A Week of MCKK

The whole last weekend was spent with budak koleq; or koleq-related people; on koleq’s stuff. On top of that it was a long weekend – so it’s a few days spent entirely on koleq’s stuff during the very few long weekends that we have in a year. It did prompt me to think whether I seriously need to consider my priorities in life (to which Sdr Joe-Harimau concurred).

This is a glimpse of how MCKK dominated so much of our free time; in chronological order:

THURSDAY 21st DEC

8 pm:
Catch up with folks from Class of 2004 on university application and the plans for the next few years; in particular to press for the need to go beyond a degree to increase marketability

FRIDAY 22nd DEC

8 pm:
Meet up with Syed Asrul whom I last met in 2004 during the 10 year reunion in Kuala Kangsar. Syed was a close confidant and colleague in koleq dating back to the junior years until he was a fellow key person in KPKM 1994. Syed was also the person responsible for the cheering T-shirt for it was his bureau which introduced the t-shirt to replace the practice at the time of going to cheering in school uniforms.

Together with us were a few juniors from Class of 2005; with whom we discussed their preparation for university application, their aspirations and what they should be thinking at their age to accelerate the character building (and supplement the formal education they receive in colleges).

Had a long discussion with Syed – partly to catch up and reminisce (Syed was central to many things I – or KPKM – did in 1994); partly to exchange views on many current issues. He was one of the very few among us who chose the work for himself rather than get employed, so it was enlightening to hear the trials and tribulations a Malay businessman (without political patronage or who refuses to be part of the corrupt system) has to go through to make ends meet. What was more ironic was Syed’s own educational background – with a degree from a good US university and an MBA; he was more than equipped to do well in the business world; if not because of the amount of obstacles put by our own people. One wonders what will happen to the new upstart entrepreneurs who take up the challenge thrown by those in power to plunge into the business world, only to be frustrated and let down by the very system that was supposed to help them.

I thought it was good that the few juniors were with us, so that they realize that the “real world” is not as rosy as what many would like us to believe.

12 midnight:

Sent the juniors home, we continued with our teh tarik – so went to fetch Ska at his place. It dawned on us that at this age, most people are married so it was no longer polite or proper to call a friend at 12 midnight for a teh tarik. In the end, it was either Bala or Ska – and since Bala is a top jambu, we settled for Ska instead.

Another 4 hours at Melawati and 4 hours later – I found out that Ska was involved in some productions before, which would become handy to us one day. We also discovered what this free-spirited hippy was up to lately (ha ha ha), as well as what others are doing. They never fail to amaze me at how much they have grown up and take charge of their own life in their own way – compared to all those years in KK when most were dictated to us.

4 am:
Syed came back to spend the night at my place.

SAT 23rd DEC

8 am:
Shahrol (Class of 93) knocked my door to pass two ties that he sponsored to be given to the captains of the debating teams. He did advise me to put something on in case in my sleepiness I walked naked to the door - so nothing untoward took place. He usually does hang around at my place if he drops by, but this time he has his wife (who is also a sporting wife who does not mind Shahrol doing all the koleq-related things he does) waiting in the car.

930 am:
Left the place with Syed to pick Zaim (Class of 2005) who will spend the weekend with other junior coaches finishing the modules for the 2007 Debating Workshop.

Went for breakfast at Wangsa Maju, continued with unfinished discussions.

Since Syed is a property developer, he wanted to tour the Wangsa Maju/Setiawangsa/Wangsa Melawati area just to get the feel or if lucky stumble upon a property he may consider to invest. So we spent 3 hours going around the area interlaced with more reminiscence (again!) before I sent him back to his brother’s place in Wangsa Maju.

1 pm:
From Wangsa Maju, we drove back to Jelatek to pick Haqqa, Bucks, Helman and Ed (2006 and 2007 debaters) who were supposed to join Zaim to finish the preparation for the workshop in early January.

My place was turned upside down but the preparation was smooth, thanks to Canoe’s (Class of 93) very close supervision of the junior coaches. At one point he even reviewed the “presentation” of those modules (e.g. no header, no footer, wrong font used etc.) – so I must praise the juniors’ patience with our penchant for meticulousness.

I spent a good part of the afternoon cooking for them – and the work continued non-stop until around 9 pm. By that time we have to send Ed (who was quarantined all along since he would be participating in the workshop) home – so we had to cross one KL to send him to Subang.

SUN 24th DEC

9 am:
Went out with Helman to buy breakfast for them and sent Zaim to LRT station for his batch’s reunion. Nearly dropped dead at the price for sebungkus nasi lemak nowadays, it’s been a while since I last bought a breakfast.

The boys continued working on their modules with Canoe, while I started cooking since Smash (Dr. Hj Tuan Syed Mohd Azhan, MCKK 1990-1994, PhD UMIST 2000, USM 2000 - ) and his family were supposed to drop by some time in the afternoon; as well as Chamat (who was back from Singapore for the weekend) and Jita (on long holidays until the end of the year).

2 pm:
Smash came at about 2 pm with Kak Rod, Athirah, Afiq and Kak Rod’s mother. My relationship with Smash has evolved from that of a teacher/coach-student to a close friend to a family since 1991. Smash was the coach/guru penasihat (together with Ben Class of 90, Cikgu Ejazi, Cikgu Shamsuddin and Cikgu Umi) responsible for the 1992 and 1993 PPM’s victory. Ever since those years, we have become like families and I spent a lot of time at his place when I was in the UK – while he and his family visited my family in Terengganu regularly even when I was not around.

As usual there were many common grounds to talk about – from the MCKK, families, the country all the way to the soalan cepumas; but of so many people Smash and Kak Rod fully understand what kind of person I am and the pettiness when it comes to a relationship.

3 pm:
Chamat came shortly after and Smash recommended that Chamat enrolled as a F4 (Chamat preferred to stay a thoroughbred so he was thinking about F1 in-take instead) since he could still pass for a 16-year old.

4 pm:
Smash had to rush back so by 4.30 pm everyone (including Jita who came just after Smash has left and brought with him two boxes of doughnuts!) took a break in front of the TV to watch “Dorm” (the hit Thai movie).

It’s been a long time since I last watched a movie that good, what more with good companies of people very close to you. It was really fun and the story could easily had happened in koleq because there were so many similarities – plus all the innuendos about jambus, “brothers” etc. It was like watching movies in koleq all over again (tambah tengok cerita hantu) with the juniors and senior (Canoe ha ha ha).

6 pm:
The juniors continued with their work, racing to meet the deadline we set for them.

In the mean time, Chamat and I went ahead with a karaoke session; not so much to demonstrate to the junior coaches (as we dearly claimed since they would have one module on vocal) but to catch up (the last karaoke that we had is way back in 2005).

I know Jita cringed once in a while, but he did admit that we were more musically gifted (ha ha) so he wouldn’t want to join our league after all.

8 pm:
Explained the proposal that had been going around the batch on pooling of resources to Jita and Chamat. It was quite smooth sailing with Chamat, but Jita wanted to become a devil advocate ha ha. I had a second thought temporarily thinking of the hell it would be in the Board meeting one day ha ha ha. But all was done in good faith and we are still on track.

9 pm:
The boys had almost completed everything if not for Canoe’s too meticulous review of the manner those modules were presented (typical consultant). We agreed that the boys will clean up their modules and e-mail the conformed modules (by Canoe’s standard) to us later.

Drove the boys to Putra Heights but ended up in USJ instead – so we dropped by at Taipan for dinner. Took opportunity to discuss their options once the results are announced, since all of them wanted to become accountants (not that I am complaining).

Then it was a confusing journey into the labyrinth of junctions that Putra Heights is – after a while I gave up completely trying to memorise Haqqa’s instruction because there were too many junctions and turning. Arrived at Haqqa’s place around 11.15 pm – and slowly found our way out of Putra Heights (which turned out not that bad after all).

MON 25th DEC

1230 pm:
I was supposed to meet Pyan (Class of 98) to try to rope him into the Careers stuff we are doing with koleq. We can’t be doing it forever and as with all other things we did with koleq, perhaps what’s more important is to prepare the next team to take over to ensure sustainability – but I was too tired to go (and I had a house to clean!).

2 pm:
Harrie dropped by to give nasi beriani. Was quite touched since in my daily routines of leaving house early and coming back late – I have never been to his house all these years.

TUES 26th DEC

6 pm:
Scheduled to catch up with Class of 2004’s scholars due for overseas degree to find out their plan and set out priorities in university – so that they are aware from the very beginning what employers look for in 3-4 years’ time when they come back.


Do I regret not spending enough time on other things; on life beyond MCKK’s circles? So far it’s an affirmative no. After all, it’s not so much that traditionally we hang around koleq ever since we stepped out the gates in 1994, it so happened that much of the community service that we do now revolves around MCKK. Some of us have come one full circle – from university activities, student politics, actual politics before we land back where we started. The fact that it’s MCKK is a co-incidence, rather than by design.

For this is life – it’s but a tapestry of events weaved around a common theme. The common theme should not change, but the tapestry of events evolves and we make many temporary stops in our life before we move on again; only to end up at the point we began – though hopefully much wiser than before.

Adikku Pandai Menari

"Adikku pandai menari..."

Anyone remember this song? I think it's by Aman Shah way back when I was still on rubber (rubber tits that is).

Nothing to update.

Minggu Bahasa Melayu was successful with many of us still being carried away with our "semangat bahasa Melayu yang berbuak-buak". After away from office for a week, I came back to a mailbox of nearly 3,000 e-mails from the Male-ing List.

They were many pantuns and commendable poems in bahasa Melayu penned; especially by AJ @ Che Gila. But the few pantuns that got some of us in stitches were:

"Sana goyang, sini pun goyang,
Sana datang, sini pergi,
Kenapa orang bunuh orang?
Sungguh jahat orang itu"

Another one (which apparently was very popular in 1992 among Band members):

"Sarly Adre Sarkum (Note 1)
Assalamualaikum"

Anyway will update more later, it seems people are quite busy to the point that even MCOBA Temasek, the favourite for Carey Award - has been quiet for the past one week.

The latest ranking up to this week:

406 kno - Mohd Shah
381 mpro - Idris
322 bocap - Mohd Shah
304 chamat - Idris
258 nik - Mohd Shah
250 epit - Leman
248 mat top - Idris
222 fadli - Ahmad

Sayur laa Leman and Ahmad macam ni.

