Greeting

I've posted my Hari Raya Aidilfitri greeting to my Muslim brethren just days ago but I'll repeat that again, SELAMAT HARI RAYA to my Muslim brethren in Sabah including those in West Malaysia and I also would like to wish all Sabahans HAPPY 48TH INDEPENDENCE DAY tomorrow and HAPPY 54TH INDEPENDENCE DAY TO MALAYANS!

If you're watching TV3 right now, it said that our country is celebrating it's 54th year of Independence, no doubt referring to Malaya but hey, tomorrow is also the anniversary of the nation of Sabah's 48th Independence Day! Don't we deserve to be congratulated on national tv also? I hope TV3 extend the same courtesy to Sabah next year in the spirit of 1Malaysia. 

Don't forget to fly the Jalur Gemilang on 16 September Malaysians!

A Father's Heart - The Wayward Father 3

This writing/story originated from my twisted mind. Hence, I reserve all rights to this work.

The metal door slammed shut behind him. “It has been five years, how fast time flies.” thought James. He had served his time and now freedom but he didn't feel like a free man. Yes, he was not physically caged anymore but he still felt that he was in some sort of prison. A prison of guilt, shame and regret. This prison had no walls and no door that he could exit; He was simply in it.

James had aged a lot, the five years spent inside Kepayan prison had not been easy on him. Besides the occasional beating by fellow inmates, he had to content with nights of panic attack. On such nights, his mind would wander back to the day when he committed the crime and the realization that he had screwed not only his life but also that of his wife and son, especially his son. The walls would start to close in on him and all he wanted was to get out and look for his son. It got especially harder when in the third year of his incarceration, his wife visited him and told him that she was divorcing him and that she would be moving to the States and marry an American.

A Father's Heart - Stepfather 2

This writing/story originated from my twisted mind. Hence, I reserve all rights to this work.

Mary Anne and Joseph were Joshua's step-siblings. They were children of his mother's second marriage to his stepfather, John Crabtree, who had brought the two of them to the States when his mother married him. His mother Anne, was a Sino-Kadazan. Her father was a Sabahan Chinese and her mother was a Kadazan from Penampang. Joshua's stepfather, John, had always appreciated the Kadazan culture and even wrote a book about Sabah and its natives though he never got around to publishing it. His stepfather had a collection of books about Sabah and these including his unpublished manuscript were given to Joshua when he passed on.

A Father's Heart - Prelude 1

This writing/story originated from my twisted mind. Hence, I reserve all rights to this work.

“Joshua!”

Mary Anne was awoken by her mother's sudden outburst. She looked across the room which she shared with her mother tonight. Earlier the day, her mother had been complaining about feeling unwell, of being restless, so Mary Anne elected to sleep in her mother's room this night to look after her.

“What is it mama? Are you feeling unwell?”

Selamat Hari Raya!

I wish I have my fellow blogger Gunaqz's artistic talent and humour; she drew a funny Hari Raya greeting. So my Raya greeting will not be as cool as hers but still....here goes...

To all Muslims in Malaysia and yes, that include my readers some of whom are proud Dusun Muslims, Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri!

And please drive carefully yah..especially my friends/fellow bloggers and readers.

 

Happy 54th Merdeka Day?

While on my way to KK yesterday, I passed by a big billboard that read "Hari Kemerdekaan Malaysia ke 54" and over the past few days, I also read about a Sabahan minister and officials lamenting that flying the Jalur Gemilang has not caught on with Sabahans.

I don't know what they grumbling about because I see loads of our national flag lining on both sides of the road while on my way to the farm everyday. Perhaps these people are referring to city folks whom are generally not gullible and know their history than kampung folks do.

Kedai Rakyat 1Malaysia

www.kedairakyat1Malaysia.com.my

Yes, my choice for a subject for my post is unusual this time around but my curiosity finally got the better of me this morning. I was enjoying my breakfast at my usual haunt, Kim Wah Restaurant in Beaufort (hehehe.. Doing some free advertisement for my former classmate) this morning. Slowly sipping my Kopi-O, smoking my Gudang Garam as I read the Daily Express.

I hardly read the malay section of the paper usually but today, the headline "Kedai Rakyat 1M'sia akan diperluaskan : Najib". I've been hearing a lot about this Kedai Rakyat 1Malaysia (KR1M) but never bothered to find out more about it. Do we have KR1M in Sabah? 

A Dusun Ghost Story

Since the month of August is also the Hungry Ghost festival month (the Muslim Ramadhan falls on August this year), I'm going to blog about ghost stories hehehe... Alright, it's also because I've ran out of idea for my Sedihrela series and has to resort to “cheap parlor trick” to satiate the insatiable reading appetite of Sunflower's mistress. Sunflower, if you're reading this, you might have to tell your mistress that I might “gulung tikar” on the Sedihrela saga due to poor readership :P.

Ok, let me start. There won't be any particular order or format on how I tell the stories. I'll just say whatever comes in mind. They are bits and pieces and I restrict the stories to only Dusun related ghost stories.

