Jale-Jale, Cari Make

"ORE Kelate ko, ore Sia? (Kelantanese or Siamese?)" Tumpat, about 40 minutes' drive from Kota Baru, is where 75 per cent of the Thai community in Kelantan live. "Mek, yang hok makan pulut tu (the pretty lass eating glutinous rice there)," a gentleman points out a Kelantanese, when asked.
Generally, the Thai women wear blouses and long skirts while Kelantanese women prefer their kebaya and kain sarong. The men are not as easily identifiable.
There are 23 Buddhist temples in Kelantan, the three biggest being in Tumpat. They each host a giant statue of Buddha - seated, reclining, and standing.
We ask to see the Poh Than Thit (spiritual teacher) at Wat Phra Buddha Bharaameedharm Chamruslok (which means Temple of the Light of the Buddha's
Dharma Enlightens the World) but are told he is taking a nap.
"You can wait or you can come back tomorrow morning. But there are prayers in the morning, he may not be able to see you," says a 40-something man who is tending to the trees around the temple which houses the sitting Buddha.
"Are you a Thai?"
He just smiles.
"Go find the other temples. The standing Buddha, yang hok tidur pun ada (also the reclining one). Then come back and talk to the Poh Than Thit.
"Remember, when you go in to see him, you have to take off your tudung (headscarf), your cap also... to show respect."
There are others waiting to see the Poh Than Thit.
Kelantan was an administrative region of the Thai kingdom until it was ceded to the British in 1909.
The then Kelantan Sultan had to make offerings of ufti or Bunga Emas to the Siamese Government every three years. The Bunga Emas was crafted by the best goldsmiths of the time.
The reclining Buddha at Wat Phothivihan, located 15km northwest of Tumpat, is one of the largest in South-East Asia. It is 40m long, 11m high and 9m wide. The temple took six years to build and was completed in 1979.
Tumpat's famous beach, Pantai Sri Tujuh, is meanwhile the venue of an annual International Kite Festival, where the wau bulan is a perennial favourite. The festival draws participants from as far away as Europe and Japan.
And the town is also synonymous with traditional boat-building. The master boat-builders pass down their secrets from generation to generation.
In the past, the prows of the boats often took fascinating forms – for example, the shape of a bangau (cattle egret) or a garuda (a demonic birdman, which is a remnant of Hindu influence during pre-Islamic times). These served a talismanic purpose, to ward off evil spirits.
But the Tumpat district is an agricultural region. Small villages dot vast tracts of rice fields and tobacco plots.
The Thais in Kelantan are mostly farmers, and they have been working the land for generations.
Kijau says she is “Kelate belako” (all Kelantanese), probably by virtue of her having been in Kelantan all her life. Her husband's name is Emong, she says, and together they work the tiga keping (three pieces) of land leased from a Chinese towkay for RM10 a year. Each "piece" is about the size of two medium-sized KL bungalow lots.
"Tanam tembakau sikit, kangkung sikit (we plant some tobacco, some water spinach)," she says, as she uproots some weeds from the tobacco plot. The passing mail train breaks the silence of the day.
It is noon but the couple continue to labour in the sun.
"Panas bagus. Kalau hujan, tembakau mati (Hot is good. If it rains, the tobacco will die)," Kijau says. She and her husband have been working since 7am.
They take a break for lunch and return to the farm at about 3pm to work until "bila hari dah gelap (when it gets dark)."
Tobacco farming is not the main crop of farmers in Tumpat, with Grade One tobacco leaves (dried) fetching RM15.80 a kg and wet leaves 80 sen a kg.
"Bila petik, dapatlah 200kg (we can get 200kg per harvest)." The wet tobacco leaves are sold to the towkay.
Leaving Kijau to her tasks, we head towards town - and the marketplace.
Thirty-five-year-old Kak Yah ("nama dalam IC Siti Jaharah," she says) helps her husband, Husin, tend their Sup Perut (stomach soup) stall in front of the market. We are told Husin is a Thai.
A bowl of soup is RM1.50, a bit pricey by Tumpat's standards. The perut (actually cow's udder) is shredded and "tastes like soto without the rice cubes", according to photographer May.
"Dah lama berniaga di sini ... about 20 odd years, (been in the business for a long time)" says the mother of seven. Her youngest child is 11 months old. The oldest, an 18-year-old boy, sells newspapers and magazines nearby.
Husin has lots of harta (property) in Thailand. "Whatever he makes here is sent home," says Kelantanese friend, Wai.
"Go check out the market," Kak Yah encourages. "There are many things there."
Old makcik beckon, addressing us, flatteringly, as "mek". They sell buah keranji (Dialium platyspalum), etok (roasted shellfish), ulam buah kerdas and ubi keling. Most are acquired tastes.
"Mari mana? Cari gapo? (Where from? What are you looking for?)" one asks.
"Jalan-jalan, tengok tempat (walking about, looking at places)," I reply.
"Oh, Jale-jale, cari make," another makcik responds, referring to TV3's Jalan-Jalan, Cari Makan eating out programme.
They burst into raucous laughter: "No one comes here for sightseeing."