Humble Beginnings....... ......Successfully to the Winning Post

By Anwar Paulsen

From Humble beginnings to ultimate success reaching the winning post. Almost like a rags to riches life story. Not riches in monetary values or materialistic achievements but more personal goals achieved throughout my life. In the same breath we thank my Creator for all the things in life given to us free of charge eg. the air that we breath, our sight, our hearing, our taste, our smell and many more.
Our parents struggled in life to rear us and give us everything a child could ask for. We had no wealth or inheritance but are always thankful to our parents who instilled in us love, passion, the ability to help others and to be good to our neighbours and the elders.
As a child I always had the energy and goal to achieve high expectations, reaching for the ultimate peak in society.
Sport was my passion. I excelled in athletics being the fastest sprinter in my time, in my age group and in my province. I was also a successful professional soccer player. Toured South Africa, played against top soccer teams in my country of birth and rubbed shoulders against some of the world's greatest soccer legends.
I was very successful in the Retail world in Johannesburg, South Africa where many employees reported to me directly or indirectly. Retail was my life for over 30 years and I was employed by Woolworths.
I married the most beautiful loving mother of my three children. Life had many ups and downs but we achieved many goals together. We enjoyed a short 22 years marriage until the day arrived when the Almighty took her away from us.
After her passing we immigrated to Australia starting a new life in a new country.
Australia to us was the best move. We can plan but the Almighty plans better. We opened our own business which lasted for over 20 years until retirement. I am thankful to my parents, my siblings, my children, friends and family and above all, my Creator.
I hope that whoever reads my story will be inspired, motivated and achieve the highest level in life, Who knows, maybe a movie producer will pick up my story one day and transfer it on the big screen. God willing. In Shaa Allah.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris AU
• Release date: Nov 2, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669832423

Book preview

HUMBLE

BEGINNINGS

....... ......

SUCCESSFULLY

TO THE WINNING POST

Anwar Paulsen

Copyright © 2022 by Anwar Paulsen.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 10/28/2022

Xlibris

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AU Local: [phone] ([phone] from outside Australia)

www.Xlibris.com.au

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CONTENTS

Biography of My Life

The First 23 Years, From 1952 To 1975

Living In Fietas (VREDEDORP)

My Beloved Mum, Asa Paulsen Née Davids

My Dad, Yusuf (Tampie) Paulsen

Achmat Paulsen

Zahera Julius Née Paulsen

Reedwaan Paulsen

Growing Up In Newclare From December 1962

Islamic Education in Newclare

Russell Street, Newclare – Bosmont Side of the Railway Line

Chris Jan Botha (Cjb) High School in Bosmont

Athletic Abilities at High School.

Cricket: Another Sporting Code I Enjoyed

Professional Soccer Career

Retail World of Woolworths South Africa

In 1974, Dorothy (Cooks) Khan Became Part of My Life

My Uncle Farouk, My Mum’s Younger Brother

Second 23 Years, From 1975 to 1998.

The Third 23 Years, From 1998 to 2021

Life in Australia as Husband and Wife

Family Tree For Galima (Normie) Paulsen Née Lawrence

Abdul Gakiem Ernest

Family Tree For Fatima (Sis Tiemie) Davids Née Hardien, My Mum’s Mum

Connecting To The Creator . . . Prayer In Islam . . . Salah

Acknowledgement

BIOGRAPHY OF MY LIFE

Bismillah-Hirr-Rahman-Nirrageem

Meaning: In the name of Allah the beneficent, the merciful.

I make Dua that Allah subhanahu WA ta’ala open my mind and heart to guide and inspire me to reflect my entire life history to the best of my ability and to convey it truthfully and sincerely. On Friday, 27 August 2021, I dreamt of my parents inspiring me to start writing about myself. My parents weren’t aware of my intentions of writing my biography one day. They reminded me in a dream about my growing up days, reflecting on almost everything occurring to me, from my day of birth to the day they passed on. I always wanted to put pen to paper but never got to it. On this blessed day of Jumuah after Fadjr, I decided to start writing the book I always spoke about. My goal is to finish my book before my 70th birthday. I decided to write my biography, dividing it into three stages of my life: the first 23 years, from 1952 to 1975; the second 23 years, from 1975 to 1998, and the third 23 years, from 1998 to 2021.

