When did we first learn that there was no Tooth Fairy? Not that I ever believed of her existence since it is kurafat, but you get my drift right?
But I was having my weekly exchange of emails with my girlfriends,when a question came up, that left me in a fit of giggles.
"Did your parents or grandmother ever scared you off with kalau tak makan sayur, nanti mati macam Sudirman?"
Gina burst out laughing immediately because she has never heard of that line before. But I, I remembered.
See, my late grandma would not allow us to shower late at night....also because of Sudirman.
"Jangan mandi malam-malam nanti mati macam Sudirman."
I actually asked her in detail, "Kenapa Tok?" So she explained how Sudirman comes home late after shows and showers at midnight, so he fell sick ( i guess it is pneumonia) because of it. So intelligent kan? But how did she know that the late Sudirman showers at midnight? She probably made that one up!
Not content with just two of us having stories about Sudirman, I asked my housemate (since she also has a Johorean grandmother and mother), if they ever scare her with any Sudirman stories.
Hers came out as....
"Jangan minum air kotak/gas , nanti mati macam Sudirman!"
Like apakah?? Seriously, I could not believe that she too, has her stories about Sudirman. We both ended up literally rolling on the floor laughing. To think that we actually believed it, is beyond words!
Why Sudirman?
My conclusion is, all grandmothers and mothers, they go to the same school of thoughts!! There must be some kind of manual books for Malay mothers to scare their kids!!
Kesian Sudirman, tak pasal-pasal nama dia kena. He was such a talented singer. *mode lagu balik kampung tetiba*. If I have not tell you yet, the late Sudirman, nicknamed the Singing Lawyer was a popular Malaysian singer back in the 80's, who died at a young age, for reasons unknown. Some said it was due to black magic, but I beg to differ.
But you know, there weren't that many tales or beliefs that my mother and grandmother wanted us to be scared off. There were no masuk tido cepat nanti hantu datang, no makan nasi kena habis nanti nangis (sebab kita orang mesti habis makan licin), hehe.
There was this once, where my sister's friend had worms in his stomach. He scared her off by touching her hand and said "hahahah you have been infected and now you will get worms too". My sister got so scared, she did not want to go the toilet the whole day. She kept running away until my grandmother shouted "You bloody Pool " for believing such nonsense from her friend.
Hahhh bagus kan my Tok so intelligent! She knows that there is no such thing. But Kids...they believe every thing! So kids, fear no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil!
PS- I have this other maid back in the days who absolutely idolized Sudirman. She had pictures of him in her bedroom and cried buckets when the singer died. She even imagined marrying him. I can't somehow remember the name of this particular maid. Hmmm....
PPS- Do you have your own Sudirman stories?
