Enoi, a Kelantanese of Thai descent, likes Malaysia more than Thailand because it s safer here and easier to make a living.

Kelantan may have been ruled by one party in the last 23 years, but the people are vibrantly diverse, even in their politics.

SWEEPER Mohamed Zakri Mohd Nor feels lucky to be born a Kelantanese man.

“Kelantanese women are so remarkable. They are the main leaders in a household. They are the ministers while the men are the deputies,” says Zakri.

In many families, women are the main breadwinner, adds the 50-year-old who has a great deal of admiration for the fairer sex in his state.

“They are very hardworking and I have to admit, women here are smarter than men in finding ways to earn money.

“Many of our women do business and have a natural flair for it. You see them everywhere – in food stalls, shops, restaurants, gold shops – and they make huge sacrifices for the family.

“You can always count on the women to pawn their gold jewellery for some cash to get the family through tough times,” he says.

Agreeing, his friend Mohamed Daud, a 55-year-old retiree, says Kelantanese women too are very patient.

“You don’t hear them grumbling or complaining. They do things whole-heartedly,” he adds.

Kelantanese men on the other hand, they say, are a choosier lot and prefer jobs that don’t tie them down.

“They might look for some construction job and once that’s finished, they don’t mind being jobless for a while, which is why you find a lot of men playing checkers or hanging around drinking tea at coffeeshops,” says Zakri,

Zakiah Zakaria was only in primary Year Four when she first started in business.

“I saw an outfit I liked and wanted to buy. My mother told me, ‘If you want it, go buy it with your own money.’

“Then she gave me some kuih to sell so that I’d earn the money. That’s how I learnt how to do business,” says the 44-year-old Zakiah, who now sells hand-made batik, songket and sarong in Kota Baru next to the famous Siti Khadijah market.

“I’ve learnt that when you deal with people, you must always smile no matter how difficult they are. If you pull a long face or show that you are fed up or angry, who would want to buy from you?” asks Zakiah, who has no one to pass her business skills to because she is childless.

But she accepts this as a test from God.

Hanisah Omar, 55, sells similar batik and songket pieces at the shop next door. She says the women don’t see themselves as competing against each other for a sale because they always help each other out.

“Rezeki comes from God and He can take it from us too. So we have to always be patient. If today is her day, I am genuinely happy for her. There’s always tomorrow and tomorrow may be my day. If it is, I know she’ll be happy for me too,” she says.

Hanisah is a single mother.

She chose divorce when her husband wanted to take a second wife and she didn’t want to share. “I raised both my kids myself and they are both in their mid-20s now and working in KL and doing well.”

These two women say voting in the general election is a must for them. But they are very secretive about who they support, especially with outsiders.

“I don’t want to say if I look at the party or candidate when I make my pick because you’d be able to guess who I’d be voting for,” says Zakiah with a laugh.

Hanisah makes it a point not to talk about politics when at work because “people who support the other side might not want to buy from me”.

“We don’t know their mind, heart or values, so it’s best not to say anything,” she says.

PAS has been ruling Kelantan for 23 years. In the last general election, the PAS-led Pakatan Rakyat won 38 out of 45 state seats in Kelantan and 12 of the 14 parliament seats.

(Since then, Pasir Mas MP Ibrahim Ali who stood on a PAS ticket has become an independent MP and Bachok MP Nasharudin Mat Isa from PAS has been sacked from the party.)

Retiree Daud thinks that although Kelantan is one of the poorest states in the country, “the Muslims here are better Muslims” compared to those in other states.

He feels “God will bless you if you seek a good way of life” but admits the fewer job opportunities and lack of cinemas and nightlife is a downside for some.

“If you find it boring here, you can always go to work in KL or Penang instead,” he says, adding that Kelantanese men used to hop over to Golok for some fun.

“These days though, with all the bombings in southern Thailand, people are too scared to go there.”

Daud says one peculiar trait in Kelantanese men is that even the samseng, drug addicts, Mat Rempit, vandals, thieves, adulterers or abusers among them will never fail to pray five times a day and fast during the fasting month.

Zakri sees a lot of young men suffering from depression and thinks they are like a time bomb waiting to explode.

“They have no outlet to vent or release whatever they are feeling. There should be some social life where they can meet girls and discuss life, their frustrations and challenges instead of staring into space,” he says.

“Some take drugs and a few have committed suicide because of depression.”

