12 January 2012

All in the Family ( Part 2 ) – From Adam to Adam

Over forty years ago, a young couple indeed we were when we received the much awaited news of the coming of our first baby. And during the next nine months we were made to wonder in suspense whether it was a boy or a girl, whether it was just one or more, and hoping all was going to be a gift with perfect features and all. Baby scanning was not even a dream. In many ways, however, the months of expectation, suspense, dream and prayers were all part of the pleasure. Much of the thrill is lost today, not unlike watching a replay of a football final when the score is already known.

And the pleasure of trying to arrive at a suitable name for our first one was an added pleasure. We borrowed and we bought books of names to make our list of preferred names. And it had to be a boy’s and a girl’s name, with contingency added in the event of more than one. But how would one arrive at a name or two? What criteria and basis were to apply? At long last, after much deliberation and brainstorming, the name/names had to start with alphabet ‘A’. You see we went so far as to assume that the yet-to-be born babe would be clever enough to go into a university, and at the end of each year the child should not find it difficult to find his/her name from the long list of passes! It had to be among the top few name! It was beyond belief that the result could appear on a small screen held in your palm, wherever you choose to be.

So we had Ainun followed by Amran and Anwar – just three? Pakcik had wanted a full dozen, or even more, but three times on the operation table was enough for any mother to go through in the 60’s. Our Dr McCoy advised against going for number four. ( Note: Dato’ Dr McCoy is a founder member of Malaysian Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (MPPNW) and has been its chairman since 1989. He is Co-President of International Physicians for the Preventive of Nuclear War (IPPNW). Disappointed, we conceded.

Our number one herself started the short list of four children whose names begin with ‘A’ except for an ‘S’. The ‘S’, for Sulaiman, was our special request in honour of the child’s great-grand-father, a scholar who died at the young age of 39. Like her mother, Ainun herself cannot go for a dozen or more, beating her mother by having four. The fourth was named after our first prophet ( Alaihissalaam), ADAM, and the first of human race.

The list continued with Aisyah, the first ‘Hawa’ in the list of our grandchildren, and finally Adam. We never asked why it should be Adam. But it could very well be the last child. If Makcik found three was enough, our daughter was brave enough to go for four
___________________________
I have a younger sister in my family, whose name does not begin with ‘A’. She has three children none of whom carries a name with ‘A’, and yet they are successful in life. Her youngest daughter, now in the Hague with her husband, delivered her first baby three months ago. It was a very pleasant surprise for us to know that this first baby was named Adam. This new family of three returned during the recent Christmas holidays.

And for the first time the two ADAMS, sons of two cousins, met.

Ainun & the two Adams (8 yr & 5 m)

We can only pray and hope that these two Adams ( both born in August) are blessed, will live up to their auspicious name, and be humane enough to be of service to mankind.


Berkhidmat kerana Tuhan untuk kemanusiaan.

32 comments:

realitylane said...

Dearest Wah
Your (both you and CikNgah) prayers and hopes mean a lot to us. We still have a lot to learn in life, and the arrival of baby Adam adds a whole new world of lessons and discoveries. To know that we are, for now, the main source of influence on this one person's life, is humbling indeed. We can only hope that 30-40 years from now we too can look back with satisfaction that we have done our part well, as you and our own parents have.

thank you for always being there for us. It is a blessing to know that Adam is born into a wonderfully caring extended family.

love from The Hague,
Adam, Karina and Halim.

naniasda said...

Pakcik,
Even though baby scanning was already available during my child bearing years, my doctor preferred not to reveal their sex to me and told me to let it be a surprise! All the best to your Adams :)

Temuk said...

Don't you think that the two Adams look alike in certain ways? Semoga mereka menjadi insan-insan yang berjaya dunia dan akhirat. Insya-Allah.

My first son was still-born, under the care of Dr. McCoy at the PJ Asunta Hospital, in December 1973. I was at Reading, then, following a short course. My dear wife was so surprised to see me at the ward to take her home, and a week later to Reading.

kaykuala said...

Dear Pak Cik,
I can relate to the anxiety, concern,suspense and finally relief and joy of the first-born. Adura was born on Sept 03,1972. The last 4 digits of my h/p is 3972 to remind me of the occasion (It was easy to choose nos before) Adura was delivered at Pantai Hosp by...you've guessed, Dr McCoy himself. What a coincidence!
My elder son also went through Dr McCoy's trusted hands.The ladies were happy with Dr McCoy as he addressed them as 'Love' every time during examination (Mak Cik can confirm this!)

