The person who has the greatest influence in me is none other than my adorable, beloved father. He was Abdullah Bin Hj. Abdul Jabbar. He had passed away seventeen years ago. If he were still around he might be seventy seven years old now.
He is not only my best friend and my idol but also my favourite father ever.
There are many reasons why he was so well liked by me. First of all, he was always so kind, thoughtful and generous. He continually listened to our ideas and thoughts. At the end of the session, he would clarify clearly the pros and cons of our opinions and views and he would clearly say the Al Quran Verses that related to the issues discussed. The way he related and clarified things make it easy for us to understand and usually managed to help us in making a better decision. He always shared with us the prophetical stories regarding the issues discussed.
I really appreciated the moment we shared together even though to me it was the shortest time ever, because I am the youngest sibling thus when I was about to be a teenager he was already in his sixties. He was a special man. Some of my neighbours called him Pak Imam. Some other villagers called Pak Lah. Others called Pak Dollah, The closer relatives called Pak Talib, but to me he is my beloved and adorable father ever. He inspired me whenever I am lack in confident.
He did not talk much but smile and always folded his tobacco leaves carefully so that they would not tear and he spreaded the dried tobacco in the two dried tobacco leaves nicely. The way he folded his tobacco cigarette foreshadows his wisdom and compassionate. He smokes especially in his leisure hours, to find the inspiration to share beneficial stories with us.
I still remember that breakfast will end until lunch hours because all of us immersed in his prophetical educational stories. My mum also would also be joining us and later when she realized that we have not prepared lunch, she will act as if we were at fault. After lunch hours we will continue listening to his stories. He was the best story teller ever. I had never listened to good stories after my father passed away. I met two doctors whom came from Indonesia, visiting us purposely to listen to his myth and prophetical stories. They stayed with us for three days.
He had a widespread knowledge as he was a sailor when he was fifteen years old. He speaks English and Arabic. He teaches Al-Quran reciting to the old folks and the teenagers. Most of them really like learning with him because he translated the verses into Malay. He speaks Javanese only when he meets the Javanese. He never speaks Java as my mum could not speak it. So all of us his children did not have the chance to listen to it. In other words we could not speak java.
His knowledge on history was adorable .He spoke Burmese and Siamese too. He stayed there when his ship stucked in Burma or now known as Myammar for more than half a year due to ship wrecked and he really well-versed in these two languages.
He had many friends of all categories businessmen, politicians, villagers etc. They came to our wooden house in big and modern cars. They always seek his advices in making a wiser and better decision. He really portrayed a decent typical Malay man moreover with his tanned skin and thick neat eyebrows that clearly showed us that he is a thinkable person meanwhile his sharp pointed nose and straight thick black hair portrayed that he is honest and humble.
His hard work and perseverance made him a calm and adorable person. To me he is a fabulous father because he managed to educate the nine of us to be a respected people. He inspired me to be a better person and of course given a better impact to my life. I really hope that I can pass on the same qualities on to my kids, if I ever had, my nephews and nieces or if I had the chance at least to the future generation.
