When I was a child, a relative of my mother will visit us from time to time. I was asked to refer to him as Tok Long Mat Isa. Tok Long derives from the phrase datuk sulung (Malay, lit. eldest grandfather). Yes, he is my great-uncle, a cousin of my grandfather.
Mat Isa in his younger days was trying his luck as a vegetable hawker. He will move around selling vegetables in his bicycle. He will cried, "Kangkung! Kangkung!" (lit. watercress) to attract the attention of his potential customers but the naughty children will reply, "Kangkang!Kangkang!" (lit. spread your legs apart). So the business was not that good.
I do not know when that he decided to travel with his bicycle from one place to another visiting his relatives. Probably if he is still alive now, he can have his own reality tv series. He was based in Kerpan somewhere near Jerlun, Kedah. So he will ride his bicycle to Perlis, Alor Setar, Sungai Petani and so on. If he wanted to go to further cities, he will go by train. He will have some arrangement with the railway station master to place his bicycle in the train coach. Once he arrived in the city, he will ride his bicycle again. His bicycle was his best friend. It was the big old-fashioned bicycle. When I recall of Tok Long Mat Isa, he was a rare specie. Nobody will have such an idea at that time to move from one place to another place in a bicycle.
He was a jovial person. He always joke. His jokes were childish. One of his favourite joke is to borrow my pyjamas. How can an old man borrow a pyjama of a girl? He was so amused with his own joke. Due to his humorous nature, he was nicknamed Mat Isa Cabai Idup. Cabai hidup means fresh chillies in Malay. I heard that when people asked him what does alif, ya and mim (Jawi alphabets, derived from Arabic scripts) stands for. The answer should be 'ayam' (chicken), probably to test his literacy but he will reply 'cabai hidup' (fresh chillies). That was how he got the nickname 'cabai idup'.
But there was also the mystic side of him. I remember my superstitious grandmother asked him to prepare some 'rajah' (a kind of talisman) to chase away evil spirits. So he took a few pieces of copper sheet and wrote some doa (prayer) or Koranic verses on them. My grandmother will place the copper sheets in every corner of our house.
Was he a dervish or faqeer? Was that his soul-searching quest? Was he an ascetic? Only God knows.
He used to come to our house during Ramadan. But later he never visited us again. My mother got some news later that he had passed away. Such a simple man but such an extraordinary life. A character that I will never forget.
Mat Isa in his younger days was trying his luck as a vegetable hawker. He will move around selling vegetables in his bicycle. He will cried, "Kangkung! Kangkung!" (lit. watercress) to attract the attention of his potential customers but the naughty children will reply, "Kangkang!Kangkang!" (lit. spread your legs apart). So the business was not that good.
I do not know when that he decided to travel with his bicycle from one place to another visiting his relatives. Probably if he is still alive now, he can have his own reality tv series. He was based in Kerpan somewhere near Jerlun, Kedah. So he will ride his bicycle to Perlis, Alor Setar, Sungai Petani and so on. If he wanted to go to further cities, he will go by train. He will have some arrangement with the railway station master to place his bicycle in the train coach. Once he arrived in the city, he will ride his bicycle again. His bicycle was his best friend. It was the big old-fashioned bicycle. When I recall of Tok Long Mat Isa, he was a rare specie. Nobody will have such an idea at that time to move from one place to another place in a bicycle.
He was a jovial person. He always joke. His jokes were childish. One of his favourite joke is to borrow my pyjamas. How can an old man borrow a pyjama of a girl? He was so amused with his own joke. Due to his humorous nature, he was nicknamed Mat Isa Cabai Idup. Cabai hidup means fresh chillies in Malay. I heard that when people asked him what does alif, ya and mim (Jawi alphabets, derived from Arabic scripts) stands for. The answer should be 'ayam' (chicken), probably to test his literacy but he will reply 'cabai hidup' (fresh chillies). That was how he got the nickname 'cabai idup'.
But there was also the mystic side of him. I remember my superstitious grandmother asked him to prepare some 'rajah' (a kind of talisman) to chase away evil spirits. So he took a few pieces of copper sheet and wrote some doa (prayer) or Koranic verses on them. My grandmother will place the copper sheets in every corner of our house.
Was he a dervish or faqeer? Was that his soul-searching quest? Was he an ascetic? Only God knows.
He used to come to our house during Ramadan. But later he never visited us again. My mother got some news later that he had passed away. Such a simple man but such an extraordinary life. A character that I will never forget.
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