A Father's Little Diary from a Son's Perspective

From right to left, Zainal Salam (My Dad), Jalani Sidek, and three other Victoria Institution (VI) colleagues

So I found this picture on facebook; frankly speaking, I was stalking my dad's abandoned facebook account - well, what do you expect from a facebook profile of a busy man in a university's engineering department? He's the man who holds the positions of a dean, a professor and the head of UTM's special organization pertaining to electrical engineering which I can't instantly recall on top of my head. In short, he's a man of his own field.

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Sembahyang zuhur berapa rakaat?


5!


Salah, 4. Sembahyang subuh? 


3!


Salah, 2. Sembahyang isyak?


.....4!

It was a pretty and sunny evening in Birmingham, England (when my dad was doing his doctorate in the UK) and it was after Zuhur time when he asked me these questions. I was 4 and knew nothing more about the prayers than following my father to the mosque, being left at the back lines (saf), observing people do the prayers, and randomly following them. 

The anecdote was  pretty clear though: both of us were holding hands, walking from mosque to home.  Every time I threw him wrong answers, he'd smile and correct me. I learned that I kept on giving numbers that are plus one to the actual answer. So the next time he would ask me about the rakaats, I would subtract 1 from the answer that was at the back of my head.

I learnt reading the Quran (mengaji) from my mum. I remember Umi held me to my dad twice to learn the arabic alphabets; I ended up crying in front of him. I wasn't really sure why I wept  but i guess it was because I somehow developed some kind of fear towards my dad. There was this scary feeling when he asked me to correctly pronounce the letters. It was like facing a police officer in an interrogation room or a death trial in a court. Even when I grow up, the hidden fear still exists but as I get older, it turns out the fear becomes a source of respect. 

Once, we stopped by a Rest Area (R&R). There was a salesman busy promoting fluorescent lamps which he claims could save a good amount of energy hence reducing the amount to pay electric bills. He was convincing people who passed by and it happened that we bumped into this guy. It was to my astonishment that my dad argued with him and proved him wrong about his claim of saving electrical energy. And to my amazement, my father asked him for a pen and paper and gave him a free lecture to disprove the invalid claim. "Engkau ni, macam orang jual air mineral, tapi letak air paip dalam botol"

Up to this point, he had taught me a lot of life experience, be it directly or indirectly. He is a man of wisdom. He's an exemplary of engineering scholar. He's a man of piety. And ultimately, he's a hero at heart. 

‎"By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he's wrong" ~Charles Wadsworth~