Thursday, May 20, 2004

Communion of Jambu

After months of hectic schedule, finally we in Kerteh managed to meet up - after being postponed for a few times. I took the opportunity to take tonnes of Bobo's pix (Jita's & Fly's were just for cover line) to provide the world the opportunity to judge for yourself -> Betul ke Bobo dah tak jambu and muka ala-ala Bochap je (sorry Bochap) sekarang.... Well judge for yourself laa...

Normal things were discussed. Jita came with his brand new Civic so we were trying hard to borrow his car to go to Wong's wedding in 2 weeks' time but to no avail. We even volunteered to pay for his flight ticket to KL that week just so that we can rev the car merentas Ganu that weekend, but to Jita - cis, material possession is more valuable than friendship.

Everyone was broke and gave all sorts of excuses, so we had to go dutch this time. Jita used our monthly gathering to break his boycott of McDonald (quite lame really) although it was not made known to us why he was boycotting in the first place. I remember when we were in Scotland almost 10 years ago - Jita made a big fuss about his craving for BigMac - now he wants us to believe he has abandoned McDonald for political idealism? Hmmm maybe not.

Although it was quite obvious that we were damn tired (my clocking 200 km to and fro the day before being one of the reasons), sex had always featured in the discussion. Bobo is promoting this new style he called "we do it sideways" which all of us are still trying to imagine.

Fly's plant was on fire last week, so I was told. Fly jaga badan, so dah tak makan dah fatty food macam McD ni - complete contrast to yours sincerely who did not hesitate to swallow large Big Mac meal. The mirinda orange with ice cream drink did not taste bad either.

From sex we moved on to politics - the Pattani incidents featured highly, so was political developments locally. In the end, Jita nearly falling asleep listening to my cursing anything under the Sun.

It was a good night out as some of us had been stressed out lately - at least you know there's a circle of friends which you can hang out with and be sure you'd have a good laugh. Along the way, 1001 nama came out in the list of our maki hamun - and yes, we were the last one to leave McD that night.

Just in case you really want to study further whether Bobo's is losing the touch - some more photos for you.

ps: "Communion of Jambu" was a tribute to a briefing once done by our prefects in 1990 to a select group of people, which included Jita and Bobo - these were the most looked after among us, the so-called potential jambus who had to be protected at all cost. In the end, hmmmm..... Bobo jadi Bobo jugak in spite of all the "briefings" etc., although that "briefing" in surau became a good yardstick of the prefects' taste back then ha ha...

Sunday, May 16, 2004

A Grand Tradition

By INTAN MAIZURA

As reported by NST, Nuance section 16 May 2004

Among its former students are Sultans, a prime minister and top-notch politicians, which accounts for why, in the minds of many, the Malay College Kuala Kangsar (MCKK) is a bastion of all that is snobbish and elitist.

But as Tan Sri Datuk Mohd Azmi Datuk Kamaruddin put it in 1995: “It’s true that in the beginning, the college was started to accommodate sons of Malay rulers and their chiefs. But it was not long before meritocracy took over from aristocracy. Furthermore, it was also true that the early philosophy and the driving influence were derived from English public schools such as Eton but one should not deride the founders for wanting the best school model for their sons.”

There is no arguing that this “grand dame” of residential schools in the country has come a long way. When it was set up by the colonial government in 1905, it was an educational institution intended for the children of the traditional Malay elite in particular, many of whom were groomed for a career in government service.

By the 1930s, the school could already boast of having a number of Malay Rulers as old boys. At the outbreak of World War II in 1942, all four rulers of the Federated Malay States were products of the institution — Sultan Abu Bakar of Pahang, Tuanku Abdul Rahman ibni Yam Tuan Muhammad of Negri Sembilan, Tunku Hishamuddin Alam Shah of Selangor and Sultan Abdul Aziz of Perak. The trend continued in the post-war years.

Of the old boys who entered politics, there was Datuk Onn Jaafar, the first President of the United Malays National Organisation (Umno), and Tun Abdul Razak, Malaysia’s second Prime Minister, who was a second generation student at the college in the 1930s.

To an outsider, one of the most endearing things about MCKK is the “spirit” shared by its old boys. Talk to any of them, and the sense of pride is unmistakable; which is probably why the MCOBA — the Malay College Old Boys’ Association — has remained extremely active all these years, with its annual gatherings being much anticipated events.

