I’m coming Home, I’m coming Home…

I’m coming home, I’m coming home, tell the World I’m coming home

We got up early that day, at 4.00am to be precise. I was all geared up to go back to my hometown in Segamat. It’s been like many months since my last journey. I have always been putting it off due to a vote of no confidence with my car engine condition. The mechanic had recently given me the all clear and I was relieved to say the least. It was something that I have been looking forward to for a long time now. I left the house at 5.00 sharp. I took the Sg. Buloh toll road heading towards Elite. The roads were super clear, the main reason I choose to travel at that particular time every time around. A lot of people prefer to travel back after dinner, which is actually peak hours at the highway, especially on weekends. I have to go through heavy traffic every day of the week on my way back, that should suffice as far as my relation with traffic jams are concerned. No, I don’t get caught in the morning jams as I leave early to work too. My idea of driving in KL is basically, start the car, stop at the tolls to collect the ticket & to make the payment and get into parking mode in a jiffy. That’s definitely a no go when you leave Sg. Buloh anything after 6.30. The whole journey itself gets an extension of one hour if you’re lucky. When you drive early in the morning, you’re practically the king of the road. Now, I don’t exactly drive a Beemer or Merc but I’ll do my darnest to give you guys a run for your money when the situation arises. I drive an Iswara 1.3(M), but my baby is cool when it’s under pressure any old day. I don’t take too kindly to people hogging the road. When you drive on the highway, the speed lane is meant for that only, speeding! If you want to drive safely at 110km per hour, you should stick to the second or third lane. The first lane is strictly for cruising only. To aid us, we even have rear-view and side-view mirrors to watch our backs, so that you can move aside when we go through. A lot of drivers do not follow these policies as they think the road tax that they pay covers this privilege too. If you want to drive safely, take the emergency lane. Inadvertently, you the slow coach are causing havoc on the road. The other drivers are all cursing you due to your selfishness and these wrong conditions can be the cause of a major fatality. So, pretty please, scurry along to the last lane and do your safety dance.

The Elite is my favourite Malaysian highway of all time. The roads are broader and the curves are smooth, it’s an absolute delight to fly by. It’s where you practice before you take flights out from KLIA or LCCT. I normally drive for an hour or so before I stop for a ciggy in Negeri. As we were nearing the Pedas-Linggi stretch, the cars in front were slowing down and a sea of brake lights can be seen going off over yonder. It was a good 40 minutes in that crawl before we reached the scene where the fire brigade was clearing debris from an earlier accident involving a car and lorry resulting in a massive explosion. Wonder what really happened there? It was full speed from there to make up for lost time. My next stop was at Tangkak toll for another ciggy. Another 30 minutes from there and I was back in Motherland. It is a glorious feeling of euphoria when I reach the main Segamat traffic -light that leads to the old road heading to either KL or JB… no substance will be able to match that high. I touched down in my sister’s place at about 8.35. After the formalities we settled down to have breakfast with the whole family. The kids were very excited as they have not seen each other for a long spell. There were a lot of things to be explored and experienced within the next two days.

I left to my mother’s place after the meal to bring her over to my sister’s. Our home there was just recently ravaged by the flood. 

It’s becoming an annual affair now and it has nothing to do with natural disaster, it’s wholly man made. The encroachment of swampy land around Sungai Segamat has resulted in this new development. When it rains continuously for a day or so the water level rises, the water is then released unlawfully from the upstream Bekok dam by the gate-keepers, that is the main cause for this flooding. Then the politician come around to offer peanuts in the form of “wang ehsan” which will not even cover the basic cost let alone extensive home repairs. I was told by my friends that more reclamation work is in the pipeline, guess we’ll just not learn from our previous mistakes or is it because the return of investment is much more rewarding to the contractors and the Majlis Daerah Segamat Utara as compared to the thousands of people who will be homeless temporarily. My brother was stranded on our roof top for 24 hours hoping to be rescued. That didn’t happen, so he had to make his way out when the water receded to about four feet. Everything in the house was damaged. The process of cleaning up alone took them two weeks. It is so sad the way humans are treating Mother Nature, the day of reckoning is not far off now. There’s no light at the end of this tunnel, it’s too dark and scary to even imagine that scene.

