Friday, August 31, 2007

Am sharing my old family album in view of Merdeka Day!

My father ( with glasses) and Samad Idris

My mother and my younger sister

The good old days. Beautiful couple, my parents
Pix of Sir Gerald Templar inspecting the Malay regiment platoon prior to Merdeka day, pix taken by my father
My tricycle and my wooden rooster toy, I am just wearing a suspender without a shirt
My brother and sister posing in front of a poster in Kuala Pilah
My father the original biker, check out his shoeMy late father and his Rolleiflex, his first camera, imagine owning one of those in the 1950s!
My eldest brother holding his oversize pith helmet and his cousin who became one of the earliest Malay estate manager.
Me after my wisdom tooth being pulled, taken in front of the old Umno building
My mother Siti Awa feeding a crane which were plentiful at the Lake Garden, when it was a real garden.
Me (don't know why I was dressed as a little girl) and my mother at the general hospital

Me and my mother after I was born, even a babay I look mean, eh!

The Minangkabau women in my life, my mother with the stripe scarf, with my first cousins and auntie

My brother in front of a movie marquee in Kuala Pilah

Ah! Yes! The tranquil Lake Garden before this country was inundated with riff raff!

Me and my great-great grandmother Saadiah

My favourite cousin Zariah and I

My parents posing like that movie "from here to eternity"?

My cameraman father before he boarded a plane for aerial picture taking

My late father, Mustapha Ahmad.
My mother Siti Awa Jaman

Hi! Rakyat Malaysia!

I thought I would like to share some pictures from my very, very old family album that I managed to salvage from the old kampung house. A lot of neat pictures, especially of my parents when they were young, and when I was born,and there is a picture of me with my great-great grandmother Sa'adiah. Then there is a picture of my mother at Lake Garden when it was a real garden, tranquil and serene and with clean air! Then there is this old picture of my dad working secretly taking pictures for the British army during the emergency, he was just a scrawny young man. My mom and dad did a striking pose on the beach at Tanjung Bidara, he told me the post was like the Burt Lancaster movie!
We were lucky because my father was a photographer he recorded almost everything and once it was asked how come there were many of my pictures in the album. There is this picture of me taken in front of the old Umno building wearing a muffler taken a couple of months before Merdeka. My late father was also a personal friend of the late lawyer Maarof, a street named after him.

One morning, said my father, three Special Branch officers, one British two Malays, came and took Lawyer Maarof, in the evening Lawyer Maarof was found hung near Gombak, verdict: Suicide! But, strangely enough a road was named after a person who "committed suicide".

(Footnote: Lawyer Maarof was sent by the British to England to take up law, he came back and saw discrimination and he wanted to form a Malay bank but was disallowed. He became an ardent anti-British person alongside Pak Sako, and my father, and many more. Many attempts were made on Lawyer Maarof life, until he "committed suicide".
My father said he took picture of Lawyer Maarof dangling from a tree, but he destroyed the picture. Lawyer Maarof is the father of actor Mustapha Maarof. BTW! He was a Minangkabau!)
My father also worked for the Japanese controlled Utusan Malai paper, then he worked for RIDA, now Mara. And he was the first Minangkabau (I believe) who owned a Leicaflex camera and with that he made his living raising his family. He was also the original Mat Rempit, with his motorcycle. Then there is as picture of him with his good friend Samad Idris, or my pak lang! Pak Lang Samad later rose to become a full cabinet minister, but my father who joined Umno number two after after Pak Lang Samad no one, later left to join PMIP and from then on our family life went down the drain, so to speak.
But later in life before he dies my father supported the government and had the nerve to tell me not to be anti-government when I never was, he loved the country, the people like I do. So just enjoy the pictures!

The first picture from the top is the future! They are my grandnieces, or anak cucu, Sara Sophia, with Shahira Sophia and Mohamad Faris! The last picture is of my mother when she was very young, and in case if you are wondering, there are pictures of me when I was born and when I was at the general hospital, and check out my mother's shoes pretty neat!
Then there is also a picture of Sir Gerald Templar inspecting our Malay Regiment during the Merdeka parade, my father took the picture! Then there is a picture of me with my toys, and I was a happy person when I was growing up, I still am a happy person when I want to, now! The ladies are my auntie and cousins taken at Sungai Besi international airport before my cousin took off to London to study engineering. The there is a picture of my brother and sister looking at Laurel and Hardy at Kuala Pilah cinema, ah well you guys can figure the rest out!
So I hope you all can enjoy the pictures! And Happy Merdeka for all of us Rakyat Malaysia yang berbilang kaum! You know what! At the end of the day we will all will die so why not we just enjoy life, like I am going to Simpang Pulai then to Cameron Highland then to Kota Bharu via Gua Musang, I am told, infact I know so, the air there is fresher!

Shalom Bet!

15 comments:

NURAINA A SAMAD said...

hi rusdi,

i love old photos.. they transport me back to the past... at the same time it makes me sad, to know that we have come this far, and some of those people in the photos are no longer with us.

it's kind of a mixed emotion..

you parents are good-looking...

er.... you're not adopted, are you?

hahaa.... kidding kidding.

you handsome-lah Rusdi...