THE FIRST 23 YEARS,

FROM 1952 TO 1975

Humble Beginnings, Early Days of My Life

My name is Anwar Paulsen, born before sunrise on Tuesday, 15 January 1952, to my lovely parents Yusuf Tampie Paulsen, born on 15 July 1928, and Asa Paulsen nee Davids, born on 7 March 1931. My mum was 21 years old when she gave birth to me.

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My grandfather Frans Paulsen, my dad’s mum Galiema (Normie) Paulsen née Lawrence, my father Yusuf (Tampie) Paulsen, my mum’s mum Fatima (Sis Tiemie) Davids née Hardien, and my beloved mother Asa Paulsen née Davids.

I was born at Garden City Clinic in Brixton, Johannesburg, then called Bridgemont Hospital. I knew both my grannies, my dad’s mum Galiema (Normie) Paulsen née Lawrence and my mum’s mum Fatima (Sis Tiemie) Davids née Hardien. Both my grandfathers passed on years before my birth.

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During my birth, my parents lived on a corner property in Plain Street, Albertsville. My mum’s relative, Boeta Mannie, and his family rented the big house, whilst a number of newly married couples, including my parents, rented single rooms at the back and on the side of the same property. These properties were owned and rented by the Muslim community of the mosque on 23rd Street in Vrededorp (Fietas). My brother Aghmat was born in a local hospital, and according to Boeta Mannie’s son Ali Fakir, the baby came home from hospital with my mum wrapped in a warm knitted blanket (charley) for protection against the cold as he was born in the wintertime. Two sisters in Albertville, who were also friends of my mum, Aunty Asa Kader and Sis Moenna, looked after us during the day. When we were a bit older, we moved to back rooms in Van Zyl Street in the same suburb closer to the cemetery.

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Lucky Dips were the only gift our parents could barely afford

for us as children over the festive season of December.

My dad’s cousin Boeta Ikeraam, who later became imam at one of the Eldorado Park mosques in Johannesburg, told me how all his cousins came together at our house regularly to play dominoes and quotes (rings made of hard rubber thrown on a wooden board with hooks numbered from 1 to 13).

Over weekends, starting Thursday evenings, Boeta Ikeraam said the cousins will come together at our place making Gadat (Thikr), Friday nights playing quotes, Saturday nights dominoes night, and just visiting and socialising on Sundays.

Here in Albertville was my first major accident. Whilst playing on the sidewalk with my brother and two friends, we managed to open and lift the heavy metal lid of the water drain, fiddling with the metre reader, when, suddenly, down the road, came the garbage collector truck for the daily garbage collection. As kids, we were all scared of the garbage collectors, and we started panicking. My hand was still in the open drain, when, suddenly, because of shock, one of the boys let go of the lid of the drain. Fortunately, I pulled my hand out in time, but the lid caught my index finger, which left me with a lifetime scar. Those days, there was no time for hospitals or going to doctors. Our parents, neighbours, or friends used ancient old home remedies to fix whatever big or small injuries we got.

LIVING IN FIETAS (VREDEDORP)

We lived in Albertville for a short period, then we moved to my granny Normie’s house in 16th Street, Vrededorp, called Fietas. At this point, living with Normie was Amien, her adult son, and Jamie and Fafa, children of her daughter Sai (oegtie). Because our family was moving in with Normie, Jamie and Fafa had to move back to their parents’ home in 19th Street. I remember visiting my dad’s sister Oegtie and her family, and we had to go through the backyard to her place. To proceed to the entrance of her door, we were regularly chased by a massive rooster. Being scared and being barefoot, we ran through hot ash in the yard, which burnt our feet in the process. A couple of years later, Fafa’s family moved to 23rd Street.

At Normie’s place, Aggie and I and my mum and dad lived in one room, whilst my granny and my uncle Amien shared the other room, which also served as a kitchen. Living conditions in Fietas were very difficult and congested. Most of the homes consisted of four or more cottages per stand, which provided accommodation for large families per cottage, sharing one backyard with one communal toilet. All living conditions were very crowded, but it was a way of life. Next door to us, in a different cottage, lived my dad’s elder brother Hadjie Aghmat (Attie) with his family. In our backyard lived approximately five families sharing one crouched-type toilet (two bricks cemented to the floor on both sides of the hole) for usage. When using the toilet, the adults took a chair to the toilet with them, without a seat to sit on, using the chair frame to balance their body for better comfort and being more relaxed. After usage, everybody had to clean the toilet spotless for the next person to use. The biggest problem was the amount of people needing to use the toilet at the same time. For this, we had to instill discipline and patience to await our turn in the toilet queue. Every day we had a crowded