And it looks like the tradition is not lost on the new generation of collegians, going by the responses of students approached on the campus, which clearly showed strong appreciation of the heritage and the honour to attend the school.

Datuk Andika Indra @ Ishak Mohd Esa, who at 101 is older than the College, remembers his time there like it was only yesterday.

“I was the captain of games,” he reveals proudly. “In fact, I was the headmaster’s favourite which was probably why I was also made head boy subsequently. I had to be quite strict with the boys as they were a naughty bunch.

“But the most I did was just to give them a tight slap if they were unruly. They never retaliated because if they did, they would be worse off when sent to see the headmaster!”

This son of a Penghulu Besar (his father was chief headman first in the sub-district of Parit, Perak, and then in the district of Kuala Kangsar) who now resides in Kuala Terengganu, actually entered MCKK at 13 in 1914, although his identity card showed he was 11, and left in 1919.

“During my time, the ‘big school’ (Forms 3, 4 and 5) could hold about 100 students but only 90 attended it. The ‘small school’ had about 28 students,” he recalls.
“Lessons included English Language and Literature, Arithmetic, Geography, History, Hygiene and Physical Training.”

Malay grammar and literature were also on the syllabus and this was where the college differed from other English schools at the time which offered Malay studies only as an option.

Games were obligatory, but encouraged, with football, cricket, hockey and tennis being the favourites. “Rugby was only played by yang kuat saje (the strong ones).”

The only other schools in the country at the time that came close to MCKK’s standing, according to Andika, were Kolej Sultan Abdul Hamid, Kedah, and Penang Free School.

“MCKK was not ‘tops’ because it had lots of students, but because of the type of students it had, namely the children of the elite. Our school was big — we had two buildings — but the student population (of the big school) was less than a 100, and we had only about 12 teachers.”

The best memories of the school?

“When we sneaked out to eat goreng pisang or bade in ‘New York’, before I was made head boy, of course!” guffaws the former head of the Forestry Department in Besut, Terengganu. “We would trick the Sikh jaga (guard) by throwing a stone in one direction and when he went to investigate, we scrambled out.

“We didn’t get up to much, just head for the riverside stalls to eat our goreng pisang or mee which only cost 3 cents then (pocket money was about $4 a month, which was a big sum then).

“We called the place New York because it was near the river, I guess. Of course, we were not supposed to go and if we were ever caught…kenalah dengan headmaster. Berjalur tangan! (You’d get it from the headmaster, stripes on your hands).

Retired CEO of Bank Pembangunan Salim Tan Sri Osman Talib, 72, likewise has fond memories of his MCKK days. Born in Kuala Kangsar, but now living in KL, Salim, whose father was a commissioner of land and mines, joined the school upon its re-opening in 1947 after the war.

“I was literally ‘ordained’ to go to MCKK,” he says with a grin. “It was an extremely reputable school in those days. Only anak raja (royal children) and sons of senior government officials get to go there. The father has to be at least a penghulu (headman).

“I remember the teachers were very strict but fair. A number of them were Europeans — English, Welsh, Scottish, Irish and they did take some getting used to, the thick Scottish and Welsh brogues sometimes!

“Punishable offences? That would be not doing your homework, and disregarding school rules such as not being punctual. Everything was to the bell. If you were caught… you had to write lines. Caning was rare. The worst punishment that could befall you was to be deprived of your liberty to go to town.”

Students were allowed out twice in the week — Fridays, after prayers, and Sundays, whole day. “Being confined at school and not able to go to the cinemas, or to the coffee shop to buy your ice-cream and cakes — that was hell!” Salim says.

Students would also be fined if they spoke in Malay. “It was 5 cents per word, if I remember correctly. They said we couldn’t possibly improve much more in our Malay but there was certainly a long way to go with our English!”

The highlight of his years in MCKK was his stint at the school library. “I was the chief librarian. Even during the school holidays, I would come back to school to record the books.”

“Then there were the evenings when our English teachers introduced us to the finer things in English life, such as classical music, Shakespeare, films, etc. That’s why when I went to England later, I was very familiar with things.”

And when it came time to leave?