Note 1: Saudara Sarly was a high ranking member of the Prefects Board 1992.

Minggu Bahasa Melayu

Inilah kali pertama tulisan di sini dinukilkan dalam bahasa ibunda, bahasa Melayu (walaupun tatabahasanya masih lagi ditakuk SPM 1994).

Ini bersempena dengan berkuatkuasanya Minggu Bahasa Melayu dikalangan kami; yang juga akan digunapakai untuk menambahkan kadar kesukaran kepada pencabar-pencabar utama Anugerah Carey (sudah ada yang menukarnya kepada Anugerah Kari) menjelang acara kemuncak Sukantara 2008.

Minggu Bahasa Melayu ini mengambil perlambangan English Week (dengan izin) yang selalu diadakan di Sekolah Persediaan dahulu, bila mana pelajar-pelajar yang gagal menggunakan bahasa Inggeris didenda - contohnya 10 sen bagi setiap perkataan bahasa Melayu yang digunakan. Sama ada kesannya kepada penggunaan dan penguasaan bahasa Inggeris dikalangan kami ketara atau tidak; tidaklah dapat dipastikan. Tetapi kutipan dari English Week itu sudah cukup untuk pengawas-pengawas berbelanja besar di Kapet selama seminggu.

Dengan semangat itulah, Minggu Bahasa Melayu pula dikuatkuasakan dan perlu digunapakai dalam semua komunikasi warkah elektronik sejak 12 malam semalam. Mereka yang melanggar peraturan ini akan didenda dan markah ditolak dari kutipan rumah masing-masing.

Yang menariknya, semua bersungguh-sungguh mengasah bakat bahasa Melayu dan mulalah terkeluar perkataan-perkataan yang hanya pujangga gunakan.

Tidak kurang pula yang terkial-kial cuba menggunakan bahasa Melayu sehingga kadar kekerapan menghantar warkah elektronik turun 300 peratus.

Begitulah kita - di masa kecil digodam menggunakan bahasa Inggeris sehingga kadang-kadang kita terlupa penguasaan bahasa Melayu kita yang semakin berkurangan. Kalaulah kita sendiri pun kekok dengan bahasa ibunda, usahlah kita bercakap mengenai memartabatkan bahasa Melayu.

Beginilah telatah kami walaupun pada usia yang semakin senja. Kepada teman-teman yang sentiasa mengunjungi ke sini, kita patut berasa gembira kerana selepas 16 tahun mengenali masing-masing; kita tidak pernah lekang dengan usaha-usaha gila yang akhirnya berjaya diadakan juga.

Berikut antara perkara-perkara gila yang berlaku sejak Minggu Bahasa Melayu dimulakan:

1) Nama panggilan pun mula bertukar; contohnya Mattop kepada "Tikar Gasing" atau "Mat Atas", Che Mad kepada "Che Gila" dan lain-lain.

2) Moto yang digunakan di dalam warkah elektronik mula dipersoalkan jika tidak diubah; contohnya "SHOW ME THE DATA" kepada "Tunjukkan Aku Maklumat Itu".

3) Frasa yang selama ini menggunakan bahasa Inggeris diterjemahkan kepada bahasa Melayu; contohnya apabila membincangkan fenomena pelajar suka menari ala 4U2C dalam tahun 1993 - frasa "Downstair Crew" menjadi "Ahli-ahli Bawah Tangga" dan 4U2C menjadi "Untuk Anda Melihat".

l/s (singkatan bagi lepas skrip): Perkahwinan Sdr Badut selamat dijalankan dua minggu lalu, dan Rumah Terbuka Zulkaedah batch juga berjaya diadakan minggu lepas - namun masih sukar mencari masa untuk membuat liputan di sin. Walau bagaimana pun gambar-gambar telahpun diapungkan ke laman Zaman Berisi.

Bila Budak Gayat

I wanted to post a report (and kutuk2) of Badut's wedding; but something disturbed me so much that that has to wait.

Allen called just now - JPA (which previously only offered scholarship for twinning to those destined for the States) had recently decided to allow selected scholars to attempt entries to the Ivy League. Those who manage to get an entry do not have to go through the twinning program (4 years ++ in Malaysia and the remaining 2 in the States).

What nearly made both Allen and I fainted was the fact that out of 48 scholars selected - 42 were non-Malays and only 6 were Malays. Even worse, the criterion was not even that onerous - a CGPA of 3.5 above!

Which means of hundreds and hundreds of Malay school-leavers who scored in SPM and passed through the rigorous scholarship process - only 6 managed to score CGPA of 3.5 above for their foundation studies so far (which ironically I was told are made up of only English and pre-Calculus subjects!)

40 were Chinese and 2 were Indians! If you were to take the weighted average by population; the statistics would have been too scary to calculate.

WHAT HAPPEN TO OUR TOP KIDS AFTER THE GRUESOME SPM WHEN THEY CAN'T EVEN GET A RELATIVELY EASY CGPA OF 3.5 ABOVE IN THEIR EARLY FOUNDATION COURSE!

I don't want to brag here - but all four of us in Scotland when we did our A-Levels scored well throughout the public school years. Fadli got the A-Level prizes for Maths and Further Maths and I for Physics and Chemistry. Allen and Jita consistently maintained top range results and straight As.

And to think that we spent our time playing cards! (as for Allen sleeping!)

When we went to the uni, throughout their uni years, I know Allen and Fadli were never beaten in exams by any other Malaysians in their department - Malays or non-Malays. They were only beaten by Singaporean Chinese - and even then once in a blue moon.

Likewise I maintained the top spot in the department in my first year (what happened after the first year was a different matter).

And again - to think that we spent most of our days languishing aimlessly and playing cards at Jita's apartment at Earl's Court!

As far as I can remember, it wasn't that difficult and anyone who scored 10A1s should not have any problem getting First Class if they don't skive classes, attend all tutorials and pay some attention. You can even get away with it (like Chamat, who spent most of his time in London and still scored First Class from Bristol).

So what really happened?

A few possible reasons:

1) Complacency - especially since they are still in the euphoria mood of scoring 25A1s in SPM. Then the "kampung" mentality kicks in when half of the people in their classrooms they have known one way or another - so people begin to slack off.

2) Bercinta - the little overgrown meat down there (or the lumps hanging just above the abdomen) swells way much earlier than it should and everything else is relegated to second priorities.

3) Gayat - the sudden freedom.

4) Plain lazy - maybe devoid of any competition; or they just view the non-Malays as completely out of their league altogether and prefer to become jaguh kampung Ulu Banat.

When I was a scholar, I was satisfied that I earned the grudging respect of the non-Malays in my uni or those non-Malays who know me from other unis - because none of them had ever indicated they doubted that I deserved my scholarship.

Be it at a public school or unis - we beat the non-Malays easily; or competed with them on equal terms.

And that wasn't even long ago; it was only 10 years ago for God sake!

If we can't even score 3.5 CGPA after getting 25A1s in SPM - what hope do we have for the future? I wish the monkeys at Umno's General Assembly were more concerned about this than the greed to ask for more and more contracts......

Of "Distorted Tradition"

Ha ha this is a quickie.

Am waiting for Jita to land from KK, kemudian menjadi supir nya pulang ke East Coast!

Anyway, I notice that the present boys actually refer to the corridor area in front of Dorm 7 Overfloor as "Night Court".

Ha ha ha this is a good modal to start a conversation with the kids - telling them the origin of what they now call "Night Court". I am sure the function and association with the area has not changed since the yesteryears.

Little that these boys know that it started as "7 Knights Court" - a lot more posh name than a "Night Court" ha ha ha.

"7" referring to the dorm/location, Knights Court is the connotation of exclusivity since the kaplak of the kaplak of the Idris house (or maybe Form 5 for that matter) has the right to linger there.

It's rather a new creation, either in 1992 or 1993 as a direct result of the conversion of the Senior Common Room into a permanent mini exhibition museum ("poshly" called Bilik Pameran) thus eliminating the dungeon of the beruk or babi of the yesteryears.

So kids - there you have it, your quick history lesson.

It's "Seven Knights Court", not dewan malam!

Open House Abon

From Fadli:

Rakan rakan,

in the spirit of muhibbah, brotherhood, roget-me-not (sic: "forget-me-not") etc, aku telah pergi ke Flat Terbuka saudara Abon pada hari Sabtu lepas. Setelah 2-3 tahun tak jumpa, Abun tetap "slim" macam dulu. Isteri punya masakan memang maut, which explains why Abon semakin sihat.

A few key points / things I learnt during the evening:

* Abon claim he has lost A lot of weight ( korang boleh jadi saksi dalam gambar gambar berikut)

* Nasib baik anak anak Abon ikut muka isteri, so semua cute cute comel comel belaka. Kalau ikut Abon, God Save the Queen (jangan marah ABon)

* Jumpa budak Koleq 2000 yang pernah intern bersama Abon di KPMG KL (Smoque Class of 2000, ex-LSE, now doing CA in London)

* Flat Abon way South of London. Rumah aku waaaaayyyyyyyyyy North of London. SO agaklah 1.5 jam merentas London & River Thames.

* Belly akan start kerja di London in a few weeks time. Belly ??? Bila kau sampai ? Joining D&T ?

* On the way aku sesat cari rumah Abon, aku mendapat panggilah telefon dari.... Noorulzaman !!... Sorry Zaman, I couldnt talk that much as I was driving. Nice to hear your voice after all these while.

* Che Tam jugak call aku on the way back pulak, nanti boleh buat reunion bila Belly pun sampai.

* Jeril ( abang Abon & prefect kami) akan datang ke London cuti in December.

* Ini gambar gambar nya:

Surat-Surat Lama

Raya becomes more and more mundane each year. As the years pass by so swiftly, so does the flow of money leaving your pocket each year ha ha.

Anyway I was going through all my files from MCKK years to throughout the uni years (it should not be a surprise that people of my character ended up as an auditor, since I was obsessed with filing and documents since school).

In my possession is perhaps one of the most extensive collections of correspondence related to koleq in our batch. I have close to 300 correspondences (in the form of letters, aerogrammes, postcards and cards) in between 1995 and 1997 (after 1997, e-mails dominated everything and the amount of snail mail was reduced to a trickle) after we left MCKK – exchanges with batchmates, juniors, seniors, teachers and HM.

