Thursday, September 29, 2005

Epit's Blog: A Mouthful of Air

Stumbled upon Epit's blog - SELAMBA JE tak cakap. Well if you think you can blog and remain anonymous forget it man, I do have a lot of time to scout around when I don't have anything else to do (and this happens quite regularly).

Epit was perhaps one of the longest pals and most cherished ones that I have - from sitting one row behind me in 1 PK 1 (and hence the subject of much arguments each morning when it came to voting whether or not to switch on the fan) to the time in 3 PK 1 when he decided to become a prefect (OK laa I won't call you anjing laaa... well at least not in front of you) and he did go through his application form together with me, to the last days in November 1994 when we were in the same dorm in Dorm 1, with Fadli and Ku Hazran (I could hold him responsible for screwing my SPM because we spent so much time enjoying ourselves, but then that would be too cheap an escapism).

Kudos to a friend, you are our best bet in the civil service - so be patient and hang on there.

A Mouthful of Air

Wednesday, September 28, 2005

Porn Site

Once in a while I checked the visitor's statistics just out of interest to find out what kind of people would want to read about one of the most under-achieving batches (we have not yet staked the claim for the no. 1 under-achiever batch, but the longer Fadhil takes to become an MP, the nearer we are to the claim) ever to have walked the ground of MCKK.

I did expect a few categories of people who may want to visit an MCKK-related website, but porn surfers were not included in any of the categories.

Brace yourself for this:

fotopages konek
We ranked 21 for searches on that particular topic, thanks to Gadap's kuliah one morning on why holding your little general tidak membatalkan wuduk.


zarina zainuddin bogel
If you are looking for the hideous pictures of naked Zarina Zainuddin (I say hideous because I have seen it - it reaffirmed my commitment to my jambu for a good part of the year back in koleq ha ha after seeing those pictures), don't waste the byte searching through the search engine. We come quite high, although no ranking was given for this one.


As if being branded under achieving, dysfunctional, kera sumbang was not enough - now we are also the immoral ones.

Monday, September 26, 2005

You Think You Love Koleq So Much...?

Food for thought. We like to beat our chest and trumpet to the whole world of our undying love of this place called MCKK - for what it has done and given to us. In fact this blog is in one way or another a shrine to MCKK (apart from its other functions to keep the writer sane).

How much would you give to MCKK? Did you ever contribute anything to MCKK? We all know the school is coming to the ground (figure of speech here, don't point out to me that the Big School's graeco roman pillars still look very strong, I will not be amused), but if MCKK sounds the horn for help today - would you give up your entire life saving?

Maybe we Malays are the ungrateful lot who like to talk a lot and do very little... what say you?

Twins donate all their savings to repay kindness

BY SYLVIA LOOI (from The Star)

IPOH: In their time of need, their school came to their aid.

So, when SJK (C) Wan Hwa sent out an appeal to raise funds for its new building, former students whom it had assisted in the past were the first to come out to help.

Among them were 21-year-old twins Lee Yueh Wan and Yueh Ngor who donated their entire RM20,000 savings yesterday.

Yueh Wan and Yueh Ngor, who suffer from thalassaemia, said they were just seven years old when the school raised funds for their medical treatment.

“We are very grateful to be alive today because of the caring efforts of our school,” said Yueh Wan, a Second Year interior design student.



DOUBLE THE GENEROSITY: Yueh Ngor (left) and Yueh Wan were given a new lease of life thanks to donations raised by SJK (C) Wan Hwa 14 years ago. Yesterday, they return the favour by giving their entire RM20,000 savings to the school’s building fund. She added that their school had 14 years ago, raised RM200,000 and the money was shared with three other pupils who also suffered from the same blood disorder.



“When we learnt that Wan Hwa needed funds for a new block, we wanted to reciprocate,” said Yueh Ngor, the younger twin.

“Money is not everything. What is the point of having money when we do not even know if we will live tomorrow.

“What is more important is to help our old school construct a new building, which can be used for generations to come,” added the accounts clerk.

The twins still require treatment and spend a total of RM1,300 monthly for their medical expenses.

Other former students who contributed generously included Ye Li Ming and her four siblings. Together, they donated RM105,124.15 to Wan Hwa.

Li Ming, 32, her sisters Li San, 30, and Li Jun, 29, and brothers Jian Hua, 34, and Jian Zing, 23, had also received aid from the school when they were students as their parents had passed away.

