EARLY DAYS

The earliest memory of my early childhood days is about the house in the little town of Tampin in the State of Negri Sembilan where my maternal grandparents once lived. My grandfather was datuk (grandfather) to all my three siblings, the only grandchildren he had during his lifetime. He hailed from another small town of Alor Gajah in the State of Malacca, not very far from Tampin. Since he worked with the Land Office in Tampin, staying in Tampin was therefore most logical.

He had a house on a piece of land next to the Tengku Besar of Tampin’s residence, a district dignatory. I remember the house quite well as I used to go there when I was a bit older to help pick fruits. There were many fruit trees around the house. I remember the durian, rambutan, mangosteen and chempedak trees. The chempedak, a close relative of the jackfruit, was of a special variety. It had very thick flesh which I rarely see elsewhere. There must have been other fruit trees as well but these were the ones I remember well.

Chempedak fruit needs to be taken care of right from the start. To avoid pilforation by pests, the young fruits are usually covered with old newspaper, cloth or sarong tied up at both ends. Some even get dressed up in old shirts. When ripe they are either eaten raw or fried in batter made from rice and corn flour and a pinch of salt. A little tumeric powder may be added for colouring. If it was well fried I would even eat the seed inside as well. Otherwise we would save them to add in green fish curry or masak lemak as it is locally known. The only setback was we could end up with a lot of wind after that!

As for the hairy rambutans, also known as hairy lychee, there were a couple of varieties in datuk’s compound simply distinguished from the skin colours namely, red and yellow. Whatever variety, would be considered desirable only if the flesh could easily come off the seed when you bite it off. That's considered lengkang then. Plucking rambutans means the branches have to be cut about a foot from the fruit bunches so that they could be easily tied up in bundles. Those days we would use a long bamboo pole or galah with either a split at the end or a metal hook attached at the end. The idea is to lodge the rambutan branch into the split or hook and turn the pole to twist the branch until it breaks off. These days, a cutter designed for the job is fixed to the end of the pole. A rope is tied to the mobile part of the cutter so that when the rope is tugged the cutter would do its work. Ants can be a problem even to these days. They tend to be transported together with the fruits to start a new colony else where. The skin of the fruit may be peeled in two ways. One is by using the fingernail - usually the thumb’s- by lodging it into the skin and then splitting the skin apart. Some skin may be a bit tougher than others and with them you may end up with a sore thumb and dirty fingernail. The second way is to simply use a knife. These days, I prefer to cool peeled rambutans in the fridge for a while before eating them. A quick wash is usually beneficial to avoid developing a cough. It is normal to have a cough epidemic during fruit seasons. As such we usually drink warm water after a fruit eating session.

Mangosteens may be plucked either by using a bamboo pole with one end split up with several cuts to form a basket-like trough for holding the fruit. Usually, someone would climb up the tree with a basket. Only the sweet, white fleshy pulp inside is edible. The bitter, purple rind is discarded. Beware about smudging your clothes with it's purple stain. It could be a mother's washing nightmare!

Today, it is duped the queen of fruits. It is noted that as early as 600 AD, scribes in Southeast Asia recorded the use of the mangosteen as a general remedy and healing agent. In fact, the whole mangosteen fruit—especially the xanthone-packed rind—has been utilized to treat a variety of health conditions. The mangosteen rind was sliced and dried, then grounded to a powder and administered as a herbal preparation. The mangosteen rind was steeped in water overnight and taken as a tea. The mangosteen rind was made into an ointment and applied externally as a lotion. It was through these popular uses that the benefits of mangosteen were passed down through history and several scientists and explorers took note. Today there are many brands of mangosteen juice and herbal supplements made from the rind and seed.

Last but not least was the king of fruits, the mighty durian. You just have to wait for them to fall from the trees, then go and look for them in the bushes. It was very common for durian plantations to have huts built for the “waiting party”. "Duri" means thorn. Opening up the fruit can be quite challenging to some people. Usually a rag and a parang or a big knife are required. The rag is to protect the hand holding the fruit from the thorny skin. The parang is of course for splitting open the fruit along the cutting line. Any other ‘line’ would be difficult if not disastrous.

They say the durian smells like hell but tastes like heaven. It is to Malaysians as what cheese is to the Dutch! I do have European friends who have been initiated to this fruit and to my surprise, they simply love it. It is banned in aeroplanes and hotels though. When dad brought back durians in the car boot, you could still smell the fruits from inside the car. The the smell would linger on for days if the boot wasn’t aired properly. These days we would throw in a large piece of charcoal to absorb the smell.

Entering the compound from the main road you would be greeted by a stone arch which, as a matter of fact, was the last remaining structure I remembered many years later. Datuk’s house had cement steps leading to the front door entrance. The house was a  wooden structure on brick stilts much like an officer’s quarters during the British days. It was painted white and had a separate building without stilts for the kitchen and store room. It was joined to the main house by a covered passageway at one side of the courtyard. Asimple dining table was also placed there where we had most of our meals. At the edge of the covered passageway nearer the main house, as was commonplace, there was a kolah, a small cement trough for collecting water. There was a tap by it but as it was in an open area of the courtyard rain water would also collect in it when it rained. The water may then be used for general washing and washing the feet before entering the house. It was however, my nemesis.

I was told that I was a rather fretful kid. During one of those fretful moments, datuk had exhausted his patience by dunking me in that pool. I had come to understand later that this was a common practice in  those days so that  crying would instantly cease. But then, I could not have been much more than two years old at that time. I still wonder what I had done to deserve such a punitive treatment. I still have that picture in my mind of the rest of the family, mum, grandma and aunties in the doorway  watching the spectacle. I remember  feeling disappointed that none came forward to help me. When my own children were two years old, I didn’t have any problem in pacifying or quieting them down when they cried. I came to understand that datuk was much revered by the family members that none would dare to interfere with his judgement. I guess that was datuk, the disciplinarian.