Sunday, January 23, 2005

SE-KURUN WARISAN BANGSA, SE-MALAM AMAL & JASA

The MCOBA Ladies (mcobaNITA) under the Royal Patronage of HRH Tuanku Ampuan Najihah Tunku Besar Burhanuddin of Negeri Sembilan will be organizing the above event to mark the declaration of MCKK as a National Heritage (Warisan Kebangsaan).

This event will be a media launching and promotion, for MCKK , and development of the cream of the young bumiputra students in the country.

The date and venue for the event are as follows:
Date: 16th February 2005 (Wednesday)
Time: 7.30 p.m.
Venue: Grand Ballroom, Shangri-La Hotel, Jalan Sultan Ismail, Kuala Lumpur

It will be attended by Their Royal Highnesses Consorts of the Rulers of the Malay States, the Malay College old-boys and prominent members of the society, and, members of the media. Exciting events have been planned for the evening. Among others are a fashion show and entertainment by prominent MCOBA and society members.

We are inviting members of the public to participate in this glittering event. Tickets for the event will be priced at RM150 per person. We encourage corporate sponsors for tables priced at RM15,000 each. There will also be 15 VVIP seats at RM15,000 per person. Individual seating at RM150 will be sold only upon availability. All cheques are due upon bookings, made payable to MCOBA.

Corporate logos of the sponsors shall be displayed on all handouts and gifts. A Representative from your company will be conferred a token of appreciation by HRH the Patron.

For more information on the program, please contact Puan Norzihan Latt at 019-6173997, Puan Emelia at 012-2910598 or Puan Suraya/ Encik Hafizi of MCOBA at 03-22746306.

Wednesday, January 19, 2005

McD Club: January 2005

After a long pause, the McD Club convened again in the most hip place in Kerteh, the McDonald (where you can either que at the counter, OR que at the drive in outlet, take your food and then join your friends inside).

I was trying to get Haza and Wok (Class of 95), but Wok went back to KL (I know it was an excuse since deep inside he didn't want to sit down at one table with Bobo - jambu rivalry goes very deep, especially if you were vying for the same market - both were in East Wing).

I was also trying very hard to get Fly - so that we could have a small ceremony to celebrate his taking over Fasha's position as the Grand Mufti of all budak koleq of the 90s in Kerteh area (Fly being ujub and riak as usual, self-proclaimed his eminence now that Fasha, one of the pillars of the BRU in 1990, was transferred to KL). But Fly did not make it, couldn't even reach him since I lost his no.

Perhaps because Fasha is no longer around, the moral degradation among PGB's younger staff was getting a bit out of hand that a camp to instill Islamic values was held for them in Kuantan - so I lost another 2 more guys (Shaw and Saiful Zaid - Class of 98).

So in the end - it's the usual crowd (Bobo, Jita, Amon, Nuddin and Cha'ie - Cha'ie from Class of 98 is a new addition, he joined one of the plants here recently), although it was unusual that we didn't discuss sex at all that night.

Bobo spotted a new spiky and short hair, presumably to tiup his new boss whose hair is almost like Bobo's (though much whiter). Jita was summoned back to Kerteh now that his plant is having minor problems (maybe because Jita was not around before, the plant could not survive without him allegedly).

We made three attempts to adjourn from 10.30 pm onwards, but in the end we only left when they closed the outlet. But luckily, unlike the last one, we did not continue chatting up standing until they switched off the lights!

Mohd Fariz bin Faidzal Haslah and Explorace

Pejal confirmed that they finally decided on what to call their new-born baby. Despite earlier plan to name him after Allen and I, they come to their senses finally.

So it's final - it's Mohd Fariz. I asked why Fariz, to which Pejal answered "...at least if the boy grew up to be like Pak'E (Fariz Shafizal Jamean, Class of 95, Explorace winner), he can win future Explorace...."

The truth dawned on me instantaneously - poor Pejal and Aini, determined that the baby will not suffer the "vertical deficiency syndrome" they had to carry with them so far - they named him after one of the tallest guys in the Class of 95. In the end, Pejal and Aini exchanged wisdom and good look with a mere question of dimension!

