This is my experience and to some it maybe sounds bullshit. But hey, I went through it. Believe it or not is up to you all.
Saka? What the hell is that? Sounds like Sucker? What do they suck? Blood? Soul?
This was my exact words when we talked about Saka many, many years ago. It was at Kg. Bahru. There were 2 of my buddies and and old guy whom is known as Abang Nuar. BTW That is not his real name. His real name is O.M. An ex-military guy in the Special Force. His last rank was Acting Brigadier General. An avid fisherman and even he was drawn as a caricature in Ujang comics. He is a man with a lot of stories and that was the magnet that pulled us to lepak with him after work.
My work is always on the go. I ride my brother Suzuki TRS to go to client's places. And work usually started at 11am till late in the morning. Since my friends stayed at one of the apartment, I usually hang out there before I go to my next appointment. BTW I don't have an office at that time. The only office was in Singapore.
I was introduced to Abang Nuar by my school days buddy, Ilham @ Rocky because he finds the old man kinda eccentric and guess I should blend well with the old coot.
Everytime we met him, there is always tales to tell. Suprisingly, after much researched, most of his tales ring true.
I was 27, just married a year before and already had my first child.
Facing the unseen has been mild. Being disturbed at the office in Bangsar, something knocking the doors in the middle of the night at my in-laws house, seeing a man in a green robe with my eyes closed and when opened, he is not there, sensing some black magic stuff buried exactly under my room just right after I got married are just some of it. I was still blurred with the unseen. Frankly speaking, seeing with my own eyes can be counted with one hand. I am surely glad Allah didn't give me the sight. I could turn bonkers if I do.
Back to the story. It became a routine for us to hang out at the old man's house. He is ever welcoming us to his place. Coffee and delicacies is always served. And together with it, strange stories always emerged. Sometimes gory and sometimes very P n C in military.
What interest me was the stories of his family. And since he is a Perakian Bugis, the stories really relates to my family. So I started to do an anthropology search of my family tree. And that was the start of my episode with Saka.
All this while, my dad never indulged any of the family background to me or to my siblings. All we were told that we do have a relationship with the Selangor Royals because we are from Bugis clan. I dig deeper and deeper. And I start matching the friends I've been with. Amazingly, from kindergarden to this day, most of my buddies are from royal blood. During my heydays as a teenager, my hangout will be at Raintree Club or at Lake Garden. Bear in mind at that time, I am just a kampung boy staying in a wooden house and life is very humble. How I can mixed with the upper echelon of society really didn't cross my mind. I was a kid having fun and I was always surrounded by them.
When I talked with the old man, I started to have the wanting to know I really am. I don't carry any titles and all my life, I am just an average joe. But there is something I can't put my fingers in. The old man have much interest on me. The time we chit-chatted increased. And when I showed my family tree to him, he just add the link to the tree. He told me I was from the seven siblings that came to Sabak Bernam from the Isle of Sulawesi. This is where the Bugis clan originates. The seven siblings are six brothers and one sister. All have a title Kanda in front of them. Kanda Long, Kanda Ngah, Kanda Lang, Kanda Uda, Kanda Andak, Kanda Itam and I can't remember what was the name given to the sister. She was the youngest. With the the family adhered strongly on Adat Temenggung. Hence the place was called Sabak Bernam and not, Sabak Bertujuh. I was told Kanda Lang is my lineage whereas Kanda Long is the old man's lineage. Wow. Suddenly, I am related to the old man. Talked about coincidence.
As the story goes, the family was a Royal family in Sulawesi. The father fed up with the politics and royal bickering decided to call it quit and declared he is stepping down from his throne. And he is also dropped the title given to his lineage. The throne was given to his younger brother and decided to go backpacking. he he he. Before he left, the brother gave him the title Kanda and after a research made, the Kanda clan do exist in Sulawesi and some still hold that title to this day. I was made to know a few years back by one of Selangor royal, the clan are located as the same area of the Selangor lineage in Sulawesi.