But both Daud and Zakri think Malaysians can learn a lot from Kelantan in terms of race relations.

“It is very common to see Chinese, Indians and Malays sitting together in coffeeshops chatting. Language is what binds us. We speak Kelantanese fluently and this brings us very close together,” says Daud.

“If I am in KL and run into a Kelantanese Chinese who is with some other (non-Kelantanese) Chinese friends, he will ditch his friends and join me instead. That’s how close-knit we are in Kelantan.”

Zakri says Kelantanese too are very sensitive towards each other’s culture and religion and “they don’t touch on our religion and sensitivities and we don’t touch or disturb theirs”.

Thirty-year-old Chef Chan loves that he has friends of many races but now that he is older and has a family, his prio­rity is to make more money. “The minute you step out of the house you need money. Everything is so pricey these days,” he says.

He considers himself lucky to be able to rent a house for RM300 a month in Kota Baru. But buying a unit is a different thing altogether. “It’s Malays first. So if they build 300 low-cost units, 70% is given to the Malays and the remaining 30% goes to the Chinese and Indians,” he says without a trace of resentment.

He would have liked though for some kind of legal entertainment in Kelantan, especially now that people are too afraid to go to Golok and Rantau Panjang in Thailand to enjoy themselves.

“There are illegal pubs and karaoke places that crop up from time to time but it’s risky because you might get caught when the religious authorities raid it. On the plus side, I guess you stay home more and become closer to your family,” he says.

He says pork is expensive in Kota Baru and his wife finds it a bit difficult to find a good selection of clothes, so she shops till she drops whenever she is in Kuala Lumpur or Penang.

On politics, he says, he sees good things about both PAS and Barisan Nasional.

Seventy-three-year-old Foo is drinking beer with his other senior citizen friends by the roadside in Kota Baru and he says most young people have left for KL and Singapore because there are not as many jobs in Kelantan.

“That leaves us oldies around,” he says.

His son Foo Jr, who worked in KL for 10 years, has chosen to come back to Kelantan to live though.

“It is really 1Malaysia here. All the races mix around and are very friendly towards each other. But in KL, you don’t even say ‘hello’ to your next-door neighbour,” he says.

Even though he is young, Foo Jr says he doesn’t find life in Kelantan boring.

“It’s very relaxed here. And you know what? I think all the rich people in KL crave for our kind of relaxed life,” he says.

Fifty-six-year-old Enoi Ehsuk of Thai descent runs a car workshop in Tumpat.

“I was born here, so I feel more Kelantanese than Thai. I can speak Thai but I can’t read or write it. I feel more at home speaking Kelantanese and everyone accepts everybody here,” says Enoi, who is a Buddhist.

“I don’t go to Thailand any more because of all the bombing. Here you can walk out at night and feel so safe.”

He says the people in his kampung tend to vote for a political party but “for me I look at the candidate and see who is better”.

Machang-born Tamil Selvan came to Gua Musang with his wife and three kids to run a business here and thinks Kelantanese are different and very special.

He has worked in Negri Sembilan and Johor but likes it best in his home state.

“In Kelantan, if you don’t know the road, you can always stop and ask someone of any race and they will help you for sure.

“In other states I find that if you stop someone for direction, regardless of what race they are, they will brush you off, saying ‘I don’t know’ or ‘I am busy’. So we Kelantanese think that people outside the state are a bit aksyen (snobbish).

“If you are good to people, they are good to you no matter if you are Indian, Chinese or Malay. If somebody comes and attacks you and he is a Malay and you are an Indian, the other Malays will come forward to help you and settle it with him,” he says.

On politics, Selvan says he is pleased that people are benefiting and getting good things from the Government.

“People are getting more because there are two sides vying for their votes. If it’s only one side that is strong, I don’t think the people will benefit this much. It’s a good fight this time. And it’s good for the country and the people,” he says.

> The writer can be reached at shaz@thestar.com.my

• AirAsia X offers free tickets to any destination for initial public offering to retail investors
• Cyclone takes the heat for hot weather
• If you want to go far work early and hard on personal branding
• Doc held for posing as cop to extort businessman
• Allianz aims for RM150mil in new premiums
• Couple upset over baby’s death
• Malaysia's I-Bhd and Thailand's CPN in mall joint venture with GDV of RM580mil
• From tomorrow, city cabbies can pick up passengers from KLIA
• Najib wants Chinese in Cabinet
• Todd was under treatment for depression, public inquiry told