The Kedah Pages

         I hailed from Kampung Hujung Alor, in the district of Alor Merah. It is roughly 3 miles from Alor Setar town centre. In those days when I was studying in the College, I would wake up very early in the morning, before the call of the Morning Prayer. After a bath and some light breakfast, I would switch on the radio to enjoy Arabian music. I listened to Oum Kalthoum, Muhammad Abdel Wahab, Abdel Halim Hafez, Fairuz, Warda Al Jazaariah and others, not withstanding the fact that I knew almost no Arabic beyond "Ya...Habibi!" (O my Love!). A point to note is that this penchant for Arabian music was not in keeping with the times. Certainly Arabian music was very popular among the Malays of yore, but in the 70s I would say that this was confined to the generations of my father and grandfather. I hardly knew of anyone among my peers who liked Arabian music. Western music was the order of the day with the Carpenters, Bee Gees, Credence Clearwater Revival ("I wanna know, have you ever seen the rain! " ), LOBO ("Me and you and a dog named Boo") and John Denver ("Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy!" ). I had my fair share of western music but Arabian music lingered on in my life till today. When the Arabian music program was over, it was time for school. And in the cool morning air and the darkness of the village road, I would pedal my Raleigh 20 bike alone. Before reaching the main road that pointed to Alor Setar, I would have to pass by one or two hair raising spots. However, once on the main road, it was smooth sailing - passing by Taman Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Aziz's mansion, the General Hospital, turning left after the Hindu temple near the Stadium into Jalan Stadium, Jalan Telok Wanjah and finally Jalan Langgar. In those days many stretches of these roads had bicycle lanes. I normally reached school very early and always with a ready Arabian melody on the lips. I would then park my bicycle in the shed and head for the classroom. The Form Six Arts classes were located to the right of the science labs as you enter the school compound. After depositing my bag, I would proceed to the Prefect's Room to look up my duties for the day. Life as a Sixth Former was never a dull moment. It was a time of learning and growing up. For the Lower Sixth Formers, there was an additional learning experience of a different kind. For the first time after five long years of slogging, they were now exposed to a co-ed class (Co-ed till 1976 was only confined to Form 6 classes. In 1976, the College decided to introduce co-ed starting Form Four). I remember that in Lower Six Arts, there was only one girl when we started out the year. She was a Malay girl and was in LSA "B". LSA "A" was just not lucky. It was only natural then that all eyes would be focused on her - her slightest move a source of fascination, her hint of a smile misinterpreted and her occasional laughter was well.. out of this world! I also remember clearly that day when she had to bid us goodbye not too many months after. It was a most traumatic experience for all the guys - me included. Happily though, she was soon replaced by a Chinese girl who came back from an exchange program in the US. Not only was she pretty and clever, she also drove a car to school. Now that was something then. There was one more thing that enthralled us all- she could speak slang! This girl, Chan Lai Fun, soon became the Head Girl of the school. In 1978, three students from the Arts classes progressed to the University of Malaya - Lai Fun, Alim and I; a Chinese, an Indian and a Malay.

                                              - Salim (16/8/04)
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