Television

Electricity came to our little kampong only in 1978 the year I was in Lower Six at a premier secondary school in Kuala Terengganu.  Before that year, our kampong folk uses pelita, small kerosene-fired lamp for lighting purposes.  And radio, other than torchlights, was the only electrical gadget we use.  Our kampong folk knew the existence of television before 1978.  There were two shops in our kampong that have a television set each. The sets were powered by portable generators run on petrol.  And we had to go to the shops for our movies etc.

In 1976, my father bought a small television set, a Japanese brand called Setron. It was powered by 14V car battery.  Charging the battery costs one Ringgit and it lasts for a week.  Our house was the first 'private' house in our kampong that has a tv set.  With the tv set our daily life changes somewhat. Nights were no longer quiet and idyll.  We have visitors almost every night and the last of them usually left our house well after midnight.

There were two shows that made our small kampong house full to the brim. First the series called Combat starring Vic Morrow and Rick Jason. It was shown on Wednesdays at 7 pm.  That was our dinner and prayer time.  About half-an-hour before the series started, we have about 20-25 people congregating in our living room waiting for the series to be shown.  Imagine having a crowd in your house at that 'private' times.  My step-mother had the tough tasks of cleaning the house after the guests left.  Many kampong folk at that time still do not wear slippers or shoes and the floor of our living room usually full of dirts, dried cow-dung and rubbish after the show.

The second time in a week that our house was full of guests were on Friday nights when there were cerita Melayu (Malay movies) on tv.  While on Wednesday evenings the crowd were most boys the Friday night crowds comprise mostly women, families and children.

Imagine your house having about 70 people seating and watching tv in the living room.  It was a bit fun initially having people around but later it took some toll on our life and privacy.

Thinking about it now, I think it was fun too having a tv set - however small - in your living room, and people crowding in your home at least twice-a-week.  Men chatted, women gossiped, boys flirted in my living room hahahaha