Suara Hati Ayahku

Salam


Last few days I was in Gua Musang. In english, we can call this place The caves of the foxes.

Gua Musang is about 2 hour drive from Kota Bharu and 4 hour drive from Kuala Lumpur.
Many greens here. Therefore every morning
I woke up to the rich place with so much oxygen and fresh air.

But I noticed 3 things

1.  The people here likes to open a small business in their own houses.
But everybody is selling the same thing.
If the neighbour is selling maggi mee, biscuits, bread and some cold drinks
The next neighbours are selling the same thing. I think they are doing this to pass their free time. I do not think they are making tons and tons of money.
I think this was exactly the same business done by their great forefathers under the big ancient  trees near the mosques or railway stations.  Nothing has changed much. They never have conquered other markets like what the chinese and the pakistanis are doing, right now.  Nothing venture nothing gain.

2. Most of them are driving 2nd hand proton cars. I think the cars are more than 10 to 15 year old models. Each car costs about 5K.   The drivers are old and if they passed away, their children wiĺl take over the protons.  May be this is the cause of all sorts of accidents here. Examples
an old car knocked down another motorist in the bushes. Both got no valid driving licences. So the police must be busy here.  Instead of catching the robbers, they are busy with old drivers and antique cars.

3.  Many of them can build their own houses with their own bare hands near the edge of a mountain.  A big bungalow cost them only RM100,000 (materials) while the cost of workmanship is at the minimum.  This is different from those urban people in Kota Bharu.  They are willing to pay 3 times more because they hardly have time to learn building a house.

but .. another trend

most of them likes to return to the bigger towns during the weekends.
so Gua Musang is quite  deserted on  Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  If a famous preacher comes to talk in the mosque, the hall may be empty.

if i was asked
do i like to live here with so much greeneries and fresh air
i think ..
no.

simple?
i do not like to have any addresses associating myself with the foxes.
( laugh).

Here the people from many places migrated to explore and open new areas beginning 1970s. In malay , we called them peneroka.   They opened up new areas and they grow palm oil and rubber. After few decades they got the ownership of the lands.  To speed up the economy the government invites big sawmills but these do not belong to the malays. I came to know that as the children work as lorry drivers and security personnel.

Wasallam