Hank

kaykuala said...

Dear Pak Cik,
Another coincidence that I share with both Adams. I was also born in August (the 1st to be exact). That makes me a Leo (which my loving wife often detest complaining I 'bossed her around' That's Leo,can't help it!

Hank

Al-Manar said...

Dear Karina and Halim,

When Wah noticed 'Adam,Krina and Halim' at the foot of your comment my spontaneous reaction was the AKH, my initials as preferred by Mat Salehs during my working life with them, 30-40 years ago.

Yes, just a matter of 30-40 years! Then like your parents and us you will be looking down the memory lane with a sigh and wish - if only our old beloved folks had lived to see today.

We own today but are never certain of tomorrow.

Love from us to AKH
Wah & Cik Ngah

Al-Manar said...

Naniasda

It calls for true will-power to deny oneself the pleasure of knowing the unknown for those many months.

"Mami didn't you care to know whether I was a boy or girl?" How would you respond to such a question from your kids?

Hope your children will grow as you would wish them to be

Wan Sharif said...

May Allah's pleasure and Maghfirah be for us and our loved one sokmo

Al-Manar said...

Temuk,

You lost your first in 1973? I am sorry to hear that. We live to accept that there is 'hikmah' in such an apparent tragedy. The loss must be a terrible blow especially after you had made the trip back from Reading.So the trip with your wife back to Reading was a second honeymoon.

My third was delivered by the same doctor in 1972 at the Chinese Maternity Hospital, the first two at the PJ Assunta.

I hope the loss of your first has been well compensated.

Ismail aka Pak Mail said...

Pakcik,

I wonder if Dr Mccoy is of Scottish descent.
By the way, naming our new-born child is quite a headache. I just let my wife do this task to all my four kids.

Al-Manar said...

Hank,

You can see that around 1972/1973 the three of us, you, Temuk and I might have crossed one another's path in KL. As I commented under Temuk's comment, my first boy was born in 1972 - in July, making him about two months older to your Adura.

Does a Leo 'boss' people around? Does explains how I get myself bossed around by my wife!

You are right about that likable doctor. My wife comfirms so. Life is full of coincidences.

By the way, your poems are getting me around the bend. They are too good, too difficult, for me to comprehend. I need them one degree lower.

Al-Manar said...

Ayah Wang,

Amiin to your doa.

Ujang lebatlah sekarang. Anging pong bedaung. Tok soh balek Tgganu le ni. Tunggu lepah ari rayer Cine.

Al-Manar said...

PakMail,

I would have thought that you named your kids after the names of great battle ships and submarines, launching them with breaking of champagne bottles and all! You are a true gentleman, PakMail, honouring your wife the pleasure.

Yes, I am sure he is of Scottish descent.

Anonymous said...

Pakcik,

My sister safely delivered her twins this afternoon. Both weigh about 1.8kg each. Alhamdulillah.

Miss you both,
Azmiera

Wan Sharif said...

Kena balik gok sebentar on 28 anak sdara nnikoh di Marang.. Gi jengok mok sebentar dan hungga balik pasal anak nok kena ke sekolah.. Kekgi bila senang ..ada umor gi jjengok kalang maräh deh...

Al-Manar said...

Azmiera,

Congratulations to the big auntie. Suggest to your sister to name the twins, Adam Ahad and Adam Ithnin! By the time you become a dentist the twins will need the big auntie to extract their milk teeth.

I hope your dad is well.

kaykuala said...

Pak Cik,
The poems,yes.I face trying times to understand them also.It is the same with Malay sajak. This happens when the blogger writes without indicating the context of situation. Most times it was guess-work trying to understand them.

Hank

Anonymous said...

I have 1 loyal staff by the name of Agus. He is just like a brother to me. Recently, his mom passed away and made him yatim piatu. I rename him 'ADAM' and he is going to be my brother dunia akhirat.Insyallah.


Syarud

naliahmad said...

dear pakchik, we told the doctors doing the scannings beforehand, that we did not want to know whether it's a boy or a girl. this request caused some raised eyebrows a few times. but they respected our wishes and told us everything except that. one doctor, while making rounds, came to my ward and upon seeing that i had had a baby girl, laughed and said, 'a baby girl, right? i had known that when i scanned you but you hadn't allowed me to tell you...' well,doc...it's more fun to know whether it' a boy or girl after he/she is born. makes the gift that much more complete.

Al-Manar said...

Hank,

Thank you my friend. I am somewhat relieved to know I am not alone.

Al-Manar said...