On Saturday evening, the school held a concert featuring singers from Taiwan and Malaysia to raise funds for a new four-storey building.

The school’s board of governors chairman Tan Mung Lee said the new building at Taman Rasi Jaya in Menglembu here would cost RM6mil and they had only raised RM3mil to date.

“We are still short of RM3mil and hope to raise the funds so that the new building can be built soon.”

Established in 1914, the school was previously known as Chin Tet School before it changed its name to Pin Min School in 1931 and Wan Hwa School in 1939.

Thursday, September 22, 2005

Lembu Punya Susu Sapi Dapat Nama: Futsal-mania The Aftermath II

Fitt, 21/9/05 14:45:

sbb takde org lagi yg bagi komen, meh aku update sket pasal futsal tourney last sunday

kita bagi 2 team, 94A & 94B

94A - balat, kalai, foo, aweng, hairul, pokpek, idzam keeper + khalid
94B - aku, ayein, cibik, fadhil, belly, epit, pica + gabai keeper

ada gak supporters terdiri dari ayien family, t'kid + wife, tetamu kehormat rough + allen + sapa lagi tah yg aku pon tak kenal

94B -
1st game lawan 2000 kalau tak silap aku, menang 2-0 cibik score semua..
2nd game lawan team 98, menang 4-1...aku tak ingat team kita sapa yg score, yg aku tau, gol deorg sebijik tu dijaringkan dgn bantuan ref
3rd game lawan team napster (batch mana tah), menang 2-0...pica sebijik, aku sebijik...
so kitorang top group, masuk quater

94A -
aku tak ingat lah deorg ni punya game...yg aku tau deorg top group gak

quater
94B kalah 2-1 walaupon leading sebijik dengan jaringan cantik dari aku, hasil dari sweeping move dari pica + ayein, dan kalah dlm suasana penuh kontroversi...antaranya ialah opponent tak amik freekick at the correct spot which lead to their winning goal..dan ref missed out clear handball dalam D..

94A kalah 3-2 dgn team napster yg 94B dah sayurkan masa group stage...so malaslah aku nak story lebih lanjut...

overall, it was fun, enjoyable dan maybe its good to point out yg team kita lah team yg paling senior yg masuk quater....lain suma budak2 belaka..the crowd was good, and its great oso to see support esp. dari rough + allen yg mengotakan kata2 utk dtg bagi support dan bukan sekadar hot-hot chicken poop je..siap bawak sponsor air + grub lagi tuh....heheheheh..

so marilah lepas ni kita sama2 meramaikan majlis friday night every fortnightly kat seksyen 14 so that tahun depan hopefully kita bole hantar 4 team pulak....hehehe


Idzam Noor, 21/09/2005 03:19 PM:

Congrats to both teams.

So, next year, kita letak 4 team, (boleh ni)

Kalau ade lagi, aku akan cuba cilok jersi Selangor lagi...

94A
1st game - menang 4-0 (lawan '95)
2nd game - bye (team 04 cuak ni)
3rd game - menang 3-0 (lwn 02 kot)
4th game - menang 3-0 (lwn 2000)


Ha ha ni lah orang Melayu cakap lembu punya susu sapi dapat nama.

The drink and grub (tid bits, ice cream etc) was a result of our unending scams to extort money from Fadhil. Epit and I were chatting with Fadhil and we were in the shouting mode because it was so noisy, that after a while we were complaining of sore throat.

The rest is history - I took RM 50 from Fadhil, got Allen to drive us to the nearest 7-Eleven, borong whatever I could find to maximise the RM 50, came back eating ice cream and drinking Coca Cola - then non-chalantly went to greet the teams with drinks and grub, as if it was our treats ha ha ha...

I think I am quite good at extortion, need to do this more often ha ha ha.

Post-script:

1) Class of 98 emerged as the champion for the second year. The team name was DC98 - I was thinking all along that it was Detention Class 98, ghupe-ghupenya Defending Champion.

2) Fadhil only got a few cents as change rasanya.

3) Four teams next year? Hmmmm better get fit now ha ha ha (then next year go through the same ritual of tai chi-ing to each other to form a team, last2 the usual suspects jugak)

Sunday, September 18, 2005

Futsal-mania: Aftermath

Woke up berkobar-kobar to relive the cheering days, so did some work in the morning and headed towards Sports Planet @ Ampang for the MCOBA Futsal Challenge.

