Aftermath: Withdrawal Syndrome

Some comments and words of support from Cagers of my time - the time when Cagers and debaters were like isi and kuku - did some trick to lift the mood. Our batch records at PPM was a bit tragic - we did well in 1992 and 1993, being quite instrumental in the teams that won PPM for BM debate and PHT - but flunked our own. Cagers lost in the final (read Awie's comments below) and I flunked at the quarter, in one of the worst PPMs of my life at SDAR when the theme was "pull MC down come what may".

The day I lost - there was a 2 page special report of how everyone was rejoicing at our defeat. Quite sad losers and wankers budak2 SDAR yang jadi Editor the PPM Bulletin masa tu (I guess they are still sad losers and wankers now, if they were back then. Wankers don't change much over the years).

Ikram:

Rough, I share your feelings. I don't know how much you guys worked but I can imagine how much coz we are pretty much in the same boat... you in debate, we're on the court. You may have worked more since we have Mr Liew.

So hang in there, man. These things teach us how to live!

Awie:

Ad Astra Per Aspera - A Rough Road Leads To The Stars

old story - masa kitorang kalah pht 94, aku pun pening nak explain sbb apa kalah. my only excuse was, god doesn't want us to win that day. baru lepas hujan, but it was the final, must proceed anyway, court cement render jenis licin, cagers pakai black war, rmc pakai kasut comel2. so cagers mcm main atas ice. we were leading over 10 points until rmc noticed we were just bunch of ice hockey player without the skates. change their tactics and then the rest was tears. (alasan ni pun kena kutuk gak dulu, sbb kitorang pun takde la terra sgt haha...)

anyway, as time goes by, years, i noticed that, losing that day, reminds me so closely to my team mate. even now aku pun dah tak minat basketball, or even contact those guys....hehe..but importantly, i would never forgot them, and the spirit of the team. so maybe it was not in the medals or recognitions by others, but in the scar that was left behind on that day.

just another version of how good it felt to strive as best as you can be.

to the debaters, coach and mentor, it was worth it in anyway. congratulations and godspeed.

Ikram:

Awie, thanks bro, for the memories.

Its like that. No matter where you go or with whom you play, you still miss your good old ex-teammates, coz you can't get them anymore. The togetherness, the chemistry in game, you just can't get it anywhere else. Sometimes bila aku main these days and I want to pass the ball, I wish that you were there, or Mattop was there, or Che Mad was there to receive and make it to the basket, coz I know if the ball was in your hands, it could've been a 2-point play.

So it's like that. And that's what we have more than successfully achieved... besides cups and medals.

Awie:

i wish ska was there too..haha..ska cari bola melambung atas kepala dia mcm robot tgh scan pakai sonar masa f4 kat sas..

hhahaha i guess winning the recognition of those who support you is just..priceless. a

wards, title, medals, well... maybe a bonus.

And Awie summed up just nicely. So long as the kids realised how much they have made us proud and that they are always the champions in our hearts - that should mean more than the trophy itself.

As for the rest - typical budak koleq (old boys ke, yang muda ke, present boys ke or even teachers), will join the bandwagon when you've reached the top. People are not really interested to join or support during the hardship - the moment you win bercurah-curah lah, banyak lah yang tumpang sekaki.

Such is life.

To Awie, Ikram, Che Mad, Mattop, Ska, Ein etc. - thanks for being good PPM contingent mates, even after all these years. I was really proud of us, as always, come what may.