“You do get attached to the place which had shaped almost every part of your formative years,” he admits. “Happy, sad, it was all there. The school grew on you and there were feelings that cannot be described. I’m just grateful to have had that experience.”

Sprightly Zaharah Mokhtar, 75, meanwhile will tell you with pride that she actually broke a major tradition of the college way back in 1949. On record, she is the only female student to have ever attended MCKK.

“Actually, I was only at the college for the Post-School Certificate, and I didn’t stay on campus. But still, I remember the headmaster saying to the students on that Monday, my first day, ‘We’re going to have a student breaking the history of the college!’” recalls the vivacious grandmother, who was attached to the Cooperative Development Department prior to her retirement.

Having just earned a Grade 1 in her School Certificate examinations, Zaharah was actually not supposed to go to MCKK, but was enrolled at Anderson School in Ipoh.

“I had already registered, having been strongly persuaded by a Mr Hicks, the then State Education Officer, who insisted that I should continue with my studies and then go to university,” Zaharah explains.

“But at that time, I had moved from Batu Gajah to my mum’s home in Aerodrome Road (now Jalan Kapal Terbang) which was about 4.8km from Ipoh town.

“1948 was the start of the Emergency and things were incredibly unstable. People were scared to go out and bus services were not regular. Buses even got burnt on the road from time to time. My kampung was actually next to Gunung Rapat where the Communists were known to have a very big camp. It was targeted by the British military all the time and there were a lot of bombings so it was generally unsafe to move about. As such, even though I had registered to go to Anderson’s, I ended up just staying at home.”

With a smile, Zaharah, who now calls Bangsar home, continues: “Mr Hicks found out about it, and deciding that it was a transport problem, he made arrangements for me to attend MCKK. For one thing, Kuala Kangsar was a peaceful town, unlike Ipoh then. And also I had a niece who was a nurse at the district hospital which was across the road from the college, with whom I could stay.”

Were the boys an issue?

Laughing, the “old girl” replies: “Of course not! It never bothered me to be among the boys as my previous school in Batu Gajah was a co-educational one after all. And before that, I was in some other co-ed institutions too”.

“The boys never treated me differently; some are still my close friends today. There were of course others who found it a bit hard to mix with me but it wasn’t because they were unfriendly, simply a little shy. That’s to be expected, they had never seen a girl on the college grounds before.”

Unlike the other classes, the Post-Certificate regime was a little more relaxed, and students had greater freedom of movement.

After class, “we would just walk to town,” says Zaharah.

“There was really little to do except to walk, talk, and argue. Arguments were simply a part of life — we would argue over just about anything, just to be controversial sometimes.”

“Yes, it was a special school, a special time” she adds. “My father went there and his two brothers too. My husband was also there, albeit for a short while, just before the war, for administrative training.

Turning thoughtful, she offers: “I believe there is something to the Malay College. Maybe, it’s the tradition. When you are in a school like that, with all that history behind it, and all the people who have graced its halls, you do feel that this is no ordinary place. Perhaps, this is what inspires its alumni not only to be proud of the college but also to conduct themselves in an appropriate way. It’s a privilege.”

And the future?

After a pause, Zaharah says: “It’s difficult to say. Things progress so fast these days. They were largely predictable at one time — just by looking at history, you could plan ahead — but not today, definitely not today…”

So should MCKK remain basically a residential secondary school, albeit one with a grand tradition? Or are there bigger things that it could aspire for?

“Malay College is a national heritage. It belongs to the nation. It is also now the only remaining Malay institution, aside from the Conference of Rulers,” says ex-government servant, Saiful Bahari Atan, 63, one of MCKK’s staunchest supporters, a member of the 1952-60 batch.

“Its future must be considered seriously. It has achieved the purpose for which it was set up. It needs to move on. Should we consider upgrading it into, perhaps, a university? We could always enter into some twinning programmes, link up with foreign institutions of higher learning as well.”

The platform for it is in place, after all: the lovely campus with vast playing fields, and more importantly, the tradition and the foundation for educational excellence.

“Alternatively, it could remain a secondary school but be run on a corporate-type basis, short of it being corporatised. It could be an exclusive school like Eton, or Harrow, where the best education is given... the best teachers, the bestneducational content, the best facilities,” Saiful suggests.