By the time I was there at around 11.30 pm, both teams were doing well - emerging as champions for their respective group. I was rather impressed (if you look at the kind of bellies these people carry around, you understand what I mean. My belly - still some hope, but Idzam Noor's - man that's a life time of Aitken's Diet maaa...).

Anyway, as I walked towards the batch's gathering spot, met a few juniors whom I still remember vaguely. I think it was Chai'e 96 who greeted me at the gate, then met Shahman 96 (he owed me big lunch for all the lunches I bought him back in 94!), then Kichi, Pillah and a few others.

The team had just finished playing by the time I met them - it wasn't a tearful reunion after all since I met these people quite regularly.

By noon, Epit and I were heavily engaged in a loud borak session with Fadhil - on politics ha ha! The group sitting next to us was from the Class of 98, our F1 - I vividly remember some of them - Sapet, Padal etc. - and I am sure they left the Sports Planet convinced even further that their F5s were a bunch of weirdos..

After lunch, the knock out round began - ha ha the first team was knocked out by Class of 99, then the second team lost to Class of 2002. We lost both to the urban and kampung batches (ada relevance ke ni?)

Chibix and I joked around that next year they should do grouping based on collective weight of the players, and that's when my obesity will come handy.

Good time, though 3 hours after the teh tarik session at a mamak restaurant, Canoe, Allen and I were bored to death not knowing what we should do next.

The teams that went to the final was Class of 98 and Class of 2003 - one representative for the urban and kampung batches (but beware, the latter was famously associated with the parang ha ha ha so I wouldn't do any funny tackles lest .... - gurau je he, budak koleq can take this kind of jokes..)

As for us, kitorang menang sorak, and that's what matters (as always batch ni menang sorak...)

PS

i) Being there just remind me of how old we are, a lot of familiar faces but mostly all my juniors. That does not count the way too junior batches.

ii) You know you are old when....

Noni Kapet : "Allen jom gi clubbing" (while walking along Bukit Bintang)
Allen : "We are way too old to go clubbing"
3 minutes later
Noni Kapet : "Allen jom gi Haji"
Allen : "Kau lagi swing from one extreme to another tak boleh?"
3 minutes later
Noni Kapet : "Allen aku nak kahwin.."

iii) After our rowdy behaviours today, I think MCOBA is glad that we didn't join MCOBA in the first place ha ha ha...

Futsal pictures here

Futsal-mania

Satu hari dalam bulan September....

Ayien, Sep 10, 2005 12:14 PM

Fitt and all.

Tolong sebarkan info pasal futsal nie to those yg interested. I couldn't send email to the Group's mail.

MCOBA is organising a futsal tournament next week. Refer to flyer as attached. So far, ada 28 teams yang dah confirm; ranging from batch 80s up to junior batches. Sesiapa yang interested nak join team 94 bolehlah contact aku or extend your confirmation through email latest by 14 Sept (Weds). Sekarang nie, those yang interested to join are:

1. Balat
2. Foo
3. Mache
4. Hairul
5. Cibiok
6. Fadhil
7. Picha
8. Wawan
9. Belly
10. Gabai
11. Hazerk
12. Fitt
13. Ayien

Kalau ramai, boleh kita buat 2-3 teams (8 org per team)...fees is RM30/pax to cover charges, t-shirt, drinks and goodies. Aku dah arrangekan 2 hours for training next Friday for futsal kat tempat and time yg sama: 10.30pm kat Futsal Sports Centre, PJ Sect 14. time tu nanti kita akan form teams and make sure bawak fees RM30 sekali.
So...jomlah berfutsal..

Rough 12/09/2005 12:21 PM

Woi takkan satu team je?
Enrol laa satu team lagi - aku volunteer jadi cheerleader nak?

Mior 12/09/2005 02:26 PM

Ces apa class jadi cheerleader. Main terus la Rough (action speaks louder than words, heheh). Aku pun kaki bangku macam ko gak, belasah jer, betul tak Fido (another kaki bangku)?

Rough 12/09/2005 12:27 PM

it's not the kaki that i'm worried about. it's the lung and the heart.

my lung cannot cope with too much hard work, it will clog, which then will shut my heart. when my heart dah trip, the whole body trip maaaa....

i'll settle for cheerleader. can i pay for a few ladies (yang tak tulen lagi senang dapat) to come and jadi mascott our team?

Wong 12/09/2005 12:27 PM

Camner... cheerleader pung tak pernah turun Futsal kat PJ.... setakat provoke nak datang jer lebih..!!!

