Bedong Wedding...

About a month or two ago, I received a Malay wedding invitation from my buddy, Mohd Rosli Hj.Osman who is in Taman Lembah Bujang, Bedong, Kedah D.A. It was quite a shocker at first but after realizing that it wasn't his wedding but his daughter, Ieda's wedding SLing and I were invited to, it was a sigh of relief! Honestly, I could not remember driving such a far way to attend a wedding but I was determined to attend this one. The prospect of meeting again my buddy, Rosli is indeed the greatest reward for me at this stage of my life.

You see, Rosli was my flat mate and fishing kaki when I was teaching in Sabah. Rosli is small built in nature, soft spoken, calm and a man of few words. He was a real friend to me and he introduced me to catch fish with drift nets in the shores of Mantanani or some sea shore near Kota Belud those days. He would take me and Cikgu Malijin Lagoh with him to the sea and we would put on our drift nets and gathered whatever fish which hit the net and divide our share equally. He was like a brother to me during my early years in Sabah and he often taught me a lot about life. He is a good man and he gave me a lot of encouragement when we were in Sabah. We caught river prawns together and fished for fresh water fish in the creeks and flowing river near our school flat. It was simply marvelous being with Rosli and his wife, Kak Zan. 

This couple always welcomed me and my housemate for meals with them whenever we could and we were close friends. The hospitality shown by Rosli and his wife gave me a lasting impression in my heart. The BBQ sessions, the mahjong session ( taught them  how to play mahjong ) and our "going out to the sea session" were really fun times. The bounty was always good and we were always thankful. I learned what it meant to be thankful from these two great teachers of mine namely Rosli and Malijin.

So, coming back to the wedding invitation, I was more than willing to drive down to Bedong just to attend the wedding and catch up with my buddy , Rosli. I immediately told SLing that I am not going to miss this wedding date. Days passed and soon, I made my way to Bedong , Kedah but not before stopping at Lembah Bujang for some archaeological lesson at the Lembah Bujang Museum. I did not inform Rosli that I was going to make it for the wedding just to surprise him. 

So, imagine the shock and the joy of his face when he saw us as we walked to his home in Taman Lembah Bujang! I immediately hugged my small frame long lost friend while SLing embraced Kak Zan. For once, tears filled my eyes as I hugged my good buddy, Rosli. Maybe it was awkward for the people at the wedding to see us like that but I really missed this good friend of mine. He also felt touched and we told each other that it has been too long we have not met up. I shook Kak Zan's hands and I told her thank you for inviting us for the wedding. I could see that there were tears in the eyes of Rosli and Kak Zan as Rosli took us to a nearby table. He repeatedly told me how happy he was to see me at this wedding and I told him that the joy is mine and it was a real honour to be able to come by.

I then chatted freely with Hafiz , Rosli's son who was just 5 years old then when he was in Sabah. I spoke fondly of his dad, Rosli while he spoke of remembering me and SLing when he was a boy then. I was honored that he could remember us and we chatted about work, life and his mom and dad. I remembered Hafiz being a young limping child then but he had soon went through an op to rectify the limp and now, he works as a bus driver for an express bus company. So proud of him helping out the family on his sister's wedding and he spoke fondly of a lot of matters which had happened while we were in Sabah. 

Though SLing and I weren't able to see the bersanding part of the wedding, we were just happy to see Rosli and Kak Zan. As we posed for photographs and were introduced to all their children ( they have 6 children ), four of their children could recognised us while 2 of the younger ones couldn't as they were born in Kedah. I felt so much joy in my heart as I get to see my buddy and like most Malaysians, there weren't any barrier between us. We are just good friends breaking through all the nonsensical barriers that had burdened us all our lives. 

As we bid farewell, I guess, SLing and I felt so much joy and honour to be able to regain the sweet memories of friendship, love and respect for this couple, Rosli & Kak Zan. What an honour! What sweet memories! Rosli said it right when he said, " See you again, my friend. I've got 5 more to go! " Yeah, I look forward to attending my good buddy's children wedding in the future. 

Be blessed, Rosli & Kak Zan!