Rusdi Mustapha. said...

Thanks Nuraina!

Just received news Marion's auntie Jean Chubb, passed away on Merdeka morning around 2am Montreal time. Jean was 94 years, she had an operation to clip her aneurism, after a series of heart attacks her instruction was if she got another attack it will be a DNR, or do not resucitate. She died peacefully and her body is donated to a science centre! Yup! Old pictures people die but that is a cycle otherwise the globe cannot sustain!

Rockybru said...

terlebih dahulu, ingin saya luahkan perasaan saya: omak kau cantek jang oi!

lovely pictures, bro! fit for a book. go for it! i'll be the editor. and all the blogs in malaysia will feature it!

p.s. how did you manage to look so cute as a baby escapes me!

Rockybru said...

terlebih dahulu, izinkan saya luahkan perasaan saya: omak kau cantek jang oi!

lovely photos. the laura and hardy's pic is my favourite. it should have gone into zainul ariffin's coffee-table on Road to Independence which the DPM launched the other day. it should be on the cover, man!

perhaps you should gather all the pictures and turn them into a volume, bro. life and times of the seri menantis, or something like that. we'll get the bloggers -- all bloggers in malaysia including the cyberempits -- to review the book.

p.s. how you managed to look so cute as a baby escapes me!

Anonymous said...

congrats on your daughter's wedding.

Anonymous said...

Your mom's gorgeous my friend!

Anonymous said...

samad idris was your pak lang?? so was he my pak lang! we must be related!

Rusdi Mustapha. said...

Anonymous at 8.54, if you did not sign you name how am I to tell whether you are also related to me?

Anonymous said...

oops sorry about the missing info! i happened to come across yr blog link from DP Marina M's site and saw "Seri Menanti" attached to yr name. was curious so i hit the link and read yr post. it was more of a hit and run comment! am guessing u must be from pak lang's side of the family cos' i can't recall your name ever being mentioned or if it ever did it just passed over my head as there are just too many relatives to keep track. i am from mak lang's. my late father was her older brother.
regards
siti hajar mohamad yusof

Rusdi Mustapha. said...

Dear Siti Hajar Mohamad Yusof!

I don't think we are related and even if we are, one way or another, but that does not mean we know each other. I doubt it if I know you and vice versa! Plus the fact that I am not that known by many people except for my own circle of friends. Cheers!

Teddy said...

i love your old photos.. i love it so much! thanks for sharing it...

u know what struck me.. it's the old pic of u and ur brother looking at that old charlie chaplain posters! what a view...

cheers,

teddy

Teddy said...

sorry to hear about ur sisters... u know what strikes me... sometimes mankind is bonded with love... doesn't matter whats color of their skins, family background or religion is... but when that moment of loves jolted in their heart... it's just that feeling of being the same...

sorry to hear about ur sis.. i bet the love that she left lingers within the family forever...

cheers

Unknown said...

Hi Rusdi, Thank you for sharing your family album. Pretty pixs and more beautiful people. I am from Ampangan, Seremban with lots of relatives in Kuala Pilah. Your photos make me remember my good old days with no care in the world. By the way I am Hamdan the guy that used to make a lot of noises when prices of essential things sky rocket. Keep on posting.

Rusdi Mustapha. said...

Dear Mohd Hamdan,

Then you must be with Fomca or was with Fomca? Yes,old pictures can make you sad and happy, but mostly happy. I hope you are well my friend!

Cheers!

Anonymous said...

hi rusdi..

excellent pics..

since u mentioned ur father is a personal friend of lawyer maarof, came from kg merual and is also the personal photographer of the late tuanku abd rahman, i was just wondering whether ur father also knew maarof's brother yusof..?

yusof is maarof's elder brother who also comes from kg merual..

our part of kg merual is exactly at the source of the waterfall(or kg jeram we would popularly call it)..

yusof also used to work with the late tuanku abd rahman at the istana besar seri menanti as his highness' mechanic..

due to this i think, he used to own a sports car..glamour la konon..haha..

yusof married 9times(amazing, i know!)..

his first wife(name:siah) was my late grandmother's mother who came from kg bukit about 500meters away from istana besar seri menanti..

the marriage of yusof n siah gave birth to 2 children i.e. mustapha (still alive around 90+ of age) and hawiah(my late grandmother)..

we are of the selemak pahang clan(suku selemak pahang) since siah is of that clan and also due to the fact that the minang is a matrilineal society..

we r closer to the kg bukit family rather than kg merual..hihi..

given d circumstances i.e. ur father is a personal friend of lawyer maarof, came from kg merual n also used to work with the late yamtuan, which all of these coincidentally points to my late great grandfather yusof, maybe ur father knew him as well..

or better, maybe we r related..?!

maybe u hv photos of yusof dat u could share with me..

*p/s:u cn also contact me through my email: syakil_zulkifli@yahoo.com

cheers..!

Istana Seri Menanti

Istana Seri Menanti
The old Istana which is now a museum.