Lagi satu team...kita ambik.. Rough jadik keeper...and Fadli jadik striker...

Rough 12/09/2005 12:33 PM

Kalau nak suruh aku main, make sure letakkan Fido as PB kat tepi tu... lari laju sikit Fido, jangan buat ala-ala slow motion. And urut elok2 sikit, gentle2 sikit...

* kalau Fido tak nak, Vincent pun dah ada kat KLCC what.... ready kan si Vincent kat tepi..
** kalau Fadli main striker aku sanggup jadi keeper laaa ha ha ha (dream on laa, mamat tu kat Aussie la ni)

Rough 12/09/2005 12:46 PM

Wong,

Aku sponsor team orang minyak RM50 boleh? Kau dah ada Hj Auzir, Rembell, kau... errr itu je lah... team orang minyak ni lagi banyak cheerleader dari player nya..

Cukup kot....

Aku sponsor maximum RM50 je, yang lain nak bayar pom pom...

Wong 12/09/2005 01:19 PM

Ha..ha.... team orang minyak...???..boleh ker...??? ha..ha.... aku tengah piker... first.. cukup orang ker.. mcm kau cakap team orang minyak... kalau setakat nak buat team.. Bataq kat Medina ..dome or Starbuck lepas sembahyang Jumaat boley la kot.....

At least nak buat team sembahyang Jumaat bawah pokok okey lagi... but nak buat team Futsal aku musykil skit... !!! ..tu tak masuk lagi case kena gelak.. kena belasah nanti....!!!

Mpro 12/09/2005 12:38 PM

Bonus 6 bulan, sponsor RM50 je... mana cukup.... up sikit....

Bobo 12/09/2005 01:09 PM

ntahnyer.. aku baru nak sound rough.. kalau mcm rough, silap2 team chelsea die boleh beli, letak jadi wakil team 9094..

come on rough.. duit bukan bawak mati pun.. kekekekkee

Rough 12/09/2005 2:54 PM

Mana buleh sponsor banyak2 benda lagha ni.... aku rasa RM50 ok... he he he... tapi mana team nya?
Duit tak masuk lagi pun...

* 6 bulan aku = setengah bulan Wong = seminggu Fadhil...

Auzir 12/09/2005 02:52 PM

Sudah la Ruff!!! Kedekut cakap je... Ari tu cakap nak ambik brand new Honda Accord lagi. Ha itu lagi lagho.

Apalak yang lagho nyer.. Suruh team minyak tu tutup aurat la. Pastu, kita niat nak exercise...Bagi fit sekor sekor..nanti kalau ada perang nanti buleh le jadi mujahid...mende le lu mat.

Jangan jadi Haji bakhil...rezeki tu bukan untuk kau sorang jer...kau tu distribution point jer.

Rough 12/09/2005 03:09 PM

Haji Bakhil kau panggil aku? Last week makan aku bayar kau saja2 buat tak ingat, ada hati nak lecture some more...

Nak tutup aurat niat exercise no problem, mana team minyak nya?

Rembell ada apa, keeper masa F1 some more....

Auzir 12/09/2005 04:14 PM

Aleee....Tak baik mengunkit tau..nanti pahala tak dapat duit habis camtu jer..
So..jadi tak kau sponsor team minyak....$30 pax, 8 orang $240. Kau sponsor half ok lah...Baru $120. Kita namakan team tu ada kena mengena dgn kau sikit la..Aku punyer suggestion untuk nama dan slogan ada 3:-

1. Ruff O & G Team - the Ruffest team ever
2. Team Minyak Masak Ruff - sesuai untuk menambahkan berat badan; and
3. The Ruff Team – tut tut.

Amacam jadik. Itu suggestion aku jer. Mungkin bell sikit.

Rough 12/09/2005 04:41 PM

Aku sponsor RM100 laaa, tong tong. Itu pun dah cukup baik dah... lebih dari tu you can kiss my bottom.

Nama apa nak pakai pakai laa... tapi no (3) tu agak laa melampau, itu geng2 jue je pakai nama macam tu... ni kira investment, kalau menang aku dapat 40% share of the prize? Ha ha ha kau ingat Malcom Glazer je boleh buat investment in sports?

Tapi mana team nyaaaaa?

