Mak Ungku [not her real name] was a soft spoken lady. Gentle and kind-hearted yet did not express her love openly. Elegant befitting the wife of a Sultan. She took in children mostly from poor families, abused children and mostly children not wanted by their own flesh and blood.
The girl was given a name...Zakiyah. [not her real name] She still remembered her Chinese name but never uttered it till today. She played with the other adopted kids and soon forgot her loneliness. They played together with the prince and princess too in the 'istana' [palace]. She said, " they were just like us, friendly and playful. We were not allowed to go outside the istana's perimeter and never to mix with the 'common' people."
I was taken aback when she told me she was taught to address the royalties from the sultan to the prince and princess as 'tuanku' [your highness] and they too addressed among themselves formally - ayahanda, bonda, kekanda and anakanda. I always thought the prince and princess would just call their parents something common like mom and dad? Where do I get that idea from? From Disney Channel....?
The Sultan did not allow girls even the princess to have a formal education. Even though she was bright, unfortunately she was illiterate. Her son once said if my mother had been educated, she would probably be a mathematician or an accountant by now.
Then the Japanese army came. The Istana was not spared. Their luxury lives turned topsy-turvy. They had to improvise. She said they, like other people in the country had to plant a lot of tapioca plants to sustain their lives. Perhaps their lives were not as miserable as the common people but to people who had led a luxurious life, it must be a very difficult time for them.
World War II ended. At the age of 24 she was married to a 40 year bachelor in Melaka. It was like any other marriages at that time... an arranged marriage.
to be continued...
Author's note : Real names are not given to protect the privacy of the persons involved. Moreover you need permission from the sultan and therefore no state is mentioned.
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