This way Malay College will be able to stay true to its tradition and also relevant to the times, he argues. “There is nothing wrong with wanting the best for the country. People must learn to appreciate such aspirations,” he adds, in response to those who view the grand dame with cynicism.

intanm@nstp.com.my

Wong's Wedding

It's Wong's wedding (sebelah bride) in Shah Alam - can't possibly make it since tied to something that I have overrun the deadline by one day! Will try to get photos from Wong himself - and definitely will be going to his side nya function in KT this June (combo 2-in-1 with Awie's).

Pyan and Allen had a coffee session with some other mutual friends last night, so I was told.

Ayien is organising another futsal event at Bukit Jalil, forgot to get the details for posting. I think I will set up a special Futsal Blog for Ayien to post everything about futsal, ye dak?

Fadli is still in Sweden and he e-mailed me a few days ago that he was going to Atlanta soon.... giler nice jet-setting ni, although I don't know how much I can stand that since some of us are very much to potato-couch type...

Saturday, May 15, 2004

Done!

Despite my earlier promise not to waste my time tinkering with the blog since I have tonnes of work to do - can't help myself (Four Tops anyway?) because otherwise, I feel like something is holding back my daily routine!

So it's done - stupid Tripod, I have to get a space elsewhere just to store pix, but 3G free of charge is not bad ehh?

So everything should be OK, have put a notice at the Tripod page that we have moved to blogspot.com.

Now need to do what I am supposed to do today and get something to eat - not going to have a fun weekend laa mcm ni....

Most probably will be going with the Kerteh boys to Awie and Wong's wedding in KT in 2 weeks time... sapa lagi nak ikut? Ada can masuk kereta baru Jita?

Reposting Completed

Finally, manage to re-post all the posting since the last few months in 2 days!

There are problems with embedding blogger into Tripod page, I keep having problem with "java socket connection lost" or over exceeding quota in file transfer.

So am sick and tired of it - move the whole things to blogspot.com. Still have to find a way how to embed or at least link 8 years' worth of website (since the early days at Vanderbilt to Buncit days to my days) to the blog, it's something none of us would like to lose.

But time is not really kind - langsung tak de masa nak spend a lot of time tinkering this thing, so until I get my motivation, just have to settle for this.

I'll send invitation to some people who did contribute before.

Wedding Season

From Mpro etc.

Ayien.... and all members,

Aku boleh organise event untuk semua yang nak kahwin ni serentak kat KL..... just bagitau kat mana nak buat? bila? and jgn lupa kasi duit sekali...... ataupun kita kutip je duit untuk sesapa yang nak datang.... ok, aku nak summarise sikit event perkahwinan batch kita ni.....

Wong : sebelah wife, 16 May 2004 @ Shah Alam & sebelah wong, 6 June 2004 @ Terengganu
Awie : sebelah wife, 29 May 2004 @ JB & sebelah awie, 5 June 2004 @ Terengganu
Pokpeq: sebelah pokpeq, 29 May 2004
Kandaq : sebelah wife, 30 May 2004 @ Shah Alam & sebelah kandaq, 6 June 2004 @ Kedah

So, sesapa yang boleh make it to the event, pls contact them..... email lah alamat korang so that diaorang boleh kasi card jemputan..... tak de la yang merajuk di kemudian hari nanti..... HAHAHAHAHAHA... kepada mereka yang nak kahwin, aku ingin mengucapkan selamat pengantin baru.... semoga berbahagia kae anak cucu......

1&2) Centenary Walkway tu amende?... sejak bila kechoque join mcoba ni? Semalam aku dinner dgn afza and dia ada mentioned pasal old boys weekend.... MCOBA tak handle this year OBW.... batch 84 yang handle...... so sesiapa yang berminat nak pegi, sila call budak batch 8084.....

From: Ikram Badarudin [mailto:ikrambadar@hotmail.com]
Sent: Monday, May 10, 2004 6:33 PM
To: khairulnizam@tnb.com.my
Subject: Cuti sekolah ni.. datang la ke Ipoh...

Assalamualaikum,

KNO, boleh tolong aku forwardkan email ni pada semua kengkawan?