How true the story is I can't confirmed as I never been to Sulawesi and I never been to Sabak Bernam. But my interest to know who I really am was intense. I keep doing research after research in finding the family tree. I could say it is a mistake because I just fit in the criteria of a person about to encounter with Saka.
1998.
I just quit my job the year before and formed my first enterprise company, Azhar Animation Enterprise. (now defunct) Did three jobs and then the economy went bad. I was totally caught with my pants down. My savings dwindled to pennies and my family lived apart for almost a year. I did a lot of things to come by. Being a kuew tiauw cook, doing international banking were some of it. Proposals were made but none materialized as income. It was "kais pagi makan pagi, kais petang makan petang." But Allah is great. At a point there is no money to eat. I tend to find a RM5 in my jacket pocket. And I know there was none before that. Stressed as I maybe, the time to pray is never forgotten and doa for rezeki is never missed.
One day, my buddy asked me to come to Kg Baru. A friend of mine has a problem when he wants to approach a girl he liked. So I tag along. More curious of what the old man will do the help my poor friend. When we reached Kg Baru it was just after Isyak. I prayed at the old man house and after my prayer, the old man has asked my friend to get some lime. He is supposed to take a bath. While they are preparing, my heart says I to stay in the house. So I didn't. My friend was supposed to take the bath at the stairs. Suddenly, my buddies called me to come out as they seen something weird. All the limes supposed to be semi-floating in the water. Instead, all the limes are above the water with the bottoms touching the water surface. And yet, I still stay in the house. I felt I must not go outside. And I don't even know the reason why.
Once the bath was taken, then I felt it is time for me to go out. A step out and suddenly, the street lights just went off. The only lights lightening the streets was from KLCC. Looks so majestic. The point I reached the street, I felt there was a heavy burden on my shoulders. It was a bit awkward but I just shrugged it off.
When my friend whom taken the bath came out from the house, I was surprised. His face was like a neon light and it is really bright. I asked my other friend
"Ilham, do you see what I see."
He replied "Yeah... Zack. Why?"
"Ko tak nampak anything different?"
"No."
A word came to my mind. "Pahlawan." (Warrior) and the light just fade.
I turned to Ilham and suddenly a word came to my mind "Businessman"
I turned to my other friend, and the word says "Tamak" (Greed)
And this words came to my mind when I looked at them. It was crazy and I was totally blurred.
Suddenly the old man came out from the house. He said all the things he has done and it is up to my friend to do what he has to do. He turned to me and asked. "Bob, Ko tahu apa yang ada pada kau." (Do you know what you have with you?)
My remarks was "Tak tahu tapi rasanya berat je tanggungjawab dia. Berat bahu ni." (I don't know but I felt the responsibilities is big. It's a burden to my shoulder).
The old man just said. "Bagus, korang semua balik sekarang." (Good, now you all go home now}
In the car, I related what I saw at the street. I cautioned the one I saw greed to never take greed over his actions. What weird is all the words that came to me does relate a lot to the three of my friends. All have a twist in life. One has to know his real roots. One became a successful businessman and another, because of greed lost everything. But that is another story to be told later.
The next day, I dropped by because my friend wanted to meet the old man. Then, he told me what happened. While he was calling his unseen buddies, one figure totally not his buddy came. He wore a white robe with a serban. Looks exactly like me except the beard and hair are dyed in orange. The old man asked why are you here. And the thing said the time for the person out there has come. So the old man said go if you must. And that what happened last night.
He told me that it is my Saka. I told the old man I never asked for it. He just said that it is a guardian of the family and they will eventually come to the person when the time has come. I asked why. That is your lineage. They will come and it was the time I was to receive mine. So I asked what is so great of having one. I don't want to end up a loonie. The old man said I will be able to manage it well. So I said since I never asked for it I will hold them by this pledge "Datang tak diundang, ragu-ragu pulang" (Cometh uninvited, leave if in doubt). It was the Malaysian commando slogan. I was worried it will disturb my life and I told this to the old man. He said if I find it to unbearable to carry, tell him and he will try to cast it away. He pointed out that I was like the only tree in a field and many will come under the tree. It is written. I would understand soon why I was chosen.
