The story of a nation is seen in the lives of its people. The Malaysian Insight speaks to citizens who were born in 1957 and are as old as Malaya’s independence. They tell their stories to give us a glimpse of what being Malaysian means to them.

NOR Ajemah Ismail’s story is the story of shifts in the Malaysian landscape, of people moving from the rural outskirts to townships, embracing development yet finding that it is not equal for everyone.

She remembers life before that big move, as a child watching the Merdeka celebrations in 1967, in awe at being in Kuala Lumpur away from her kampung in Kuala Selangor.

“I was 10 years old at that time, the place was so crowded,” she said of the Merdeka the parade along Jalan Kuching.

“I can’t remember the leaders who were there but I remember the motorcycle stunts. Coming from a kampung, it was a new experience for me,” she said.

According to the national archives, about 50,000 people attended that celebration, watching the parade that involved around 4,000 personnel from the police force, army and voluntary organisations. 

For Ajemah, the experience was alien compared with her life in Bukit Belimbing in Kuala Selangor, a district of fishing kampung along Sungai Selangor.

Ajemah’s father was a fisherman and like the rest of their community, relied on good weather to put food on the table. 

“He used a small boat so if it were monsoon season, he wasn’t able to work. And the fish he caught weren’t for sale, it was just for us. He only sold cockles in the kampung. 

“Since we couldn’t afford to buy a fridge, all the fish would be cured in salt or dried, so that we could preserve them. 

“But there were times when we only ate tapioca that we grew ourselves because my father was not able to go fishing.”

Ajemah also recalled the times when the family were dependent on well water.

“There was no running water in our kampung. The government only provided a pipe every few kilometres for drinking water. The well water was for washing and bathing purposes,” said the pensioner.

She remembers falling down a well one afternoon when she tried to draw some water.

“I fell with a bucket and had to cling on it while shouting for help. I had passed out by the time I was rescued. 

“I can’t forget this incident as it almost took my life and it always reminds me how difficult it was to get water back then.”

Moving for education

“There was no secondary school in my kampung. If we wanted to continue our secondary education, we would have to take a bus or cycle to Kuala Selangor for about 4km and take a small ferry to reach the school on the other side of the river. 

“My aunty then offered me a place to live with her in Petaling Jaya. My mum welcomed the idea or else my parents would have to buy me a bicycle to commute, something that we couldn’t afford to do,” the third child of 14 siblings said.

Once she left her kampung at 13 in 1970, there was no turning back for Ajemah.

She spent her teenage years in Petaling Jaya, living with her aunt whose home became a base for more relatives from rural areas to send their children for secondary education.

Petaling Jaya was then a satellite town, founded in 1952 to cater to the population spillover from neighbouring Kuala Lumpur.

“My aunt didn’t have a big house. It was just a three-bedroom house where she hosted her nieces and other relatives,” she said.

The house was on Jalan 229, Petaling Jaya. Both Ajemah’s aunt and uncle worked as primary school teachers. 

She attended two English-stream schools in Petaling Jaya before changing to a Malay-medium school in Kg Baru. 

Ajemah added that she had to attend private schools after Form Three as she needed to repeat her Lower Certificate Education (LCE) if she wanted to finish her secondary schooling.  

“Private schools weren’t that expensive back then, plus I wanted to repeat my LCE because my results were not that good. And I used my own money I earned from working at a factory during school holidays.”

After finishing secondary school, she had only one mission – to find a job to help her family back in the village. 

“I never thought about tertiary education because I had younger brothers and sisters who still needed to finish their schooling. 

“Even when was a kid, I never thought of becoming an engineer or a doctor. Those jobs were not exposed to us who lived in the kampug. 

“The highest we aspired to was to become a teacher. For boys, it was to become a soldier because we used to see them on patrol in our kampung.”

Ajemah, who now lives in a low-cost house in Bandar Tasik Selatan with her husband, Abu Hassan Ismail, said she started working as a clerk at a Chinese shop on Jalan Ipoh before joining the civil service in 1979. 

“I started with a RM200 salary. It was quite a lot for me.”

Ajemah said she considered herself successful “for a fisherman’s daughter” as she managed to escape from the hard life her parents lived. 

“I just want everyone in Malaysia to be able to live a decent life. We have developed so much in terms of infrastructure but why they are still people who are left behind?

“Every Malaysian should be able to have and enjoy basic necessities in life, like access to water, food and affordable homes.” – September 2, 2017.