Speaking of Explorace, MCKK is again represented in the race this year, this time by a chap most people in the mid-90s will definitely remember - the tiny Malek (well his name is Mohd Hafiz Ismail from the Class of 96, but he looked like, and sounded exactly like Abang Malek, a janitor in college that people often mistaken him with the older guy - so that's how he got the nickname Malek).

I haven't seen any of the episodes this year, but I hope he will do well.

One wonders why it didn't start with 94 and then continued with 95, now that as if some kind of 'tradition' (ha ha for those who are big and high on this "tradition" thing, perhaps the boys in Prep School should be told they must enter Explorace when they grow up, it's a koleq thing, a batch pride thingy now) is going taking shape with Class of 96 carrying the torch this year.

But then again - we were neither smart nor athletic nor look good on TV, so better stay away from Explorace.

* With Allen bagging Victor Ludrum in 94 and Jita coming close second, one does not wonder why there was no one from this batch on Explorace.... curi phone line, we are expert, planted small bomb or Molotov cocktail, we are pretty good - but not running around looking athletic and acting smart on TV (sigh!)

Thursday, January 13, 2005

Butterfingers


Ha ha who would have thought the boy with the kelambu short who was my deskmate in Jackpie's class in F1 would be this hairy? I am quite sure he was hairless back then (not that I checked personally)


More reviews on these guys, courtesy of Ayie (Class of 98).

* I realised our F1s' (F5 98)presence in the blogging world is quite commendable - there's a few that I added to the list. I used to steal (or borrow, depending what's your intention ha ha) their grub, which they generously put on the window sill for all to take. They used to smell as well (I mean their dorm, I didn't go and smell them personally - have I been giving hints that can lead you to conclude that I am a pervert?), the normal smell you get from F1 dormitories. A few from that batch (especially Nuddin and Shaw) I meet quite regularly, Nuddin works 10 minutes away from my house and Shaw is my lunch partner once in a while when my usual lunch partner is not around. But they have grown up - and we have aged.

Sunday, January 09, 2005

Malay College Teachers Association (MCTA)

I found this interesting page, MCTA which has the list of teachers that ever taught in MCKK and some news and updates on some of them.

It is maintained and updated by Cikgu Malek (1988 - ), so it has a lot of news on teachers in the 90s era.

This may well be the most comprehensive list of MCKK teachers post Merdeka era available on the internet.

If you would like to walk down the memory aisle again (ha ha especially if you want to relive the days under fashion icon Master Collar), this is a must.

Centenary Special Pull Out Edition

Now that the euphoria is dying down slowly, I can point out that most major newspapers published a special edition pull out in conjunction with MCKK's 100 Years Celebration. If you think MCKK is so adored and revered that these newspapers published the edition on their own accord, I can gladly tell you you have been living on Pluto.

MCOBA should be congratulated (Hah? Hearing that from me? Put this down in your diary, Hari Ini Dalam Sejarah ha ha) for being able to raise enough sponsorship to pay for that little edition. It must have irked 98% of the employees in Petronas*, but it meant a lot to little people like us who love koleq so much and would not have traded those years spent there with anything in this world (well, a few billions will do).

I think it's a bit redundant if I were to upload the PDF files of the pull out and produce them here again - please go to MCOBA website, Naman '93 did quite a good job (I hope it was not hangat-hangat tahi ayam).

Speaking about the special edition, someone SMSed me (since Bobo has given an ultimatum that I should stop quoting his name lest some people really believe his marriage betul-betul cover line, so I cannot mention his name) that we should be proud that several mentions of our batch members were made in the articles.

Of course without Butterfingers we would only be remembered for failing SPM (and Pejal curi line from Telekom to allow others to make phone calls to as far as Japan) - but we should also be proud of Wong and Gadap, our own little terrorists (no kidding), since MCKK was also credited for producing the country's top terrorists (which might have been Gadap's real ambition since kecik lagi).

Kudos to all of them - terrorists or rockers (as Butterfingers have been described, I don't know what is the most accurate genre that they belong to) or nobody, we all had our fair share of sweat and tears in the cramp Common Room 15 years ago.

* Ha ha I am sure sponsorship of a few thousands is well within Tan Sri's Limits of Authority..... Petronas took a full page ha ha

Saturday, January 08, 2005

15th Anniversary, Birthday Madad and Fido

Noni Kapet:

Pejam celik pejam celik, we are already old, getting very old.

