On 2nd.June 2006 (Friday) we left home and proceeded to Jerantut, Pahang to attend my cousin's daughter's wedding . The wedding was not so much in my mind but the opportunity to meet my cousin sister whom I have not seen for almost 50 years was the real agenda. I have not been to Jerantut either and so the trip was treated like a holiday for the 3 of us ( my wife and daughter Farin and myself ) .We took the highway road KL-Kuantan and exit at Chenor to proceed via Pusat Bandar Jengka . Jengka is synonimous with Felda and so the oil palm plantations . All along the road from Chenor to Jerantut were full of oil palm trees .There was hardly any village seen . Pusat Bandar Jengka was a small sleepy new township . Nothing much to be seen in this town except that there was a UiTM branch campus . My wife quipped that if any of our chidren were offered a place at the UiTM campus in Jengka she would have rejected the offer . It is too far away and so secluded from the hustle and bustle of the city . When we reached Jerantut it was about 2.30 pm .We stopped to inquire where was Kg.Perak , the village where my cousin sister lived .We wanted to recky the place so that it would be easier for us to locate the house when we go there the next day for the wedding .Surprisingly no body seems to know where Kg.Perak was . Obviously it was quite far away from Jerantut town . We then took the Jerantut-Maran road to search for Kg.Perak . It was a lonely winding road . I wonder why my cousin sister and her husband could have gone to such a place to live , a very backward place while their former place was already developed . Just imagine 50 years ago it was very much backward than today . It then struck my mind that they could be looking for some land for farming . The mentality of the Banjarees people then was, if you have more farm land , it would guarantee your family of prosperity .( Since they did not inherit much from their parents ,they decided to open up new land in the jungles of central Pahang) . After stopping a number of times to make inquiries finally we reached the destination , Kg.Perak . As the name denotes almost all the people who lived there were orginally from Perak . There were only about 10-15 houses in the village and not much people living there .We saw some people doing the ' gotong royong' preparing for the feast . We did not stop and we turned back towards Jerantut to search for a place to stay for the night .We came to Tekam Village Resort not far away but unluckily the place was fully booked . We were recommended the Mercu View Resort at Bandar Pusat Jengkas , about 17 KM away .This means we had to turn back to Jengka . We reached the resort at about 4.30 pm . The hotel rooms were fully booked and we had no choice but to be satisfied with the chalet . Wasn't it amazing to find out that at such an 'ulu' place like this , all the hotel rooms were fully booked ? I was told by the receptionist that most of the people who stayed there that day were attending a wedding in the Jengka area .
The next day at about 11.30 am we checked out from the resort and proceeded to my cousin sister's house . There were about 50-60 people in attendance . Might be that was the standard of people who normally attend the wedding feast there. On reaching the house I met a cousin brother from Shah Alam who was also to attend the wedding. After that I was ushered to have my lunch inside a dining hall . The ladies were separated from the men . While having lunch I spoke to some people there and from our conversation I knew that the majority of the people living in the village were Banjarees and were originally from Perak . They came there to open up new land for farming. While having lunch I saw a medium sized lady whom I suspect to be my cousin sister . Before approaching her I asked from some people around if she was the host . After having confirmed of her identity ,I approached her and introduced myself . Obviously she could not recognised me . Once she recognised me, she began to tell of our past history to the ladies nearby . She had lost her youthfullness and were already ageing . Any way I am satisfied that I have met her . I then introduced her to my wife and my daughter ,Farin . Then I went to seen my cousin sister's husband in his room as he was already unable to walk . From far I could recognise his face. He has put up some weight .We chatted for some time of our past history .The house in which they were living was also a Madrasah( school /surau ) where my cousin's husband taught the Quran and matters on religion to the people living there , since he was also an Ustaz ,Ustaz Abas.There I also met my cousins Hasan and Kamal both of them from the Kuala Lumpur and Klang respectively . I also met some people who came from as far as Batu Pahat . They were close relatives of Ustaz Abas .
At about 1.30 pm I bid farewell and goodbye to them while wondering when we could meet again . The journey home was without any hitch and reached home safely at about 5.00 pm . In the evening the three of us suffered purging / stomach poisoning and were almost bound to our toilets till morning with little sleep . What a pity ?