Syarud,

You are really fantastic, renaming someone. Perhaps I will meet him one day at your shop, and you too, of course. I pray everything is looking up for you.

Al-Manar said...

Nali,

You spoke from experience. I wonder how you went about gathering suitable names to meet your criteria. To think of it, if you had chosen 'Z' to begin your series you would have had Zamrud, Zahrah, Zaman, Zaitun, Z ... Z ..and so on! Is there any sign of another grand coming? Now is the time to start inventing names.

norzah said...

Akhi Pakcik Al-Manar, I finally caught up on your blog again after groping for a long while with a new desktop which did not carry all the files in my former machine.

Your posting as usual has that human quality which makes you feel very human again, relating aspects of life which we have all gone through and can easily identify with. May Allah bless all the children and grandchildren that were fortunate enough to have you and your wife as the parents or grandparents. They might not realize how lucky they are.

I hope everything's going well with you, your wife and all the children who have turned to you for help in their studies. May Allah give you the strength and means to help them to brighten up their future.

Azang said...

Sir, thank you for the email. I am terribly sorry for the long delay in replying. Got to know about the mail today. Salam, sir. Good to know ya!

Bergen

naliahmad said...

dear pakchik, yep...from experience indeed. lots and lots of it. to answer your question, starting with our first baby, my husband and i had decided to wait and name the baby on the 7th day of his/her life. thus our first born was named sakinah because she had been such a tranquil and peaceful baby the first 7 days of her life. with a full tummy and dry diapers, she could be the most contented of babies and never gave any trouble at all. with the 2nd child, a boy, we had wanted to have a son who would bear the name abdullah, abdulrahman or muhammad. so he was named abdulrahman on the 7th day. the third had been so fond of his blanket and would sleep so peacefully in it. we also found out that he could be very easily comforted by wrapping him up in his blanket that we named him muzzammil. hubby had wanted to have a daughter named fatimah, after the beloved daughter of our beloved Prophet, thus the fourth was named fatimah. and so on and so forth...there has been a lot of history and events regarding the naming of our children but i don't want you to fall asleep in front of your pc. just that as the number of children grew, we had had a bit of a scramble in meeting the 7 day deadline. when our second youngest son was named muhammad, just muhammad, people laughed and said that we must have finally run out of ideas...
grandchild number 3 is well on the way. we leave the naming of the babies entirely up to the parents. let them have the pleasure....and the confusion and anxiety and headache and the frustration of having so many names in mind and only one baby...

Al-Manar said...

Norzah,

It is heartening to read what you have put in words. We are all humans asking for nothing more than a life blessed with peace and happiness. Thank you.

You write what you see going on around us, nothing personal but it concerns us in the final analysis. It is a shame that the reality is such that people who matter are too preoccupied to see what has been swept under he carpet or stacked away in the wardrobe.

I have more occasions losing my records from my computer, computers rather (three in fact). I think running more than one, is a cause for my problems. The thought of a crash, that I have experienced twice, makes me hop from one laptop to another - and the truth is I am not competent enough even with one!

Al-Manar said...

Bergen,

It was so much unlike you - not responding to a salutation! Do not worry. To err is human, let alone an oversight.

WhiteSabre said...

Salam pakcik...
insyaAllah i'll be going back to Kuantan this CNY,hopefully i can visit you...are you in Terengganu?

Al-Manar said...

Nali,

Haven't you promised to run a blog? You have more fascinating tales than any one else I know to post fascinating tales. Truth is stranger than fiction.

Tell the parents of your number three grandchild to read this posting, and insist on some form of pattern like Alif , Ba Ta or A, B, C. With a bit of luck the lineage may shoot past Ya or Z!

I wonder what's become of our friend Nordin, all quiet suddenly.Hope all is well with him and family.

Al-Manar said...

WhiteSabre,

We will be in KT. Please call 019 9839703 to be sure we are not celebrating CNY ! It is better if you call to tell expected time you will be around. Look forwards to seeing you, and your wife.

ninotaziz said...

Dear Pakcik,

A name from the past! Is that Dr McCoy from Assunta university? He delivered my younger sister,Zuraidah and my Mum remembers him with fondness.

Pakcik, Would be much obliged if you can send me your address by email. Have something for your library and older school children.

Salam,


Ninot

Al-Manar said...

Ninot,

Yes, one and the same doctor. Our first two were delivered at Assunta and the third he had it delivered at the Chinese Maternity Hospital, not Assunta, for 'ethical' reasons according to him.

I am not surprised you too were delivered by that wonderful man.