My Teletubbies My Power Rangers & My Malaysian Idol

Write about Nyak…. Kak Teh asked me one day. I said yes coz I’ve already told myself earlier that I would one day write about him. Write about a special person that has been part of my life, a huge part of me..

I would still remember when I was small (5 – 6 yrs old) my place would be on someone’s lap and could still feel the warmth of his hug. Felt much secured and will often fell asleep in his arms. During that time, we would be at Lorong Shariff Alor Setar Kedah. Father was there and this person by the name of Nyak was there.

My brother befriended him when he was mixing around with local fishermen when we were in Yan, since then Nyak was with our family taking care of us, especially me. Nyak was there for me always.

Someone told me that his real name was Zainal Abidin, that much I know, I never met his family or any of his relatives and as far as I knew he was my Nyak. When I was 7 we moved to another house in Alor Setar, then Nyak was no longer staying with us. He went back to marry someone and back to his hometown, back to his old job – a fisherman. Someone told me that my father had an argument with him but I refused to believe, not my Nyak… he would never do that.

I could still remember Nyak in his batek shirt walking to our house during one his visits from Yan. I would screamed with delight, ran to him and he would give me his warm hug, the best hug you could ever get from a brother, the kind of hug that you would never want to let go. He would come to visit us off and on since he left us. I was nine when father passed away, since then most of my brother and sisters were away either studying or working in Penang or Kuala Lumpur leaving me with mother & grandmother. So Nyak’s visits would mean a lot to me.

A humble person from a poor family, Nyak would take me to his house in Tanjung Dawai ( a place where they produce good belacan ), I would then followed him fishing very early in the morning and came back late in the evening. There I learnt a lot about life, more so about being what Nyak want me to be… a person with kind heart, and always be happy . He would always tell me to be nice to everybody, study hard and don’t be like him, as he is not educated and lead a difficult life. He said to be to be smart so that “Ajie nanti kerja bawah kipas bukan bawah terik matahari macam Nyak” and Ajie jangan lupa Nyak bila Ajie besar.. bila Ajie kaya.

“Ajie kalau besar nak bagi Nyak apa?”
I would reply… “ Ajie bagi Nyak duit million million nazennn ( which I myself until now don’t really know what ‘nazen’ is but for sure that it is a lot of money ) then he would give me this smile, and I guess he was satisfied with that answer.

During my school holidays, Tanjung Dawai would be my destination. I would follow Nyak to the open sea, bringing back ikan bilis and kembong. But there was one day that I will never forget. We came back early from the sea that day, around 5pm we were home and he asked me to take a bath before it gets dark which I refused, suddenly Nyak disappeared and after a while I decided to go to the toilet and only to see Nyak carrying buckets of water for me to take my bath. He was already filling up three quarter of the this huge container… he then turned to me and said “Ajie punya pasai, Nyak sanggup buat apa pun.!!.” I found out later that their water pump was not working and he has to take the water from a well quite a distance away. He carried buckets of water for me to take my bath. And of course he didnt take his bath.



There was also a day when we were on the fishing boat, suddenly he said to me that the storm was coming, he asked me to hold on tight to the boat as he needed to help the other fishermen securing the nets. I watched with horror the black sky which suddenly came from nowhere. The boat was hit hard by the storm, Nyak came to me and tried to comfort me by telling me that it was not that bad, but eventhough I held on to the boat with all my strength I was thrown here and there due to the violent sea. Nyak was there, every few minute he would risk his life walking on the side of the boat to comfort me then he was back with his friends trying to salvage the nets. Later when we manage to take shelter behind an island, he came to bring me some water and lunch. He could see my face was already turned green and blue due to sea sick. Then he said - “Tak apa Ajie mabuk free… tak kena duit” … Macam ni lah kalau tak belajar pandai pandai…

Nyak sang me the lullaby “Du du duii Masam Boyan” which I’ve written in my blog earlier. He would also tell me all sorts of stories. He was full of jokes but never say things like –

‘Alaaaaaaaaa semak perut la” then he would say “ pergilah telan la penyapu”
“Alaaaaaaaaa lemas perut la” then he would say “ telan la pelampong”
“Nyak ni loyar buruk” then he would say “ganti tiang baru”

And yes, he was the one who taught me about the birds and the bees… the only difference was that the use of projector…. (well let’s not elaborate on this !!!!)
Nyak told me to marry someone who will also love him, I did and but he never get to see her.

