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| Abu Sufi Hassan a.k.a Dak Chupi |
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Hj. Mohd Yatim Hj Zainal
co-founder of Madrasah Ulu Gadong
with sibling Hj Mohd Yassin Zainal and Hj Haron Lassim |
When US President Barrack Hussein Obama followed a tight
schedules in the Malaysian Capital of Kuala Lumpur on 27 April 2014, Abu Sufi
Hassn and Ahmad Fadzil Yassin (TBS Alumni) had a busy schedule down south
reflecting the Bongek-Mompoghah Connection. These two alumni took their time
travelling the feeder road linking Bongek in the north to Kg. Perah (Mompoghah
as popularly known by the Gadong people) in the south and finally settled
themselves in the comfort of the A'Famosa Clubhouse with Tampin ex-DO cum TBS
62, Hj. Othman Rahid, the man from Kuala Sawah, a kampung about two km west of
Astana Raja. Along the way these two "otai" of the Waris Gadong
of the Biduanda clan kept themselves busy recalling moments in time how the
linkage of the Bongek-Mompoghah came into existence.It was the then one
Federal Minister Dato' Mokhtar Hashim who proposed the idea to build a feeder
road along the foothill of Banjaran Titiwangsa.
A moment to cherish as well. Starting in Bongek the two
"otai" glimpsed through the recent history of one kampung boy
by the name of Ismail Ambia, who received his first taste of education at the
Sekolah Melayu Bongek just a few meters from the Tampin-Seremban Main Road
junction with the feeder road. Ismail then went to Gvernment English School
Tampin (which later renamed Tunku Besar School Tampin after Merdeka in
1957.This was the boy who later became Malaysian Ambassador.He and one other
kampung boy by the name of Abu Sufi Hassan became close friends within
diplomatic staff. Abu Sufi or Dak Chupi as he is popularly known as a
Gadong Darek boy was fortunate to have Ismail as his boss. Ismail was very
cordial and friendly and yet plain and simple and so was his wife, Datin Ruhani
Yunus, TBS 1958 (?).
Then there were two famous sons of the Gadong-Tanah Datar
families in the religious circle: They were the two Kadis, one each from
Gadong and Tanah Datar. The one from Gadong was the "Orang Semenda"
Tok Kadi Hj. Abbas, who was Abu Sufi's Grandfather. Another was Tok Kadi Rembau
Utara, Tuan Haji Yatim Hj. Zainal, who became "orang Semenda" of Ulu
Gadong. The Madrasah of Ulu Gadong was later renamed after him as Sekolah
Menengah Agama Haji Mohd Yatim of Ulu Gadong. Haji Mohd. Yatim has a younger
sibling, Hj. Yassin, the co-founder of the Madrsah. The father of these two
siblings were from Gadong Baruh, had a younger sister named Lamah, who had a
son-in-law from Chengkau, Cikgu Abbas Ali, translator of Rembau Sejarah
Perlembagaan Adat Istiadatnya (Jawi version). The book was originally written in English by C.W. C Parr
and W.H.Mckray printed in 1953.
Popular among the Gadong-Tanah Datar folks were the two
penghulus: Penghulu Haji Bakar and Penghulu Abd. Ghani. They were "orang
Semenda". There was another "orang semenda" also a penghulu,
named Penghulu Mizan Maah, the younger brother of the late Undang Rembau, Dato'
Haji Adnan Maah. Another famous "orang Semenda" of the Tanah Datar
clan was the Datuk Samsura Pahlawan, one Tiang Balai Undnag, The hereditary
title was from Mungkal clan. He
was Aji Hussein, married to a Tanah Datar woman, Halimah, who was related to
former minister, Dato' Shaziman Abu Mansor and the current Minister of Youth
and Sports, Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar
