Back when I was a young girl, I hated going to the padi fields... in fact I detested it. It's hot, itchy, smelly and it ain't fun slogging under the sun harvesting padi. But looking through these pictures, I'm reminded of how hardworking my parents were, just to put food on the table and send all five of us to school . It's just unfortunate it didn't cross our minds to snap photos of us 'having fun' at the padi fields.
My parents weren't well educated and although we weren't totally dirt poor but there were times when I could sense my parents had financial difficulties. I would often wonder why we live in a wooden house with very basic things when some of our neighbors had a lot of 'beautiful' things we didn't have. Of course I was too young to even understand that back then but being a parent myself now, finally it's all so crystal clear (instantly humming the song I Can See Clearly Now).
I could still hear my late mom saying these words as if it was only yesterday... "Di, kalati ko mai songian kivaa tanak nu sondii." Meaning: Di, you will understand when you have your own children one day. While I can't recall what really happened that day that made my mom uttered those words, I can't help but feel sad knowing I might have said some harsh words and hurt her feelings. I'm sorry Ina (mom)...
Being away from my family really taught me to value and appreciate them even more. Life in the big city has its best and some not-so-great moments but nothing compares to being surrounded by loved ones and seeing familiar sights of your kampung (village), the very place where where you born and raised.
36 mumbles:
I love the site. You have a lot of good posts here. I have a site as well that provides inspiration and guidance to people around the world. I was wondering if we could do a link exchange, so we can tell our visitors about both of our sites. Let me know.
Jason
TheWISDOMWALL.com
dulu masa sia budak2 pun, sia malas mau ikut p sawah bah. Selain dr panas sia selalu komplen di sulap teda TV lagi tu..sot kan? hahaha...
Tapi skrg..i appreciate that experience of slogging under sun, naik karabau etc. Hmm..the new generation may not have this kind of experience nowadays...
When I was small, my grandparents planted paddy. But then, I think when I was about 6, they stopped planting. So did everybody else. I'm not sure why but maybe dah tak menjadi agaknya. I've been to the paddy field dan main kejar2 dragonfly and one day terjatuh dekat dalam one of the petak. Imagine the lintah all lekat dekat baju!! Lepas tu terus takut pergi sawah padi! heheh I rather go and panjat pokok petik buah rambai, rambutan, etc.
Have never been to a paddy field before.. mana ada kan in SG.. lol!
and we had this song when we were in song that goes...
Planting rice is never fun
Bend from morn till set of sun
Cannot stand.. cannot sit
cannot rest a little bit
hahah.. i always sing that song .. drive hubs nuts.. and he goes.. how you know planting rice never fun.. hahahah
i meant.. we had a song in school.. lol.. typo pulak!
I once spent three months in a remote village in Indonesia! I visited the rice fields and was impressed by the women's hard work. Actually I kind of liked trudging through the muddy fields and balancing on one of the ridges :D
It was an adventure for me.
Hi Jason! Welcome to Mumblings :)
Thanks for the kind words. I've added your site on my sidebar under Mumblinks.
Thanks for dropping by, hope to see you more often :)
Mama Mia ~ Pasal tu panas sama gatal la ba sia malas mo pi sana sawah padi. Penah tu sampai buat2 sakit la, konon rajin mo jaga anak buah... all kinds of excuses.
Mana gia ada wayar sampai pi sana sawah... LOL!
Now mimang btul2 sia appreciate that experience, kadang2 sedih juga sbb anak2 inda penah nampak kerbau except di Zoo seja.
Zaman moden tapi they miss a lot... the real experience, the carefree-ness, the freedom, kana ujan sikit trus sakit bukan cam kita dulu.. tahan tukul kan :)
Emila ~ I think my parents stopped planting padi sometime in the late 80's, probably in 1989/90... I oso lupa sudah.
We worked on my uncle's sawah padi too, altogether 2 padi fields... sometimes they helped other relatives plant and harvest padi... macam gotong-royong la.
It was reali hard work, from planting, to harvesting and if it floods, all the padi gets destroyed so sia2 la usaha sepanjang tahun. It's tough being a farmer. I guess that was why eventually they stopped... they were getting old too, the body dah tak kuat lagi.
I oso penah jatuh dlm parit near the sawah padi. Nasib baik air paras lutut je :) Ohh, I geli sangat with lintah... memang takut sampai la hari ni.
LJ ~ Kesian you LJ tak penah pegi sawah padi.. hehe.
Thank goodness they taught you songs about planting rice in school ya :)
The working part was never fun. The only part I looked forward to was lunchtime!
Duni ~ Oh, that must have been a wonderful holiday, 3 months in a remote village. I'd love to experience that too one day... no TV, no telephone... but must have internet connection though! Hahaha
I miss that village scene, chickens roaming freely, fresh air, nothing but pristine forests surrounding the place... I wonder if such a place still exist now.
Imagine time ko kecik2, kalo ada camera, your parents tanam padi, ko ambik2 gambar hehehee... Pastu those pics bulih post dalam blog kan. :)
I think only a few times sya ikut aunty2 sya pigi tanam padi di kampung, itupun main cincai jak sebab nda pandai trus kena ajar betul2 coz mesti tu padi mo masuk dalam tanah kan kalo tidak terapung2 hahaa...
Time tu sya pun nda tepikir pasal panas sebab bukan selalu ikut lagi pun sekejap seja trus kami naik turun bukit atau pigi jambatan gantung trus turun ke sungai! :D
Begitula cakap orang2 tua tu kan, Nessa. If ada anak sendiri, baru tau macamana kan. Biarpun sekarang sya belum ada anak sendiri, tapi sya pun faham sekali.
