Sunday, March 15, 2009

Kaweng Ngka Tu

This is a story about my old neighbour back in Kuantan. They live in a fine wooden-cement house in front of mine, separated by a small field and a surau (prayer house). The man of the house who is also the breadwinner of the family is an engineer in Port Kuantan whom I call Pak Cik Zarak. Married to a woman who is now a domestic engineer, both of them are blessed with 6 children, 2 males and 4 females.

The story happened several years ago when I was playing pangkoh on a stone table under a Payung Indonesia tree at their lawn. Together with me was Udin (the second in their family) and others from the same neighbourhood.

Suddenly, the phone rang in the house. Kringgggg!

The phone rang again for the second time. Nobody pick it up yet. Then, the mother, in her deep Kuantanese accent, shouted at her children;

“Telepoen tu!!!” (the phone!!)

Then, Kak Long, the eldest in their siblings, probably was watching TV in the house, began to shout in her deep Kuantanese accent;

“Udin! Gi la angkek telepoen tu!” (Udin! Go pick up the phone!)

“Ahh! Mende aku nye?! Aku tengoh maing pangak ni! Aimi!! Kaweng ngka tu!” (Ahh! Why me? I am playing pangak here! Aimi !! must be your friend on the line!).

The second child replied furiously. His eyes was still fixed upon the cards at his hand.

“OOOO!!! Mane ade! Bakpe aku nye?! Akaf! Kaweng ngka yang sokmo telepoen ! Gi la angkek tu!” (Hey! Ridiculous! Why me??!! Akaf!! It is your friends who have always phoned here!! Pick up the phone! ).

The third one shouted back angrily. She dares not to ask her big brother again to pick the phone up.

“Aaaahh!! Aku tengoh nok maing pangak ni! Ayak tu ade dekek! Suoh a die angkek ! Ayak!! Angkek la tepon tu !! Kaweng ngka yang sokmo tepon !!” (What?! I am playing pangak here! Ayak is near at the phone! Ask her to pick it up! Ayak!!!! Pick up the phone!).

Akaf replied in the same loud tone and the same accent. He who had actually not holding any piece of card, had been watching the game attentively instead.

“Aaahh!! Bukeng kaweng aku! Bakpe aku nye! Didah! Ngka angkek la !!” (Aaaahh!! It is not my friend! Why it always has to be me?? Didah!! Pick it up!!)

Ayak shouted to Didah, the youngest in the family. She is clever enough not to use “it is your friend” excuse as Didah is still in kindergarten and it doesn’t make sense if she has any friends there who know how to use a phone. She might think that because she is a few years older, she was not bound to the honourable job of picking up the phone.

As the words of “Ngka angkek la” remained shouted at each other by the siblings, the ringing ended together with the words of “Kaweng ngka tu”. They will have the same "ritual" whenever the phone rings. Sometimes, when the parents interfere, someone in the family will just have to pick the phone up.

This little anecdote is actually a reflection to our very own society. From high respected leaders of the country all the way to the commoners.

Have u ever heard of a story of a piece of paper lying on a floor in a classroom? Where the members of the classroom are Somebody, Everybody and Nobody? In the end, the paper is still lying on the floor.

Have you ever heard the old Malay song of “Bangau Oh Bangau” ?

These are little things in this large world that we may have not giving any attentions to.

Do you agree if I say that all the problems in this so called beautiful world started with the letter “I” ?

Yes, the word problem doesnt start with the letter "P", but it started with the letter "I"

Think deeply. Free your mind. You may learn something today.

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Glossary

Pangkoh - Means pangkah or cross (X). A card game ussually played by 4 to 8 person. Use the same card used to play poker (Malay call it daun terup)

Pangak - another name for the card game of pangkoh

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11 comments:

bawangmerah said...

nasib baik kau translate loghat tu. at lis aku carry on nak bace sampai habis.
macam ni la kawan, gune bahase standard...

jhar said...

meh la kita sama2 tgk dvd siapa aku??
haha

Awang Goneng said...

Sdr Muhammad Husni Saleh,

This is a wonderful story. I lived in Kuantan for about six months and I went to a primary school there (Sekolah Melayu Segambut?) with many oil palm trees, the fruits of which we used to polish our shoes. I wore a songkok to school, and mine was green.

I don't remember 'Kuantanese but this is probably because I didn't mix around enough. It sounds very colourful, and I enjoyed reading this telephone drama.

Love your masthead picture, especially of the man with the pungkah (the pungkah-wallah) who is fanning the dignitaries. Is that from the 'Maqamat'?

Lord Hosni the Wise said...

dear bawang merah;
I am very keen of introducing the accents of the east coast. its colourful dont u think?

dear jhar;
haha..watched already..very thoughtful..thnx fer the vid..

dear awang goneng;
i was shocked actually to see ur name here..thnx fer such comliments nyway. it is an honour to have famous people like you visiting ang commenting on my blog..i saw your "Growing Up in Terengganu" in the bookstore few months ago but cant buy it due to financial problem..haha..will buy it in matter of time ;)

Lord Hosni the Wise said...

dear awang goneng;
err..i dun noe actually what the pic resembles or hu are in the picture..i found it on a website and it seems very nice to me..haha

bawangmerah said...

yeah...really colourful. kalau melaka, heh..paham2 je la.

Lily Cartina said...

last2 tadop org angkat tepon tu kan??

bagos.

hee..

Lord Hosni the Wise said...

dear bawang;
hau hau hau..ni da melakau bebenau..

dear lily;
in most cases, yes..haha..but now i think they all oready grow up an such thing will happen no more

cik penguin said...

this tak sempat happen pun in my house. mmg dah maklum the youngest la kena. and of course, the lucky youngest child is me.
>_<

Lord Hosni the Wise said...

haha..tahniah la..in my house, i am the lucky youngest..wakaka

cik penguin said...

haha. really? phone rumah kitorg asyik disconnected tanpa sebab. so these few days i've been safe from picking up the phone. lol.