Wong 12/09/2005 05:03 PM

Since Auzir yang semangat melampau... siap kutuk-kutuk lagi...kita lantik dia jadik captain... at the end of the day...dia sprinter leman.. masa form 1 dulu...( but after that... dia punyer speed constant jer..pasal tumbesaran terbantut ............) he..he...

So Auzir..cepat list down..saper nak main team minyak nie...

Rough 12/09/2005 05:09 PM

Akuu rasa hot2 chicken shit laaa jugak..... aku quite sure tak cukup orang nak main nya... wokay lah, aku pi sedekah duit 100 tu kat Bersamamu TV3 laa....

Auzir baru call, gaya2 macam tak ke mana je...

Auzir 12/09/2005 05:23 PM

Woi Wong,

Aku sprinter sampai form 2 la. Pastu form 4 pun ade.

Oh yer.. memang aku bantut. Aku quit bola lak lepas tu. Tak leh ler. Sure tak leh lompat tinggi. Jongos pastu bagi budak yang training tak sampai 5 hari main untuk under 15 masa kita kita F3. Aku seminit haram pun tak dapat. Time kita kalah kat Bukit Merchu 6-3 lepas kita lead 3-0, I felt that I have been vindicated. Ish ish tak baik nyer aku...

Malas nak cakap, tapi F4 aku dapt colours hehehehe...

Fitt 12/09/2005 07:20 PM

latest msg dari ayien...
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fitt.

I thrust that the my msg goes out to all.

So far, the response is very encouraging. Few people have called to join. Latest list as at 5.10pm (Monday):

1. Balat
2. Foo
3. Mache
4. Hairul
5. Cibiok
6. Fadhil
7. Picha
8. Wawan
9. Belly
10. Gabai
11. Hazerk
12. Fitt
13. Ayien

Newcomers (Mon 12/9):
14. Epit
15. Ezam
16. Joe
17. Kalai
18. Aweng
19. Syed Khalid

Kalau Auzir nak buat team orang minyak, you're most welcome....3 team lagi bagus. Kalah menang, belakang kira. Janji itu lemak-lemak terbiar dpt dihapuskan!! Tapi tak naklah hot-hot chicken shit je..

Ja 12/09/2005 11:21 PM ZE9

salam...

wey, aku nak join gak!! team org minyak...hmmm....that sounds interesting

Auzir 13/09/2005 08:35 AM

Aku join gak. Then kita dah ada 2 orang confirm team minyak.

Allen cakap kalau Ruff main, dia pun nak join. McDaken Bitchy lak tengah consider aku punyer proposal. Yg tak reply lagi adalah Rahimi, Pyan n Wong. So saper yang berminat, cepat ler answer. Kalau semua ok kita dah ada 7 orang.

Pastu kalau yang bukan orang minyak pun boleh join kan. Chibi pun consider orang minyak gak!

So saper lagi nak join sila sms aku kat 012 287 5300, Hari ni dan esok aku ada training. Wong yang jadi trainer. Jangan aku tidur dah le.

Fadli 13/09/2005 12:27 AM AST

terima kasih di atas sokongan dan confidence rakan rakan untuk aku jadi striker... cadangan akan dipertimbangkan..so how ?

Bobo 13/09/2005 05:32 PM

oi confuse...
team minyak = oil industry related people
ke
team minyak = orang2 yang kulit mcm crude oil
???

Fitt 16/09/2005 05:03 PM

Hi all,

Here's an update from Ayien....

So apa lagi..jom la turun beramai2 mlm ni...kita buat adhoc mini-gathering...main 2 jam, so kalau turun sampai 40 orang pon aku gerenti semua mesti dpt main sampai pancit...kalau tak puas, bole extend lagi sejam..hahahah.....kalau tak nak main pon takpe
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fitt.
Please circulate this to all asap.

Attached herein is the futsal match grouping for this Sunday. Aku ngan epit dah undi on behalf of team 94 (team A and team B) kat mcoba last Weds. Firstly, I need the creativity of all to give names to our teams..Orion Capital, BBC etc...ape-ape pun, team kita paling veteran dalam group masing2..so we desperately need supporters. Kalau mpro/tungkit boleh jadi cheerleader, lagi bagus...

Rules for the match ada aku attachkan sekali. To those yg main and yg interested to come for cheering, by all mean, you're most welcome to come...

Malam nie training kat PJ macam biasa start pukul 11pm. We will form the team and discuss on the strategy. To those yg nak melepak sekali, datanglah coz kitaorg ada sampai pukul 1am..