The trend was almost consistent in all the correspondences – the greatest delight was derived from letters from the teachers, seniors and most of all your batchmates. While teachers and seniors may spend more time reminiscing their good time with you or how proud they are of you (or updating the latest happenings in Kuala), with your batchmates - the longing to be together, how much you missed each other, trying to make sense that you were separated and scattered – were inescapable as you go through all the letters.

It’s difficult to explain how strong the bond is between you and the next person in your batch and how much that they have become apart of you since you were 13 – but going through all those letters evoked such a strong sentiment that easily explains it all in ways that words cannot describe.

As for the juniors, the commonality was also apparent. In one letter a junior dictated 4 pages of letter (written by his Form 1 since he was a Prep School prefect at the time) boasting all his achievements and how much he had eclipsed whatever I was in koleq. He would compare one by one, item by item, what I was and what allegedly he had achieved, to drive his point.

In another letter, another junior spent more efforts to run you down and pointed out what allegedly you did wrong when you were his senior back in college. Generally letters from Class of 96 were vile and rude to say the least, that of Class of 98 were a lot more pleasant and innocent.

I concluded a long time ago that if you were to invest in a friendship that can survive the test of time and which you can depend on in your hours of need – invest in your batchmates and occasionally in your seniors; but never your juniors.

Anyway, it was also poignant to reflect how some of us have changed so much from those years. Some have become estranged whereas we used to exchange letters on regular basis, some are complete strangers now whereas their letters were always 8-9 pages long back then because there was always so much to tell; one has passed away whereas his last letter did not at all indicate the pain and suffering he was going through.

On the cheeky side, some used up 4-5 pages as muqaddimah to reminisce about his jambu (or make jambu innuendos), some religiously remind you not to forget them if one day you ever make it big in life etc.

Here are some excerpts from my treasury of letters, which one day would be raided and made public during 20-year reunion ha ha:

#1:
“Har...har...har... my sugarcane bamboo stick really fantastic and bombastic jambu buat apa sekarang nie. Tak tidur lagi ke... Rindu katala rindu...” – Arwah Kiwi

#2:
“Kehadapan atau kebelakang (joke ni. Gelak sikit) Sdr XXXX yang diterlupakan selalu. Semoga hang berada dlm. keadaan yang handsome selalu... uwek... wek... wek... Sorrylah termuntah sikit. Tak cukup makanan berkhasiat. Bila aku balik dari Sekolah Anderson, aku tengok ada surat untuk aku. Cop GLASGOW. Nak kata Fadli, tulisan elok sangat. Faham2 lah tulisan Fadli macam mana. Macam Stephen King tulis surat kat nenek dia.” – Mpro

#3:
“Tapi disebabkan aku ni merangkap President KOPHNMKMJDH (Kelab Orang Penggalak Homo Nak Menggalak Kegiatan Main Jambu Dan Homo). Cawangan Perak and akulah ibupejabat dia. Cawangan Kedah Epit, cawangan Pahang Sharap. Tapi depa tu ahli tak rasmi. Satu lagi cawangan wilayah – Dzafran. Boleh berhubung secara percuma. Aku kira supplier la. Tapi masalah aku la ni satu aje. Permintaan banyak tapi pengeluaran kurang. Cth: Epit & Dzafran memerlukan barang yg. sama -> Aslamme.” – Mpro

#4:
“Macam mana life kau kat sana? Happy ka? Aku kat sini terperap dah dekat 6 bulan doing nothing. Mula-mula aku ingat nak cari temporary job tapi tak jadi lak. Sekarang ni kalau kau jumpa aku sure kau tak kenal kot. Aku dah tembam dah, dah nak masuk 80 kg berat aku, nasib baik la sekarang tengah diet” – Amoeba

#5:
“XXXX, Allen, Fadli & Gheeta (bolehlah selit nama Gheeta gak even though I have yet to receive a letter written by him.. see how much I pity Gheeta for I know he doesn’t receive as much mail as I do)

On Sunday the 19th of Feb I received Fadli’s cheap aerogramme and as expected I received XXXX’s letter today which is the 21st of Feb. Today, the 21st of Feb is a day of abundant luck and fortitude. Today, I received, apart from XXXX’s letter unlike Fadli’s cheap aerogramme (I despise aerogramme), I also received a raya card from up North which is as you can guess kuala kangsar which would certainly mean a card from MCKK and which would certify the card to be coming from tut... tut.... (XXXX nya stail).

Sekarang nie lagu Cranberries sedang berkumandang. By the way korang dah dengar ke soundtrack Melrose Place. Kalau belum aku cadangkan beli dan dengar dan anda pasti sukainya. Aku jamin manusia macam Allen dan Fadli dan Gheeta apatah lagi tak tahu pun soundtrack ni ade tak ape aku tak salahkan korang. Kalau dah ‘bell’ apa nak buat kan. Berdoa aje lah agar Tuhan mentak’bell’kan korang."- Chamat

#6:
“So kau dapat address aku drp Amer ye. Itu bermakna si setan Amer tak balas surat aku even dia dapat surat aku. Memang hantu le dia.” – Syed Moto

#7:
“Aisey.. kantoi gak la nak tulis kat kau ni, macam masa aku nak start borak dengan kau after “those few months” dulu. If you don’t like to talk about this, do say so. Then I can ask for forgiveness. But I think I’m still recuperating from everything that’s happened. I’ve asked Fadli about this and he said that you’ve put it aside. Hope so. Really miss the days before “it” started.

Hah, masa kau cuti hari tu pun, tak sempat nak lepak lama2 together. Aku tau kau bengang sebab aku eager nak balik awal masa Speech Day hari tu, and I really felt guilty on the bus on the way home you know.

Kau tau dak sekarang ni pukul berapa (masa aku tengah tulis ni le, bukannya masa kau dok baca surat ni!)? Well, it’s almost 3 am! Sebenarnya, esok Sabtu, takde kelas. Aku pun dah terlelap tadi, sebab penat main badminton at night. Tapi entah tetiba tersedar balik pukul 2-something, and I can’t seem to fall back to sleep. So, aku gi caleng kejap tadi... aku cong je! Takkan percaya kot. Aku yg still suci ni nak caleng? Bukannya aku takde bana, tapi I haven’t put it to full use yet!

Anyway, masa aku still dok confused lepas tersedar tadi, I suddenly remember that this letter is still terbeng'Khairul Nizam Mois' (terbeng'kalai' la tu hik! hik!) in my writing pad..” – Aslam

#8:
“Happy Birthday to you! So how did you spend your birthday? 18, is big enough to do a lot of things. So, what is your birthday wishes? Sorry that I didn’t get to send you a birthday card.

Here I got a piece of news to tell you i.e. I got my transfer. The moment when I know about it, I feel happy. But when time flies I start to feel sad, I am going to leave a place that I had spent eight years; everything is so familiar; the path that I used to walk from the staff room to Chemistry Lab, to form four and form five block. It is just feeling. I don’t think I will come back after I left; I just want to keep everything at the best moment when I leave. In fact last year I had already hoped to leave MC because last year was my best year in MC having all of you with me. I really enjoyed myself when teaching your batch. But now I understand why I couldn’t get my transfer last year, I think this is because the God want me to stay back for another year so that I can see some of your batch boys again when they come back to get the results, and also to share the happy moment with you all during the Speech Day. After I leave MC, I don’t know whether I still got the chance to see you all” – Miss Liew (Chemistry teacher)

#9:
“Sekarang ini jentera kolej telah berubah corak. Daripada sistem caring, berunding kepada sistem ketegasan. Form Five 1994 still the best. Saya amat berbangga mempunyai pelajar seperti **************,***********,******* dan yang lain-lain yang sekurang-kurangnya memberi penawar kepada guru. Saya sentiasa mendoakan saudara-saudara maju jaya.

Bila ada kesempatan balik ke Malaysia, sila ke kolej. Kalau saya sudah tidak ada lagi di kolej pun, kolej tentu gembira menerima kunjungan saudara dan rakan-rakan” – Datuk Haji Hassan Hashim (ex-HM)

#10:
“Aku ada 1 benda nak bagi tau. Aku la ni, best friend Pok Pek. Apakan daya, itu la saja yang ada. Tapi la ni, dia dah jadi baik. Tak macam dulu. Hoi, Sharap ada tulih surat kat hang dak? Betui ka dia main Malaysia (rugby)?

Aku nak ungkit satu benda. Hang ingat tak poster Jodie Foster aku, yang hang pinjam buat modal caleng dulu. Mesti ingat punya. So, hang dah hilangkan poster tu, so kena ganti balik la. So, kalau ada poster lawa-lawa tu, pos la kat aku” – Epit

PS: To continue with a tradition, there was a raya reunion in Cherating with Sharap and Byn (Class of 2001). Zadin could not make it. Rewind balik tape last year. Maybe that’s the reason Zadin “could not” make it ha ha

It's Official: Sukantara 2008!

AJK Internet aka Awie (ha ha budak2 la ni sepatutnya bila pilih AJK Batch kena pilih AJK Internet laaa, lagi berguna dari AJK Keselamatan) has done a marvellous job launching the Sukantara 2008's blog this week.

To all members of Class of 94 (and those who would like to join the mad bunch mudslinging at each other), please join in untuk memeriahkan the build up towards the reunion in 2008.

The funny thing is - we haven't actually got koleq's permission! But usually koleq is never hesitant provided we give them ample time and don't create havoc so much.

But just in case, the contingency plan (Plan Z) if koleq says no is to go to Clifford, yeaah! The ship is more than the crew!

So the race is on with Mohd Shah (was about to type Md Shah but KNO would correct me that it's Mohd Shah!) most eager to prove that as the favourite in 1994, they should have won, not the underdog Idris (I mean look at the House Captain Mpro laa...)

2 reasons why Idris will not win this time around:

1) Back in 1994, they depended a lot on juniors to get points. It so happened that the sportsmen (or sportsboys) of the junior batches (especially Class of 96) were mostly in Idris house. Tough luck, not anymore (kalau setakat nak harap kat Hairul tak yah laa woii...)

2) They can't use any cheating tricks anymore since everyone will be watching ha ha.

As for the race for the bottom 2, Leman seems to have resigned to a drop to the traditional last spot ha ha. Captain house pun tak bersuara lagi, only kalau ada mention jambu dia bersuara.

