STUDIO PICTURES OF THE 50'S

Oops ... wrong picture!

This one of P.Ramlee, the film legend, taken from "P.RAMLEE, The Bright Star by James Harding & Ahmad Sarji".

What I want to say is that during the 1950's, it was the custom of our family (and I presume other families in Malaya as well) to have photos taken at the Professional Photo Studios for every occasion arisen. The annual Hari Raya (a must for our family), showing off one's new clothes, a friend that came a-visiting, someone's birthday were all events to be celebrated and recorded. The photos were all in black and white and if you happened to want one in colour, the photographer would painstakingly paint over the photo, line by line, area by area, inch by inch. How about that hah? Our favourite studio was the Eastern Photo Studio (now no more) situated right at one end of the Kampong Pantai bridge, very close to our shop-cum-home. Another popular photo studio especially for the MWTC teacher-trainees was the Koh May Keng Photo Studio somewhere in the mid of Jalan Bunga Raya. (Also gone with the wind!)

And before the photographer was to snap using his 'monstrous' contraption, he would arrange the pose - slight tilt of the head here, directing the eyes to look at such and such a direction, where to put your hand, etc. etc. etc. (Remember that, Alang? Hee... hee..) When he was totally satisfied, then he would ask you to hold your breath ... satu, dua ....SNAP! Before you received your copy, he would do some 'touch-ups' and viola ... there's your photo, you looking much much handsomer (as the case maybe) than your real self. But Emak was beautiful even without any touch-ups. Look at the photos below ...

Here's emak showing off the new kebaya she had just sewn. 1956

Emak and her friend-cum-embroidery student, Mak Kedom showing off the kebaya Mak Kedom had just accomplished. 1954

Emak and her best friend Makchik Minah from Alor Gajah. 1957
(P.S. Emak pregnant with baby Shaukani - she told me lah)

This one with Makcik Minah in colour. Don't they look pretty? 1956
Notice the colours.... painted over the black and white ... youuuuu

Another one of Emak's best friend, Mak Sayan from Banda Kaba. 1950

Four-year old Along (left) with her best friend, Rasiah, Mak Sayan's daughter. 1950

You notice or not ... they didn't smile in the photos! How come? Haven't heard of "cheeese"?Whatever it is, I still like black and white photos. What about you?

HER BRIDAL WONDER

Angah : Emak, you made all these?

Emak : Ya. For my wedding, these are used to decorate the

bed-posts of my 4-poster bronze bed.

Angah : What fine embroidery!

Emak : This technique is called "tekat China". I used gold

and silver strands to sew on the velvet cloth. I had to prepare these way before my wedding, you know.

Angah : I'm not surprised. Where did you get the materials?

Emak : A Chinese trader would come around the village with his kereta tolak (lit. push-cart) filled with neddlework-wares - beads, threads, neddles, cloth - you name it, he had it. "Klentong, klentong, klentong.." his little hand-held instrument would sound. That's when we knew he was around. His wife taught me the technique.

Angah : I respect you lah, emak.

Angah : And what are these?

Emak : These are tekat benang emas pieces I sewed for the ends of my bolsters also for my wedding - you know the elongated pillow sausage-shaped one?

Angah : Emak, I used to take lessons on this technique from a famous craftsperson in K.L. She prepared for me the box frame, stretched the velvet material and all that. For my first lesson, she gave me a design - a basket of orchids! I only managed to sew one miserable small petal and that was the end of my lesson .... hee... hee... I couldn't imagine finishing a whole basket of orchids! Aiyah ...

Emak : Well, you have to have a lot of patience to do these sorts of things.

And that was my Emak - ever so gentle and patient and so caring.

"Ya Allah, sayangilah ibuku sebagaimana ia menyanyangi daku semasa aku kecil".

(Oh Allah, do bestow your love upon my mother as she did bestow her love upon me when I was young)

THE BANDUNG TAILOR LEGACY

Just can't wait to show you these pictures. These lovely pieces are what's left from the Bandung Tailor era. All the kebaya Bandungs once belonged to dear Emak, sewn by the grand lady herself. There were no computerised machines then, just goyang (shake) the hands and the feet (eh .. sounds like doing the joget lak!) No automatic gadget whatsoever dears .... And see how small the bajus are ? That's the size of my Emak. The kebayas were sewn during the second half of 1950's, during Emak's hey-days. And now thanks to IT I'm able to share these with you. Feast your eyes then ....

Fine embroidery scattered all over. The cloth had to be "kasa rubia" . So jarang one ..

Close-up of the above. Notice also the seam joinings known as "ketuk lubang" or "breeding" in English. Also done at the shop.

Fine embroidery along the edges.

and the close-up

Yet another beautiful piece, used to love seeing Emak wearing this.

and the close-up

Emak's piece de resistance - her masterpiece


see what I mean ?

We miss you, Emak. Semoga Allah memberkati dan merahmati Bondaku. AMIN. Al-Fatihah.

FROM RAGS TO RICHES STORY - SORT OF

The second shop and home at 59, Riverside (now Jln. Laksamana). Bapak is in the middle with the sarong, sitting next to the famous Abuyah Pak HAMKA. The rest of the crowd were Bapak's firm supporters from Seberang also making their living in good old Malacca. Can you spot Puteri Hang Li Poh?

My Bapak, Hj. Abbas bin Hj. Yatim, came over from Muara Labuh, Padang, West Sumatera, Indonesia maybe around the early 1940's. I was told as a child, how Bapak travelled in a small boat crossing the billowing waves of The Straits of Malacca to this land of plenty. His uncle, my Emak's father, had already settled in Kampung Baru, Kuala Lumpur long before that. In fact, Emak, second of seven sibblings, was born in Kuala Lumpur. So marriage plans were arranged between the two cousins. Emak's father was also a trader selling bronze cook-ware at Jalan Melaka, KL. But that's another story ...

