Monday, March 23, 2009

Come Meet Pak Abu


That's Pak Abu on extreme right. Check out the remos hairdo and super-snug drainpipe pants. Oh maaan.. you look so groovy lah, Pak Abu!


I have been tagged by Wanshana about my better half, Pak Abu. So here he is, in all his 57 year-old glory. He has been informed of my intention to write this and has given his consent, but he says: "Eh, pasal voting-voting tu takyahlah. I bukan vote pun!" He he he....


He’s sitting in front of the TV, what's on the screen?
It has to be one of those sports programmes, most probably golf. He’s absolutely nuts about golf. He also watches soccer, tennis, bowling and snooker – in other words, just about anything remotely resembling sport. I think if konda-kondi and galah panjang are ESPN regulars, he would watch them too. Once the remote is in his hands, rest assured you can kiss any other TV programme goodbye for the period.

You’re out to eat; what kind of dressing he puts on his salad?
The usual stuff, French dressing or Thousand Island.

What’s one food he doesn’t like?
I can’t think of a single food that he doesn’t like. He is not a fussy eater. The closest to ‘doesn’t like’ would probably be too-sweet kuih muih, especially those from the East Coast like jala mas, nekbat et al.

You go out to eat and have a drink. What does he order?
His drink order varies from place to place. If it’s the mamak, he would order either hot barley or Nescafe ‘O’, both sugarless. If it’s Lake Club (for karaoke), it would either be watermelon juice (also sugarless) or Guinness Malta. If it’s KLGCC (for golf), it would be nescafe tarik kurang manis but we go to KLGCC for karaoke, the standard order is hot lemon tea flavoured with honey.

Where did he go to high school?
Em Cee Gay Gay, Kuala Kangsar (Class of 1969)

What shoe-size does he wear?
Seven or eight, depending on the cut. Since my feet are as big as his and I am the one who usually buys his shoes, I would try them on me first before making the purchase (and you can imagine the look on the sales person’s face, seeing this tudung & kurung-clad makcik trying on men’s shoes)

If he was to collect anything, what would it be?
Dust. He is a great collector of dust. He believes the act of dusting is a waste of precious time (which could be used to do more productive things, like watching golf on TV). Seriously, though, he collects golf caps and he has been bugging me to hang them all on the four walls of the study, which I believe, is a devious way to collect even more dust (akin to killing two birds with one stone). So far, I have not relented. I'll keep you posted on how this 'tug-of-war' ends.

What is his favourite type of sandwich?
Plain chicken sandwich.

What would this person eat every day if he could?
KFC (I think in another lifetime, he was Colonel Sanders’ favourite SIL with a 4th Floor office in the KFC headquarters).

What is his favourite cereal?
Muesli especially the ones loaded with raisins and oats.

What would he never wear?
Round-necked T-shirts. He simply dislikes them. He gets rashes if one such baju gets into contact with his skin. Such T-shirts are banned from his wardrobe. Because we share almaris, I too cannot keep such offensive articles of clothing on my side of the shelves. To simplify matters, I have weaned myself off round-necked tees.


What is his favourite sports team?

Liverpool, and any team that plays against Manchester United (which happens to be ‘my’ team since the 1970s). Whenever Liverpool and Manchester United meet, snow falls in our house and you can feel the chill. Daughter Nawwar is a Liverpool fan, son Naj is an MU diehard while son Joe supports Arsenal AND any team that plays MU. Ann wisely stays out of soccer.

Who did he vote for?
He has been pissed off by Malaysian politics for a while now that he refused to spoil his day by going out to vote. At best, he is apolitical; at worst, he thinks the best solution is to let women run this country. At least we can see the coming into prominence of Parti Coli or something, with pink-coloured conical brassiere (a la Madonna) as its symbol.

Who is his best friend?
He’s closest to his golf buddies Amin and Affendi. Otherwise, there’s me, who doubles up as his sparring partner in more ways than one. Between the two of us, we have perfected sarcasm to a fine art and we both enjoy it tremendously.

What is something you do that he wishes you wouldn’t do?
Getting lost each time I drive (which I do with clockwork regularity despite having driven to such places countless times; I even got lost driving home!)

What is his heritage?
He is a first-generation Malaysian and a Minang through and through. His folks came from Kampar, Sumatera, and he has a large clan there still.

