Sejarah Kita

Singapore was then under the control of Tengku Abdul Rahman, the Sultan of the Johor-Riau-Lingga Sultanate (otherwise known as the Johor Sultanate), in turn under the influence of the Dutch and the Bugis. Hence, he would never agree to a British base in Singapore. However, Tengku Abdul Rahman had become a sultan only because his older brother, Tengku Hussein or Tengku Long, had been away getting married in Penang when their father, the previous sultan died in 1812.

According to Malay culture, a person has to be by the dying sultan in order to be considered as a new ruler. Tengku Abdul Rahman was present when their father died. The older brother was not happy with the development while the temenggung who was in charge of Singapore preferred Tengku Hussein to the younger brother.

The British had first acknowledged Tengku Abdul Rahman at the time of their first presence in Malacca. The situation however had changed. In 1818, Farquhar visited Tengku Hussein in the little island of Penyengat, off the cost of Bintan, the capital of the Riau Archipelago. There, new plans were drawn and in 1819, Raffles made a deal with Tengku Hussein. The agreement stated that the British would acknowledge Tengku Hussein as the legitimate ruler of Singapore if he allowed them to establish a trading post there. Furthermore, Tengku Hussein and the temenggung would receive yearly stipend from the British. The treaty was ratified on February 6, 1819. With the Temenggung's help, Hussein left Penyengat pretending that he was 'going fishing', and reached Singapore where he was quickly installed as Sultan.

The Dutch were extremely displeased with Raffles' action. However, with the signing of Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824, the Dutch receded its opposition to the British presence in Singapore. The treaty also divided the Sultanate of Johor into modern Johor and the new Sultanate of Riau.


'I don't understand la Ayah!', Adik memandang muka aku penuh kehairanan.
'Oh nothing, Dik. I am just reading our history from the Wikipedia', aku menjawab kepada Adik.
'Well, don't read it to me. I wanna play toys now', kata Adik sambil terus berlari ke basement. Bermain dengan toys.

Aku mengalih muka dari komputer dan mencari Ibu yang sedang mencuci pinggan.
'Ibu, has Abang fixed the date of his flight in December?', aku bertanya kepada Ibu.
'Yes', kata Ibu sambil terus sambung mencuci.
'Lamanya....', jawab aku. Pendek.

TOOTH MUMMY

'Mummy! The tooth fairy forgot to put money under the pillow', jerit Ameerul dan Sofia. Sofia kecil daripada Ameerul. Mungkin dia hanya mengganguk kepala aja, mengiyakan kata Abang dia.

Mummy tergamam sekejap. Tapi rasanya Mummy memang cekap men'cover' diri. Tugas Mummy memerlukan skill itu.' Oh yes, that. Maybe the tooth fairy got lost and couldn't find its way to our house', tenang je Mummy kelentong.

'OK, mummy. We put the teeth back under the pillow', jawab Ameerul gembira. Esoknya mereka akhirnya dapat duit mereka berserta nota dan lukisan kartun sekali.

Kedua-dua anak kecil itu berbincang. 'Maybe mummy put these you know', kata Ameerul. 'But, Mummy cannot draw la Abang', si kecik pulak menambah. Ameerul mengganguk bersetuju.
Mummy yang melihta dan mendengar tergelak kecil.

Cerita ni aku dengar dari kawan aku. Aku cerita kepada Ibu. Ibu pun tergelak kecil.
Ibu kata,' Kids will be kids. Full of wild ideas'.

Aku pun menambah,' Mommies will be mommies. Full of tricks'.

Aku dengan Ibu tergelak.

I SEE YOU

Aku bertanya ke Abang, ' So what have you been doing?

'Abang tersengeh-sengeh menjawab, 'this and that!'. Nampak muka dia macam malu-malu nak menjawab.

Aku tanya lagi,' what this and that, example please?'

Abang diam kejap. Ragu-ragu. " Oh.. I helped Nenek take out the washing from the machine when it's done. I also helped take the clothes in when they are dry. And, when it rains, I am supposed to tell Nenek before taking the clothes in really really fast. Oh, and I also watered the plants, including the flowers planted by Ayah'.

'That' s all?', Ibu pulak mencelah.

'Well, I also feed the fish. Daily!', tegas Abang.

'That's not so tough', kata Ibu. 'School started already, right?. How was it?', Ibu tanya lagi.

'So far everything is ok. Ibu, how if my homework is too hard. Sometimes, Nenek doesn't understand my school work', tanya Abang.
'Ask Nenek first. You could also ask your friends. But, don't copy, ok. If it is too hard, ask your teacher. There's no harm in asking for help', nasehat Ibu.
'Ok', pendek aja Abang jawab. ' Where's Adik and Baby Faim?', tanya Abang sambil cuba menunjuk senyuman.
'They are still asleep', cepat aku pulak mencelah. 'Do you miss us?', tanya aku.
'NO... errr maybe, umm sometimes. Maybe sometimes', Abang jawab perlahan sambil menundukkan muka ke bawah. Aku dengar Ibu menarik nafas perlahan.
Sekejap kemudian Abang menatap wajah kami lagi. ' Er.. Ibu, Ayah.. it's nearly ten o'clock. Nenek asked me not to stay up too long. I am going to bed, ok!', Abang beritahu.
'Ok, Abang. Have a good sleep, OK. Listen to Atuk and Nenek always and be a good boy. We really miss you, always not sometimes. Ok. Good night!', kata Ibu tersekat-sekat.
'OK, good night', jawab Abang. Sekejap itu wajah Abang pun hilang dari pandangan.
Aku pun menutup Skype dan berpaling ke Ibu, muram.