A Tribute to Mr Abu Bakar Sidek

Panjang umurnya,
Panjang umurnya,
Panjang umurnya serta mulia,
Serta mulia,
serta muliaaa...

- Birthday Song from Indonesia (source unconfirmed)

Happy Birthday Ayah! on the 27th of April aka yesterday, my dad celebrated his 58th birthday...called him up to wish him after midnight, and although he has difficulty hearing my voice, he did hear me shout "HAPPY BIRTHDAY AYAH!!"over the phone and started laughing..."thank you, thank you..how's the weather there? "..that's my dad for you, a verrrryyyy simple and quiet person, who does not like any spotlight on him, preferring not to celebrate his birthday, causing us, his kids, to make it a nonchalant (Bandit, pinjam word eh ;) ) celebration every year....just cake after dinnertime, and carefully selected presents....this year, from me and Aliaa, it was this Cerrutti Si perfume set..

the thing with my dad is, he is EXTREMELY fussy....and, sad to say, i think his fussiness has made its way to me, and i am now almost as fussy as he is..i think i once did mention how he combed the whole of Mekah looking for the perfect sunglasses..there was this period of time where we just kept on buying him perfume for his birthday, cuz we didn't know what to get him, and knowing him, he won't spend as much to mewangikan diri...ehhehe.....and once, when i first got my paycheck, i bought gifts for the whole family, and i got him a Charles Jourdan shirt..which he made me take back for a larger size....heh! sabar je laa.....btw, his criteria for a shirt is mesti colour yang neutral (blue, black, brown, gray), besar sikit and it HAS to have a breast pocket....other than that, us kids takut nak beli benda2 lain cuz we're afraid he might not like it....

i think i'm like my dad in a way...i'm extremely fussy, especially when it comes to shopping, which always results in me not getting satisfied or not being able to purchase anything..Dani, if you're reading this, you should know kan *winks* ...i spent the entire lunchtime scouring KLCC for the perfect kasut raya on the eve of raya..what Dani did was, walk into Isetan, tried like 2 pairs of shoes, chosed one, and started bugging me to buy a pair..heheheh..it is common to see by the end of a shopping trip with my friends, they'd be carrying multiple shopping bags, and me nothing....but once i start spending, then i won't stop...my dad is like that...once he starts buying, and he asks us if we want anything, masa tu laa kena take advantage of the opportunity, cuz it won't come soon! i never did understand why my mom kept telling us to just get whatever when ayah asks us, when we were younger...sekarang baru boleh faham..ahaa....unfortunately, its also the age to be earning, so a bit the segan laa to actually get him to buy me anything....

when i was younger, i wanted to be a quantity surveyor just like him...masa kecik, mana paham amende QS tu..what i knew was i wanted to go and study in London, which i'm currently doing *alhamdulillah*...the best part was, there's never any pressure from him to do whatever..my dad can be described as a most laidback person....can be the envy of some friends at time...maybe that's why jodoh die dengan my mom, who's a control freak *sorry ma, enter frame jap eh :) * he never told me what subjects to take for SPM, he never told me what degree to go for, or what career to pursue...he just says its up to me..and congratulates me whenever i show him my grades....not much of reprimands either...its not because he doesn't care, its prolly because he lets us kids do whatever we think is best for us....of course, being laidback, results in us kids becoming little devils whenever my mom's away (which is practically never, so you can imagine what chaos ensues when she goes off! )

while my mom would freak out whenever we got into accidents or some scrapes, ayah would just be totally relaxed about it....example: one frightening time in my life, when my brother met with an accident and was in the ICU, my dad sempat lagi, told my uncle just outside the ICU "habis my car, and my handphone" sambil sengih-sengih...boley? alhamdulillah, zaidi was ok...that reminds me, his tribute should come first, but i'll do that later...when i rammed my mom's car into a motorcyclist and wrecked it pun, he was ok about it..but that doesn't mean i'm not remorseful after the incident..believe me, i avoided that area for about a month after that, and didn't want to drive my mom's care ever..but he told me to get back behind the wheels (after dah claim insurance tho :p ) so i could get over the whole thing....unfortunately, i memang takde "ong" with my mom's car, as about 2 years after the accident, i got into another one....my mom was like, you and my car aa, jinx laa! ayah jugak came to the rescue, tersengih-sengih hehehe...

maybe because of all the hardship he went through when he was younger..being the eldest in the family, he has to take care of about 7 younger ones...he never talks about the past much, but he did tell us how he had to drink water from the perigi and toreh getah before going to school...my grandparents were Felda settlers back then in Sungai Choh..he eventually got a scholarship to study QS in London, at the Polytechnic of Central London (now, University of Westminster), and later, served DBKL faithfully till he retired....maybe because he was susah dulu, that he lets us get away with anything..hehehe....

Ayah doesn't watch much tv, but he gets his kick out of watching P Ramlee comedies, as will i, and we'd both be laughing our heads off..he has strict meal times...you won't find him eating rice at 4 p.m, as his dinner time is fixed after Maghrib prayers, although he makes an exception every Saturday night when we go out for our family dinner to allow some time, he doesn't take tea/minum petang..he loves his ulam and masak taucu (which is his favourite dish *rolls eyes*)..can't be counted upon to cook, except to fry eggs and kacang, although the family attempted to masak lemang last raya in our backyard..however, wonders of wonders, he works the old-fashioned sewing machine (you know, the one with the pedals, brand Singer *menawan keluarga bahagia*) like a pro!

I'm actually not that close to my dad..i never knew why, actually..guess i'm more of mommy's girl...maybe its now time to get to know him better eh?

Happy Birthday Ayah! May God bless you always, sejahterakan dunia akhirat, and murahkan rezeki.... and although, i've never said this out loud to you, but i bet you know that i love you lots and thank you for everything you've ever done for me and being there for the past 24 years of my life... :)