15 years ago exactly at this moment, one Mohd Nizam Ustaz Md Daud thought he was fashion icon personified when he decided to put on the white short, long stocking etc. for registration at Prep School's Common Room. Fadli was also as kepoh from day one, I remember thinking sapa laaaa yang bising2 ni, macam dia sorang je baru register....

And malam tu Neng Yatimah (Ratu Menangis cerita Melayu 60an) pun kalah kalau nak lawan Rosdan nya sok sek dalam katil ha ha

How time flies.

Happy birthday to Madad too - it must feel horrible getting a wake up call in the first week of each new year to remind you that you are the oldest in the batch (although to Madad's compliment, you don't look like one maaa....)

This is especially interesting to Mpro and Co. yang proud sangat tak ramai this batch join MCOBA, sebab dalam diam-diam, Fido (yes, Firdaus Abdul Monir) had offered his service to MCOBA to maintain MCOBA's website. Not only he was one of the few members from this batch, website MCOBA pun dia maintain. Sia-sia lah sapa yang dok baik ngan ******* before, last-last Fido jugak get in the good book (although not in my good book, since Fido haram nak offer any help at any time whatsoever to maintain batch nya website since 1996 sampai laa ni.....).

Read this, Fido kena caught red handed:

Salam & Salutations,

Dear all Budak Koleq (or Kolet),

The URL: http://www.mcoba.org.my

Just to inform that this official MCOBA Website is finally up and is
being regularly updated by Sdr. Firdaus (MCKK Class of 94) of TM Net.
I have browsed it several times and the page, contents and navigation
are quite good. It also has links to other MCKK/MCOBA-related
websites/egroups. However, I still can't fathom how to register my
User ID and password to `login'. Could anybody enlighten me on this?

Cheers & best regards,

Zaim Al-Amin
E28, MCKK Class of 84
Mohd Shah House

Bobo:

dude..
sure ke 6th of January?
all this while aku ingat kita masuk on the 5th..
sure or not?

Wong:

Congratulations Fido !! we can't stop people to do good things ... and I
have to admit this is really a good sign of our batch punyer involvement
dalam MCOBA...he..he..pas nie..boleh rasuah Fido ..suruh include banyak skit
citer pasal batch kita dalam web...!! ha..ha..ha... probably Fido looking on
a bigger picture... tak nak kacau daun..batch kita...with the exception of 'Dato Fadhil'...yang lain miskin lagi... so nothing much boleh get in return...

So instead of criticize people...aku yang tak masuk lagi MCOBA nie...
terpaksa tabik spring kat cucu Andek Kelawo nie... ha...ha..ha..

Noni Kapet:

woi wong, nak gi join mcoba join la woi... selamba je perli perli aku.... apa lak criticize Fido, tu kurang sikit je dari aku maki Fido (and still lepas nama kena mention, nama mak kena mention, Fido tak bersuara, sad day for orang Bugis, kalau Tun Razak or Daeng Merewah ni dah datang menghunus keris)...

Fadli:

MY DEAR FRIENDS ,

HAPPY 15TH ANNIVERSARY !!!!!

TUA kah kita ??

Fido:

oitt,,,
sape yang speret MCOBA giler babi nie... ada orang lain nama firdaus kot yang maintain website diaorang... aku takde lah sesperet tuh..hehehe.. lembu punya susu..sapi dapat nama..

Bobo:

take it this way la - ada budak batch lain yang teringin sangat join batch kita sampai sanggup ngaku class of 94.. ok?

takpun budak 9296 tapi keluar lepas form 3.. class of 94 gak la kan?

Madad:

thank you thank you, secretnya aku guna susok (betul ke spelling?) dan avoid menjadi bapak orang

btw, tulah amatlah sedihnya dah tuo, and was hoping no one would noticed. Kat sini takde sapa tau my DOB.... sedih sangat sob sob.

POST SCRIPT

After much debate, Fido's innocence was proven. Someone came forward to point out that it was not Fido, but now Fido is mistaken as a websmaster for another website pulak. The only voluntary work Fido pernah buat kat koleq dulu was urut kaki orang, but then itu pun for some other privilege ha ha....