The positions back then:

1) Idris
2) Mohd Shah
3) Sulaiman
4) Ahmad

My prediction in 2008:

1) Ahmad
2) Mohd Shah
3) Leman
4) Idris (ni pun sebab menang Carey Award for top spammer!)

Carey Award Race: Early Results

Mid-week results:

"apahal korang ni...

ranking terkini

340 epit
283 chamat <---no.2
156 ahmadsuffian.os...@exxonmobil.com
118 rough
112 gadap
103 idzam
102 kno
102 fadli
99 mat top
92 mpro

ranking all time
All time top posters

487 rough
449 epit
446 mpro
434 gadap
430 Ikram
409 fadli
379 ezrin
366 ahmadsuffian.os...@exxonmobil.com
317 muhdgada...@yahoo.com
301 chamat <---menendang aku kluar dari list

Jul 1521
Aug 1705
Sep 1269
Oct 2127 <---wtf !!?? baru 12 hari... "

Race berterusan:

Epit:
muahahaahahahahahahah...aku masih tak boleh rest...all time top poster belum dapat kat aku...lagi satu, mpro kurang tiga tiang je...

Chamat:
mwahahahaha - ini masih awal2 hari awi

Awie:
aku baru ingat nak wat ruling top poster dapat point utk rumah.
nampaknya md shah ada byk pencabar lak skarang. time ni la gadap nak senyap. jadi top poster tak de point la ya...

Chamat:
idris ada byk representative tu awi - jd aku setuju aja dgn ruling itu

Rough:
alamak poll position aku for anugerah carey telah terancam.
epit only 40 emails kat belakang aku, which at the rate dia & chamat going - bungkus laa aku. hadiah PIBG pun x dpt mcm ni...
yg aku nak gelaknya Mttop.... ha ha ha punya lah separuh mati berusaha, tengok2 kat bawah jugak... bawah from fadli tu... tak pe mtop, baru 3 hari... ada masa lagi...

Idzam:
Aku dapat top 6
Satu anak tangga lagi
Go idzam

KNO:
welcome back!
jangan segan-segan...buat la mcm rumah sendrik
hantar banyak emails tau gadap....
mohd shah tengah nak lead nih....heheheeee

Rough:
yang ni kena disqualify awie - disco!
sebb x de message dlm body. kira gadap kena disqualified terus laaa...

Chamat:
ya, aku setuju - taktik kotor mcm ni aku pun x pakai

Gadap:
Statistik ni tipu!!!!!! Camner aku punya posting jadi sikit??????? Ini tidak adil!!!! Kita perlu buat reformasi!!!!! REFORMASI!!!

Sulaiman house akan tumpas di tangan Mat Shah.......!

Chamat:
dlm acara tarik tali kot. yg carey award merangkap spammer terhebat ni dah sure idris menang

Mpro:
Memang gila... aku habis check email tadi 3.30... aku lepak kejap...
pegi library... tido kejap and bukak balik email dah 120 new mail....
p/s: mmg gila.... no time to sleep for me now...

etc. etc.

Before that, Chamat the pretender for the Carey Award had employed a dirty tactic - dia post e-mails with typo and then reply balik just to correct the typo!

Mttop pun employed new tactic - post joke bell to provoke and then he can have many e-mails to answer too.

Budak Idris main tactic kotor, dah le masa Sports Day dulu allegedly Hairul tolak Belly to win the 4X400m race (still being discussed, sebab protest letter dulu tak sampai2).

But the race is on and a special blog dedicated to Sukantara 2008 dah launch ha ha - watch out for Sukantara 2008.

Carey Award Alaf Baru

The discussion on 2008's Sukantara Reunion has stirred so much excitement.

One proposal which was adopted (can't even remember whose idea was it) was to re-award Carey Award during the reunion - however it shall be based on a new set of criteria.

And guess what is the criteria?

No. 1 ranked paling banyak hantar e-mail ke batch mailing list between now and then.

And the results? Between semalam and today alone ada >500 e-mails! I have to spend 2 hours cleaning mailbox today ha ha ha.

And worse still, some people ask stupid questions just to notch their position higher ha ha.

ps: I am sure it will die down in 2-3 days' time, so Gadap (with his e-mail2 fwd) will still be the favourite to win 2008's Carey Award.

Supper @ Yellow Town

At the beginning of Ramadhan there was a suggestion that we hold an iftar together - however from a simple idea of an iftar; it became overly ambitious (in my not-so-humble opinion) when tazkirah, terawih, usrah, orphanage etc. were added to the agenda. In the end I decided to make it simple - set a date, a venue for a supper; those who want to come just come (Note 1). No proper organisation, no event - after all I haven't closed the account for the last Back-to-School Reunion last December.

The venue was the row of shops with a lot of restaurants near Taman Melati, just off MR2. I conveniently called it Yellow Town (since similar rows of shops in Kemaman are called Yellow Town because of the yellow painting). Unfortunately it confused a few people who were looking for a Yellow Town signboard, or a restaurant called Yellow Town.

Attendance was modest - but what matters was the quality of time spent. Attendance was categorised depending on the type of "license" obtained from the Interior Minister:

1) No license required (Super License) - Ska, Rough, Chamat, Picca

2) License Besar - Epit, Mpro, Idzam, Kuchai, Radin, Chibiok and jeng jeng jeng MTop! (whether MTop obtained the license legally could not be ascertained. We had doubt he lodged application well in advance last week on the pretext of operational problems at his plant that he needed to attend urgently)

3) License P (Probation) - Pyan @ ASO, who only stayed for about a few minutes with his Interior Minister waiting in the car!

4) License not approved at all - Awie (who promised to come but did not show up, so we assume license was not approved)


We adjourned twice before decided to call it a day - first when the Thai restaurant were about to close, then we moved to a nearby restaurant. Once it closed, we adjourned to the front of a gynae clinic discussing Mpro's "kopi kembang" (Note 2) cap 2 Badak (which nearly all expressed doubt because of the fear of the side effect on your tetek, looking at how Mpro's tetek has grown lately, despite whatever his claim).

Kuchai came in his brand new BMW (I think it was the latest version of 3-series) bought recently.

The whole night was spent going through the mailing list ha ha ha - the amount of jokes made at the expense of so many other people were obscene!

The supper also marked the commencement of work for the next reunion, targeted for 2008 with the theme of "Sukantara Re-play". Expect a re-play of showdown between (amongst others):

1) Syam and Badut in the sprinting (but not 100 m, we shall cut it down to 20 m)
2) Fadhil's act of terjelepuk bila dah kat belakang sekali
3) Bobo, Kandaq and Joe for the high jump

The consensus was Idris did not deserve to win the house championship in 1994 and all were eager to set the records right.

It was a good night, I can't remember the last time aku lagho and laugh that much!

More pictures here

Note 1: The fact that it was supper is a reflection of how much things have changed. 6-7 years ago we used to have annual sahur! But with more and more Interior Ministers joining the club, it is no longer that easy to organise a sahur.

Note 2: Bukan kopi yang kembang, the little general yang Mpro claim will get the instant "expansion". In fact he claimed that he was able to drive straight to Melaka last night because this "kopi kembang cap 2 badak" made his kembang so much he has to rush back there and then. He also claimed he has memorised all the doa from Dr Love's series (in the mailing list), so when he reached climax last night, hopefully he was shouting the doa, not any other sounds ha ha ha. (Chamat opted to wait for cap 2 gajah, since cap 2 badak to him was not "kembang" enough).

Halal/Haram of Ilmu

"XXXXXX. Tadi ke XXXXX, apa hal. Nak kena sumpah seranah, kot teruk spm nanti. Nak ke... Kan ada waktu teluang tu study. Tunggu le saya balik. Nak bg tau cg XXXXX dulu. Degil... Tak selamat hidup."

An SMS from a Malay College teacher to his/her student

I have thought for a while whether I should comment on this or not. Despite the backlash, maybe it is a good reminder to all of us adults and parents that certain things are just off limit.

I have heard about some personalities who make a habit out of cursing the students. Usually on "tak halalkan mengajar, jadi tak berkat in your exam, padan muka". I was quite taken aback that these personalities take comfort and pride when students they don't like do not achieve good results in exams. These "bad" students were then made examples to the rest, usually "padan muka teruk, ilmu tak berkat, saya tak halal".

I do not want to go into the merits and demerits of managing supposedly problematic students. I come from a family of teachers, from my own siblings and many many cousins who take pride out of the noble career. So I can sympathise with the challenges and ordeals teachers have to deal on day to day basis and my admiration for them always.

Yet there must a certain "terms of engagement" in the duty of a teacher.

I have had my share of troubles in koleq. Once, I was bundled by Gedebe (together with Tungkid, Peah, Nik and a few others) into the sports storeroom behind the Senior Com and without a question, he asked us to line up. He whacked our backside so hard with his legendary belt - and to make matters worse, the buckle travelled all the way to the frontal private part, leaving a bruise at the tip of the genitalia for a few weeks to come. The pain to pee then, was worse than the pain to pee after masuk jawi!

I did many other things which some teachers were uncomfortable of. I published underground Warta KPKM that allegedly was the catalyst for the showdown between F5 and Prefects Board in KPKM election in 1993 - as a result, there was a long discussion with Tuan Haji Alimuddin (at that time he was the HEM) in his room. Gedebe also told me to stop writing for a while.

Pendek kata - I had created quite a lot of problems in koleq, in my own ways. Yes I did not have a colourful disciplinary records, yet I was a headache to some of the teachers.

But never in my life time I was threatened with this capital penalty of "kena sumpah, tak berkat belajar and lingkup study". Even Gedebe who could no longer tolerate my antics nearing the end of my days in koleq, just opted to keep a distance and he was not as chatty with me as before (to his credit, it was all my fault).

Gedebe was perhaps one of the most enigmatic teachers ever served MCKK (after all, mana nak cari cikgu kejar budak dengan parang!) - yet I have never heard him curse anyone. He would beat the hell of out anyone (remember the classic Shosha drama in the Dining Hall in 1991); yet one cannot help to reflect that most of the time, he did that out of love (and uncontrollable rage!).

Most of the teachers I come across beat us out of love - and I dare say this because they have never uttered any ill-feelings or wishes for something untoward for our future. If any, they always manage to see the lighter side of any "bad boys".