See you guys tnite!

Mior 16/09/2005 05:22 PM ZE10

Waaa.. nak main..! This is not fair. I missed my futsal. Bloody aussie, sikit2 footy, sikit2 rugby, sikit2 cricket. Udah2 le tu.. InsyaAllah aku doakan korang menang and most importantly not injured. With the likes of Picha & Chibik (striker) Balad, Hairul & Kalai (midfield) and ferocious defender Wong, along with top goal keeping from Gabai or Auzir, ada hope, ada hope.

NB. Nama2 yg aku tak sebut jgn kecik ati, korang pun terer jugak.

* after much discussion, team minyak @ team orang minyak did not materialise after all....

** fixtures:

Saturday, September 17, 2005

Annual Makan Post Defeat - Coaches Session

Ben : Aku cadangkan Canoe jadi treasurer setahun lagi...
Ben : Cadangkan cadangan ditutup...
All : Setuju...*
Canoe : (Habis lah duit aku for another year...)



Canoe making call to banks to check accounts balances after the unanimous appointment


2 coaches separated by 14 years (ha ha rub it in...)


Aftermath - after 100++ pieces of yong tau fu...


We have this annual makan-makan since last year - last year it was Ben's treat, this year it's mine (hence why makan yong tau fu je ha ha ha).

What will happen next year - no one knows. As usual, this early on no one would give a commitment for the next season, what with the next PPM to be held in Kuantan etc.

But we hope next year we will be joined by the new set of coaches from the late 90s batches - so that some of us the older ones can take some rest.

And they can pick up the tab as well once in a while, since they will start working by then.

* ps: The meeting was conducted in the true spirit of pemilihan AJK persatuan or election for house's office holders. One will nominate, one will immediately propose for nomination to close and second his own proposal, and the hall will shout in unison "setuju..." - followed by laughters, because the guy who they had just elected most of the time was the last person who wanted the post. Classic.

Sunday, September 11, 2005

Timeless Story

In the course of my profession and my work, I had come across many old boys from different generations. Most of them are my superiors to whom I would have to report one way or another, or colleagues who happened to be assigned to the same team.

Some time early this year I was on an intensive course with one old boy from Class of 76, one Syed Sheikh. I never knew that he was an old boy and this guy has a good reputation attached to his name – so naturally I stay away from people with good reputation, lest you are being branded a sucker.

One day during the course (that day was Wednesday), he came in with the tie.

During lunch time co-incidentally I sat down at the same table with him, so after a while talking about the normal things (inflation, recapping of things from the class etc.), I asked him from which batch he was.

I have to admit that the moments when one budak koleq gives himself away to another are pretty cool in my book. No secret handshake, no long winded introduction – I just had to look at his tie and asked “You from which batch?”. He then knew straight away that we had 2 old boys at the table.

The next few days, we chatted mostly about koleq – I found out that he was in the first MCKK team that went to the first PPM. I found out that he was as fond of debating as myself, he told me with extreme passion about his years as a cheer leader (this, from a guy who is known company wide as warak). All the stories, all the jokes that you could have told yourself.

Last month I was on a trip with another budak koleq by the name of Adnan (Class of 78), a much senior person by designation. We shared room together with another colleague whose father was also an old boy.

It was a start of 3 days of non-stop koleq stories. Adnan is a colourful and good-hearted person, who shared many stories from his time. The pranks of his batch, the jokes, the ghost stories – again, all the stories and the jokes that you could have told yourself.

I keep repeating the last sentence because my encounters with so many budak koleq from different generations so far reconfirmed one theory of why MCKK boys bond so much so instantly – we practically share the same timeless experience.

Whether you are from the 60s, or 70s, or 80s or 90s – we went through a similar mill of life, varying in small degree from one year to another, from one decade to another, only in the way we dressed or what was considered hip outside the gates of Malay College at the time. But as far as the experience that each one of us went through that was so vividly painted in our canvass of life – it was the same routine at Prep School, the same ghosts that we feared, the same cheering and away games that we cherished, the same court at the Squash Court that we went to settle differences etc. etc.

(One story that never changed a bit between 1978 and 1994 was the High Table experience - how people on High Table would pass the food from High Table to friends down under)

I was astonished that despite the years between us, we could catch up with one another very quickly, because of that similar experience that we went through in MCKK.

Unfortunately, as much as I am glad that I went through a similar timeless experience with many others, I am not so sure about the later generations in the 2000s.