The Dusun Tatana's word for ghost/spirit is rogon. Dusun Tatana are the Dusuns found mainly or possibly only in Kuala Penyu, in the old days at least. Old folks swear that in the old days, before Christianity was spread among the Dusun Tatana, sightings of rogons were quite normal. Before Christianity, the Dusun Tatana practiced their pagan religion. So I guess maybe that was why rogons presence were aplenty in those days. Ok, some smart fellow just scoffed at this notion. Yes, I'm aware that the reported sightings could just be due to the Dusun Tatanas' being superstitious and attributing everything that was out of the norm to paranormal activities. I'm trying to tell a story here, do you mind?! Geez..! You're such a wet blanket, aren't you. I'm retelling a culture's folklore here, not the instruction on how to build a rocket to the moon!! It's like watching a Superman movie, do you think that people could actually fly? But you still watch it, didn't you? Why? Because it is entertaining! Oh?! What did you say? Superman isn't human but is an alien from Krypton. So you believe aliens exist but not spirits? Hoookay! You lost me in aliens... Shoo! Shoo!

Damn you Cruel World!

My friends, as I write this, my mind.... my mind is in at a state of shock. That's the best I can describe it at the current confused state of my mental faculty. I've been forced to re-evaluate the whole core of my beliefs and principles. The very foundation of my being, my character has been shaken beyond repair.   

I'm in despair! For the first time in my life, I would readily admit that I am clueless, helpless as to how to drag myself out of this current cesspool that I found myself in. How would you feel if you found out that the model that you carved out your principles and beliefs with, has been a lie!!! My life basically had been just a big FAT LIE! Yes, DESPAIR! The blackest of night has come to visit me not on my own volition. At this late stage of my life, I don't think I have the will and energy to hop back on the proverbial saddle. I'm down for good. What will I say to my son? How do I explain it to him. His daddy is destroyed. All that his daddy has been imparting to him have been a BIG FAT LIE!

Facebook Group : North Borneo History Enthusiast

Hello friends/followers and readers alike. If you are passionate about discovering, reclaiming or preserving Sabah's histories, culture or customs, I encourage you to join our Facebook group called North Borneo History Enthusiast. 

The group membership is currently set at closed i.e. the admin will have to approve your membership. Why we put it at closed? It is a fledgling group and we only want the right kind of people as members. We don't want rabble rouser and trolls in our midst as we try to have a constructive and serious discussion. So that's why it is currently set at closed. 

Looking forward to see you there.

Tekajut Bah Aku! (I was frightened)

I don't believe in spirits/ghosts but I don't disbelieve them. I'm not making sense, am I? Ok, let's just say I have a healthy scepticism about things that go bump in the night but at the same time, I also have a healthy open-mindedness about things I can't explain with science. 

A Taoist priest (invited by a relative) once told us that there is a "Pak Cik" or "Haji" that "menunggu" behind our house where my late father had planted a rambutan tree. I'm sure most of you know what a Penunggu is but if you are a westerners, well Penunggu simply is a spirit that dwells in an area. The priest said there's nothing we could do about it; we can't evict the spirit because he has been there long before us and perhaps the priest just wouldn't want to mess with the Penunggu. 

Once, my brother in-law had a hunger pang in the middle of the night. Everyone else was fast asleep. He woke up and cooked himself a packet of Maggie noodle, he was standing over the cooking stove when he sensed a presence. He looked to his left and there standing before him was an old man in a Batik shirt! He freaked out and ran back to their room. The next morning he related the incidence to my sister (his wife) and my family. To this day, he swore that he was not dreaming. At home, we simply refer to this "being" as the Pak Cik. He's harmless actually and sometime we suspect he is behind some mysterious occurrence that had helped us one way or another. Like things going missing suddenly appearing conveniently etc. 

Tale from Borneo : Sedihrela - Part 3

Waitlah. I have a day job you know :P. I'll post it here as soon as it is ready. 

Tale from Borneo : Sedihrela - Part 2

Please note that this is a fiction based loosely on Dusun customs and folklores. The author, that is me, reserves all intellectual copyright.

Seputeh opened her eyes but her vision was blurred from an intense bright light, the brightest she had ever seen but it wasn't painful to the eyes and she could sense the warmest warmth in it. A sense of peace, tranquility...enveloping her and she found herself unable to articulate what she was feeling for it was beyond human expression

About an hour ago she had given birth to a healthy baby girl and she had hold her baby in her arms lovingly before she felt herself slipping away, like she was falling asleep; She had passed on. 

"Welcome my child?", said a voice. Seputeh was mildly startled but she wasn't afraid. It seemed like this place that she was in was devoid of fear, pain, hatred and all other worldly woes. That voice, it neither sounded like a man nor a woman. No words to describe it but it was authoritative and yet gentle.  

"Seputeh, this is your home now", said the voice again. Seputeh squinted and squinted but yet she couldn't see past the intense bright light. "I can't see you my Lord??", said Seputeh.