Remember Miss Au Yoong's fling and love affair with 5 Sc 5. With all due respect to 5 Sc 5, if I were a teacher back then, it would have been a great challenge to stay for a period in that class. Managing Kalai alone is more onerous than looking after one whole F1 or F2 (credit to Kalai!). Yet both Miss Au Yoong and the boys of 5 Sc 5 managed to bring the best out of each other - I watched the "Kehidupan Terlampau 1994" video and have to admit that Miss Au Yoong could not hide her happiness or how touched she felt when the boys of 5 Sc 5 greeted her at her car one day for one special occasion.

(to those uninitiated ones - 5 Sc 5 ni buleh kira dungeon laaa dulu, tempat students paling colourful! The next contender 5 Sc 4 je laa kot)

Or who could forget Tungkid's complete transformation to the point he was awarded a Special Award by the college for that transformation - because of the efforts, attention and love that Miss Liew showered on him. Fadli and I (and the Sc 1 boys) were also very close to Miss Liew - yet there was no way we could rival Tungkid's closeness.

And Tungkid never looked back - his personality, hard work and most importantly empathy (and understanding) are the exact same traits that have become the mark of the man now, that were nurtured by Miss Liew back then.

The reason I am writing this is not to be sentimental - but to give examples that a teaching profession is a labour of love, hence the utmost satisfaction must also be derived from the love that the teachers and students have for each other.

It is even more profound in a boarding school like MCKK - because these are our alternate parents, mothers and fathers while we were away from home. My parents never stopped mentioning that they raised me until I was 13, the rest I spent with my teachers and colleagues in MCKK and overseas after that - a clear sign of how grateful they are of the amanah that had been carried out by our teachers back then.

We were very lucky because we were blessed with teachers who loved us to bits. Even when as a batch we failed the expectation to make a record in SPM, the then HM wrote a melancholic letter to me in Scotland (of which I still keep) expressing his pride and love for all of us as a batch and how we had made his life easy. To him, the rather disastrous SPM result was a takdir, which he accepted gladly - since it was from an unexpected candidate.

How I pray and wish that a boy in Malay College now is showered with love in the same way that our teachers did way back - for that is also one of the tradition and ingredients that make MCKK experience so fulfilling.

However, one must begin to wonder what sort of environment children are subjected to - when teachers curse and deliver pronouncements of halal and haram of their teachings freely as matter of habit! It would not be long before students begin questioning adults' sincerity if each time they make mistake, we curse and pray for them to fail!

In my opinion, students do not have to worry when cursed (or threatened with haram ilmu!) by teachers with questionable sincerity, because I doubt their prayers have berkat in the first place!

Talent Grooming Should Begin @ School

Scene 1: Mock interview candidates not so randomly selected (Head Boy, Pres KPKM, Deputy Pres BRU and top student)

Scene 2: Almost everyone tested positive for excessive eagerness for big car, big house and pretty wife in 10 years' time

Early in the year I had had the opportunity to sit down with college's counselors and went through the programs lined up throughout the year to prepare our school leavers for the ultimate test - whether all their hard work for SPM pays off in securing a scholarship.

I also had the privilege to work with MCKK's top scorers from Class of 2005 - from whatever encounters we had, it was obvious that not enough was done to prepare them for interviews and scholarship process after SPM. Most of the time (just like we were at their age), we had no clue whatsoever what we wanted to do in life, what were our strengths and weaknesses.

So after a few months' planning, finally the inaugural MCKK's Career and Scholarship Workshop was successfully carried out. In the process some of us stayed up until 6 in the morning before the workshop to prepare the handbooks and workshop materials required.

The results?

I was happy with the attention and eagerness displayed by them, especially considering the tight schedule they were subjected to (they had been spending days in the hall listening to all sorts of speeches and the launching of many initiatives filling up koleq's calendar lately). We had a few mock interviews and it was made specifically harder than the real ones - but generally some of them sailed through marvelously. One candidate went through a "role play" type of structured interview and performed much better than some uni grads whom I have come across.

So the kids are still as talented and as great as the college boys of the yesteryears. Nothing wrong with them - only the world gets more competitive and whatever was MCKK's advantage before, is no longer there.

Before we closed the workshop, we reminded them that on their shoulders rests not only their and MCKK's future, but that of our people. If some other old boys from earlier generation had been there, they must have squirmed in their seats when I told the boys - "don't you dare to wear the tie until you earn the right to wear it. Putting on the tie means wearing MCKK's identity on your forehead and unless you are sure you would make MCKK proud, don't even think of wearing it."

As usual the majority wanted to become doctors, with mechanical engineers coming close second. What saddens me a bit was that a large majority of them wanted to do accounting and economics, yet it's almost certain they will not obtain any accounting or economics scholarship because koleq does not have accounting or economics classes, nor the flexibility to allow the students to organise themselves for optional classes to broaden their career options.

We were joined by Cepe (Class of 2005), Malaysia's top student for 10A1s in SPM 2005. We were initially quite hesitant to include people from a generation that constantly reminds us of our old age - yet on the other hand unless they are trained from his age, the whole efforts cannot be sustained in the future. I was overly alarmed at the fact that Cepe at first appeared to be too quiet by our standards (well most people come across as quiet compared to us); but he learnt to adapt pretty quickly. He didn't become talkative over night, but he was a good sport and responded to our overly adult jokes (for example) with giggles, rather than contempt.

Cepe was also a good "kitty master". We operate by a "kitty system" each time we travel or organise workshops like this i.e. everyone chips in a certain amount and a "kitty master" will pay and account for all the expenses. The thing about Cepe was he was overly efficient - right when we were about to order for the second round, he was already at the counter to settle the bills. So by unintended design - we didn't spend as much.

I don't know how much the workshop influenced the kids and their world view. But from my own college days, to be told that you are capable of reaching the sky - and to be constantly pushed to reach for the sky - will eventually make you believe in your ability. Unlocking that potentials (i.e. making these talented kids aware and confident of their own talents) is the best thing that MCKK can give them, as once they can fly away - they will never look back.

To the Class of 2006, our sincere prayers and best of luck.

Sex Education

Someone runs a mini-series on the proper adab of having sex the Islamic way. And some goons came back with tens of questions ha ha - most of the time naive questions, but very practical and relevant nonetheless.

If the answers are forthcoming - I may post the answers.

The PS is the alternative views on sex - you don't want to know the frequency of vulgar words used in this group!

1) kalau bini aku penat, tapi aku still nak belasah dia jugak, camner?

2) ada tak ayat doa yang power atau mempowerkan sebelum start main? (sorry Mpro, aku takde niat nak menjatuhkan sales minyak kau)

3) kalau nak pancut luar haram ke?

4) kalau bini tengah tidur, lepas tu aku nak cuba menyelinap slow slow masukkan okay ke?

5) main depan anak yang tak faham erti main tu boleh ke? cam main depan baby.

6) main dengan bini tapi imagine orang lain sambil tutup mata haram ke?

7) tengok genitals bini lama lama tu haram....kalau tengok tetek je tu okay tak?

8) contoh: aku tgh main, sekali azan. patut berhenti ke teruskan?

9) contoh: aku tgh main, sekali terpancut awal. so aku pun letih and tertidur tanpa cabut bana.....okay ke step "hotdog in the oven" tuh...

10) kalau untuk tujuan ilmu, aku nak tengok dvd blue "Janice in Wonderland" untuk menganalisis posisi dan cara-cara terbaik......adakah itu haram?

If you have the answers to these soalan cepu mas, please post it here!

PS

Quote:

" Sekarang zaman moden, kalau rabun boleh buat LASIK so takde masalah kalau nak lihat benda sulit isteri sekiranya ia boleh menyebabkan rabun. Aku tak pernah dengar lagi mana-mana kajian saintifik yang menunjukkan melihat kemaluan boleh merabunkan mata. Bercakap masa buat sex sebenarnya bagus apa, terutama bila isteri cakap benda yang lucah-lucah masa berjimak contohnya bila Isteri kata " besarnya batang abg, kerasnya batang, kuatnya abg, jolok lagi pantat ni dalam-dalam ....dan suami pulak balas, apsal ketatnya sangat pantat isteri abg ni, sedap nya pantat. Ini akan menambahkan lagi ghairah semasa berjimak. Kalau tak percaya cuba buat malam karang. Anyway ulama mana pulak yang memandai membuat moral-moral tertentu dalam berjimak, sedangkan umat Islam dibunuh seluruh dunia kenapa ulama yang bermoral ini tidak membangkitkan berkenaan moral dan kewajipan ummat Islam untuk membela orang tertindas atau pun umat Islam ini hanya perlu bermoral ketika berjimak sahaja, tetapi bab membela sesama seislam tidak perlu ada moral?Mana lebih baik samada bermoral dalam berjimak atau bermoral dengan tidak membiarkan darah ummat Islam ditumpahkan orang kafir?

p/s Jgn sebut nama Abdullah Badawi masa berjimak, nanti pelir jadi lembik."

Unquote

Fazurin Has Left The Room

Fazurin boarded the flight to the US to further his studies tonight.

Over the last 16 years, there was only a brief period of a few years that he wasn't around among our circles. I left early for UK in January 95, he then went on to Italy for his IB until 1996. He joined us again in the UK until his graduation in 2000 - a permanent feature in our mad annual routine of singing "Kolej Melayu", "Gemilang" or "Panggilan Haji" at Trafalgar Square celebrating New Year.

Fazurin is perhaps my best friend from the earliest koleq days that I can remember. He is not the nicest to me (ha ha) and there were many times we were at loggerheads in our opinions - but he had always been staunch in his support for whatever path I took since koleq days. We always happened to belong to the same thing since F2 - the common grounds between us include BRU (ha ha laugh as you want, but Fazurin and I WERE among the 5 budak BRU chosen from our batch in 91/92 before we found our calling in other fields), Warta KPKM, KPKM, debating teams, Editorial Board, the "One's Thoroughbred" (stayed in 1 PK 1 - 2 PK 1 - 3 PK 1 - 4 Sc 1 and 5 Sc 1) and many others.

At the moment when I was at a loss of whom should I ask to go to Prep School in January 1994 in my place, I turned to Fazurin - who gracefully fulfilled a friend's request (albeit a very selfish and self-serving request).

We shared similar passion and interest vis-a-vis our lamentation and cries of the deterioration in the society, especially among the Malays and the inter-racial relationship in this country. Though I am only an arm chair critic without any expertise in any field, Fazurin can easily qualify to give expert opinions on matters of Malay history, languages and cultures.

