a tribute to dayang atiqah rahman

hey girl. happy 21st birthday! hehe. you must be wondering why "atiqah rahman". as i was talking to a friend at the lab, i was reminded that today is her birthday. i would like to share a story of how i met atiqah rahman.

I was at Labuan matriculation college then. Labuan is an island just off coast Sabah. its not that big but a quiet and lovely place - i have plans to move there upon retirement. haha.

so, it was the dry season of the year. interruptions on water supply has become something common every other day. as classes ends at 3.30pm, we would all rush back to the dorms, make full use of our hands to grab as many pail as we can in one go and head straight to the water tank located at Block B. i was living at Block C at that time. we are among the first block to run out of water - including the water saved in huge blue plastic water tanks. i took my time about it since rushing to fill up water at that "peak hour" will only create frustration, lining up from the water tank all the way to the tv room.

i decided to wait until 6pm, gathered my basket full of toilet stuff - toothbrush, toothpaste, shower cream, facial wash, my favorite pink loofah, and walked happily dressed in only kain sarong and a t-shirt to Block B. the line was still long. too bad its too late to turn back since there are more and more people coming. so i decided to join the line.

and there she was. a tall girl, with long curly hair leaning on the wall in front of me. she placed her bucket on the ground and leaned back on the wall. fiddling her hair. she turned to me and smiled. we started talking and moving our pail as the line grew shorter. laughing and scratching at our feet that is swarmed by mosquitoes.

when finally, i asked her:

"kau dari mana bah?" (bah is just an additional word at the end of sentence. commonly used in Sabah, but not applied to every sentence. haha.)


"sa dari sarawak. sibu, sarawak." (sa is the short form of 'saya' in Sabah).


"yarabi. kitak urang sarawak duhal! kamek pun orang sarawak juak. miak miri.." (you're a sarawakian? im a sarawakian too. from miri. - this is not the direct translation.)

"apa la kerja kita duak tok berklaka sabah. pelik ada jak bunyi nya," (what the hell are we doing speaking 'sabah' to each other. sound damn weird.)

That was around the same time of the year, 3 years ago. a friendship which started with a sweet smile.

Happy Birthday Atiqah Rahman. i will always love your photographs on FlickR, and a mati-susah-kipas of your blog. Cheers!

nota kaki: sila lawat blog atiqah rahman. saya telah meletakkan link kepada blog beliau di lajur sebelah kanan bahagian bawah blog saya. kepuasan di-gerenti. haha.