THE CURSE OF KUALA KEDAH
SUMPAH KUALA KEDAH– DEWAN SASTERA, OKTOBER 2011.
“ The
fort was still standing like a lonely monument, overlooking the estuary
where blood had splashed and thousands of his predecessors tortured and
killed. There was a scar that cannot be erased. But how many people
passing by it had stop to recall the history and read the massage?”
Another issue that often appear in my stories and poems is the future of younger generation who are being lulled by the less worthwhile entertainments. Perhaps the most frightening is their madness to race on the road, getting killed or permanently disabled. An example of a short story bringing up this issue is Sumpah Kuala Kedah (The Curse of Kuala Kedah)
I built the story by adding another element of my interest that is history.The main character is from Kedah who was schooling in Alor Setar when the Japanese invaded. He was bitter with the Japanese who interrupted his schooling and more bitter with the Siamese police for kicking his grandfather who did not stand in respect when the Siamese anthem was being played. When the war ended Ayub was able to continue his study and even went to University of Malaya, then situated in Singapore. The second part of the story took place when Ayub had retired from his top government post and was celebrating his seventy fourth birthday at a restaurant in Kuala Kedah. The place held memories of the pain and miseries of his ancestors especially at the hand of the Siamese attackers. Now the land is free but he was sad that the youths are wasting their lives and inflicting their own injury on drugs and road racing.
SOME EXTRACTS FROM THE STORY.
1- Ayub had just started studying at Maktab Sultan Abdul Hamid when the joy of schooling was cruelly crushed by the Japanese invaders. The Japanese caused havoc in the country, committing atrocities everywhere. Everyone lived in fear.
“Today is uncle and father’s birthday.” said Hisham and Kamal.
“Oh so you plan this as a surprise?” said Hamid and Ayub almost
simultaneously.
Allah that he could still stand and walk on His earth, though his doctor
had made it compulsory for him to be present at the hospital once a month
for monitoring. Hamid, fourteen years younger, but he was thinner
and with more health problems. Hamid was shorter and smaller than Ayub.
People had made remarks about this but he took it in good face. He even
joked, “It’s because I was born during Japanese occupation. My mother only
had tapioca to eat when she was pregnant with me, so she did not have much
milk”
birthday of his brother Hamid. Every time he faced this date he would be much
disturbed. He could remember very well his grandfather moaning in pain as
he was lying weak after being kicked by the Siamese guards in front of Alor Setar
police station in 1943. He had repeatedly related the incidents to his son and
nephews. He repeated the story again and again whenever he was invited to give
a lecture or talk at Historical seminar and forums.
the pier jutting out into the open sea. Unfortunately the beautiful
evening view by the seaside was disrupted by irritating sound of
screeching tires of motocycles being driven too fast on the road. It was a
common sight of street racing by the youths , mostly local. Hisham who
understood what was lingering in his uncle’s mind said. “ Look at
them, what a show off, causing public disturbance. They are not afraid to die.
The government widen roads but they misuse it to race for
cheap thrills. Even the police fail to control. Yesterday Uncle Halim,
our former chef came here crying because his son met with an accident.
His son go racing all the time despite his mother’s plea and persuasions to
stop. The accident was bad and his leg has to be amputated. Now he is causing
more hardship and misery to his parents”
before. He felt very old and tired of hearing such news of youngsters wasting
their live away, getting killed in road accidents due to ruthless driving and
racing. Many more die or leading a useless live as drug addicts . There
were also news of unmarried mothers abandoning their babies in garbage
bins. So many Malay schoolboys were wasting their time at
game stations in the shopping complexes. With this situation, how many left to
defend or develop their homeland? Is his
race heading for a defeat while other races are improving
themselves and strengthening their position even sharpening their weapons.
fort was still standing like a lonely monument, overlooking the estuary
where blood had splashed and thousands of his predecessors tortured and
killed. There was a scar that cannot be erased. But how many people
passing by it had stop to recall the history and read the massage? Ayub
recalled the words of George Santayana “People who do not learn from
history will be cursed by history to repeat their mistakes.”
