Two weeks ago, a lecturer at the Tengku Ampuan Afzan teaching institute in Kuala Lipis, Pahang invited me to put up a stall at the institute to promote my books. He asked if I could attend from 20-24th October as there's was an upcoming event involving people from teaching institutes all over Malaysia.
This lecturer is a big fan of my "Berpetualang ke Aceh" trilogy of novels. He wanted to help me promote the books, so after verifying my schedule for the affected time-frame, I decided to come but only for one day, on Wednesday 22 Oct...
So there I was arriving just before 9am. After attending a function at Kampung Baru the previous evening where I was also asked to promote my books, I immediately head for Raub to sleep at my late grandmother's place. The next morning, I rushed to Kuala Lipis and set up the stall.
Too bad the location of the stall which was at the institute's cafetaria proved to be a poor choice. Later did I learned that there was a miscommunication between the lecturer who invited me and another lecturer who actually laid out this spot. You see, the first lecturer already informed his colleagues and students that I would be coming. It's just that I was supposed to set up stall at another place, closer to the on-goings. Too bad, he had to go to Melaka and was not around.Instead, the other lecturer who was supposed to assist me in his absence thought the cafetaria would be the main centre of attraction... in-between the on-going events, that is. As it turned out, the people were converging by the numbers elsewhere.
Never mind, at least there's some who passed this way. Some did have a look at the books (and the DVD, I also brought my recently self-published "Sekitar Perjanjian Pangkor 1874" or "Around the Pangkor Treaty of 1874" DVDs) and grabbed a few. Otherwise, I would have been reduced to being a complete fool waiting at some non-event...
Logistically and economically, it was a bad trip for me. Imagine having to attend a function in Kuala Lumpur until evening then rushing to Raub some 110km away after escaping the madness of Kelang Valley traffic jam only by 9pm. Then the next morning, I had to rush another 70km to get to this teaching institute only to set up a stall with not much people in sight. As it is, the following morning, I have to be back in the Kelang Valley, in Petaling Jaya to deliver a speech on being Malay and what it means... So I didn't have much rest in between. But yet, I drove to Kuala Lipis because I respected the first lecturer's efforts to help promote my books and his invitation.
Miscommunications, logistics and economics aside, visiting the institute has its good points. At least it proved my commitment and words. When I say I would do something, I would do it regardless of the obstacles and rewards. And at least ammenities such as the bridge above made the trip rather worthwhile...
A look at another part of the institute...
Parts of it look like a hill resort...
And here's the lobby to the main office. That's all! :]
Demikianlah kenangan saya dengan saudara Radhi Shafie.
ReplyDeleteWaktu itu adalah musim temu duga pengambilan guru-guru pelatih baru dan saya tiba-tiba mendapat arahan bertugas di Maktab Perguruan Perempuan Melayu Melaka.
Semuanya telah diatur dengan baik, tapi yang mengecewakan kenapa pameran Merah Silu dialihkan ke lokasi lain, tidak di sisi dewan besar tempat berlangsungnya majlis seperti yang saya cadangkan?
Pensyarah berkenaanlah puncanya. Saya tidak tahu apakah sebabnya. Pameran itu memang telah diizinkan oleh Pengarah Maktab sendiri walaupun waktu itu tidak ada sebarang aktiviti pameran.
Saya memang rasa teramat kecewa. Saya juga malu dan rasa bersalah terhadap saudara Radhi Shafie!
Kalau tidak disebabkan peristiwa itu, mungkin saya akan menjemput berkali-kali lagi saudara Merah Silu untuk menyertai banyak lagi program-program maktab yang lain yang lebih besar dan mungkin juga ceramah. Tapi, saya khuatir kalau-kalau Merah Silu telah serik dengan saya.
Apapun Allah barangkali takdirkan kami bertemu kembali di Paguh. Insya-Allah, jika dikehendaki-Nya saya akan hadir.
Tak mengapa tuan. Perkara dah lepas. Dan saya tahu bukan salah tuan. Ketika itu kalau tak salah ingatan ada 3-4 orang lagi mempamerkan atau menjual buku, semuanya di tempat sama yang hampir tiada orang datang atau lalu. Saya pun tak faham kenapa boleh jadi begitu. Pada masa itu memang saya merasa seperti dipermain2kan, datang jauh2 penat2 dibuat seperti bodoh begitu...
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