Of Buah Nona and Tok Yek...

This is my story. The happening was in the midforties. It is a story of my childhood living in a Kampong [village] in Kuantan. Then the Kampong was known as Tanah Putih. Behind this kampong is Kampong Tengah where most of the Malay lives at that time. We live in a traditional Malay house with a Chinese neighbor who built a typical Chinese house that is on the ground. At that time there was hardly any house built on the ground. All houses especially the Malay house are built aboveground. Near our house is about two acres of Rubber plantation. Between the trees are bushes which became our playground. It is also a place where we went collecting dried wood for the fuel, for at that time all cooking was done by burning firewood. So it was sort of a ritual to go collecting firewood and stack it under the house to be used when needed. Electricity and running water has yet to come to this rural community in Kuantan.

Across our house on the other side of the road there was a rather dilapidated Malay house and this is where Tok Yek and his family live. I was then about five years old and to me Tok Yek is an old man who in his spare time acts as a sage or medicine man to folks in this small community which includes our family. In Malay he is often referred to as the Dukun or Pawang or Bomoh. But to me he is just a Dukun whom we often call to the house to cure or healed the sick. To make a living he works at the Sanitation Board which we Malay at that time just call it as Stribot. It was later when I went to school that I realized that Stribot is actually Sanitation Board. It is an institution during the colonial era that takes care of the sanitation of the district. When he is not working especially in the afternoon onward he would sit under the Nona tree and do his daily ritual of sharpening his tools of parang, knife and cangkul using a Sharpening Block of rock. The rock has slightly turned on the upside into a semicircular shape for the many years of using it as a Sharpening Block. I would often go and watch him sharpening his tools and never during all the years spoke to him unless spoken to which is rather rare. I just watch and actually fascinated with the way he patiently sharpening his tools. Behind him is the Nona tree which at times has fruits hanging from the branches. Funny though that up till now I still could picture the tree and the fruits as vividly as ever with that Tok Yek bending down doing his work careless of his surrounding. He too never spoke much; it was just me watching him and him working with his tool in silence. In my little mind I began to adore him as a grand sage of sort and wanted to know more about his ritual of healing folks but never got the courage to ask. Anyway he was part of the story of my life. That is the reason I had titled this posting as such. That old man is Tok Yek to me for I do not really know what his real name is. He is Tok Yek to all in the community and he remains so to me. And I like this old man.

In the forties there are not that many doctors around and most are at the Government Hospital which is some three kilometers away from our Kampong. Other than that there were two private practitioners in the Kuantan town and most folks could not afford to go to see the private doctors when they get sick. Either goes to the Government Hospital where one had to wait for hours to get attention or go and see the local Dukun or in the western world is know as the medicine man. Tok Yek is the Dukun that I would call when someone get sick in the house. He would always say that he would come over in a moment and he never failed to be there when needed. His service was of a civic nature and never once did I hear him asking for payment or something like that. He would give advice and then leaves with a prayer that the patience recovered.

I have always loved the Buah Nona or the Custard Apple and would buy it when it appears in the market. And then I thought that why not I grow this plant and see whether it would bear fruits like that plant at Tok Yek's house. Buah Nona have many seeds so I decided to try to grown this plant from the seeds. And I just did that by planting the seeds in a flowerpot. After a few months the seeds in the pot germinate and that really excite me. As it grows I move it to a bigger pot to see whether it would really grow into a tree. As it grows I move it to a patch of enclosure on the ground and plant it there. After months of waiting it did grow into a full-blown tree like the one I saw in my childhood days in the Kampong. And soon I began to see flowers, not many, only one or two here and there. Unlike the ordinary flower this one does not have any color; it just look like a small buds light green in color. I kept nurturing it with the help of my spouse and eventually it bears it first fruits. I was delighted to see that first fruits and soon learn that one must not allow this fruits to ripen on the tree. It must be pick up at the right time and let it ripen in the house. If it is left to ripen on the tree it would get soft and fell to the ground and wasted. If it is pluck when soft it does not taste as good, it is less sweet then the one that has been picked just in time for it to ripen on your table. Now it is the favorite tree of my spouse who nurtured it with love. Thus it continues to bear fruits all the year around.

The mystic of Tok Yek's Pokok Nona now live on in our backyard garden. Providing us with a regular supply of that exotic fruits Buah Nona. The fruits has many seeds that are hard and one must have the patience to enjoy the fruits. The flesh around the seeds is just like custard; thus I believe the reason it is call Custard Apple in English. The trees now stand majestically in my little garden, except that there is no longer anyone under that tree sharpening his knife and other working tools. But my childhood memory of that image of Tok Yek working under the Pokok Nona [Custard Apple tree] is still as vivid as ever. Nostalgic indeed!

Have a nice day folks. [Please click the image to enlarge]