Opening of an ICT Center

I was in Terengganu from 19th to 22nd March 2009 for an official opening of our new community ICT center in Batu Rakit. (ICT is not Ikan Celup Tepong, a local delicacy – deep fried fish with flour, but it stands for Information Communication Technology). The ceremony was graced by Chief Minister of Terengganu, Hnr. Dato’ Ahmad Said who has a penchant or it seems, for ubi gadong (Dioscorea hispida) The launch proper started at 9.30 pm after a ‘berarak bunga manggar’ (traditional procession accompanied by traditional music and favors) and welcome Malay traditional martial art show by local boys. One of the boys was my schoolmate, who guided the group and revived this traditional martial art ‘silat gayong’. The 4 speeches by Mayor of Kuala Terengganu, District Officer, State House Representative of Batu Rakit and Chief Minister were long but ‘entertaining’. I would refrain from making comment on political content of the speeches ( trying to be non partisan!), on how they bragged about being the champions of the people. But in the MB’s speech he told about his father as a “tok nyadat", touched my heart and reminded me of my uncle Paksu Lah, who was also a tok nyadat. His job started with preparing the wood chips of special tree to be added into "tukir"(a container made of bamboo with string wrapped around). Then he would sharpen his sadat (special knife for the purpose of cutting coconut bud). With his tukirs, sadat on his waist and 'kain lepas'(just like kramah in Cambodia) on wrapped on his head, Paksu Lah is ready for the day. He would climb20 to 30 coconut trees, one at a time, collect the coconut sap, come down again and make “nissang” or brown sugar out of the collected sap, called tuak in Terengganu or nira somewhere else. You can drink tuak straight(of course you have to filter the wood chips). The tuak would be cooked in 'kawah' (giant wok) until its become solidified. The hot nissang would be placed in round brackets made of 'mengkuang' leaves (screwpine leaves) to cool off and harden. I could still remember the aroma of nissang in the making and lovely taste of “kerak” nisang – partially burnt brown sugar. I used to steal some of the hot nissang and placed in leaves to make candies.That evening we were served with onde-onde gadong covered with grated coconut cooked with nissang, putri mandi gadong cooked with grated coconut and nissang, gadong porridge with nissang and coconut milk. If the gadong was not properly prepared, you could get “mabuk” or poisoned. During my younger years, I used to follow my mum to collect these ubi gadong, and then skinned and sliced them before placing them in a sack in the river for a couple of days. School of fishes knew the routine and enjoyed the leftover. My favorite was fried gadong with freshly grated coconut. Kuala Terengganu, my beloved hometown, never fail to charm me with its white sandy beaches, green paddy fields, the people and their antics. Going down this memory lane, really made me miss my mum's sayur rebung udang (grated bamboo shoot and freshwater shrimp cooked in coconut milk) and kerabu pucuk (finely cut young leaves mixed with grated coconut and fish) yummyyyyy!