of cows and cats

I was born in Terengganu - Kuala Terengganu to be exact - but my family moved to Shah Alam when I was just five years old. I grew up as a city girl and speak 'KL'. Although I understand the Terengganu dialect, my tongue is incapable of speaking it.

When my brother was 13, he went to a boarding school in a small town in Perak named Kuala Kangsar. He lived there until he was 17 after he graduated from the school. As a girl who grew up in a city surrounded by Makros, Juscos, Giants and Carrefours (there were no Tescos back then), I wondered how he managed to live there. Practically, Kuala Kangsar had nothing. Well, except some delicious food, but food is exceptional here. I thought, maybe because he's a boy who doesn't care much about those things.

Years later, it was my second sister's turn to surprise me. She went for Matriculation in another small town, this time in Johor, namely Tangkak. For most Malaysian females, Tangkak is known as the Cloths Heaven. But similar to Kuala Kangsar, that town had nothing. She was always talking about things being cheap there, but I was always wondering, HOW on earth did she survive there?

Of course, I didn't ask those questions out loud.

Last year, I enrolled in Unisel, and had to live in, well, another small town. Batang Berjuntai is its name, now known as Bestari Jaya. The campus and the hostel were surrounded by palms plantations and cows (no pun intended). Like both Kuala Kangsar and Tangkak, nothing is there. After I arrived there, I questioned myself, how did I end up at such a place?

I was depressed, that's for sure.

But then, as time passed, I got much closer to my housemates. And while being in the house with them, it never occurred to me that I was surrounded by palms and cows. Of course, sometimes I glanced at my window to enjoy the humble view, which now I missed terribly. And I survived! At least for four months, since I dropped out.

I realize now that the thing that helped my brother, my sister, and me to live in such a place is the people around us. My brother had wonderful friends, and so did my sister and me. Although I made jokes about the cows being everywhere on the campus, it never mattered to me because I had them. The laughs we shared, they helped. A lot.

Nilai is a great place. It is a quiet yet developing town. But when I think of my friends in Batang Berjuntai, I thought, I'd rather live surrounded by palms and cows to be with them than living surrounded by nice shops but having no one.