Growing Up in Trengganu by Awang Goneng
Publisher: Monsoon Books
Author: Awang Goneng
Page: 336
Year of issue: 2007
Language: English
"Trengganu did exist once, as Terengganu does now. I grew up in the former and live now outside the latter, so in the title of this book and in the writing herein it is Trengganu for me, tra-la-la.' — Awang Goneng
'Growing Up in Trengganu' started life as the blog of Awang Goneng (pen name of writer Wan A. Hulaimi) until it was found to be too good to exist only in cyberspace. Through a collection of memories retold in glorious colour, Awang Goneng evokes the pleasures of a kampung childhood for the benefit of new generations brought up in air-conditioned condominiums. Listen to the azan call to prayer from the surau of Haji Mat Kerinci, order satay with toast for breakfast, meet notables such as Tun Long the laundry man and Cik Wook Payong Löcöh, whose umbrella turned inside out in a storm, and relive the pleasures of hearing the rain hammer down on a corrugated-iron roof while reading 'The Beano' and eating kuih putu.
Sultans, sweetmeat sellers and shopkeepers all act as springboards as you meander through Trengganu history, and by the end of this book you will have painlessly mastered the 'Trengganuspeak' that foils even fellow Malaysians.