THE BONGEK-MOMPOGHAH CONNECTION OF ABU SUFI-OTHMAN RASHID

Abu Sufi Hassan a.k.a Dak Chupi

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