When they changed the dormitory system to make sure that you would only stay with your batchmates from the first day in college to the last day you walk through the gate, when cheering is the very subdued version of what it was, when student politics and electioneering was a lot more tamed that it was during the yesteryears (always involving seniors throwing chairs to juniors in Hargreaves Hall), when Speech Day was a far cry from our time (for the note, we spent at least one month preparing for exhibitions for Speech and Sports Day during our time, which did a lot to encourage creativity and leadership outside the realm of exam-oriented class room assessments), nowadays Speech Day and Sports Day are cramped into one day, without the exhibition.

I wonder whether one day in the future when I sit down with a member of the Class of 2005, separated only by a mere 11 years – can we go through the same routine of recounting the similar timeless experience that my seniors and I do now when we sit down for coffee?

And the ultimate question – without that timeless experience common to all budak koleq before this, can we instantly bond with our junior would-be-old-boys in MCKK, to whom we cannot relate?

Only time can tell, although I hope I would be as lucky as Adnan to be able to tell jokes and stories from his time that his juniors of 17 years understood.


Adnan and writer*, with a Cape Malay



*ps - The writer is in the middle, in case you are wondering how come the writer had aged so much although he's only 28 (by simple arithmetic)....

Monday, September 05, 2005

10 Year Reunion // Class of 95

We had our 10 Year Reunion last year. True to the spirit of "kera sumbang" and breaking every rule and tradition there was, for the first time in so many years, the batch which was supposed to celebrate a 10 Year Reunion did not come back for the MCOBA Weekend in 2004. Yes, none of us actually went back (even if there was any he would have been skulking around) - which spinned so many rumours after that.

We found out from some people later, that apparently we boycotted MCOBA Weekend in protest of MCOBA's refusal to fund our grand reunion. We could only laugh at that because:

i) the word "boycott" was rather inaccurate, considering we did not go back to any MCOBA Weekend since 1994 anyway ha ha, so it was not as if we could boycott something that we never ever did in the first place

ii) we know MCOBA was not swimming in cash, so only idiots would have gone to MCOBA to ask for donation for their batch's reunion

The truth was we wanted a private and personal gathering. Meeting your batchmates again after 10 years was not a small thing, and we didn't think having other old boys around would allow us to spend much time together with batchmates, with the teachers and enjoying ourselves.

That was the sole reason we had our reunion outside MCOBA Weekend and just among ourselves last year.

And it was a very meaningful event indeed - with the teachers all present and many faces you had not seen before. It started with career talk and scholarship process briefing, then tea, then sports, then dinner, then Subuh berjamaah (errr only one person), then sports again and then farewell under the Big Tree.

As a token of appreciation and contribution, however minute it was, we managed to pool some money to buy al-Quran and sajadah for the new surau.

The decision to hold 10 Year Reunion outside MCOBA Weekend attracted mixed views of course.

But surprisingly Class of 95 decided to "continue"* with what was started - to hold 10 Year Reunion outside MCOBA Weekend. I was told that they contributed a laptop and magazine subscription to koleq this year.

Personally speaking, I hope this will continue, or at least the custom that the batch celebrating the 10 Year Reunion contribute something to koleq (I am sure this started way back anyway).

However from my limited knowledge of Class of 96 (I bloody hell did not understand my F3!), I can bet they will revert to cleberating in conjunction with MCOBA Weekend. I don't think they share our passion to be "kera sumbang" or our pride and passion for breaking tradition ha ha....

* ps - "continue" might not be accurate as the decision to hold it separately could have been made independently from ours

pps - Looking at their 10 Year Reunion T-Shirt, I thought we could have improved the design a bit ha ha (Epit, Abon, jangan kecik hati, but agak lah buruk our logo)


Class of 95

Sunday, September 04, 2005

Ameba

This blog is long overdue.

Ameba’s wedding took place about 2 months ago in Kuala Lipis. Those who went to the wedding were Auzir, Gadap, Pica and myself in one car, then Allen, Pyan, Radin and Badut in another. Pejal and Hazerk went with their families.

There were quite a lot of plans initially – Auzir and Gadap were serious about having a durian feast by the roadside, but no one seemed to share their love of durian or tempoyak, so we passed on that plan. In the end, as much as I feel Siti Nurhaliza is so over-rated, everyone except Pejal and Aini went to pay homage to her home. I wasn’t at all surprised that there was a big signboard leading to the road to her house – I suppose that’s Lipis’ only claim of fame to date.