To all of you, thousand apologies sebab aku tak simpan individual emails.
Although aku ada simpan some addresses, I find it much easier to have
KNO as the distributor, heheh. Jangan marah ah KNO, ni dapat banyak
pahala nih :)

Dengan berbesar hati, aku jemput korang semua ke my wedding kat Ipoh
on 6/6/2004 ni. Harap-harap dapatlah dilapang-lapangkan masa. Sesiapa
yang nak kad, bolehlah bagi alamat. InsyaAllah akan poskan.

from Kandaque

Ramai org kawin this time including lah aku. Anyone in the Northern part
of Semenanjung can come to my wedding. Sape yg jauh pun kalau nak dtg..
dtg laa.. Kat rumah ayah aku kat Penang. Kalau nak tgk invitation card,
just go to:

http://www.geocities.com/iskandar_herni/

To everyone who is getting married: GOOD LUCK and semoga sejahtera
hingga ke anak cucu. I know I need it. LOL.

Wednesday, May 12, 2004

Ashok: Gamba Gamba (from Radin)

last monday, aku pi kenduri kahwin kat taiping.. dlm byk2 org, boleh lak aku terjumpa Mr. Ashook..

dia masih lagi part time cameraman.. even, dia jadi cameraman utk kenduri tu gak..

no. contact ashook - 012 5966 594

kalau nak beli gamba, harga dia dah naik.. dulu 50 sen, skrang dah singgit..

dulu masa f3 ke f4, dia jual gamba zarina zainudin bogel dlm singgit ke
2ringgit.. kalau mau lagi, contact la ashook.. haha

-radin-

Tuesday, May 11, 2004

2 Hours Chat With Muta

Muta called on Thursday night – had a very long chat. This is the biggest Jejak Kasih of any batch mate I had ever had; and Muta would go down as the only person who had had the horrible experience of sharing a house with me – for 2 years!

A friend pointed out that kawanku.com and kawanaku.com are completely 2 different sites – the latter is for alumni networking where I traced Muta whilst the former is described as "situs cerita seks no 1 di Indonesia"
(Nope, I do not frequent the site – it was pointed out to me

Anyway, we had a lot to catch up – from my radical student days (whether I am still a hot headed radical) to what we have been up to. The last time I was in contact with Muta was the last UK reunion at Jita's apartment before we kissed the place goodbye for good in spring 2000. After that, I really thought Muta had left UK for good and came back to Malaysia.

But the house – 87 Bayswater Road – had its own curse on us. Both Muta and I changed course and made a complete U-Turn in our career. Even worse, the history repeated itself in almost the same manner. Half way in my final year, I went to see my Head of School to apply for a change of degree – from Electronic and Electrical Engineering to History. I must have looked really stupid then, with graduation in 4 month's time. In the end, I abandoned engineering for accountancy, with little to recall from my Electronic and Electrical Engineering days.

Likewise, after I had left for London, Muta went through the same thing – mid into his third year, went to see the Head of School to change course, and changed he did. My lack of interest in engineering must have inspired him so much that he enrolled into the course I wanted to abandon a year before – Electronics and Electrical Engineering! Ha ha what a world – in the end, Muta graduated with flying colours – got the First Class degree and numerous awards from the university. It all turned out OK for us – I am enjoying my life as a bean counter and Muta would have enjoyed his current profession so much more than what he was doing previously.

The house was unique and nostalgic to both of us – situated in front of a brothel and a pick up point for hookers, so a lot to recall from our stay there. There was even one shooting incident which I only realised an hour later when the place was surrounded by policemen.

A lot of reminiscing of the lecturers and tutors we now shared – my having the vaguest memory of them since I was hardly in school during my degree years, Muta still miss them miserably. Both of us spent almost 8-9 years in the UK, so the withdrawal syndrome upon leaving the country was quite severe.

After I had left school (koleq and Morrison), I never actually shared a house with anyone else – Muta being the unfortunate person to tolerate my tantrums and moodiness. For him to be able to stand me for 2 long years is a mark of his patience and kindness (let alone that we were never in the same circles back in koleq) – am so glad that things turned out so well for him and he now gets to pursue his passion.

Welcome back, old housemate!

Monday, May 10, 2004

BRU vs BANI

Fazurin made a remark while we were in a journey back to KL at 3 am last weekend – "little did the HM know the degradation in credibility of koleq's religious body inflicted by the change of name to Bunny"

Ha ha ha

Tuesday, May 04, 2004

Muta Has Been Located! Batak Alert!

