I have always wondered why I got to inherit some property across the border (talk about Rantau Panjang, Kelantan and Sungai Golok, Thailand). It was some acres of rubber plantation which was under the care of a grandaunt (Tok Su Sitah). I remember during my primary school days when I would walk across the Rantau Panjanag-Sungai Golok railway bridge (only a hand wave at the immigration officer attending to the border crossing booth would get the approval nod) to collect earnings from the plantation. Not much, but a 100 Baths (RM10 equivalent) per trip went a long way in those years. All the while, I thought that the Tok Su was my maternal (Mok Aji Esah) grandma's sister.
It was only recently and after some inheritance complication that I got a clearer picture of who I really am. Seemed that I had a super rich great great grandfather, Haji Semael (Ismail), residing in Sungai Golok. One of the sons, Lome (Abdul Rahman, my grandfather) married Esah. Between them they had my mother, Kalsom (Som). Som, being the favourite granddaughter, was endowed the said rubber plantation. The venturesome Lome died young of mushroom poisoning. I cannot recall anything of my mother. She passed away when I was only a baby. I remember spending my school holidays at my grandma's place at Kampung Kubang Bemban, Pasir Mas, located adjacent to Pondok Haji Ghoni. Turns out that my grandma is a sister-in-law to Tok Su Sitah.
Now caring after my grandson, Adam, the heart is nudging me to seek my roots, wondering who had cared for me when I was a baby. With the elders mostly gone, this could be a tough venture.