What is his favourite colour?
As a Leo and a Dragon, he is into exuberant colours (especially red) but only for golf. For work, he doesn’t go beyond white/light blue/cream shirts and dark pants.

W
hat is his habit?
Discounting burping, breaking wind, muttering to himself, or dozing off while sitting upright, he has this pathological need to munch on kacang while watching TV. The absence of munchies can drive him to sleepiness. Come to think of it, he even nodded off with a fistful of kacang in his hand!

What is he proud of?
Even though he doesn’t say it in so many words, I can safely say he is proud of the fact that he had made his parents proud by succeeding in life. Whilst they didn’t live long enough to enjoy the fruits of his success, they were happy to know that their sacrifice had not been in vain.

He is proud of the fact that he was the first budak Melayu from his kampung (Kg Kuala Krau, Temerloh) to go to an English school, to enter MCKK and subsequently, to study abroad. (I felt the poignancy of the moment when he told me that three busloads of proud relatives descended upon Subang Airport to give this kampung boy a send-off to England in the early 70s).

Lastly, do you think he will read this?
He reads all my postings, gives his input occasionally, and takes the trouble to save them all (as I plod along with my writing) in a special file for easy reference.





22 comments:

Anonymous said...

Puteri,

Thank you, I am off to a good start this week.

I like the bit on perfecting the art of sarcasm to a fine art. This is why they all left me.

JA

Pi Bani said...

Parti COLI? You mean... Coalition Of Lethal Individuals? The pink-coloured conical brassiere can be lethal.... ;)

Desert Rose said...

Kak Puteri,

Baguslah u been tag with that also, marilah sama2 mengata suami di alam cyber.

Kama At-Tarawis said...

JA - sarcasm has to be two-way and both must be equally adept ta it, baru menjadi. the kids shake their heads listening to us, but they know we were kidding around, as always.

Pi - hehehe, that's a good one!

DR - mengata dengan izin takpa, diapun tergelak dok baca.. :)

Tommy Yewfigure said...

Hi Puteri,

It’s uncanny how your hubby & I have so much in common. No wonder, u take to me so casually lah. We r so similar in so many ways, but however, I’m Everton, he’s Liverpool, I’m a gourmet, he’s a glutton (KFC, strictly no-no for me), he’s cut, I’m uncut…hehehe..Also I’m refined, burping & breaking wind in public is also a no-no in my household as Ah Soh don’t take too kindly such behaviour. Does he plays “Pull my finger” with the kids? I’m sure he does.

Hey Puteri, Chinese says cannot buy shoes for spouse lah, manyak sway, one day they’ll run away with someone else. Akin to buying any sharp objects too for loved one too, as it’ll break/cut the relationship. Chinese manyak pantang one lah.

Cheerio & take it easy,

Tommy
PS- Luv the foto, especially the boot-cut jeans!

Unknown said...

Salam kak...

Enjoy reading all about Pak Abu. I note somehow behind all your writing, Pak Abu is a loving man... I like to know he can leep while sitting down sbb dulu selalu marah my Bapak for doing so, byk kali nyalakan api rokok tp tido dgn rokok sebatang di celah jari (sambil duduk ni)... nyaris terbkr jari tu...

so sorry about your Abg Onn... alfatihah kpd rohnya. 2-3 hari ni broadband kat rumah mmg menduga iman... antar komen pun tak sampai... alahai...

take care sis.

hugs.

Kak Teh said...

outeri, i like the collector bit - i know someone like that too - not 100 miles from me.
hai...lamanya tak menjenguk choc-a-blog!

Unknown said...

Kak Puteri,

Ur Pak Abu sounds like my dad.

Kama At-Tarawis said...

Tommy - Your Ah So very goodlah, got tight rein on your burping and farting in public. Mine arr.. no go lah. He does as he pleases..LOL

Raden - Memang pun he is a kindly old soul, Dalilah. We have a habit of pulling each other's legs. Sometimes the kids geleng kepala because we were like kids ourselves.. :)

Kak Teh - At our age, forgetfulness is a virtue already,so terlupa sekali sekala is ok..:)

Aida - Pak Abu is honoured to be compared with your ayahanda. the only thing yang incomplete in his life (and mine too) now is a train of cucu like your Dad..

