Sungai Ujong

One of my friend's blog adopted the above name although he's a Kolopilah born son of Negri Sembilan who served in the largest land development agency in the country and became the GM of it's subsidiary dealing with haulage. Now his comments are largely directed at the current administration and the political scenario in UMNO. Another friend whose blog is connected to that feathered kind who's going to bring in the $$ bills with his partner was afraid that one day Sungai Ujong might find himself in the troubled waters of the polluted Sungai passing through the Luak of " Semujong " as it was known in the 18th Century before Negri Sembilan became a full-fledged State complete with Martin Lister as it's first British Adviser of the merger of 9 small "states" thus giving it the modern name. Nowadays not many cared how it all began to be known as Negri Sembilan because most of the available land except for the gazetted forest reserves had been alienated to people who did not even claim to have any relationship to the 9 States, but were nevertheless given huge tracts of the Jelebu jungle fringing Selangor's border hoping that with the road connection coming out through Ulu Langat, the value would one day sky rocket to dizzying heights and even though they already have billions, they wanted to make trillions or quadrillions. As the son of the Adat Perpateh State of N9, I had never dreamt of owning any piece of land, simply because I am no land grabber and I just do not want to answer too many questions come the Day of Judgement because a second's delay in crossing that hairline bridge to Paradise can cost you thousand of years measured not in our "time" but in the space and time of the hereafter, which is in the word's of the religious scholars or Ulamaks " Wallahu wa'lam" meaning only ALLAH is the Know-All. Sungai Ujong had always a chequered history and even till today the issue of whether the present Undang Luak of Sungai Ujong has the legitimate approval of his fiefdom chief's is a question mark although his Balai Undang is there in Ampangan. The issue of legitimacy is a very complicated one for those ignorant about the customary law of Adat Perpateh. The history of who precedes whom in Negri 9 have always the bone of contention of many writers and so-called "experts" of which almost every Tom Dick and Harry claimed to be one. One of my waris who died several years ago was one of the Dato' Dagang of Paroi, who died almost a pauper, but he was supposed to be one of those who determine who should be the Dato' Klana Sungai Ujong. The post till today is still not filled since he died, just the way the previous Dato' Klana was only appointed after more than a 10 year vacancy. So for those who wants to fill in the shoes of the Dato' Tiang Balai ( the 4 minor chiefs in Sungai Ujong who elects the Dato' Klana) will be fraught with controversies and this signals the irrelevance of the Adat in modern times. I do hope that the blogger of Sungai Ujong can become a resurrected politician and solve the many "crisis" of the election to the Luak of Sungai Ujong and also the Yamtuan for the next decade. Over to you Sungai Ujong!