IF the walls of the weather standing four-storey flats could talk, it will tell you how the multiracial residents of Razak Mansions at Jalan Sungai Besi, lived in a world of their own, in the heart of the city harmoniously despite the differences, for over 50 years.
Little also does many know
that the 15 buildings were a legacy left behind by the former prime minister
Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, who officiated the residential area on April 26 in 1967
when he was the deputy prime minister.
The housing area
sandwiched between Sungai Besi Highway and the Kuala Lumpur-Seremban Highway,
is the oldest low cost flats that stood in the same era as Pekeliling flats.
It is also right smack
behind the old Sungai Besi airport and a stone thrown away from the old Istana
Negara.
About a two kilometre drive
and your are at the famous Pudu market, Razak Mansions is a mere five minutes
to the city.
If one looks at the area
on google maps, it is an island in the middle of the fast developing Kuala
Lumpur city and it was surely the best place to grow up.
I remember how I used to
watch the housing area come to live from our unit 5016 at Block 5, from at
about 6am, when the young and old come out to jog and slowly school students
start waiting for their buses while the rest start walking to the primary
school and pre schools in the housing area.
Slightly later, the
morning market start their operations and so does the shops near by.
In the afternoon there were
the row of Chinese hawker shops and also the kuih and nasi lemak stalls in the
evenings.
I also remember in my many
essay during school days, I wrote how its was a privilege to be brought up in
an environment were we had a surau, church, Hindu temple, Chinese temple and
gurdwara, all within walking distance, instilling in us better understanding
and tolerance towards our neighbours and fellow Malaysians.
We also never had to leave
the comfort zone we call our kampung, until we had to go to high schools as
there was a government tadika and a national primary school as well as a
Chinese primary school to accommodate the large number of Chinese community
there.
The city on its own also
had all the facilities and shops from a traditional medicine shop, tailor,
barber, grocery shops, clinic, saloon ,convenience store and restaurants.
As usual the market was
crowded as ever with all sorts of food and vegetables.
My favourite were the ‘Yao Cha kuih’, curry chee cheong fun, roasted
meat and chicken floss bun and of course nasi lemak.
All these only if you get up early or you don’t get your favourite
breakfast because they sell like hot cakes!
I was also told how there
was a time when the ‘dacing’ was used to weigh items; fish and vegetables were
wrapped in newspaper and items were weighed in ‘kati’ and ‘tahils’ and ikan
kembung cost 20 cents a kati.
The Chinese medicine shop
near the market till today still use an abacus for calculation purpose, one
thing I enjoyed watching when visiting the shop.
There was also a funeral
parlour for the non Muslims to have funeral services.
Many residents then came
from abroad to earn a living in Malaysia, like my late great grandfather Manuel
Lucas Decruz and late grandfather Edward Fernandez who traveled in a ship from
Trivandrum, Kerala after marrying my late grandmother Mary Gerthrude.
My late great grandfather
who was business minded, opened a grocery shop at Kampung Maya, walking
distance form the housing area, where the Salak Selatan KTM station is now located.
While my grandfather used
to cycle to work as he was with Cold Storage in Jalan Sungai Besi which was
then directly opposite the now Southgate mall (formerly the Malayan Tobacco
Company).
When they moved in Razak
Mansions in 1964, my grandparents who had two children, a son and a daughter,
rented the one room flats for only RM35 which was later raised to RM75.
Today, looking back, I
wonder how they managed as the family grew and they had seven children living
under one roof.
My grandfather later
bought over the house from DBKL for only RM16,200 in 1984.
Every now and then, I read memories penned down by my aunt, Helen Fernandez and it feels like I'm travelling back in time, watching the events unfold in front of me. I'll like to now share this with you...
As told to me by my aunt:
"We shifted in sometime in 1964/or 1965 –
Daddy (my dad Eric Fernandez) went to the primary school and likewise all the rest. Daddy in 1965 me in
1967 and thereon the rest. Population was quite full as the nearby green houses
and kampongs near the river. Schools were in two sessions and classrooms packed
to brim. Majority were Chinese and a few Malays and Indians.
Bus plying that route were from the Toong
Foong Bus Company and the 119 bus will come into the flats and stop at block 15
last stop. It was usually packed with people clinging to the stairs. As usual
the other buses from salak south 113, 121 108 etc. can be taken at the usual
bus-stop in main road.
There was this “tau foo fah” man who came
in the afternoon and the “chee chong fan” tricycle which came about around 3pm.
The” Kaya Kok” man will come in the mornings and around 5pm the man in
motorbike selling roasted pork with slices of cucumber and sos and a little
later the usual roti bicycle will come. It was the ancient roti with a round
basket like thing and cone shaped cover filled with roti. Breads were not
sliced and only sliced with a long knife by the breadman upon purchase. Popular
was the Chinese bread-while one with thick black crust and the old folks always
requested for the crust to be dipped in kopi-O.
As usual the market was crowded as ever
with all sorts of food and vege and I went through the era where dacings were
used, fish & vege wrapped in newspaper-weighing in kati&tahils-ikan
kembung at 20sen a kati.