I personally feel he is the most intellectual person in our batch, and certainly one of the most intellectual of his generation. I rarely bow down to anyone in most things (ha ha I guess this doesn't surprise anyone), but I defer to Fazurin on many things.

We even end up living in the same area ha ha.

Perhaps our closeness can be explained by the fact that both of us come from working class families and are extremely proud of that origin. Of all people, I think Fazurin has conquered the most to come out as among the best in our batch - for someone who initially was quite timid from my recollection of his early days in Prep School, it is a tall order to be as knowledgable and confident (and I can add "hot-headed" to the list) as he is, on top of his ability to master seven foreign languages as if he is a native speaker.

His absence is a great loss and leaves a big vacuum. I lose the head coach for the English debating team and it's almost impossible to find his replacement. I lose a friend who would pester me every weekend for a healthy walk around our neighbourhood.

I lose an intellect to whom I can look up to and challenge my own intellect (or whatever little intellect I have) every now and then.

I fear he will not come back - but what is a small loss to me and my circles, is a big gain to this country and the nation. Go to the World Bank or UN and proves that being a Malay from Aloq Setaq who grew up in a small town called Kuala Kangsar does not make us any less than those who come from Manhattan or Kensington.

To Fazurin if you are reading this - Heaven smiles upon us for all the long years of friendship, Heaven smiles at you for how far you have come in life thus far. Good luck and come back sometimes.

Elves Leaving The Shore

Fly came to visit me at my office yesterday. I am about to move on again from this office and dia baru datang visit ha ha.

Anyway this entry is not about Fly or me – as always, it’s about koleq.

While we were casually chatting about work, life etc. (Fly deep in thought as usual) I got a call. A familiar voice, someone I cherished from my younger days as a student. I then put the speaker phone on, so that Fly could listen as well – after all; the topic was close to both of us i.e. MCKK.

Let’s call this caller Deepthroat (for lack of a better name).

We chatted about how things were going on, about the “divide and rule”, about the mounting damage inflicted on MCKK, about the morale, about the diminishing values from an institution synonymous with values (rather than paper achievement), about “sectarian” and “partisan” camps, about the erosion of culture of independence (through the weakening of KPKM), about unethical politicking – basically about the rot that’s taking place.

Deepthroat then dropped the bombshell – DT (don’t want to indicate the gender here ha ha) is going to leave koleq as soon as DT could secure DT’s transfer, because DT cannot take it anymore. DT was pushed to the wall and dedicated as DT was, the love for a school is just not worth the hassle.

I was supposed to be surprised. I wanted to be surprised – but it was not surprising that I was not surprised.

I have had conversation with one or two before and some did lament on the physical and emotional toll they had to endure – and the possibility of leaving. If I make the call, I wouldn’t want anyone of them to leave. I had grown up with them, my life was touched by their kindness and sincerity. They provided so much colour to my life and I go back to Kuala once in a while to have coffee with them – not really because of the school. They have become family.

And slowly – these people who are highly dedicated to the values of MCKK, are leaving. One must wonder what on Middle-Earth is going on that this is happening.

The Elves are leaving the shores; Middle-Earth is no longer what it was. The magic is dying. All that remains are mediocre Men with their greed and contempt for the ways of the old. They have forgotten what makes Middle-Earth magical in the first place.

Leman Menang

This is a bit out-dated but the significance of this one event should not escape our attention. I must record it because the next time it happens I might not be around.

Sulaiman House, the House known for transforming sportsmen into fat boys by the time they reach Form 5 [Note 1] finally made it to the top after almost 3 decades I guess (OK I exaggerate, I think the last time Leman won was early or mid-80s?).

Yeap my fellow useless Leman skivers of the 90s generation - Leman House won Sports Day this year! Who came next is immaterial and eclipsed by this one big achievement.

Towards Greater Achievement! [Note 2]

[Note 1]
A living embodiment of this special "talent" that only Leman House possess is Che Tam. Che Tam was a lanky and slim boy in F1 who actually made it to the 8 x 100 F1 team. He literally flew away to the finishing line ("flew" referring to his style of sprinting; his arms were like bird wings ha ha - not a connotation to describe the speed).

By the time Che Tam was in Form 5, I doubt he collected 3 points for the house. He kept a running tab at Kapet and known to have the highest balance on Mak Cik Kapet's Sales Ledger! If there was an award for top weight gainer for the period of 1990 to 1994, Che Tam would have been a serious contender (amboi sedapnya aku kutuk Che Tam).

Early in the year in 1994, the Captain-elect (Mejar Capoe) announced that those who failed to contribute 5 points to the House would have to pay RM5. Big mistake it was, many of us in Form 5 paid the penalty there and then. I did not have a shred of guilt when I skived throughout Sukantara/Heat Games in 1994 as I had done my due as a responsible house member. I had sacrificed my RM5 in exchange for the 5 points.

Unsurprisingly, Che Tam would have paid even if the penalty was RM50!

[Note 2]
The problem with Leman begins with the motto. "Towards Greater Achievement" we were urged, but the specific details of that "greater achievement" was never defined. Remaining at the bottom year in year out, with incremental improvement in the total points collected, would have met the criteria of "towards greater achievement".

Worse still, even the intention of improving our standing, without ever putting in the efforts - would also have met the criteria; as from my interpretation by "towards" the motto implies even "niat" to move towards greater achievement would have been sufficient.

ps: Dooohhh! The writer's block effect is really bad.

Writer's Block

I have to do many things at work. But it had not crossed my mind before that one day coming out with a book was one of the things I have to do to earn my meager pay. When Fazurin was busy authoring a thick book in 2004 (which in the end only has a small print of credit to him!), I used to laugh my head off.

But now I am in the same shoes and I have a writer’s block; hence this entry.

I came across 2 articles on MCKK – quite different from each other in the manner, content and context; but did the same to remind me why koleq was special. The first one appeared in The Star and the other in Harakah (ha ha no wonder the manner, content and context was different).

1st Article:

Datuk Abdullah Wahab, the Secretary of Parliament, is about to retire happy in the knowledge that he has turned the sacrosanct institution into a place where people want to work.

In his personal habits, he is an unassuming man, as comfortable dining with prime ministers as sharing a banana leaf lunch under the trees with his favourite journalists, sleeves rolled up.

He drives a second-hand 1982 model BMW 3 series, which has cost him more to maintain than it did to buy. He lives in Kota Damansara, not Damansara Heights. He works with his door open.

The only time the door is closed is when Abdullah, the “servant of God”, is praying.

It was not Wednesday, the traditional tie day for Malay College alumni, so Abdullah was not wearing his Old Boys' tie. Instead he sported the purple and gold tie of Universiti Sains Malaysia, where he had earned his Bachelors in Urban Studies.

But growing up without a father during his adolescent years, it was his alma mater, the Malay College, which moulded him into the man he has become today.

The Malay College “taught me to keep my word, about friendship, trust and honour.”

These friendships remain till today.

A group of seven contemporaries get together so often that a week seems too long not to have seen one another.

“Rindu (We miss each other so much),” said Abdullah simply.

“Our wives and children have become family, more than our own blood.”

This works out fine for Datin Rafidah Abdul Jalil, Abdullah's wife of 27 years, who is totally at home with the alumni wives, and their two sons Ariff Riza, 25, and Ariff Faisal, 22, who have “grown up” with the children of their father’s Malay College buddies.

2nd Article:

The most unforgettable incident that touched my heart about my father happened some 30 years ago when I enrolled as a Form One student for the Prep School, Malay College Kuala Kangsar. To go to Kuala Kangsar, my father and I took the bus from Malacca to Tampin and from there took the express train.

Since that journey was the very first time I left to some faraway places, I just couldn't sleep all night long so I just stared at the darkness of night from my seat. All I could see was distant lights and when the rain roared in the jungles and estates, fire flies in the dark night kept me busy and excited.

We reached the Kuala Kangsar station at 3.00 a.m. There, we waited for the early signs of the day and then marched to the grounds of the college. It was more than a kilometer away. It was a sight when I saw my father carrying a flour sack stacked with my two small pillows on his head and a big bag in his hand.

When we reached the living room cum registration office at the Prep School, my father and I sat on the hard long bench instead of the cozy cushions with our luggage (the flour sack) in front. Looking around I saw the other boys' fashionable bags. Nowadays when I think about it, I can feel how humble or down to earth my father was on that big day when he chose not to use the comfortable seat.

It seemed that only my father and I arrived at the prestigious college by train and then continued on foot while my friends and form mates came in cars, some in flashy ones. I felt very small in the new world and I didn't know what was inside my father's heart.

But I sensed he must have been very proud to have a son at the college. It was because before we departed from our kampung, I heard some family members say: "Congratulations to have a doctor, perhaps an engineer or may be a prime minister in the making!" (They were referring to Tun Abdul Razak, the then Prime Minister who was an old boy of the school).

Remembering that memorable event in 1975 brought me close to tears but I don’t shy away to declare that my father is my hero!

I smiled reading the articles (and although they don’t solve my writer’s block problem, at least I get some modal to update the blog). In the future, once in a while if I ever wonder why Malay College is special to me (or why we try our best to contribute back to the school), I would come back to these articles to remind myself what purpose did Malay College serve for some of us.

In a country where the chasm is big between the upper and working class, between the aristocrats and the commoners, between the blue blood and darah kebanyakan – ironically Malay College is one of the few institutions where dreams (not unlike the American Dream) can come through.

Back then, each year many children from the working class families traveled from the four corners of Malaysia to register – a new kind of life begins at that small Prep School’s Common Room. I bet most if not all of these children had to grapple with the fear of the unknowns and inferiority complex (of coming from working class families).

The 2nd article illustrated what could have gone through a child and his parents’ mind on the first day of registration at the Malay College. Many boys cried during the first few weeks because they missed their parents who suddenly disappeared from their lives, but I bet many more cried because they were just afraid of how it would all turn out.

But as if these stories were fairy tales, they always ended up (most of the time) with happy ending. These kampong boys grew up to become perfect gentlemen, went on to do great things and never looked back. They were more resilient and a lot more confident of their talents and abilities, sometimes compared to those who originally came from more privileged background.

These people grew up to be like Datuk Abdullah Wahab, the gentleman who became the subject in the first article.

