebut. 2. Diharap penghijrahan mampu mengangkat ketaqwaan dan keimanan. 3. Anggota keluarga dan anak-anak saudaranya harus berani berhijrah.
