By Tokwan Nasir

In the early 1970s, I started going to high school in Alor Setar Town; Sultan Abdul Hamid College.

The afternoon session during Form One afforded me time and space to tour my favourite sites of Alor Setar.

Jeans and sports shoes on display at the shops caught my imagination. I could not afford them at that point.

I was storing up images with an accompanying plan.

Store up. Keep this desire, wishing that I must get them at some point in the future!

In the meantime, I would focus on tangible aspirations. A standout attraction in Alor Setar then was the movie theatre, the Empire Theatre. Screenings were mostly Hindustani (Hindi) films. Interestingly, at the sidewalks, “vendors” would be peddling a range of drugs.

The Empire Theatre at the time of the 1956 screening of Anakku Sazali

Once the movie was screened, they would pack up.

While this bit would not land in journals and journalistic notes, many Kedahans of my generation would cherish their memory of Mi Tonggek.

Empire Theatre moviegoers and virtually everyone else knew of Mi Tonggek.

Outside the Empire Theatre, closer to the main entrance, there was this Mamak serving fried noodles.

This makan-place featured a few benches minus the tables. One would develop a posture – perched on the bench; keep the plate within striking distance and your worries would waft away.

Planning ahead, I would often pack the noodles for school. A plate would cost you 20 sen.

Saturday was the busiest day in Alor Setar.

Alor Setar in 1974 did not feature too many cars. It was filled with humanity.

The bus was everyone’s preferred mode of transport. Getting a bus-seat on a Saturday was precious.

In 1973, I think, the Empire Theatre screened, Bobby starring Rishi Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia. A romantic and heart-wrenching romance movie that remains a memory to this day! I watched it several times. Other movies included A Gale Lag Ja and Yadoon Ki Baraat.

The old Bus Station (Stesen Bas Lama), New Bus Station, Mara Bus Station, Lorong Sempit too conjure up nostalgia.

Lorong Sempit was this narrowest of lanes; it was all but a gap in between buildings.

The lane served as a link between Jalan Langgar and Jalan Tunku Ibrahim.

That description would be accurate, but, a travesty to history of Alor Setar.

For that Lorong was a melting pot. Tables, vendors, those items they were peddling, shoppers, and passers-by would share the space. It was also known as “Lorong Senereh”, a Kedah description of the faintest of body contact.

At school, I was a quiet student. The class teacher then was Madam Yeoh Hock Ann. She called me “good boy”. Good boy, please take all these books to the teacher’s room… I was also told to take drinking water from the car.

My teacher and later a lifelong friend was Cikgu Abdul Halim Haji Salleh.

He was made a Dato. Abdul Halim R was a famed writer. He passed away a few years ago. We were friends from the moment we signed up as members of writer’s association.

Frankly speaking, I was not a brilliant student. My family endured the usual sustenance issues.

My dreams could not be fulfilled. During school holidays, I would grab a cutter to harvest and thresh padi. With that little income, I bought school supplies, personal needs and strategically, a typewriter.

I was so interested in writing, especially radio dramas and short stories.

Career wise, I was employed by a government agency right after school. Soon I switched to banking, retiring after 30 years.

I have also produced thousands of radio and TV drama scripts. I have been a part-time reporter, known in the industry as a “stringer”.

Alas, I am not well-known, journalistically. Yet.

Teacher – author Abdul Halim R with Tokwan Nasir and wife, Noriani Hashim (a 2016 photo)

NOTE: The main pix depicts Jalan Langgar in Alor Setar