My mum was still sorting out the house after nine weeks. I was glad dad was not around to live through this misery. Some of the neighbours have put up the house for sale sign. I don’t see any quick sells as I wouldn’t pay 20K even though the actual price is 120K. My soul bleeds when I think of this dilemma. I left the house with my mum feeling so gloomy. I spent some time with the kids right till about three. I had made plans with my high school buddies to meet up for tea. The rendezvous point was at a friends stall in Buloh Kasap. The guy was away for a wedding so we met at Sekolah Tinggi Segamat instead, our alma mater. Bambang, Fendi & Zoraidi was already waiting there. 

My hide-out during form 3

I last met Fendi about two decades ago. His uncle was the Assistant District Officer during our school days. We used to jam in his house to watch blue movies when his uncle left town. We were inseparable back then, the ring leaders. What I would do to re-live just one day from that age. We adjourned to a nearby stall in Gubah. There we met with Zaidi and Nawab. As usual, we were poking fun at all our ex-teachers and friends. To be fair, the teachers were really a caring bunch. They don’t make teachers like that anymore. We didn’t appreciate them those days and took them for granted. I salute them all for putting up with all my antics. We had two rounds of drinks before we dispersed, our next engagement will be in July, 9th for STS'79 - '83 batch Walkathon.

I went back home to do my workouts prior to our family dinner outing at eight. It was Chinese food and it was simply yummilicious. I don't bother to do calorie count at such occasions as I do the dinner rounds only twice a month and it's no holds barred, everything goes. I had a couple of beers with my brother-in-law after that. The binge did not last long as we were stuffed after dinner. Thus the first days curtains were brought down with sounds from the wilderness. I got up at six and my sister was already cleaning the house. In our family, all of us are early birds. The agenda for morning was a jog at Rock Garden, the infamous place between our school STS and Convent school. 

JKR club house – billiard joint

The placement of the garden was so convenient to the lovebirds from both schools that were separated by the Rock Garden. I used to walk to and fro daily through this gardens to go to school. The District Office and the Sultan's rest house was located in its vicinity. I can safely say this was the place most visited by me during my years in Segamat. I wanted to trace back my steps taken during those years. I walked all the way to the school back entrance. This place has changed for good, the gate was sealed permanently. 

The back gate to STS

There was a new playground near the gates outside the school with nicely laid rubber sidewalk leading back to the garden. The changes reminded me that the past can be reminisced but it can never be experienced wholly again. This moment that we go through will be déjà vu in the nearest future but the exact setting cannot be reenacted fully. It makes you appreciate that moment as it will not be under the same conditions again. I left the rockies and went for a long drive, not going anywhere in particular, just driving by looking at this place and reminiscing about those carefree years. It felt like a loss but with a realization that there is so much to be grateful for.

I had a late breakfast that day and moved along lazily until lunch. After lunch it was shopping time, strictly adults this time. The kids were left at home with Mum. We opted to go the new shops around the second bridge, plenty of shops there to feed a shopaholic’s addiction. You get just about all the accessories needed for oneself. I bought a pair of Bermuda khaki shorts and some t-shirts. The ladies took a longer time to do their stuff so I just laid back and chilled. After that we headed to the old Segamat town to purchase a touch screen phone for my sister. We got back by 7pm. I did my gym and proceeded with dinner an hour later with the whole family. It was more like snacks and juices at the Jalan Genuang stalls. We finished early and went back home to just relax in the living room. The thought of going back to the city on the next day was not so appealing but life has to go on.

I got up early as usual the next morning. All the occupants were already awake by then as it was a school day. My daughter was on her approved annual leave. My nephews were getting ready for school. They bid their farewell and my sister sent them to school. Soon my brother-in-law left to work. We had our breakfast and got ready to go back home. It was ironic that my mother, sister and her daughter was there to send us off. On the way back we stopped at Tangkak to buy some fruits. I wish I could go to Gunung Ledang but with the ladies in tow it would be close to impossible to do that in a short time. I went there last during my solo trip back to Segamat. During that visit I had gone to Ledang on the way back to KL. I climbed up the mountain alone at 6.30am to take some photos of the sunrise. I have never gone there alone before, that too at dawn. The feeling was spooky as I knew I was not alone. At one kilometer up, the habitat is thick tropical foliage. You ascend at some spots by hoisting your way up using huge roots. The view from 1.5 kilometer’s up is simply magnificent and breathe taking. Without these trees, waterfall and mountain, we will not last here on Earth. This realization will not dawn on mankind until it is too late to turn back the clock.

I’m so grateful to the Almighty that I’m able to witness this soul satisfying images when I come home to Segamat every time, Thank You Lord, Thank You Lord. I look forward to my next trip back with anticipation.