Then the newly-weds decided to spread their wings to far-away Malacca in search of a new life. Emak used to tell me how Bapak would cycle between KL and M'cca through the treacherous winding roads and steep hills of Semenyih, Selangor to ferry his goods to and fro between the two towns. Bapak started as an ustaz (religious teacher) at Banda Kaba. Many would address him as that for years even after he had gotten into another vocation.

When I think how Bapak started his business, I couldn't help but feel tersentuh. Life was hard during the Japanese occupation. (I wasn't born yet, thank goodness!) . Along was born in 1942. Emak's parents passed away, so they took under their wings a younger sister, Embun, and a baby brother, Hamid, looked after them as their own. A friend of Bapak taught him how to sew the kebaya nyonya. There were many rich nyonyas around so the market was good. Bapak would go from house to house in the Heeren Street and Jonker Street area asking the nyonyas, "Nyonya, ada baju mau jahit?" (Madam, have clothes to be sewn?) Then he would take their measurements, cut and put together the blouses himself. Emak would help him with the embroidery along the edges. This would go on for several years until his right hand fingers were swollen with holding the scissors. When business prospered, (I was about 6 years old then) the family moved to 59, Riverside, the buliding now no more, been demolished for development.

The Nyonyas loved Bapak, calling him "Abang Abeh", because he was such a good and patient tailor. They gave him good business so Bapak got to employ extra seamstress to help with the embroidery. Measuring and cutting were still Bapak's forte, the Nyonyas refusing to have non other. Emak was sent for embroidery classes in Singapore under the tutelage of the mother of one famous artist, Latiff Mohideen. Anyway, my sisters and I enjoyed those glorious days - meddling with the Singer sewing machines and there were many of them, interacting with the amoi-amoi who helped to sew. That was fun!

Besides tailoring, Bapak added children's clothes, Muslim men and women's attire - batik, pelekat, tudung, songkok, the famous H.M.Ali brand shoes and all sorts of herbal medicine - minyak urut kambing gurun, minyak unta and the like.

Bapak's shop was a favourite for all the Malay cikgus and cikgis. One of them, Cikgu Ismail Ahmad, suggested that Bapak should sell some reading materials - newspapers, religious books, Indonesian hard-to-get books, Malay educational and novels and the like. Slowly they all accumulated. He also supplied teaching-aids for the teacher-trainees from the Malay Women Training College (MWTC). Every Friday mornings, the teacher-trainees outing day, the shop would be crowded with young ladies in the familiar uniform AND also the young and not-so-young Cikgus making eyes at one another among the crowd. I was told many a match resulted from there. Hee.. hee...

Originally Bapak's shop was known as "Abbas Bandung Tailor". He sewed kebaya Bandung, so he was known "Abbas Bandung" for short. Then when he stopped the tailoring business, he changed it to "Toko Buku Abbas Bandung". Note : the "Bandung" is not that we are from Bandung.

I will end here on a happy note - mid 1960's- with the one and only famous and popular Malay bookshop in Malacca.

Al-Fatihah buat Bapak dan Mak dan Along.

Taken in 1954, standing left to right Emak, Along, Bapak. Seated left to right Alang and Angah.

EARLY MEMORIES

I was born and bred in the famous historical town of Melaka (the old spelling being 'Malacca') as stated in my birth certificate - Place of Birth : The Straits Settlement of Malacca. Actually I was born in Dr.Yeoh's Maternity Clinic at Heeren Street.

Can't remember whether the Maternity Clinic was the one above or the one below. So much has changed now into antique shops or museums . Anyway, pictures taken at Heeren Street.


The first 5 years of my life was spent in a little shop at No.24 First Cross Street or then known as 'Kampong Keling', just a road away from Heeren Street.

Recent photo of No.24, First Cross Street, Malacca, now occupied by some Chinese trader.

The first memory I had was as a 4 year-old when my 8-month old little brother, Rosmadi, died of diarrohea. I remember shortly before his demise, my doting Mom and Aunt, Embun, took him to a Kodak Photo Shop nearby to have his photo taken, coaxing the little one to smile. I remember later my Mom and Aunt crying their eyes out upon his death. Naturally, because he was the only boy after 3 daughters.

Little Rosmadi - we miss you adik ..

I have fond memories at the old shop (picture as above), how many times I fell down the stairs from the first floor, how we braved the great flood of 1950 at Kampong Pantai when I was almost swept away by the fast current, how I accompanied my Along (elder sis) to her school in Kubu although not yet of school-going age, how I loved getting the teacher's attention with my slate-board (papan batu - no exercise book then), the mee-goreng packed in banana leaves eaten with Cikgu Salmiah in the classroom during recess, how when my Uncle Hamid won a bicycle at the Lucky Draw at the Circus, how my uncles would give me rides on their bicycles, how my sisters and I would visit Misi, the Serani (Portugese) family at the marine quarters by the river behind the shop and fed rice with fish in yellow gravy (ikan masak lemak kuning), how the Bawean community nearby took care of me. My ... those were surely very fond memories and I thank God for them.

It started as the Dutch Ice Company (no they don't sell ice) office during the Dutch occupation of Malacca in the 1640's. Then during the 1940's or so it was turned into living quarters for the Bawean community - about 6 extended families living in the once garages for the horse-carriages of the white masters. Situated at Jonker Street very close to my father's first shop. The men of this community (a.k.a Boyan) were mainly chauffeurs for the rich Chinese towkays or Tuan orang putih. My Mom would send little me overthere to be looked after during the day. The building underwent several changes since then. Wow and now it is an eating house serving Malay & Western food, known as 'Tranquerah Bistro'... ayo yo ...