I was too dumbfounded to attain something I never asked for and I do not know what the future will be with this thing around me. It is something far-fetched to any average man in the coming years, Alhamdulillah, I didn't turn cuckoo.
So, I went back and immediately told my wife. And she just smiled. She then started to test me by asking me about 20 person I never known and suprisingly, my mouth just answered all the question without thinking. She just said all is true and correct. My mother-in-law has anticipated this will happen, It makes me further confused.
I decided to visit the old man again and again in order to understand what I am against or for. Most of the time I was asked to tag along as one of my friend wanted to understand tasauf. (more of this later) The abilities that I have now is too real to be true. And I was scared it will get to me and caused a major breakdown. With financial problem being faced at the time, another problem would definitely caused a meltdown.
Slowly, I started to gain abilities and if you watched Heroes, I was more like the character Matt Parkman. A person that can read people's mind. At first, it was very disturbing as you see people are sitting down idle in a cafe but in my head, I can hear words spoken when I looked at them. And sometimes, the voices were overpowering the mind. Till today, I just hate to be in a crowded area even after the voices can never rings in my head.
That was my first encounter with Saka, If time pemits, I will rant about the abilities, the family Saka and about the short-coursed tasauf. Crazy as it may sound, I encountered it. How I wished I didn't and lead a normal life.
Note: I was told by my brother when we hit 30, we will have this thing. Maybe through a different process but it always end up with a Saka being your sidekick for God knows how long. It stroked me that I was 28 when I got my Saka but after checking the Hijra calendar, I was exactly 30 on the 18 Jamadil Akhir 1419. I got my Saka on the 10th of October 1998! And the incidence matched exactly on that date. Wow, what a coincidence of time.
This was a test from Allah and it was really a tough test as I later come to know.
Till then.
Saka? What the hell is that? Sounds like Sucker? What do they suck? Blood? Soul?
This was my exact words when we talked about Saka many, many years ago. It was at Kg. Bahru. There were 2 of my buddies and and old guy whom is known as Abang Nuar. BTW That is not his real name. His real name is O.M. An ex-military guy in the Special Force. His last rank was Acting Brigadier General. An avid fisherman and even he was drawn as a caricature in Ujang comics. He is a man with a lot of stories and that was the magnet that pulled us to lepak with him after work.
My work is always on the go. I ride my brother Suzuki TRS to go to client's places. And work usually started at 11am till late in the morning. Since my friends stayed at one of the apartment, I usually hang out there before I go to my next appointment. BTW I don't have an office at that time. The only office was in Singapore.
I was introduced to Abang Nuar by my school days buddy, Ilham @ Rocky because he finds the old man kinda eccentric and guess I should blend well with the old coot.
Everytime we met him, there is always tales to tell. Suprisingly, after much researched, most of his tales ring true.
I was 27, just married a year before and already had my first child.
Facing the unseen has been mild. Being disturbed at the office in Bangsar, something knocking the doors in the middle of the night at my in-laws house, seeing a man in a green robe with my eyes closed and when opened, he is not there, sensing some black magic stuff buried exactly under my room just right after I got married are just some of it. I was still blurred with the unseen. Frankly speaking, seeing with my own eyes can be counted with one hand. I am surely glad Allah didn't give me the sight. I could turn bonkers if I do.
Back to the story. It became a routine for us to hang out at the old man's house. He is ever welcoming us to his place. Coffee and delicacies is always served. And together with it, strange stories always emerged. Sometimes gory and sometimes very P n C in military.
What interest me was the stories of his family. And since he is a Perakian Bugis, the stories really relates to my family. So I started to do an anthropology search of my family tree. And that was the start of my episode with Saka.