Naman (Class of 93):

Salam bro zaim,

In actual, the site is updated by a team of webmasters, lead by me @ Nazman(Class of 93, MS) of TMNet. Other members include Malik Maulud @ Mat Poen, Nazli (92) of Mimos and Uchin (95) of Celcom. Firdaus is the webmaster for the CCDay website at www.malaycollege.com/CCDay.

Tuesday, January 04, 2005

MCKK Impressions (1905-2005): Blog by Tengku A'bidin

Someone I know from my days of organising anti-establishment fora in London (which must have annoyed MSD so much), one Tengku A'bidin (I hope the spelling is right) wrote a very nice blog about MCKK and the institution that it has become. I had only met him once somewhere in Covent Garden, but from that day onwards I have always had some respect for him. I do follow his blog at http://abidin.co.uk/ regularly and have always found the postings very interesting and entertaining, if only to remind me a bit of my days in London.

Abs was born to the royal family of Negri Sembilan and Terengganu.

Anyway, this is the posting:

MCKK Impressions (1905-2005)
06:30 on Tuesday 4 January 2005

Though I did not enrol there - I've only been to Kuala Kangsar once on the way to Kuala Trengganu, to pray at its beautiful mosque - so many men who shaped the institutions of our country did go to the Malay College. Though it has many detractors, that the school is part of Malaysia's historical fabric cannot be denied. For that reason alone, its centenarial publication MCKK Impressions (1905-2005) should be read by those with an interest in, and respect for, our history. It is a most enjoyable and personal text, and it is abundantly clear that the authors really loved being there.

However, the school has received a battering in recent years - academically and otherwise - and this seems to have augmented the romanticising and strong bonds among its old boys. I think a strong attachment to one's old school is perfectly healthy, but budak koleq are particularly fervent, perhaps because of its once super-elite status.

[This condition mirrors that of those who went to the Seven (the traditional elite English public schools) - Eton, Harrow, Westminster, Rugby, Winchester, Charterhouse and Shrewsbury. Later institutions do not inspire nearly as much camaraderie among its pupils, but I still loved my time at mine - but then again, I loved my time at all four of my old schools (including LSE, a "school").]

Still, having read these Impressions I've decided that I like the MCKK for what it was. As for its present state, well, good luck. Schools wax and wane. I do think it is good that there are an increasing number of competing schools - that is always good and should be encouraged as much as possible. I just hope that newer Malaysian schools (whether public school-type, madrasa-inspired, specialist, vocational or otherwise) value character building, mutual understanding, compassion and a respect for culture and history as the old MCKK did, and not focus purely on academic league tables, which has been the curse of the British education system. Several people I know want to help achieve this by opening schools of their own - a most worthy cause which receives my utmost support.

What did strike me was how English MCKK really was - we are all told it followed the public school model - but good heavens! - they have "Shell" and "Remove" year groups, a feeder prep school, and play obscure sports like Fives! Do you guys call your teachers "beaks" too?


It is so much easier to be a budak koleq if the majority of people is as matured as Abs and look at an issue objectively. But then, it is only those who had gone through a similar experience and hold their alma mater as dearly that can appreciate the pride and affection budak koleq have for the college.

"... genius accepts other genius unconditionally" - Dan Brown

Sunday, January 02, 2005

More on Addition to the Family

As if this was a mating season, it was Jalee’s turn to join the not-so-exclusive father’s club. I found out about it from his mother last week.

The baby’s name is Ryan Mirza (or Rian Mirza, I was not privy to the actual spelling). His mother told me the name whilst I was walking and being near deaf as always, I nearly tripped on the stair, thinking that it was Lion Mirza instead. After some shouting match, only then it was confirmed that it is Ryan @ Rian Mirza, not Lion Mirza.

To Jalee and wife, congratulations. I hope you guys were not as graphical as Aini and Pejal when describing what actually took place during the delivery.

More on PMR

Koleq’s PMR result was not as disastrous as the previous posting – disastrous enough not to be at the top, but the 69 was not the number of people scoring straight As (otherwise it was a total disaster, as a number of day school sekolah agama in rural Kelantan scored more than 70 straight As), but the percentage. With SDAR still coming top in Malaysia with 79% straight As, I do not know how koleq fares in the ranking (although it seems Ministry is trying to de-emphasise on the ranking).