Papa (my grandfather Edward Fernandez) cycled to work at cold storage in
Jalan Sungei Besi which was then directly opposite the now southgate (which was
formerly the MTC-Malayan Tobacco Company).
During the 1969 May 13 there was a riot and Razak Mansions was under strict surveillance being a DAP (rocket) area. During the curfew we were not allowed to go out uncle Wilson was only 2 years old and still drinking milk and dropped the pacifier down the block while playing in the balcony-papa had to wait for curfew to be lifted and run to pick it up. Soldiers in trucks and machine guns used to come and order all “masuk dalam-masuk dalam tutup pintu”.
Papa drilled a hole in the door to watch 2 see if all safe–we cannot switch on the lights as well. Papa used to cycle to Pudu market to get vegetables and kerosene as most people used kereosene stoves then and supply to the neighbours b4 the curfew ends. There was once papa went and the curfew was closed and we were so worried but lucky papa came back safe. Soldiers , FRU and road blocks were everywhere.
During the 1969 May 13 there was a riot and Razak Mansions was under strict surveillance being a DAP (rocket) area. During the curfew we were not allowed to go out uncle Wilson was only 2 years old and still drinking milk and dropped the pacifier down the block while playing in the balcony-papa had to wait for curfew to be lifted and run to pick it up. Soldiers in trucks and machine guns used to come and order all “masuk dalam-masuk dalam tutup pintu”.
Papa drilled a hole in the door to watch 2 see if all safe–we cannot switch on the lights as well. Papa used to cycle to Pudu market to get vegetables and kerosene as most people used kereosene stoves then and supply to the neighbours b4 the curfew ends. There was once papa went and the curfew was closed and we were so worried but lucky papa came back safe. Soldiers , FRU and road blocks were everywhere.
People stayed vigil with sticks and the
gate downstairs was built and closed at 10pm and each house given a key. There
were biscuits and coffee supplied to all during that time by neighbors and the
radio was of importance with everyone glued to it to hear the latest
development.
Then there was this 1970 great floods and
schools were closed. The whole of Jalan Sunger Besi and the schools were badly
hit.
Children were very united and played
football, gasing, marbles, cards, skipping etc. in the true spirit of muhhibah.
Once a month Jabatan Penerangan will come to screen movies. A lot of door to
door sales-soap power lady carrying baskets of fab, breeze etc, the redifusion
was popular as every Chinese will gather at about 12noon or 1pm to listen to the storytime
(kuchai).
During the mooncake festival huge groups
will go about carrying lanterns and singing but this is slowly fading. We used
to buy bread by having a basket tied to a long string and lowering it down with
money wrapped in newspaper-the rotiman takes the money and puts the bread in
and we pull the basket up. Fantastic was the newspaper man throwing the
newspapers from the front of the flats to the houses and great skills displayed
here-we were on the 2nd floor and get ours this way-papers lands on
the balcony. Now poor newspaper boy runs all floors to deliver papers.
Chinese New Year would be so grand with
firecrackers being let down from the highest floors to the ground floor and
lion dance with poles and lions climbing on the poles to extract angpows from
the upper floors.
There was the convenience of the Tengku
Budariah Home where working mothers could put their children and the Perpaduan
kindergarten which was very convenient to the Razak Mansion residents. We had
Rukun Tetangga in the 1970’s where all men would do their duties all through
the night to ensure the the residents were safe- people were very caring and
cooperative then.
Every Tuesdays there will be the pasar
malam with loads of food and stalls selling vegetables, fish, material,
clothes, bags, cassettes, and all essential things-you name it you find it.
The famous coffee shop where all gather and
at night “tai chow” in block 13 and in the afternoons the food stalls in front
of block 13-selling ais campur, pisang goreng, chee cheong fun, wantan mee,
etc.
The funeral parlour was very convenient to
honour the deceased and offer prayers, the playground, basketball and badminton
court- people gathering for morning exercise , children walking to schools, the
boys/girls brigade who practice on Saturdays marching along Razak Mansions.
Razak Mansions is well equipped Confusion
School, SK Jalan Sungei Besi, St. Gabriels Church, a Chinese temple, a sikh
gurudwara, a hindu temple, a surau, a tadika Islam etc. within reach of
residents."
I am now married and have
left the place I adore much to live in Seremban with my husband, but I still go
back home for the best curry chee cheong fun served at the morning market.
Yes, the husband and wife
team’s special recipe sells like hot cakes and the line is long every morning,
but the wait will never disappoint.
And what is even shocking
is that, my dosage of happiness from the stall only cost me RM2.10 (three chee
cheong fun and a fish ball with the most delicious curry in town).
I will surely go back for
more as the historical place will soon be no more to make way for redevelopment
and cherish all the fond memories of being a ‘city kampung kid’.
Here's to the dream of having this and more memories documented in a book so Razak Mansion lives on as her walls are brought down very soon!
Here's to the dream of having this and more memories documented in a book so Razak Mansion lives on as her walls are brought down very soon!
If you have memories to share, contact me at 010-7608250 or email elvina.fernandez@gmail.com
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