All this while, my dad never indulged any of the family background to me or to my siblings. All we were told that we do have a relationship with the Selangor Royals because we are from Bugis clan. I dig deeper and deeper. And I start matching the friends I've been with. Amazingly, from kindergarden to this day, most of my buddies are from royal blood. During my heydays as a teenager, my hangout will be at Raintree Club or at Lake Garden. Bear in mind at that time, I am just a kampung boy staying in a wooden house and life is very humble. How I can mixed with the upper echelon of society really didn't cross my mind. I was a kid having fun and I was always surrounded by them.
When I talked with the old man, I started to have the wanting to know I really am. I don't carry any titles and all my life, I am just an average joe. But there is something I can't put my fingers in. The old man have much interest on me. The time we chit-chatted increased. And when I showed my family tree to him, he just add the link to the tree. He told me I was from the seven siblings that came to Sabak Bernam from the Isle of Sulawesi. This is where the Bugis clan originates. The seven siblings are six brothers and one sister. All have a title Kanda in front of them. Kanda Long, Kanda Ngah, Kanda Lang, Kanda Uda, Kanda Andak, Kanda Itam and I can't remember what was the name given to the sister. She was the youngest. With the the family adhered strongly on Adat Temenggung. Hence the place was called Sabak Bernam and not, Sabak Bertujuh. I was told Kanda Lang is my lineage whereas Kanda Long is the old man's lineage. Wow. Suddenly, I am related to the old man. Talked about coincidence.
As the story goes, the family was a Royal family in Sulawesi. The father fed up with the politics and royal bickering decided to call it quit and declared he is stepping down from his throne. And he is also dropped the title given to his lineage. The throne was given to his younger brother and decided to go backpacking. he he he. Before he left, the brother gave him the title Kanda and after a research made, the Kanda clan do exist in Sulawesi and some still hold that title to this day. I was made to know a few years back by one of Selangor royal, the clan are located as the same area of the Selangor lineage in Sulawesi.
How true the story is I can't confirmed as I never been to Sulawesi and I never been to Sabak Bernam. But my interest to know who I really am was intense. I keep doing research after research in finding the family tree. I could say it is a mistake because I just fit in the criteria of a person about to encounter with Saka.
1998.
I just quit my job the year before and formed my first enterprise company, Azhar Animation Enterprise. (now defunct) Did three jobs and then the economy went bad. I was totally caught with my pants down. My savings dwindled to pennies and my family lived apart for almost a year. I did a lot of things to come by. Being a kuew tiauw cook, doing international banking were some of it. Proposals were made but none materialized as income. It was "kais pagi makan pagi, kais petang makan petang." But Allah is great. At a point there is no money to eat. I tend to find a RM5 in my jacket pocket. And I know there was none before that. Stressed as I maybe, the time to pray is never forgotten and doa for rezeki is never missed.
One day, my buddy asked me to come to Kg Baru. A friend of mine has a problem when he wants to approach a girl he liked. So I tag along. More curious of what the old man will do the help my poor friend. When we reached Kg Baru it was just after Isyak. I prayed at the old man house and after my prayer, the old man has asked my friend to get some lime. He is supposed to take a bath. While they are preparing, my heart says I to stay in the house. So I didn't. My friend was supposed to take the bath at the stairs. Suddenly, my buddies called me to come out as they seen something weird. All the limes supposed to be semi-floating in the water. Instead, all the limes are above the water with the bottoms touching the water surface. And yet, I still stay in the house. I felt I must not go outside. And I don't even know the reason why.
Once the bath was taken, then I felt it is time for me to go out. A step out and suddenly, the street lights just went off. The only lights lightening the streets was from KLCC. Looks so majestic. The point I reached the street, I felt there was a heavy burden on my shoulders. It was a bit awkward but I just shrugged it off.
When my friend whom taken the bath came out from the house, I was surprised. His face was like a neon light and it is really bright. I asked my other friend
"Ilham, do you see what I see."
