An Experience.....

Being at Pak Din's roti canai stall by  the road side had always been a real joy to me. Aside from the good food served, I do get to enjoy simple conversations and meet people of all race and creed. From the rich man to the lowly paid workers, all of us are able to sit down and enjoy the simple fares dished out by Pak Din and his wife. 

I guess, I must admit that though this is a Malay stall, I felt very much welcomed here and I have had people I do not know especially some Malay folks paying for my meals eventhough I do not know them. I am thankful for that and so, I also returned that welcome by buying someone I do not know a meal at times. I have made many new friends and having a conversation is so much easier these days despite the early morning rush for a meal and then to work.

Today, I had an opportunity to sit with an elderly Chinese man and he is 77 years old. We struck a conversation as I told Pak Din that my son is in Penang. This elderly man then told me that he used to like Penang a lot during the early years. He then went on to tell me that he had worked as a trailer driver in Brunei in his early days and upon coming back to Melaka, he and his wife had lost everything to a debt-ridden and gambling son. So, now, he worked odd jobs to get by and he was ever smiling despite his sad story. I asked him a little bit of his work in Brunei and then , I asked him if he had a home to his name. He answered that he has a home but it is a modest home in one of the nearby kampong and I left that as that. I did not want to be seen like a busy body and so, I did not dwell further. 

Our conversation drifted to how he lost everything to the son but he would not lose the home as it was his own possession for his old age. I instinctively told him that it was the smartest thing he ever did! He laughed loudly and told me he did not expect that answer from me. I did asked him why did he gave a lot of his money up to his son and so on. He answered me, " Which father would not help out his son if he is in difficulties? That's why I loaned him the money but it never returned. Then he cornered my wife and persuaded her to ask money from me to help him. Soon enough, it just all finished. My two vice - son & wife " Then he burst out laughing again. I guess, being what I am, I said, " Did you not know that eventually all your money would be gone if your son is a gambler? This is one of the most vicious and most terrifying habit a person could ever fallen into?" He said, " Yeah, what to do....he is my son , right? If I do  not help him , who would help him? Haiyah...never mind lar, I am old already. As long as I can work, I can still survive , right, young man?" I told him I wasn't young either and we both laughed. BTW, we spoke in a mixture of Hokkien and Mandarin as I am hopeless in Mandarin but he got the idea. 

Yeah, I told him I spoke lousy Mandarin and he laughed saying that I do okay for a English speaking bloke!  Soon, it was time for me to pay the meal as I need to get to work. I went to pay my meal and the elderly man's meal too.  Calculating the old man's meal mentally, I knew that his meal would cost him RM 1.80 ( Roti canai - 80 sen and one teh O would be RM 1.00). It wasn't a huge amount and so, I paid for his meal. As I passed the elderly man's seat, I could see five RM 1.00 notes in his wallet as he whipped out his wallet to pay for his meal. I know that RM 5 would have helped the elderly man a whole lot as he gets through the day during work. So, I walked off as he motioned to Pak Din's worker for the bill. He seemed surprised when told that I had paid for his meal. As I was walking to my car, the elderly man approached me and insisted that he pays for his meal but I told him that I would be glad to bless him.  

I told him that I really needed to go to work as I was late and that I would be glad if one day, he would treat me a meal when he is better off one day. He looked at me for a while and then he smiled. There was no need for words. Just a smile on his very lined face was already my reward for the day.  

As I reflected on what had happened, I am really thankful for my Father in Heaven who is always patient, loving and kind to me despite my everyday flaws. Just like the elderly man said earlier, "which father would not help his son if he knows his son is in difficulties?" I am thankful and blessed in so many ways. Indeed I am blessed.  The etched smile on the elderly man's face - PRICELESS!

Ola Bola - Fine Movie!

Arumugam, Soh Chin Aun, Santokh Singh, Khalid Ali, Shukor Salleh, Bakri Ibni, Jamal Nasir, Abdul Jali, Yunos Alif, Abdullah Ali, Hassan Sani and James Wong – These are the players of the 1980  Malaysian football Olympic team that inspired the whole nation to believe. Indeed, it was nostalgic and heart-warming when memories of that era was made possible with the movie “Ola Bola”.  Never mind if the names were changed but the essence of who they were was unmistaken indeed. These were household names in those days and who could forget such individuals.

I guess, SYuen would never know who these people were but to me and Soon Ling, we knew who these people were. I guess, “Ola Bola” does make you want to believe that we can rise up again in the game of football and Malaysia as a whole if we are united, focused and determined. Mind you, I was 15 years old at that time and football fever started early in my life as Dad was a football fan.

Though Dad was uneducated, he knew that when his “bird” team plays, he would somehow make an excuse to get something from the shop and we would end up watching the match accompanied by a cup of kopi-O shared by two! Yeah! Dad was a diehard fan of his “bird” team – Liverpool. What a time then! He was also a diehard fan of the Melaka football team. Those were the days then!