Because no matter where you came from, what your parents did for a living – MCKK values transcended social class and all – not even one exception – who went through its gates would have been subjected to these values.

In Prep School, a small sign of crease on your bed sheet and you would be sent for confinement. You must polish your shoes or clean your cutlery so that you could see your smiling face; anything short of that then another double confinement. No wonder anyone who managed to pass through the weekend with only one confinement would be considered a role model (the record in my batch was six confinements in a week ha ha).

We didn’t understand, as kids, why we had to go through all these. Why a small noise during dinner because your fork unintentionally hit the metal tray warranted disproportionate punishment. Why you had to do “duck walk” from your class to Prep School because your 3-by-3 was not a perfect straight line.

We didn’t understand it back then, but sometimes we could feel the effects it had on our lives now.

MCKK taught us to be perfectionists and perfect gentlemen, whenever or wherever we can. You may choose your own path, but make sure whatever you choose to do with your life, you do it to your utmost ability and out-class anyone else in the arena.

Most importantly, those values that MCKK indirectly inculcated through sleepless nights and silly punishments put me at par with the next anak raja; if they were any in my batch. They were some politicians’ sons or aristocrats in our batch too – but after a few months in MCKK slowly our class differences were removed. By the time we were in F2, each and everyone was recognized for our talents and ability – no longer where we came from or our background.

And that’s the kind of stuff fairy tales were made up of. In MCKK, some of these “fairy tales” do come true – kampong boy who fly away and never look back.

That’s why MCKK is so special to me and why I get pretty vocal at any talk about privatizing or limiting the access to MCKK for the lower income group. It’s one of the few institutions in Malaysia where social engineering experiment does work – do not take that away from MCKK, do not deny us of our own success albeit at a micro level.

Going back to Kuala nowadays, seeing how the F1s no longer que 3-by-3 when they go anywhere saddens me. Some people argue that those practices are a waste of time and archaic – yet they do not understand that the real values of MCKK experience are not in the classroom or scoring in examinations, but those “silly practices” that indirectly inculcate values that made Datuk Abdullah Wahab who he is today – a perfect gentleman with abundance of humility.

It’s easy to produce top scorers but not easy to make a humble and perfect gentleman out of a kampong boy!

ps: My writer’s block is still there. Damn!

Takziah

One of the coaches for the koleq debating teams, Sdr Izzat Jonid (Class of 2004), lost his father this morning. Allahyarham passed away after a stroke attack, he would have been 52 this month.

Our prayers and thoughts for Sdr Izzat during his moments of bereavement. May Allahyarham's soul rests with the chosen ones in heaven.

From He we come, to Him we shall return.

Wish List

The blog has not been updated for a while, mostly because of occupation with other things more important in life.

The amount of e-mails coming to the mailbox from the Batch Male-ing list is still reaching hundreds each day. Better still, a lot of people who have not sent a single e-mail in years finally did reply after much provocation.

Discussion today revolves around the origins of nicknames in the batch – started by Fadli who was so bewildered and frustrated that he did not have one. There were a lot of flashbacks of how this chap got his name, or urban legend of this and that event that led to a name.

Sometimes I wonder how long this magic “potion” will work – how long we can go on and on reminiscing the same thing before we get tired of it all. I wish it could be like this forever, but I am not surprised if at one point the jokes just got lost on us.

There was also a heated discussion on the future of MCKK in the MCOBA net. A lot of frustration, a lot of suggestions and a lot of hopes – it’s refreshing to know that even when you have grandchildren older than the college boys, your passion for MCKK is still unmatched.

Yet I also wonder that if only a lot more of us choose to do the little things that matter, no matter how unglamorous it is – things could have been a lot more different.

Looking back, growing up in an MCKK which was in decay and nowhere near the glorious years of 50s and 60s, I have some wish list of what old boys could have done (and obviously were not done ha ha, hence why it remained a wish list!):

1) I wish old boys had not been too simplistic in their analysis of why koleq was no longer on top. I wish they would not come back once in a while and brag about how they did not have to study and how wearing the tie opened doors, because if I had followed that simplistic argument, I wouldn’t have been where I am today.

I would have got a lousier (emphasis on “-er” since the result was already lousy as it was) SPM result, which would have denied me my scholarship abroad; without which I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to see my ex-Housemaster doing Scottish traditional dance wearing his kilt without anything underneath. I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to work abroad and conquered my inferiority and to discover that as a Malay kampung boy, I am as good as the next Mat Salleh in the world. Luckily I didn’t take heed of the bragging by some of the old boys back then.

2) I wish a small minority of the old boys, when they went back to MCKK, did not give the impression as if they were interested in only a small select group of koleq boys. It’s disgusting and it’s pure manipulation and it made us wonder what on Earth was happening (I will not elaborate further).

3) I wish some of the old boys did not look down on the teachers and made it bluntly obvious of their disdain for the teachers. Some of the teachers could have been a lot better, but in the final analysis they were the ones who laughed and cried with us, not the old boys. When I fell sick it was my teacher who worried about me, not some old boys who came back once in 2 months. It was my Chemistry teacher who understood that odd as it sounded, the little juniors living with you did have some impacts on you emotionally (and by extension on your study). They lacked resources and perhaps had not seen the world like the old boys had – if only old boys took their hands and guided them; shared with them all the things they (the old boys) knew that the teachers didn’t. After all everything that was done in the name of MCKK should be about bringing the best out of the kids – out of us back then – not about teachers’ or old boys’ ego. Instead a small minority of old boys (and teachers) preferred to antagonize each other (and the kids dragged and trapped in between them).

4) I wish the relationship between old boys and teachers had been that of mutual respect and complimentary – knowing that there were certain things that could be done better if only they complimented each other. For example, I wish old boys could have helped more in activities organized by our societies because they had the expertise and they were professionals. When we were doing our Rekacipta project, I wish we could have had some help from an electronics engineer – there must be thousands of them among the old boys. I wish we could have had engagements to find out what accountants did at work. Or an historian could have become advisor to one of our societies. I wish that whilst the teachers guided us on a day-to-day basis, the old boys could have inspired us once in a while.

5) I wish old boys were more proactive and sympathetic when dealing with koleq. I wish they would not spend most of their efforts pointing what went wrong; or how “tradition” had been abandoned; or why present boys were not up to the mark – if only they put the same amount of passion in making contributions, in their own ways, to make things better.

I had many other wishes but they are too private in nature ha ha, so would not share it here.

Lately, I began to realize that many people prefer to do the big thing – if you want to change the country, you have to be a minister, or in politics, before you earn the right to speak up. So most people, from as young as 13 years old, adore the likes of Khairy Jamaluddin for his quick ascent to power – and consequently most people would want to throw in the gauntlet so to speak and try to be politicians at the young age as well. In the process, the brave souls like Dr Jemilah, or that guy who devoted his life for the rehabilitation of drug addicts, or the likes of Prof. Khoo Kay Kim whose passion for history in this country did more to document our heritage than many Malays – are relegated to the second division and no longer inspire our young minds the way it should.

Likewise, when it comes to MCKK – too much is being spent on the “big thing”; not enough on the small efforts that could bring about the change quicker if done collectively (I will leave this to readers to interpret).

I said this once: “Many people do not want to do small things – not realizing that the so-called glorious years of MCKK were built on many small things that many small people did over the years”.

I believe the same mentality still plague us.

As to what really happens at MCKK, I thought our boys were not as bad. They deserve more credits than they are given now.

At least they are still as vocal as we were – perhaps only the medium is different now. We smuggled our underground Warta KPKM when it was critical of the establishment; the boys now blog to the world.

I lifted the following from some of the present boys’ blogs – very interesting indeed!

“life goes on...

arghhh!!!! once again it's already the last quarter of july and it looks like this past month since my return from home has been hell and terror. wuts more, the school's getting a revamp(or iz dat d right word 4 it?) on its policies and hey! life is as oppresive as ever! now, i quote from http://offside.mcoba.org/:-

We only need to do 2 major things to make MCKK thrives again:

1. Empower the Board of Governors--the Minister of Education can invoke an "Instrument of Government" under sections 53-55, Education Act to give powers to the BOG to chart administration, development, curriculum and so forth for MCKK. The BOG will report to the Minister, not any Department/Division/Section/Unit.

2. Select a good team of HM, Senior Assistants and experienced teachers. Majority of this group, particularly the HM, should have a prominent public school background or at least should have experienced teenage life in a primier residential school in this country. They should be briefed on the expectations on and for the students, and not imposing rigid rules and regulations.

well, hey, dats exactly d solution plus sum more if i may add, but u get d idea? rigid rules suck!!!! now, i'm sorry 4 d bani folks out there but i must say the new immigration system during subuh is what's making koleq boys wake up in the morning nowadays. not to say it's wrong, but imagine this, it's 6.10 a.m., a spine-tingling wind is breezing through softly as you leave your dorm and the next moment, u see ppl scurrying without their much needed shower, like lebanese people fleeing from israeli bombs, towards where else, but the surau! and it's not because of the sudden repentance of budak koleq to pray in the surau and seek shelter from satans, but the fact is that there is a line of ppl in the front saf (row) with the familiar piece of paper spread out in front of them, with big indicators of the respective classes, and ticking out names for ppl who appear in the surau. ok ok, this might seem like a good idea at first sight, i might even be labelled 'abu jahal' or wuteva by the principal but u see, this is actually not as good as it seems. "Let there be no compulsion in religion...." as quoted from Al-Baqarah:257 which we read just two days ago. Relax, those of u who r offended, but there is a better method of doing this, that shud accompany this thing. imagine, everyone wakes up by their own will or either by the rough beatings of the cane by the wardens, and hurriedly go the toilet for a shower, still not recovering from the morning 'stiffy' (it's australian) and yet the ppl who man the front saf(i'm afraid, the bani ppl) are not even waking these kids up from their slumber! and they are leaving everything to the wardens! how irresponsible! and i don't u/stand their policy either. it looks like the preferred method of 'dakwah' is through sarcastic mockings or even silence. i mean, it really helps to actually go to that guy who they've got a problem, and aid them in their mission to turn over a new leaf. patient advice exceeds mockery which will only lead to more resentment and anger. and the outcome! ppl will not change! i believe even the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) do not mock while preaching and that makes Islam seem beautiful and unique in its own way. any bani ppl reading this, if u r angered, think out of the box, islam was never spread by compulsion of force for that matter. and i do not see the true beauty of islam through your policies. Do not make it mandatory (wajib) what is optional(sunat). hey, this is not a threat, mind you! and pls, always look at the bigger picture. i'm not complaining of going to subuh, its just that, some things need to be improvised to ensure efficiency and success.

oh man, that was just about one thing bothering me! there's still more but i'll find another time 4 dat. with me being so immersed with edit board and the mclf, it's a major relief to finally let sumthin out. well i guess dats it. happy subuh praying. fiat sapientia virtus.”

