Remembering a thosai party to mark Merdeka on Aug 31, 1957

MELAKA: Siti Salmah Salleh (pic) was just 13 when she attended a thosai (Indian pancake) party at her neighbourhood to mark the historic moments of Malaya achieving independence in August of 1957.

Now a grandmother, she still remembers the day vividly.

“My late mother brought me to a neighbour’s house in Alor Gajah, who is fondly known to us as ‘Archi’.

“There were many others, including a Sikh cop, who is popularly known as ‘Sjn Bengali’.

“All of us were served fresh thosai with condiments on banana leaves, ” she said.

Siti Salmah, 75, said they later visited a Taoist temple at the back of her house where noodles and Chinese tea were served to them.

“I remembered my mother telling me that the British have granted us independence and that everyone in the neighbourhood were celebrating, ” she said.

Siti Salmah said her family was the only Malay house in the heart of Alor Gajah town at that time.

“Our rustic village house was built by my grandfather in the 1900s. All our Chinese and Indian neighbours visited us frequently and we mingled happily, ” she said.

Siti Salmah, who lost her husband and her only son a few years ago due to illnesses, said her late father had high respect for his neighbours.

“Most of them were civil servants and businessmen and they were like part of a big happy family.

“At that time, there were no differences. My father even held thanksgiving events at a surau and invited our non-Muslim neighbours, ” she recalled.

Siti Salmah said she also seized the opportunity to learn the art of making thosai from aunty Archi.

“I then ventured into the food business in 1969 and my main dish was thosai, ” she said, adding that her customers were mostly Chinese and that people from all races used to work and eat together back then.

Siti Salmah said she still operates the stall but had to employ several helpers due to her age.

She lamented there were hardly any non-Malay patrons at her stall these days.

Siti Salmah said she felt disappointed that politicians were using race and religion to divide the people for personal gain.

“There were teachers, doctors and social workers from various races in Alor Gajah when I was a teenager. It is unfair to state that most Chinese and Indians came as slaves.Siti Salmah said recently, she met the grandchildren of her former neighbours and all of them agreed to repaint her wooden house and turn it into “a symbol of unity”.

“I told them their ancestors were my family too, ” she said.

Siti Salmah hoped Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department P. Waytha Moorthy would pay her a visit and launch her “Muhibbah” house.- Star