So Ameba did get married after all (and unexpectedly should I add).

Ameba and I went a long way back, although we drifted apart after SPM. He sent me 2 or 3 letters while I was still in Scotland, but after that communication stopped.

Ameba was in the same house and in the same dorm as I was in F1, so by design we shared what was considered the most brutal Prep School prefect of our time in Dorm E (Fadli can relate to this after the mighty slap on his face on one Saturday afternoon, or Syed Moto’s experience sleeping in the corridor ha ha). He was a class of monitor of SPU 1 and I was for another class – so it was not surprising that by the time the batch went through our first election, both of us were in the committee.

And so it began – for the next four years Ameba and I had always been together in one committee or another. Unlike some people whom I can categorically say my people from the first day till today, I never know how to “categorise” Ameba in my book.

For a start, he ranked higher than me in the first election. He was a second man after Toy, I was a step lower than him. But from the very first AJK Batch meetings, it was rather obvious that we had 2 distinct camps – one was what would have been a rather right wing camp, the other more to the left. Right wing in the sense that my camp was less tolerant to personal choices that incriminate the greater good of everyone in the batch, left wing for the other camp because they were more tolerant to signs of problems in the batch.

But I could never tell where Ameba’s thoughts, or allegiance were – in fact till this very day I am not sure. Post the 1998 events, again the political opinions in the batch were divided into two – I was rather vocal in my condemnation of what had happened, while there were others who bought everything Utusan, TV3 and The Star had to say. I couldn’t tell what he thought of the whole events, although my hunch is even if he thought that the powers-that-be went overboard, he doesn’t necessarily agree with the opposition either.

That categorizes Ameba in my book – I was never able to guess where his vote might be.

He was also one of the very few people in my batch who I treated as equals all along – had he interfered or raised objections to some scheming that I conjured (and I had a lot of those), I would have stopped.

By the time we were approaching our final year, the balance of power in koleq changed a lot, what with the Prefects Board stripped from what it was a year before, to the proposed change in dormitory system etc. It was at this crucial moment that the other two people who I had always considered as equals, acted magnanimously and with pragmatism to allow the kind of life we had in 1994 to take place.

I never paid them any tribute officially before.

Had Toy decided to go ahead and stand as President, it would have been a divisive contest – as I was in no mood to back down. I would have won with the majority support from the juniors, but the bad blood within the batch would have remained. There would always be people who hated my guts to the bone and took the opportunity to inflame the aftermath of such an election and life would have been horrible.

But Toy made way for a no-contest and it was the first time in our five years in koleq that a Form 5 was made a Deputy President (that position was exclusively reserved for a F4 before that), having served as a Deputy President in the previous term. Along the line, at moments when I was barely coping with the pressure, expectations and hopes of being a Form 5, Toy would step forward and took over to shoulder the burden – there was one night in May 1994, after lights off, that he came to my bed and asked me to take a rest and let him managed a function due about a week from that. I never had a buddy-like relationship with him, so that kindness I remembered for many years to come.

It was in this perspective that I owed a lot to Ameba. Prior to the election, had he decided to take part as well, it would have been complicated. If he decided to take side with Toy and pushed Toy to stand – it would have been a messy election. If he had decided to stand himself, it would have created more confusion.

But unlike many other figures I knew from the batches before or after us, Ameba did not entertain his ego (if he had any that is). It was enough for him for people to know quietly that he had a place in the batch, whether or not he held any position or consulted in any of the decisions made.

I couldn’t even remember whether I sat down with him before we submitted the final cabinet to the HM that had won unopposed – but later he took on the portfolio assigned to him to his heart and did a great job at it.

Looking back, as a modern day Duke of Warwick the king-maker, Ameba was one hell of a down-to-earth person, one who was not greedy and careful in wielding the influence he had in his hands. Nowadays we jeered at each other – I at his receding hair line ha ha, his at my extra 30 kg from school days – but I have always had respect for this guy. It is for that reason mostly that I made the journey to Kuala Lipis, as much as I know there’s nothing at all in Kuala Lipis that would excite us.

To a great friend, for all the scheming and plotting we had carried out – congratulations!

Wedding Pictures

ps: We had lunch with Vincent @ Chot (his new nickname apparently) last Friday
pps: Auzir just called to sell the Commemorative Stamps – at 25% mark up, since it is sold out.