One day while I was sitting next to him on our favorite swing in front of the house, he said -
“Ajie nih bila besar mesti tak ingat Nyak… Nyak matipun Ajie tak mai tengok”.
I was hurt by his remarks as I love him so much and I replied
“ Ajie mesti ingat Nyak, dan kalau Nyak mati Ajie lah yang akan bawa keranda Nyak… Ajie yang duduk depan sekali” – he smiled and later left for his hometown Tanjung Dawai. Then one night, someone came knocking at the door and asked us if we have any relatives in Yan, or Tanjung Dawai. We acknowledged and he said that someone asked him to tell us that whoever that we knew in that area has passed away. He said he himself got the message from his neighbour who happens to have friends in Tanjung Dawai Yan, We asked him if he knew who was the one he said he himself didn’t know who. He left us wondering if it was Nyak or some other relatives…

The next day we just took a drive to Yan and along the way I prayed to God that let it be someone else not Nyak. Hoping to see him with his big smile sitting on the veranda. To my disappointment it was Nyak… Nyak passed away due to heart attack. I lost my Nyak. I cried in silent as he once told me not to cry during his funeral. I kissed him and hugged him but this time round there were not like always - no more warm hugs from Nyak. I felt so empty.

Nyak’s house was already packed with people, and they were worried that the wooden flooring could not take too much weight, they asked us to wait downstairs while they prepared him for burial, I reluctantly obeyed and climbed down the wooden steps.

Later I heard…. “ Sambut sambut …orang kat bawah tolong sambut” only to find out that they were carrying his coffin down from the house. I helped and refused to let go. I was in front, I was right in front carrying his coffin … after a few steps I cried as I remember my promise to Nyak. I carried his coffin and I was in front.. like what I told him before. I whispered to Nyak and I knew that he heard me. I fulfilled my promise to Nyak.

Mother was in London at that time, and because she has a weak heart and would definitely been so upset with the news, we have decided to just keep the news to our self. After 2 weeks mother came back and one fine day she popped out this question ..

“Nyak dah meninggal ka? She asked me and I was stunned.
“Mmmm… Nyak meninggal waktu mak kat London …. Macamana mak tahu? I asked. Mother smiled and said “ Mak mimpi Nyak waktu mak kat London, dia bagitau Mak…”

Well I guess if I love Nyak so much, then mother would too as he was just like her own son. She took care of him for such a long time. His love for her made it possible for him to tell mother that he has left her.

I don’t want to write about Nyak and end up feeling sad or even make you cry if you read this article as it won’t do justice to Nyak. Nyak is fun, loving, happy go lucky type of person, and to me Nyak was everything nice.
Nyak was my Teletubies, nice to hold and hug and always make me smile.
Nyak was my Power Rangers, as he is my hero.
Nyak was my American Idol or Malaysia Idol as he sang beautiful lullaby and songs that put me to sleep.
I know and I believe that Nyak is up there in heaven, looking down on me. Nyak will always be with me, he was my brother, my father and my best friend.

Nyak, I know that you could hear me… “I’ll give you million million nazeeennn!!!!”

Maybe… I just sing you a song…

Dud u dui mak sam bo yannn
Ucuk hanyir, Nyak kepala buak
Sepak pungkok kena Tupperware
Tak pecah…
Wweeeeeerrreee

That will always be my “million million nazeeeennn”!!!

Al-Fatihah. May Allah bless your soul.