Growing up in Trengganu

by Goneng Awang

In this eruditely crafted and humorous memoir, Awang Goneng (pen name of writer Wan A. Hulaimi) evokes the pleasures of a kampung childhood in Trengganu, Malaysia. Sultans, sweetmeat sellers, and shopkeepers all act as springboards as you meander through Trengganu history, and by the end of this book you will have painlessly mastered the ‘Trengganuspeak' that foils even fellow Malaysians.

Genres: Nonfiction

336 pages, Paperback

First published September 15, 2007

Reviews

[Nazmi Yaakub · Rating 4 out of 5]

MEMBACA buku ini membuatkan saya menyesal. Bukan kerana isi kandungannya, sebaliknya betapa ruginya saya tidak dapat mengangkat keunikan dalam kehidupan ‘oghe Klate’ yang mewarna-warnikan negeri yang dijolok Tanah Rendah Sekebun Bunga ini.

Growing up in Trengganu menghenyakkan pembaca pada nostalgia ‘oghang Ganu’ dengan sedikit sejarah dan sebeban budaya rakyat pesisir pantai itu. Cuma sayang sekali pengarangnya tidak dapat membuat perbandingan antara Terengganunya dengan Terengganu kini supaya pembaca dari generasi muda lebih muda untuk menyusur langkah sejarah dan budaya yang mungkin hilang di sebalik tsunami kemodenan yang menggelombang di bumi itu.

Selepas membaca Growing up in Trengganu, saya ternanti-nanti pula pengarang yang hidup dalam warna-warni budaya negeri Cik Siti Wan Kembang pula menulis versi growing up ini.

[Dmatriarch]

i cant believe i found this book here...means there are other people who read this book...this book is an experience or memory of the writer himself...he used to wrote in blog but when everybody urge him to turn his blog into book, he start to take everything seriously... when chance knocking on his door, he grab it..he compile everything he wrote in blog with some addition situ skek, sini skek (di situ dan disni/a little bit here a little bit there) and now you got it...Growing Up in Trengganu...

love reading the book so much since i am a trengganuer too though not from the same 'kampung' as him...i cant help to make comparison of what trengganu during his time to what it is now....and i realize something...trengganu has lost so many things that make trengganu special...losing this things make trengganu is as just the same with any other state...trengganu is losing her identity....thank God there are people like awang goneng who still proud of who he is and where he is from...and he told story about Trengganu during his time...this help youngsters like me understand more about my culture..

he is so proud to be a trengganuer eventhough he is no longer living here...that's the spirit!!!

opss...forgot something...

I AM PROUD TO BE A TRENGGANUER TOO!! ^_^

[Shahkang · Rating 5 out of 5]

Benar apa yang dikatakan di kulit buku, Awang Goneng menceritakan budaya menerusi penulisan sebagaimana pelukis Lat menggambarkan dalam kartun.

Sebagai bukan anak Terengganu saya tetap merasakan betapa akrab budaya yang digambarkan penulis dengan masyarakat. Saya tahu serba sedikit, ada yang hampir sana dengan Perlis. Gambaran watak-watak tipikal kampung membuatkan karya ini lebib harmoni dan penulis menggunakan keupayaan pemeriannya untuk memperincikan setiap satu benda dan hal ini sangat mengkagumkan (hebat betul memorinya!)

(teringat filem Man Laksa, di mana watak-watak tipikal yang ada di hampir setiap kampung seperti 'orang gila', 'gadis kampung yang sedikit merela', 'penjual laksa', 'tauke empunya stage dan pembesar suara' dll digambarkan dengan begitu jelas hingga kemesraan filem dengan para penonton hadir tanpa perlu dipaksa.

Ah saya kepingin menulis karya budaya sebegini untuk orang Perlis. Mungkin menceritakan kisah makan pulut mempelam, main bola dalam lecah, pistol kabad, tangkap ikan di longkang besar. Tapi iyalah, mungkin akan menjadi bermanfaat 30-40 tahun lagi pada waktu aktiviti-aktiviti sebegini sudah tidak berjalan lagi dalam masyarakat.

