The ‘baju raya’ Ismail Sabri will never forget

 

In a recent interview with FMT, Ismail Sabri Yaakob recalls a tough childhood, an experience that made him realise early the important role education plays in changing one’s life for the better.

PETALING JAYA: It is the 1970s again and Ismail Sabri Yaakob and his family are just ushering in the Hari Raya Aidilfitri.

For new clothes, that are a must for such occasions, the young boy is decked out in the school uniform that his father has just purchased.

To those watching Ismail at play with his kampung friends, he must have stood out like a sore thumb.

But the young boy never feels out of place. He is just thrilled to partake in the festivities.

Ismail Sabri, the baby of the family, sitting on elder brother Zamri’s lap while posing for a picture with another brother Kamarazaman.

It is a memory that comes around for the former prime minister every Aidilfitri.

“Raya was something we looked forward to because we would get a new set of clothes. It was the only time of the year when we had them,” he told FMT.

“We would of course be delighted if we had new colourful clothes, but there were times when Raya was celebrated just before school reopens,” he said.

This was when the school uniform also served as his “baju raya”.

Growing up in a poor household wasn’t easy, the Bera MP recalled. His father Yaakob Abdul Rahman was a rubber tapper.

Ismail, the youngest of six children, realised from an early aged that the only way to turn things around for himself and his family was to excel at school.

This is a principle he holds dear to this day.

His determination saw him literally burn the midnight oil given that his family did not have the luxury of electricity supply.

He yearned to become a district officer, a job that was held in high regard by the people at that time.

“Every time a DO stopped by our village, everyone would dress up for the occasion. A sumptuous meal would be prepared,” he said.

Ismail Sabri helping Omar Faruk Abdul Jabbar, an orphan at the Rumah Amal Asnaf Al-Barakh, try out a new shirt for Hari Raya Aidilfitri.

Ismail, now aged 64, also recalled that having come from a poor household, the thought of becoming prime minister, or even a minister, never crossed his mind.

But as fate would have it, Ismail was named the country’s ninth prime minister in August 2021, a position he served until October the following year.

One may attribute his diligence to a challenging childhood. As a young boy, he had to help supplement his family income.

He did that by selling watermelons, lemons, “apam balik”, a pancake-like dessert, and ice cream in his village right after school.

An incident he will never forget is when the local authorities seized the lemons he was trying to sell from his roadside stall.

He shared that experience with local enforcement officers when he was a councillor in Temerloh, adding to his story an advice to never take such action when dealing with the underprivileged.

“If they choose to impose a fine, then do it, as a fine can be paid. But when their goods are seized, how do you expect them to earn a living?” he added. - FMT