Muta, my long lost housemate, has finally been located. I heard from a junior (Farouk 95) that he was still in Leeds as recent as last year - but he's back. Muta's info per Kawanku.com:

View Member Details
Name : Mutanizam Mubin
School : Malay College Kuala Kangsar
Graduation Year : 1994
Town of Residence : Bayan Lepas

Email Address : mutanizam_mubin@agilent.com
Cell Phone : 0125923918

What am I doing now ? : R&D Engineer
Where ? : Agilent Technologies, Penang

Souvenir : The very first day..... 6th Jan 1990

Hang Outs : Studio Zai Am

Nicknames : Mak Cik Kapet!

Personal Update : Studying..... dropping out........ studying........... and finally employed.

How? Muta is back!
(you can tell I am really bored)

Monday, May 03, 2004

It's Official – Fadhil, Fido & Murzali The Culprits

MCOBA Secretariat has published the listing of MCOBA members according to batch and finally it is confirmed that we have THREE MCOBA members from 1994. Tabulation as follows (in case you are so sad and so interested to find out how many from which batch).

Some interesting points from the stats – regardless of whatever some of us felt about the Class of 95, we actually shared quite a lot of things in common, this being one of them. We also need to find the 3 members from Class of 47 – since only 3 batches belong to the Club of 3: Class of 47, Class of 94 and Class of 95.

On the other hand, we don't appear as anti-mainstream as some of us would like to think. Although we did not have any scientific name or obsessive claim on certain things, our MCOBA member figure shows that we are as anti-mainstream as the Class of 95, which may not be anti-mainstream at all. So much for all the turning koleq upside down that was done during our time – perhaps Butterfingers shall remain the only proof of this anti-mainstream trend from 94 kot....

As for the actual culprits, I bar myself from saying anything against Fadhil since we made our moratorium (self-declared moratorium), Fido better pray tak melintas depan any of us lest dia kena kutuk for hours and hours. As for Murzali – well, it's a wild card, although one can argue whether 2 months should qualify you or not, at least Mpro and the gang had benefited from that membership of his (by claiming they were Murzali and therefore were entitled to cheaper MCOBA merchandise).

For Class of 2000 – lagi speret tak buleh?

I am surprised that Class of 96 has a rather low figure considering Jach'a is the MCOBA manager. I can only think of one thing that went wrong with MCOBA membership drive – the Secretariat Manager was/is not appealing enough for our appetite. I mean, look at all the secretariat managers, surely a blondie there can make all difference.

Get someone much better looking and we'll join in drove ha ha

* Jach'a if you are reading this, it's meant as a joke. You were the most handsome chap we ever came across throughout our short stay in MCKK, believe us.

Saturday, May 01, 2004

Of BRU and BANI

I was in Ipoh recently for some job-related assignments with Allen. We stayed at Casuarina and I discovered the first hotel with a gayong in the bathroom. Even Rumah Tumpangan Tin Hiong in KK which has graced our stay once tak dak gayong macam tu.

Because we had plenty of time and the hotel room was not that great so we couldn't spend the time in bed for long, we went back to KK since I had to meet the debaters anyway. Cendol and rojak passembur at the new cendol centre was horrible, it was only right that we kept going back to Rahmaniah for meals (yes, I am of the few who prefer Rahmaniah than Saudiah).

Anyway, the biggest and most surprising news that I received while in KK was that BRU is no longer around. It has been renamed as B-A-N-I. I was dumbfounded and shocked – all this while I was so proud to claim my revolutionary inclination that I wore shorts most of the time in koleq because I was a BRU Exco – see, Badan Revolusi Ugama, so has to be revolutionary. I was so proud of the "revolutionary" background and to be apart of BRU.

But BANI? Surely president BRU sounds much better than president BANI!

All this while with the Taman Sains gone I thought the species is extinct, but it makes such a strong come back that now everyone is a BANI. Esther Daniel must be proud….

Ps: BANI stands for Badan Nahdhah Islamiah, which according to Fazurin, roughly translates to Islamic Renaissance Body (kalau ajaran sesat sorry laa..)

Allen has some nice pictures of koleq, will get them from him.