As history would have it, the 1980 Malaysian football team wasn’t impressive in their friendly matches and so on. So, there was a lot of flak on the boys too. Everyone seemed to “lose” hope on the national team then but you could always remember the names being mentioned each time. Remembered well that the team had a new German coach in Karl Weigang at that time who whipped the football boys into what they are. I remembered that day well when the whole family sat down in the living hall and watched that match on a B&W TV, man. It was a packed house as neighbours came by to watch the match. Biscuits and kopi-O were replenished while everyone of us was hoping for Malaysia to qualify for the 1980 Moscow Olympics. Tension, drama and more drama gripped our hearts right till the end and when James Wong scored that winning goal, euphoria of cheers, relief, shouts of joy and shouts of “Yah” could be heard all over our taman and kampongs. It was about a nation winning…..it wasn’t about Ali, Ah Kau nor Ramasamy’s status, colour or creed; it was a Malaysian success story. That is the beauty of that 1980 significance. Well, that is how I remember it as far as I know.  

Coming back to the move “Ola Bola”, I must say it invoked a lot of fond memories and definitely captured the attention of the audience. The storyline, the sceneries, the passion and the emotions of it all captures the audience imagination. I remembered one scene when Muthu saved the resultant penalty kick, the cinemagoers erupted in hand clapping and loud cheers. Soon Ling and I were indeed very surprised but I guess, they were so absorbed of the movie that they spontaneously did what was the natural thing to do – clapped their hands and cheered loudly. It is definitely not just a football movie but it captures the emotions, the moral side of life  and the simpler things about life then. It was just a movie that everyone could relate to and some sceneries were awesomely nice and wonderful. I guess, footballers were dedicated then and without having much money in their hands, they played their hearts out and the spirit of togetherness was awesome. I really could not remember having watch the recent Malaysian football team without some flowery words escaping my lips and sometimes to the point of frustration. Guess, the only time I got excited was when K.Rajagopal team won the AFF Suzuki Cup. That was the closest thing to the 1980 Olympics team. But yeah, how I wished that one day Malaysia would make it to the Olympics and even the World Cup! Fat hopes, some will say but I dare say that minus the money lure, they may make it but fat hopes anyway because I believe these present set of players are about money. Maybe, it would be harsh to judge them that way but they really lack the spirit and the fighting back tenacity. I just wished the present footballers could be fitter, stronger and play to their last breath like it's the end of their life. But sadly so, they aren't like that. Somehow they lacked that "uuummpph" punch. They gave up too easily!

Look at the South Korean, Japanese and even the Saudi Arabia team. Malaysia was their bogey team because we were that good. Sure , we do lose to them but we gave them a fight of their life and a run of their money literally. Today, they are at the World Cup level while we are still languishing to the doodlums even losing to Vietnam, Bangladesh, India, Phillipines and Nepal for that matter. Debacle after debacle of disgraceful results and loses.

I remembered watching the Malaysian league with Dad at Kubu Stadium those days. We were proud of our team, the Melaka team. Names like Soh Chin Aun, Wong Kow Fu, G.Torairaju, Letchumanan, Ramli Junid, Mahathir Taha and several others made us alive at Kubu Stadium. Sure, Dad and I would be sneaking in as usual but it was always good to support our team. I saw football greats like Mokhtar Dahari, Santokh Singh, Wong Hung Nung, Peter Rajah, James Wong , Hassan Sani, Ali Bakar , Isa Bakar, Wong Choon Wah, Mohd Shah Norbit, Khalid Ali, Zainal Abidin Hassan, Yahya Jusoh, Bakri Ibni ,Shukor Salleh, Yunos Alif and many many great players gracing the Kubu Stadium with their skills. The crowd at Kubu Stadium would heckled our opponents and cheered the Melaka boys each time we host the other teams. But you know what, they are professionals in their own right. Good set of players with great sportsmanship on the field and off the field.  

When these great players donned the Malaysian jersey, you could see their professionalism, pride and honour representing the country. That is what I saw in these players through the eyes of a young man a long time ago. Every PJ lesson or when we are having football as recreation, names like these would flow out easily among the lips of the young ones. That was how they impacted the lives of young people in Malaysia those days. Everyone wanted to be a Chin Aun or a Santokh, a Shukor Salleh, an Arumugam or even a Mokhtar Dahari. Yeah, I remembered that long after an international match or even a Melaka team game, coffeeshops and stalls will still be talking of the great footballers, their skills and the game they played.

Yes, "Ola Bola" gave me that sense of happiness again after all these years. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who would want to catch a movie of such passion. I love the movie! It appeals to both the young and very much to the older folks who had gone through that era or phase of life at one time. Nothing beats re-living the good ol' days of national pride, glory and excitement. Yup, make a date with "Ola Bola" people.....sure beat slumping yourself on the couch and letting the belly hang out!

Cheers to "Ola Bola" and cheers to you! Go watch the movie, will ya? Hopefully, we will "believe" in the present Malaysian football team!