I know some people Googled for my late brother, Zulkiflie Sulaiman and was directed to this blog. As promised, I will try to share with you some of my earliest memories of him.
When I was in primary school sometimes he helped me with my homework, usually the English subject. Since he was from English education background, he liked to challenge me with grammar questions. For instance, on his way to the bathroom he would ask me, 'Have you a) see b) saw c) seen the newspaper?' And being a primary one student, I would crack my head to guess the answer. He would give the correct answer and asked again, 'Cikgu dah ajar ke belum tu?' Well, usually he asked advanced grammar questions, things that I hadn't learned in classroom. So, his pop quizzes somehow helped me a lot to do my own research. We live in a kampung, no one spoke English. My only source was TV and my family. When I was in Standard three, my English teacher challenged me to answer the Penilaian Darjah 5 English paper and I scored an A! I remember telling it to my late brother and late father. My late father looked proud, but later he asked me, 'Kenapa tak dapat 100?' Hehe...
It was also the two of them who bought me my first typewriter in 1985 when I did well in Penilaian Darjah 5. I suspected it was my late brother's idea to get the typewriter. I would have asked for a BMX instead. So, my late father taught me to type, and once I completed the month long 'course', my late brother gave me a few assignments. He brought home a few sample letters from the office and told me to type them - complete with 2 carbon copies! There were a few mistakes, and he told me to re-type - no blanco allowed. It turned out those were real letters he was going to use. That was the moment I realized I would never ever want to become a secretary when I grew up.
My late brother used to work in a bank in our hometown. I was not sure of his position but I heard he had to handle computer related works. When I was in Standard 4 (1984) he brought home a weird looking equipment, a weird looking keypad (which keys arrangement were similar to a typewriter's) and a thick photocopied book entitled BASIC programming. He connected the weird looking equipment to our TV set and we got a different screen! First I thought it was a video player, then he told me it's a computer. I remember the first BASIC program I tried from the book, the QWERTYUIOP keys produced music! The weird looking keypad became a keyboard (well, two years later I learned that IT WAS called a keyboard).
When people asked about my late brother, all I could remember was the fun things he did. He had many friends and well known in Temerloh, Kuantan, Jerantut, Triang, Bera, Kemayan and all the nearby Gugusan Felda. He's always been described as the fun, warm, helpful, bright, passionate but sensitive guy. Yes, he was a bit sensitive. My late father told me that if he scolded him, my late brother would sulk for days and refused to talk. However, my late brother didn't get angry easily, he didn't like confrontation, involve in fights or argue with people. His greatest gift was he could mix with people from all walks of life, young and old, beyond race and religion.
Talking about fights, I remember when I was in Standard 6 (1986) our nearby kampung was flooded. When there's flood, many people would come out to join the 'flood fiesta'. It so happened that a group of youngsters from one kampung was having verbal fight with the boys from our kampung. One night, there was a big fight. The boys from both group met somewhere and brought a few dangerous weapons along.
My late brother came back early that night. He rushed to tell my mom what had happened and how my 2nd and 3rd brother were punching and hitting the other boys. He told us all the details. So, my mom asked him, 'Diorang ni bergaduh, awok bergaduh jugek ke?' And then he answered (whenever he spoke to our parents, he would call himself Li), 'Li tak bertumbuk, Li nyuruk belakang kereta nengok diorang. Li ada pegang pengayuh perahu. Kalau ada orang datang kat Li, Li cadang nak lebas dengan pengayuh tu jek.' My mom couldn't help but laugh. She knew my late brother wouldn't ever got involved in fights. Later that night, my other 2 brothers came home with swollen knuckles and some other bruises.
They got some well deserved lecture from my parents for getting into that stupid fight but a few years later, the only thing we remembered was 'Li nyuruk belakang kereta sambil pegang pengayuh perahu'.
When I was in primary school sometimes he helped me with my homework, usually the English subject. Since he was from English education background, he liked to challenge me with grammar questions. For instance, on his way to the bathroom he would ask me, 'Have you a) see b) saw c) seen the newspaper?' And being a primary one student, I would crack my head to guess the answer. He would give the correct answer and asked again, 'Cikgu dah ajar ke belum tu?' Well, usually he asked advanced grammar questions, things that I hadn't learned in classroom. So, his pop quizzes somehow helped me a lot to do my own research. We live in a kampung, no one spoke English. My only source was TV and my family. When I was in Standard three, my English teacher challenged me to answer the Penilaian Darjah 5 English paper and I scored an A! I remember telling it to my late brother and late father. My late father looked proud, but later he asked me, 'Kenapa tak dapat 100?' Hehe...
It was also the two of them who bought me my first typewriter in 1985 when I did well in Penilaian Darjah 5. I suspected it was my late brother's idea to get the typewriter. I would have asked for a BMX instead. So, my late father taught me to type, and once I completed the month long 'course', my late brother gave me a few assignments. He brought home a few sample letters from the office and told me to type them - complete with 2 carbon copies! There were a few mistakes, and he told me to re-type - no blanco allowed. It turned out those were real letters he was going to use. That was the moment I realized I would never ever want to become a secretary when I grew up.
My late brother used to work in a bank in our hometown. I was not sure of his position but I heard he had to handle computer related works. When I was in Standard 4 (1984) he brought home a weird looking equipment, a weird looking keypad (which keys arrangement were similar to a typewriter's) and a thick photocopied book entitled BASIC programming. He connected the weird looking equipment to our TV set and we got a different screen! First I thought it was a video player, then he told me it's a computer. I remember the first BASIC program I tried from the book, the QWERTYUIOP keys produced music! The weird looking keypad became a keyboard (well, two years later I learned that IT WAS called a keyboard).
When people asked about my late brother, all I could remember was the fun things he did. He had many friends and well known in Temerloh, Kuantan, Jerantut, Triang, Bera, Kemayan and all the nearby Gugusan Felda. He's always been described as the fun, warm, helpful, bright, passionate but sensitive guy. Yes, he was a bit sensitive. My late father told me that if he scolded him, my late brother would sulk for days and refused to talk. However, my late brother didn't get angry easily, he didn't like confrontation, involve in fights or argue with people. His greatest gift was he could mix with people from all walks of life, young and old, beyond race and religion.
Talking about fights, I remember when I was in Standard 6 (1986) our nearby kampung was flooded. When there's flood, many people would come out to join the 'flood fiesta'. It so happened that a group of youngsters from one kampung was having verbal fight with the boys from our kampung. One night, there was a big fight. The boys from both group met somewhere and brought a few dangerous weapons along.
My late brother came back early that night. He rushed to tell my mom what had happened and how my 2nd and 3rd brother were punching and hitting the other boys. He told us all the details. So, my mom asked him, 'Diorang ni bergaduh, awok bergaduh jugek ke?' And then he answered (whenever he spoke to our parents, he would call himself Li), 'Li tak bertumbuk, Li nyuruk belakang kereta nengok diorang. Li ada pegang pengayuh perahu. Kalau ada orang datang kat Li, Li cadang nak lebas dengan pengayuh tu jek.' My mom couldn't help but laugh. She knew my late brother wouldn't ever got involved in fights. Later that night, my other 2 brothers came home with swollen knuckles and some other bruises.
They got some well deserved lecture from my parents for getting into that stupid fight but a few years later, the only thing we remembered was 'Li nyuruk belakang kereta sambil pegang pengayuh perahu'.