Rindu juga sya cara hidup dulu2... tapi nda mo yang susah payah punya la terutama kalo balik kampung belum ada tempat mandi lagi, terpaksa naik atas bukit, mandi air bukit, sejuuukkk betul!
Crystal ~ Iya bah, sia buli imejin oh... dari proses tanam padi, bajak sawah pakai karabau to harvesting... suma kasi blog.
Lagi taim sia ikut ina sia pi tangkap katak, taim dia bikin talak, taim dia bikin kuih penjaram sama guring mihun to sell di church... suma masuk blog complete with pictures. Bestnya tuuu Crystal... now I reali miss my ina! :*(
Actuali sia inda pernah tanam padi sbb sia takut lintah tapi sia expert kasi potong tu padi pakai tu sabit. Kadang2 my sisters and me berlumba sepa paling laju potong padi... hehe
I know what you mean... my youngest son memang slalu minta benda2 yang mahal2, ko tau la kawan2 dia suma anak orang kaya jadi dia pun 'oizan' la ba mangkali tu. Bukan sia inda mo bili tapi I think all those things dia inda perlu at his young age. Ada masa dia marah sbb dia feel saya inda sayang dia, sedih juga la tapi sometimes we kenot give them everything they want.
So I tell him exactly what my mom said... one day when you have your own kids, you will know. And every time I say that, it reminds me of my mom.
Bestnya tu mo naik bukit pi mandi... betul2 adventure... tapi kalu hari2 mimang panat la :)
Adding you right now. Take care.
Jason
TheWISDOMWALL.com
Thanks Jason :D
Yep, grow up, have a kid of your own and suddenly all the things your parents said of did makes sense. Loved your post.
My family moved from one place to another in several occasions when I was little. There was a village that I so loved I wish we didn't move from there. Then we moved to a place where I saw many water buffalos because some people living there were farmers. I liked the ambiance and kept us away from the noise in the city.
Parents know best! Thanks Ann :D
Hi Marlene!
I only stayed at one place while growing up. Only when I was in my 30's I moved away and started living on my own.
But I would love to return one day when I'm old and grey. The big city is not a great place to retire :(
Was touched by the 2nd last paragraph!... Did u bring your kids back to kampung & tell them abt their granny? :-)
Aiyoo, nice la those pictures. City spacemen like me don't really know what kampung life is all about la. Maybe when I retire, I go and live in some nice quiet kampung ... hehehe!
I like browsing through Flickr too. I use it for my photography as well. A few of my pictures got found through Flickr and one was pulished in a book read about it here http://www.bchappell.info/view.php/article/108/my-photography-in-the-grten-in-sdengland-book I enjoyed reading your blog. Its a great site!
Nessa,
I think weve all heard that phrase, wait until.... from parents or grand parents. I remember is sooo well. And yes they were right. Now that I am at this place in life it all makes sense to me. I understand. Sorry I couldn't see it all then either. But I guess it is the way of the world. We will repeat the line to our children etc., etc, for one thing or another and they will eventually get it.
We are however in a better place that our parents and the kids will be/are in a better place too. We can see clearly as adults, well some things.Some things we ignore, accept reject or just succumb or fight like hell to change.
I always like to see padi field. Especially when it starts to turned yellow :)
Dora ~ We lived with granny until she passed away in 2005. We balik kampung last April... can't wait to balik kampung again next year!
Thanks for the visit and the birthday greetings. That's very thoughtful of you.
Have a wonderful week...
Juliana Pinay WAHM
Spiff ~ Hopefully one day you'll get to see a real kampung scene. Be prepared cos it's totally different from your life as a spaceman... hehe
Hi Barry! Welcome to Mumblings :)
I've read that post and your picture is beautiful. I really should upload my photos @Flickr.
Thank you for dropping by :)
Philly5113 ~ That's true. When we're kids we only think of ourselves and we forget our parents' sacrifices.
Only when we've become parents, then we understand what they went through and we'd do to give our children a safe and happy life.
I guess it's only normal for kids to rebel when they don't get what they want. We all learn from our mistakes (hopefully)! :)
VanillaSeven ~ I grew up seeing padi fields left, right, centre, everywhere! But now, they're all gone :*( It's so sad...
PinayWahm ~ Hi Juliana! Welcome to Mumblings and a very happy birthday to you once again :D Enjoy your birthday... hope you get loads of presents!
wah paddy field, siap ngan ada kerbau,
Terasa pulak macam angin-angin sawah padi menghembus bayu sepoi-sepoi bahasa keluar dari skrin monitor komputer ni :)
Lama dah tak nampak suasana mcam tu
Hola Rizal!
Ya... di mana ada sawah padi, di situ mesti ada kerbau! :D
Mudah-mudahan angin bayu sepoi-sepoi tu tak membawa bau-bauan yang tak sepatutnya... yelah, banyak kerbau kat sawah tu... ekekekekek
Tak lama lagi sawah padi semua akan jadi extinct... sedih ya.
Hi Nessa! Beautiful photos! I too am nostalgic whenever I see pictures of paddy fields and water buffaloes!! Talking about kampung, have you heard of the plight of the community affected by the Kaiduan dam? See my blog to read a little about it... Thanks. Hope to meet up with you one of these days....
Susan
Hi Susan! :)
It's ironic to miss the things we hated so much ya.
OK, will check out what's it about. Yup, it's been a long time... the last time was that reunion kan or was it your wedding? My memory is failing :*(
Susan,
Oh no, it wasn't the reunion nor your wedding. I just remembered! It was at your work place, near Likas Square (I think)... I was teaching your staff how to use Centrex!! LOL! OMG! That was years ago la. No wonder it took me so long to remember!
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