[Rohaida · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this book back in 2008 and still haven't finished reading it. Not because I don't like it, but because the writing is rather small for someone who needs reading glasses to read.

I'm not from Terengganu myself. I grew up in the 70's in a kampung in a Northern State of Malaysia, but there are some similarities in our childhood that makes it very nostalgic to read.

I hope I can finish it this year.

[Najmuddin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Contrary to the great reviews that this book gets - especially in blogosphere - last year, I did not find this book too interesting. Too much ramblings, or maybe it's just not my thing.

On the positive side, because this is a blook (means it comes from blog postings), i didn't feel guilty skipping many parts of the book. Like reading blogs, I just browse through most of it. Heh! :D

[Gina Long Ahmad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny and Down to Earth. A must read book for those who grew up in the East Coast of Malaysia.

[Malek Husaini Abdillah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book twice, first when I bought it in 2008 in Pustaka Seri Intan, K Terengganu which cost me RM39.90z Second, I read this book recently in Jan 2021. As someone who was born in late 80’s I just can imagine how colourful and remarkable our Kuala Terengganu once. Awang Goneng told the stories of Kuala Terengganu beautifully that I will make sure I will keep this book and give it to my son when the time comes. The sad part is when Awang Goneng told us that the deliberate act of pushing the people out from Kuala Terengganu really make my heart sink. A must read masterpiece for people of Terengganu.

[Najiha Jaffar · Rating 5 out of 5]

buku ini berjaya membuat saya membaca dan terus membaca. sangat membantu dalam penyelidikan master saya. terima kasih Awang Goneng!

[Justine · Rating 5 out of 5]

An engaging window into Trengganu and Trengganuspeak. Simply delightful.

[Nik Aisyah Najwa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A vivid depiction of Trengganu in its old days. Life in the past seems more interesting than at present. What a rich childhood the author had!

[Mohd Afiq · Rating 4 out of 5]

This in one of my favourite books/memoirs of all time, and it’s not just because I’m a Terengganuese. The book is actually a blook – a blog turned into a book. Simply said, GUiT is a myriad of Awang Goneng’s awesome childhood tales and stories that revokes the time-forgotten old-world Trengganu.

His writings are so vivid to the point that you can recreate the events in your mind with ease. I was so absorbed when I read this that my mind swirled with imaginations. Well, maybe it was just me, but I can say that he did roused my senses and transported me to his Trengganu, especially in parts dealing with food. His language [Queen's English!] is pretty outstanding, fluid, and colourful too. I like how he wrote the stories - enticing, and thought-provoking, with wit in every page.

Some of his anecdotes are about the falling of his mom’s crystallised agar-agar during the noon prayer, Pok Cik Yunnan’s bookshop, morning breakfast with loud Indian music, to the hantu kangkang near the gate of Istana Maziah [I hope there’s none now], to the scrumptious taste of old Trengganuese kuih created by a lady near the palace, and the train journey to the then lively and loud tin-producing town of Bukit Besi. I couldn’t help but wondering how the life was back in 40s and 50s Trengganu – just think about its charms: time just stood still, idyllic, quiet, tranquillity abound. Of course, one cannot write a book about Trengganu [or Terengganu for that matter] without putting in some Trengganuspeak. Examples include:

Beranok ddlang botol

Dapat pitis samah!

Nok wak guane gamok

I think you get the idea. It’s a good read, though actually this memoir was published when I was in form 5 if I’m not mistaken.

[Nurul Nadhira Idris · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think the part that I enjoy reading it is the one that's relatable to me. Others, though the author uses many adjectives (sometimes too many) to describe something to be detail, I can't really understand it.

[Áina Ilmardiah · Rating 5 out of 5]

something to refresh again all the great words hiding behind my true self...when i first saw this book, nothing much that i could expect from it.. from the very 1st 20pages of the book doenst give anything that so call interesting for me..but towards that, i found out few old fashioned words and sentences that ive never heard of...read it over and over again just to practice the right pronunciation and to get the right meaning of it...asking my mom and dad when exactly did they used those kind of sentence?? Yes! I am a terengganunians and been raised up in terengganu...some of the words are so familiar but some of them are so out of the league though...reading this, remind me most of my late grandma..how she used to talk to us in an old terengganunians dialect and that time we still can understand every words that she said....but now..not anymore...been neglected the beauty of our slang and thanks to the author, Uncle Awang Goneng for bringing up the good old memoirs back...how i miss my late grandma alot

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know they're blog entries and not meant to be read all at once, but it's what I do, and it's not the right way to read this.