Commit and Submit Yourselves!

hmm.maybe i cud get used 2 critisising koleq's admin in my blogs...

i take back all my remarks about koleq being useless in d dobi aspect.it seems dat d admin has been trying 2 get a new tender(finally) but failed which is why we're stuck wif dis lousy dobi.so,kudos 2 admin 4 finally doing sumthing right.altho dats probably d only right thing they've done so far.tp xper lar.its a start.

nevertheless,i hav more ctiticisms for dis edition(haha,mcm some tabloid pulak:P).sometime last week(or was it 2 weeks ago?).i was told 2 go on stage along withs otord(head fect) n osem(pres bani) as wakil kpkm since meghi n faruq xde(i'm timb pres II).why?for d most incredible n unexpected gimmick ever.all of us were 2 hold dis huge banner dat sayz,"kami warga the malay college kuala kangsar komited untuk menjadi johan anugerah kualiti menteri pelajaran(AKMP)".suppose 2 b sum kind of symbolic thingy.u can c d banner when u pass thru d gates of d admin block btw.anyway,dis is d second time we entered 4 dis award.1st time was in 2004 where we got 2nd if i'm not mistaken.dat was a cheap publicity stunt if i ever saw 1.why d bloody hell do we hav 2 show off dat banner,i cannot understand.d cheap publicity stunt doesnt end there.d following tuesday,sumer budak koleq was told 2 gather at d quad rangle(square-shaped field in front of d hargreaves hall).reason?ahh.all of us had 2 yell out at d top of our lungs,"kami warga mckk...".refer 2 what was written on d banner.all of this was recorded so dat we cud show off 2 d jemaah nazir wen d come 2 evaluate d skool 4 d AKMP.haha.how low can u get?SMK King George V didnt hav 2 go thru all these crap when dey were bidding 4 d AKMP(information courtesy of Yonne,Class of 2006).so why do we hav 2 b overly eager?

i hav only 1 deduction.its 4 d headmaster's sake.i mean just think about it.is there a dire need 4 koleq 2 b awarded d award?we've had 101 years of pride,passion and tradition without having 2 rely on sum stupid award.will winning make us any cleverer?will it make d f5s get d targetted 75% straight As in SPM n 100% As for PMR?will it make d skool even more famous den it is hence making ppl look up 2 koleq even more? will it make d skool 'naik saham' sky high till we can get any budget we ask for?d answer is a definite NO.winning d AKMP is nothing more den mere show.nothing great comes of it except 1 shortly lived moment of glory.honestly,whu remembers dat sdar won d AKMP wen rauhi was around dere exept bdk sdar themselves.n whu even noes dat KGV pernah menang d award b4?its such a waste of time,money n effort 2 put into"menjadi johan AKMP".bcoz at d end of d day,its not so much dat d skool benefits,no matter wat rauhi sayz.its him whu benefits.its gonna look good on his credentials n resume.n its gonna b easier 4 him 2 naik pangkat n work as sum high ministry official,like most if not all previous HMs.

dis gets me thinking,"what kind of a teacher is dis???".i always thot of teachers as such noble n selfless ppl,individuals who r willing 2 giv their all for d sake of d children,moulding them into d leaders of 2moro.but dis guy is unworthy of d gelaran "cikgu".i hav never seen such a selfish person(besides some big names in d world 2day i.e bush n co)in my entire life.a teacher is suppose 2 dedicate his/her life 4 d students.what dis guy is doing is manipulating d boys n teachers at his disposal.doing all these pointless events(pesta durian,open day etc)so dat he looks like a HM dat brings about change.den he competes for d AKMP so dat he's gonna look like a really credible HM ,winning d award twice in his career.but what's in it 4 d boys?absolutely NOTHING.he's turned koleq into sumthing similar 2 dat of a day skool.i'll refer 2 d neighbouring SMK Clifford.essentially,koleq is a skool 2 develop malays into d leaders of d country.koleq is dedicated 2wards moulding n shaping its boys.n d boys love koleq for d attention n commitment it gives 2 d boys.but now,koleq is no longer about d boys.d tables hav changed.now its d boys who are about koleq.koleq,under rauhi's rule,no longer has dat atmosphere of responsibility 2wards d boys.instead,bdk2 klq hav 2 pamper n do stuff so dat koleq dpt nama.or in other words,rauhi dpt nama.2 quote him maser assembly,"saya cuma menumpang kehebatan MCKK."Translate dat n u will compute dat he's actually saying,"buat benda elok2 supaya MCKK dapat nama.biler awk semua hebat dan MCKK dapat nama,saya dapat menangguk nama dan mengaku hebat sekali."read d caption outside clifford dat sayz,"The ship is more than the crew".That is how koleq is now.Koleq is more than the boys.To hell wif d boys dat are suppose 2 b d future generation of leaders.What matters is d present n at present, nama rauhi is d number 1 agenda.

well,God bless koleq until d next HM comes n saves koleq.or perhaps lead koleq 2 further damnation?Until dat time comes,we shall commit and submit ourselves.

KUALA KANGSAR,13Julai 2006-Setelah 100 tahun berlalu, pada hari ini tercipta sejarah apabila stor di New Hostel terbakar sambil disaksikan oleh orang ramai sama ada dari padang hoki ataupun dari luar kawasan asrama.Kejadian yang berlaku kira-kira jam 5.00 petang itu dikatakan berada dalam keadaan terkawal apabila pihak bomba berjaya memadamkan api tersebut walaupun dengan dua kali cubaan disebabkan tekanan air yang rendah.

Menurut saksi,seorang pelajar Tingkatan 5,Mohd Sohaidi b. Kasim bertindak cepat dengan menelefon pihak bomba dengan segera dan mengarahkan pelajar blok tersebut ke tempat yang selamat sebelum api itu sempat menyambar bahagian-bahagian lain bangunan itu.Menurut seorang saksi lain pula, kejadian itu juga mungkin dapat dihindarkan jikalau alat pemadam api di blok tersebut tidak dirosakkan oleh penghuni asrama itu.Pihak bomba turut menyatakan yang kebakaran itu berpunca daripada perbuatan pelajar sendiri.

Pengetua Malay College Kuala Kangsar (Dato')Mohd Rauhi bin Mohd Isa AMP,PPT, enggan mengulas dengan lanjut kejadian tersebut.

"Saya tidak ada komen.Kalau ada apa-apa pertanyaan boleh berjumpa dengan Penolong Kanan Hal Ehwal Murid" katanya di sini hari ini.

Apabila ditemuramah, Penolong Kanan Hal Ehwal Murid , En Fairuz b. Leman menyatakan yang kejadian ini berpunca daripada sikap manja pelajar Tingkatan 2 itu sendiri.

"Kita dapat lihat daripada kejadian ini yang mereka ini(pelajar tingkatan 2) memang memerlukan pemulihan dari semua segi.Saya akan pastikan yang para pengawas akan menjalankan program tersebut secepat mungkin."

Disebabkan kejadian tersebut, Menteri Pelajaran Dato' Seri Hishamuddin Tun Hussein telah terpanggil untuk membuat ulasan.

"Perkara ini membuktikan kelemahan sistem pendidikan yang sedia ada.Kita perlu kaji semula di mana salah dan silap kita dalam hal ini.Pelajar tidak patut dimanjakan.Apa gunanya mereka belajar di sekolah asrama jika keadaannya sama seperti belajar di sekolah harian.Mereka mesti belajar untuk menyelesaikan masalah sendiri.Sistem beginilah yang kita hendak.Biarlah kita bentuk mereka dari kecil lagi bak kata pepatah melentur buluh biarlah dari rebungnya."

Pihak bomba juga ada menyatakan beberapa langkah pencegahan yang perlu diambil pada masa hadapan.Antaranya ialah pelajar-pelajar ini tidak seharusnya dimanjakan sehingga berani membuat sesuatu yang agak memalukan dan mereka haruslah berubah perangainya dari sekarang supaya tidak timbul lagi masalah-masalah pada masa hadapan.

Ketika ini juga MCKK turut terlibat dengan perlawanan persahabatan dengan Vajiravudh College. Pengetua MCKK telah diminta memberi ulasan lanjut.

"Kita akan masuk setiap pertandingan untuk membuktikan kehebatan kita.Setiap acara yang kita sertai kita mesti menang.Bila kami menang perlawanan itu nanti, bolehlah datang kepada saya untuk penerangan lanjut tapi kalau kami kalah tuan-tuan boleh minta ulasan daripad Penolong Kanan Kokurikulum."-BENAMA

(Berita di atas adalah rekaan semata-mata)

"Kami Komited Untuk Menjadikan MCKK Gemilang seperti Dulu."

Anugerah Kualiti Menteri Pelajaran(AKMP).This shows that -You have to judge a book by its cover.It reveals who we(the ones who follows what he says;anak2 dia dll) truly are,a self-centred,pampered and hypocrite individuals who just wants fame for every action.Perhaps we should invite the media to our grounds and make a documentary about the present koleq just for the sake of the AKMP. For me, we are just waisting our time and effort in this so called 'anugerah tertinggi' Kementerian Pelajaran.All of us are working half to death just to fulfill his dying wish of becoming the greatest principal of MCKK or maybe among the schools af Malaysia.To be frank, I have never heard of this AKMP, that supposed to be the highest recognition in the education system.What could be so grand about this award anyway.Is it the datukship that comes with it.Even if the newspapers dont give a damn on who won the AKMP, why should the whole world.What is great about a leader who just aims for recognition." Buatlah apa2 asalkan saya dapat nama?".Is this what we expect from 'org yg hebat'.Blowing his own trumpet for other people's effort.If you think that was pathetic, you are yet to know more about the real situation.All that I can say for now is that we are going to exploit all of the controvercies that had happened in MCKK in our effort to change and propel 'koleq' back to its former glory days."Kami Komited Untuk Menjadikan MCKK Gemilang seperti Dulu."