I decided to grab a book from the uppermost shelf of the cabinet in my bedroom last night. I bought it at least a year ago at a very cheap price. The bookshop was getting rid of its old stock, if I remember correctly. I bought it really for the name printed on it - Pak Sako. It was not a book written by him but more of a collection of his writings by a young editor. As I read the foreword by Professor Ungku Aziz, I realised that the earlier generation had a way of not overly commending someone, yet, as you read through their words, it would then be very apparent that they actually thought very highly of the person referred to. Simple and subtle.
It was a book of compilations. I've barely read half of the book as I write this but I thought that before it escapes me, I really must jot down my very few experiences meeting Pak Sako when I was still a child.
I don't remember whether I was already living in this little town called Temerloh or if I was there for a weekend visit with my father, before we actually moved to the town from Kuala Lumpur. All I remember, I was brought by my father to a small park in the middle of town, which is now next to the Syariah Court in Temerloh, and that was where poetry reading took place that day. I was curious, as I had never been to a poetry reading event and even more so, one which was held in the Malay Language.
We were gathered in the park, all tucked in a corner, seated on the grass and Pak Sako started reciting some poetic verses. I doubt I understood much of it then.. I don't really remember. But I remember being introduced to him. He seemed to know my father well and when he was told that I only had my first encounter of the Malay Language after the age of 5 (unlike other Malay girls during that time), he then started asking me a lot of questions about my likes and dislikes. He even asked me whether I could write short stories. I think I told him it wasn't a problem, then I fled, before he could ask me to write one!
A short encounter, but it certainly got me, 30 years later, to buy the book and read again what Pak Sako once penned down to make history..
It was a book of compilations. I've barely read half of the book as I write this but I thought that before it escapes me, I really must jot down my very few experiences meeting Pak Sako when I was still a child.
I don't remember whether I was already living in this little town called Temerloh or if I was there for a weekend visit with my father, before we actually moved to the town from Kuala Lumpur. All I remember, I was brought by my father to a small park in the middle of town, which is now next to the Syariah Court in Temerloh, and that was where poetry reading took place that day. I was curious, as I had never been to a poetry reading event and even more so, one which was held in the Malay Language.
We were gathered in the park, all tucked in a corner, seated on the grass and Pak Sako started reciting some poetic verses. I doubt I understood much of it then.. I don't really remember. But I remember being introduced to him. He seemed to know my father well and when he was told that I only had my first encounter of the Malay Language after the age of 5 (unlike other Malay girls during that time), he then started asking me a lot of questions about my likes and dislikes. He even asked me whether I could write short stories. I think I told him it wasn't a problem, then I fled, before he could ask me to write one!
A short encounter, but it certainly got me, 30 years later, to buy the book and read again what Pak Sako once penned down to make history..
