ALOR MERAH

The place where I grew up was a small village called "Alor Merah" which means Red Stream.  It was said that the name stemmed from the red mud that could be found along the banks of the single river that meandered through the village. The mud was used to make pottery. It was no longer red during my time and the only remnant of a past occupation was an old furnace of a kiln. It still stands today.

My clearest memory of the village is that of it's trees and fields. Oh...how I loved  the sight of the grand old trees - the Setoi, Kandih, Asam, Keriang and Setar. And  the golden padi fields were a child's heaven and a teenager's meditation school. I used to spend many an hour at the edge of the village, near the water channel.  There I could take in the whole panoramic view of the fields, the water channel,  the distant hill and the other village across the railway track.

My Grandpa's house was situated by the river, separated by Nipah palms. In the afternoons, I used to hear the voices of children reciting their verses from across the river - from Pak Un's house. Sometimes the whole village took to the river to catch prawns. The event was called "Udang mabuk".

(note : There is another version to the story of Alor Merah and how it got it's name.
This came from Uncle Khalid, who told me that the village derived its name from one Tok Merah
who reared buffaloes up in Hujung Alor - upper end of the stream, in times of yore. This Tok Merah
used to usher his buffaloes down to the Kedah river using a track which later turned into a stream,
hence "Alor Merah" - stream of Tok Merah)

                                                                                                                                               - ABA