Kak Teh said...

Puteri, by the same token, forgive me for butchering your name. The finger tends to do the slip while the eyes fail miserably.

wanshana said...

Dear Kak Puteri,

Thank you for doing the tag :)

I couldn't stop smiling reading through some of the facts on Pak Abu, especially his habits, his dusts collection, and of course the high school he went to :)

And he shares something in common with my other half on the team he loves to see lose! Hehehe!

Thanks again, Kak Puteri :)

Naz in Norway said...

Who needs TV if you and Pak Abu are in the same room. Sounds like a lovely, cheerful couple to me :)

Unknown said...

Kak Puteri,

I however forgot to point out that though ur pak abu macam my dad, he's Old Putera (ex RMC) hehehehe but most of the rest tue lebih kurang sama hehehe

On the cucu bit, when the time is right it will happen. It took me a while (being the eldest of my sibs) to tie the knot, but once the right peerson found cucus will come in no time hahahahaha

I doakan tha soon u'll be blessed with cucus to SPOIL.

Bijou said...

Naj.. Joe.. Ann.. cepat2 la menikah,, kesian kat depa..

'Come Meet Pak Abu' ???? Gulps!

kay_leeda said...

Kak Puteri,

Like that pic of Pak Abu. Groovy and so, so cool :)

Ohh...x-MCKK rupanya. Those days when I was in school, selalu teased budak-budak boys anak neighbours who got offers to MCKK. Saja je suka menyakat..heh..heh :)

ray said...

Komen Pak Malim kucing ray yg alim.

Kama, tumpang lalu, kata Pak Malim yg berbulu. Pak Abu, minta sedikit mayonnaise, boleh? kata Pak Malim sambil memegang koleh. Undi lah saya di pilihanraya kecil Bukit Selambau, kata Pak Malim yg lahabau. Maaf ya, bergurau, kata Pak Malim sambil menuju ke surau.

mekyam said...

hahahaha! ROLF @ "Dust. He is a great collector of dust." :D

Fadhil said...

Orait! Pak Abu is another Anfield kaki like me. U'll neva walk alone!

I also have a few friends, while not actually Liverpool supporters, would support any team that plays against ManU.

Your son Naj seems to be outnumbered, heheheh :-)

Al-Manar said...

What’s wrong with jala mas, if I may ask? It is good for ladies’ skin, giving it a golden shine. As for men it imparts one of its fine qualities, rust resistance – I mean keeping the brain from getting rusty with age. In common was my craze for golf, I say ‘was’. It is madness to think of competing in an 18-hole at Sentul (wonder if the 9-hole course is still in existence) in the morning, and another eighteen at KGNS or RSGC in the afternoon of the same day, or one other combination. What’s left of this craze is an old ball held in a small pewter cup, sitting like an uneaten half-boiled egg, my prized hole-in-one at RSGC. And with a sigh, those were the days –and I still keep enjoying my jala mas, and my old irons are all rusty!

Kama At-Tarawis said...

Al-manar - I love jala mas & nekba' and akok and the whole range of Terengganu sweetmeats, Pak. Tapi Pak Abu can no longer take the richness of these kuihs. Since he found out he has diabetes, he has been careful with his sugar intake, so a lot of kuihs are no-go for him. The only allowance he has made for himself is bubur kacang..yang tu his ultimate favourite..

Mat Salo said...

Eh Kak, what's this "Gay Gay" business? Pak Abu tak marah ke? That other 'Son of A Pistol" blogger also likes to take on a similar slant when it comes to my alma mater. Ha ha.

Kuala Krau eh? Once a sleepy hollow that place is now off the busy highway, Lanchang exit if I recall. Salaam to Pak Abu ya? From a budak kolek to his senior. Tell Pak Abu I just teh tarik-ed with our English teacher Mr. Nadarajah. Mr. N hangs out at The Curve on weekends...

And Alfatihah to Abang Onn.

Sorry ya Kak, I have no affinity for cats because my late grandpa raised me with three dogs.

Kama At-Tarawis said...

Mat - Somehow the slant develops a mind of its own, going 'tharaway' each time MCKK comes to mind.. call it the peril of the same-sex boarding school.. I kat STF dulu, as a sportsgirl, selalu kena urut dengan sorang senior upper six (urut betul punya la.. LOL)