On top of that, STF and a few MRSM managed to produce more than one candidate in the top 25 (STF with 2 people, but one MRSM produced 3 top students), so even without the ranking (although definitely better than SDAR, SAS or TKC who did not have any), there is nothing to gloat about.

The top student in the country was actually my GM’s daughter, so I am sure he would still be on top of the world this coming week. How I wish PMR is announced around the time annual appraisal is done ha ha...

I will quit my unofficial role as an unofficial bearer of MCKK’s PMR result with some newspaper reports on the results (why does everyone interviewed have to tell how much hard work they put in?)

Harian Metro: Top scorers attribute it to hard work
Halim Saad (I am sure this is a different Halim Saad to Renong's)
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 30:

For Mohd Ikhwan Ahmad Zhaki, there was no shortcut to obtaining 8As for his Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR).

"It was all about hard work," said the 15-year-old from Yan, Kedah.

He said he spent hours every day revising the subjects months before the examination.

"I also paid attention during classes and that helped me a lot when revising the subjects," said the Malay College Kuala Kangsar student.

He said after studying hard, he had no problems answering the examination questions.

Mohd Ikhwan was among 25 students from all over the country who received certificates of appreciation from Malaysian Examination Syndicate for obtaining straight As in the PMR at its office in Jalan Duta yesterday.

Berita Harian: 25 calon PMR penuhi kriteria cemerlang
Oleh Syuhada Choo Abdullah dan Norhafzan Jaafar

SERAMAI 25 calon Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) tahun ini berjaya memenuhi kriteria cemerlang yang ditetapkan, dengan 13 daripada mereka dari sekolah menengah harian, manakala 12 lagi sekolah berasrama penuh (SBP).

Pelajar sekolah menengah harian ialah Afida Liyana Yahya dari Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Tengku Panglima Perang Tengku Muhammad, Kuantan, Pahang, yang juga pendahulu senarai pelajar cemerlang peringkat kebangsaan tahun ini.

Selain itu, Eric anak Egong dari SMK St Anthony, Sarikei, Sarawak; Lee Yuan Huang (SMK Gajah Berang, Melaka); Lim Xuxin (SMK Bandar Utama Damansara (4), Petaling Jaya, Selangor); See Sook Fui (SMK Puteri, Seremban, Negeri Sembilan); Kwa Sze Mei dan Joel Wong Kae Wei (SMK Damansara Jaya, Petaling Jaya, Selangor): Sunitha a/p Vimalesvaran (SMK Seafield, Subang Jaya, Selangor).

Seterusnya, Najihah Hasanah Lukman (SMK Agama Sheikh Abdul Malek, Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu); Joseph Lau Chih Hin (SMK Bintulu, Sarawak); Chan Yen Mii (SMK Taman Bukit Maluri, Kepong, Kuala Lumpur); David Gan Eng Yeow (SMK Bukit Indah, Ampang, Selangor); dan Yeo Jie Ming (SMK Convent Bukit Mertajam, Pulau Pinang).

Pelajar SBP pula ialah Mohd Shukri Mohd Hariri dari Maktab Rendah Sains Mara (MRSM) Kuala Kubu Bharu, Selangor, yang juga menduduki tempat kedua senarai pelajar cemerlang.

Di samping itu, Jamal Farghali Zainal Abidin, Nurul Iman Zalzilah Rashidi dan Nor Hidayah Shukur @ Abd Shukor (MRSM Pontian, Johor); Nur Ili Dayana Masgelan @ Mazlan (SM Sains Tun Syed Sheh Shahabuddin, Bukit Mertajam, Pulau Pinang); serta Ahmad Faiz Duani Nasarudin (SM Sains Selangor, Kuala Lumpur).

Begitu juga Muhammad Khairul Syahir Abd Hakim (MRSM Gerik, Perak); Nor Shafawati Othman (MRSM Pendang); Mohamad Fathul Aizat Kamarizan (MRSM Kuala Klawang, Jelebu, Negeri Sembilan); Ristina Hassan dan Izzatul Nadzirah Ismail (Sekolah Tun Fatimah, Johor Bahru, Johor); serta Mohd Ikhwan Ahmad Zhaki (Kolej Melayu Kuala Kangsar, Perak).