The entries by themselves are probably best read and mean the most to someone who already has some knowledge of the place. For a stranger to the language and culture (or even a partial stranger, which I will claim to be), there's a bit of a paradox here: you wouldn't have sufficient background to appreciate the scenes until you read more (entries), but you wouldn't be able to appreciate the entries until you have sufficient background.

One tip: Read the last section first. It would have helped me a lot more if I'd done that.

[Syuhada Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

In progress reading it, I find it interesting since I am too growing up in Terengganu (the right way to spell it), and I have to admit some of his story did remind me of my childhood. I must say that this is an amazing blook, I like to call it, for those who just want to deepen the very root of who you are, and somehow makes me proud being in Trengganu. Awang Goneng gonna takes you back to the years when some of the place is still there but already vanished nowadays due to the modernization. Never knew that Tanjung today used to be the Pantai Teluk long time ago!

[Soileyh Sapphire · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is no need to crave for comparative literature from Awang Goneng, this is an interesting memoir, in itself full of memories to relish and to ponder on. For newer generations, it is a precious memoir to keep.

On a side note, looking at the standard of English the writer is writing in, I am amazed because of how meagre today's standard is, though I am not meant to say his colonial education is the best there is, but his language is like it was written by an orang putih, with considerable interlanguage skills.

[Sayed Mizanuddin · Rating 4 out of 5]

a very well written book by a terengganuan awang goneng. Contains full of articles about terengganu that once had been called as trengganu. using beautiful and colorful words, awang goneng manages to create the scenes of trengganu when he was about a young boy. the author tells us the games played in those days, traditional food eaten, some valuable places in trengganu and words used by trenganuans .as a new generation, im really grateful to having read this book so that i know how was terengganu back then.selamat membaca..oh, this book has a sequel, map of trengganu.

[Khairul Hezry · Rating 2 out of 5]

Memoirs of growing up in the northern Malaysian state of Trengganu back when there was no internet, no computers, no mobile phones, no running water even.

I'm sure I would have enjoyed it even more if I was from Trengganu myself and was the same age as the author. However, I did not finish the book as I lost interest somewhere in the middle.

[Hilmi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think you must be a kelantanese or a terengganuer to fully appreciate this novel/book to the max.

The strength of the book relies on the author's very detail and powerful words selection and the elaboration on each topics/subjects he is discussing.

However. As im a kelantanese myself. I found that most of the topics discussed in this book are very common and nothing new to myself.

[Kataklicik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Forgive the man for oft-repeated events, the book is after all, a collection from his blog. But his prose is 'mengkhayalkan' and there are many quotable quotes, among my favourites being "The past may be another country, but there you know many people." (pg 258).

[Junnaini.ismun Ismun · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading it is like reading a book written by a 'Mat Salleh' during the colonial day.

Very interesting to read. There is always something to enjoy in our everyday life, after all. Only if we take a moment to ponder.

[Ahmad Nizamuddin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Totally inspiring book. I wish I wrote this book! Awang Goneng surely have a good memory that he memorized a lot of things happened during his childhood days. I should write something like this, but I have to wait another 20 years and write about today. We'll see the difference.

[Fazlinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book that I picked on a whim in a book store. I'm glad I bought the book. Amazingly written, love the style of writing so much! It has a melancholic tone woven into it.I would love to visit Trengganu and learn the dialect of the people.

[Ainul]

dah beli.. belum jugak baca

[Syuhada · Rating 5 out of 5]

the best to describe Terengganu!!!

[Syafiqa · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best part of this book is when you can relate your childhood memories with the culture that have been slowly forgotten by younger generation these days.

[Roselina · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I fell like going back to my hometown but can't do so..I'll flip this book ...