He replied "Yeah... Zack. Why?"
"Ko tak nampak anything different?"
"No."
A word came to my mind. "Pahlawan." (Warrior) and the light just fade.
I turned to Ilham and suddenly a word came to my mind "Businessman"
I turned to my other friend, and the word says "Tamak" (Greed)
And this words came to my mind when I looked at them. It was crazy and I was totally blurred.
Suddenly the old man came out from the house. He said all the things he has done and it is up to my friend to do what he has to do. He turned to me and asked. "Bob, Ko tahu apa yang ada pada kau." (Do you know what you have with you?)
My remarks was "Tak tahu tapi rasanya berat je tanggungjawab dia. Berat bahu ni." (I don't know but I felt the responsibilities is big. It's a burden to my shoulder).
The old man just said. "Bagus, korang semua balik sekarang." (Good, now you all go home now}
In the car, I related what I saw at the street. I cautioned the one I saw greed to never take greed over his actions. What weird is all the words that came to me does relate a lot to the three of my friends. All have a twist in life. One has to know his real roots. One became a successful businessman and another, because of greed lost everything. But that is another story to be told later.
The next day, I dropped by because my friend wanted to meet the old man. Then, he told me what happened. While he was calling his unseen buddies, one figure totally not his buddy came. He wore a white robe with a serban. Looks exactly like me except the beard and hair are dyed in orange. The old man asked why are you here. And the thing said the time for the person out there has come. So the old man said go if you must. And that what happened last night.
He told me that it is my Saka. I told the old man I never asked for it. He just said that it is a guardian of the family and they will eventually come to the person when the time has come. I asked why. That is your lineage. They will come and it was the time I was to receive mine. So I asked what is so great of having one. I don't want to end up a loonie. The old man said I will be able to manage it well. So I said since I never asked for it I will hold them by this pledge "Datang tak diundang, ragu-ragu pulang" (Cometh uninvited, leave if in doubt). It was the Malaysian commando slogan. I was worried it will disturb my life and I told this to the old man. He said if I find it to unbearable to carry, tell him and he will try to cast it away. He pointed out that I was like the only tree in a field and many will come under the tree. It is written. I would understand soon why I was chosen.
I was too dumbfounded to attain something I never asked for and I do not know what the future will be with this thing around me. It is something far-fetched to any average man in the coming years, Alhamdulillah, I didn't turn cuckoo.
So, I went back and immediately told my wife. And she just smiled. She then started to test me by asking me about 20 person I never known and suprisingly, my mouth just answered all the question without thinking. She just said all is true and correct. My mother-in-law has anticipated this will happen, It makes me further confused.
I decided to visit the old man again and again in order to understand what I am against or for. Most of the time I was asked to tag along as one of my friend wanted to understand tasauf. (more of this later) The abilities that I have now is too real to be true. And I was scared it will get to me and caused a major breakdown. With financial problem being faced at the time, another problem would definitely caused a meltdown.
Slowly, I started to gain abilities and if you watched Heroes, I was more like the character Matt Parkman. A person that can read people's mind. At first, it was very disturbing as you see people are sitting down idle in a cafe but in my head, I can hear words spoken when I looked at them. And sometimes, the voices were overpowering the mind. Till today, I just hate to be in a crowded area even after the voices can never rings in my head.
That was my first encounter with Saka, If time pemits, I will rant about the abilities, the family Saka and about the short-coursed tasauf. Crazy as it may sound, I encountered it. How I wished I didn't and lead a normal life.
Note: I was told by my brother when we hit 30, we will have this thing. Maybe through a different process but it always end up with a Saka being your sidekick for God knows how long. It stroked me that I was 28 when I got my Saka but after checking the Hijra calendar, I was exactly 30 on the 18 Jamadil Akhir 1419. I got my Saka on the 10th of October 1998! And the incidence matched exactly on that date. Wow, what a coincidence of time.
This was a test from Allah and it was really a tough test as I later come to know.
Till then.
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