Hangat-hangat

The "hangat" symptoms are beginning to show here.

I have resigned to the fact that people will only read – they are either too timid to write their own thoughts for the world to read, or they couldn't be bothered.

Nothing much lately – since joining BTN, Epit doesn't have access to e-mail anymore (so much for the MSC talk and electronic government and they expect people not to be cynical?), Abon is in Kerteh for 2 weeks with his Amois so he has been selling tickets for outings with them, Fadli is in Munich or somewhere in Europe I think, Fadhil I am sure campaigning for Umno in Perak etc. etc. etc.

I actually spoke to Aweng today after one year working in the same plant. I guess it's the opportunity that never seems to allow us to sit down and actually talk, just "Hi" there and "Hi" here.

I was with koleq's debating teams in UIA from last Friday to Monday for the UIA Debating Tournament with 44 schools and more than 180 teams participating. It was very cramped and I don't think I would have survived that kind of hectic tournament back then. But the boys did go to the finals in both categories beating all the SBPs, but lost in the final.

It's not the results that I want to talk about – it's the atmosphere. Being with the boys, trying to provide the morale support for them, it just reminded me of what being a Malay College boy, especially a debater, was all about.

2 generations later, nothing much changed. In both finals in the grand auditorium, college was basically booed and taunted by all the kids and teachers who were there, signifying how 'hated' MCKK was and is. Luckily for the BM final, our sisters the TKC girls actually ignored the sentiment and was the only team/school to have consistently clapped and cheered for koleq (nothing much changed, it was just like the 1992 Cagers final at STF).

It was not a big deal for us the old boys since we have been through it and later on you would realise that there are more to this life than MCKK, MRSM, TKC etc. But how do I explain that to 14-16 year olds who were up there braving their fear and facing perhaps the biggest thing in their life so far, only to be confronted with a taunting and booing mob hell bent on making them lose in the most humiliating way? I couldn't – I could only keep consoling them that it didn't matter, that that is the price we all have to pay as a collegian. I bet the boys did not buy what I was trying to tell them – in the end it was the unanswered question of why others hate them so much (which I myself used to ask each time we got booed).

Anyway, the boys did really well and we the old boys were very proud of them. As for me, it was like a walk down the memory lane all over again.