Leman Menang Lagi

Little Bird from KK confirmed that Sports Day ranking as follows:

FIRST - Sulaiman House (Towards Greater Achievement)

Second - Mohd Shah (Membujur Lalu Melintang Patah)

Third - Ahmad (Strive Forever)

Last - Idris (ha ha ha ha On and Onwards)

Leman dah 2 tahun berturut-turut champion, and akan disambung dengan champion masa Sukanterer 2008.

I was told that Ahmad and Idris' problem was that they have many star athletes - but the rest are just so bad that whatever these athletes collected was neutralised; as opposed to Leman's who generally are average sportsmen who scored points for the house.

Sounds so like Leman house (I mean the stars and fat buggers part) in 1994 ha ha ha

Cagers 1994 (Gorilla & Peers)

AJ @ Che Mad:

Aku tengah scan personal documents petang tadi, tetiba anak aku ternampak gambar2 ni yang aku simpan in the file. So aku scan sekali lah buat tatapan umum, bagi sesiapa yang tak pernah tengok lagi gambar2 ni.

Awie:

apsal jersi aku lain?

Khalid:

aku baru nak tanya tu.
takkan sekarang baru kau sedari.

Awie:

top, mana gambar kama yg kau ngan chemad pakat amik....?


Mttop:

Aku pakat amik sendiri.che mad tak trlibat directly or indirectly.tp pìct tu ramai gk budak batch kita beli.haha
Jual gmbr masa f5 mmg untung.nk plak gmbr ramai2 yg lbih 10 org. Gmbr ada kt rumah le.

Radin:

Haha. Mmg strategi bisnes kita dulu tangkap & jual gambar jambu. Mmg laku. Nama pembeli mmg dirahsiakan utk keep privacy dia. Gambar betik lak aku tak terpikir nak bisnes. Opportunity lost

Rough:

Gambar betik Epit sorang je yang belinya...

Mttop:

Dgn 50 sekeping korang beli,mampula aku nk mkn kt kapet atau kantin sbb asik kalah ngn gadap n bochap kaki batak karipap.

Chamat:

mtop, cantiknya glasses hang
ada simpan lagi ke dah kasi museum?

Mttop:

Museum tak nak amik coz dah ada spec rahimi ngn sapet karlos.
Aku nye depa rejek.haha

Insiden Kena Buang Batch

Gara-gara MCOBA nyaris ada hamba Allah kena buang batch!

Wong:

Saya baru sahaja pulang dari makan tengahari dan solat Jumaat bersama jemaah-jemaah pokok KLCC. Sambil makan tengahari tadi, saya mendapat satu berita yang menggemparkan bahawa sahabat kita yang beria-ria tidak mahu MCOBA, yang mengwar-warkan sanggup dipotong konek daripada masuk MCOBA dan juga yang mencadangkan kita masuk MCOBA beramai-ramai ( menasihatkan jangan masuk dahulu sehingga kita masuk berjemaah ) sehingga telah mengambil deposit duit keahlian MCOBA antaranya daripada saudara Jita, yang telah membayar dan sanggup menunngu jemaah 94 untuk masuk MCOBA beramai-ramai....

Rupa-rupanya Saudara XXX, dalam minggu ini telah sah menjadi ahli MCOBA secara senyap-senyap..meninggalkan rakan-rakan lain terkuntang-kanting menunggu masuk MCOBA secara berjemaah......ternyata inilah 'kincingan' terbesar di abad ini dan boleh diberi anugerah 'betrayer of year'. Dengan itu saya mencadangkan usul supaya no dobi XXX dilelong atau digantung diatas kes pecah amanah ini.....

Saya melaporkan dari KLCC.


Idzam:

(....hmmm)

Radin:

Fuh! ni kes berat ni, kalah konspirasi abdul razak baginda camni

Khalid:

aku nak membida nombor dobi E43 dengan bidaan pertama ..RM5.00

Idzam:

court marshall?
aku bida RM 5.10

Wong:

Tuan Moderator...tolong buat bidaan online dlm Blog.....untuk E43

Rifdi:

saya setuju.. dan saya up bidaan ke $6.66!

Awie:

kita kena tubuhkan suruhanjaya siasatan yg diketuai & dianggotai hanya det. H yg mana aku syak sedang kronik hidungnya yg mana dia sms aku tanya apa nama ubat selesema tadi

Chamat:

bagi free je senang

Epit:

boleh buat untung ni...

Chamat:

boleh dibuka kepada ahli2 batch lain yg nak join 9094

Epit:

ada buyer tu...

Khalid:

aku up kan bidaan kepada rm 10 dengan kupon giants rm5.

kira total price : RM 15...

so aku kira takde bidaan lebih tinggi sampai hari Isnin, E43 jadi hak aku dan XXX akan dikenal sebagai mister E146

hahahaha
hahahahahahah
hahahahahahahahahahahaahhaahah

Idzam:

tu kira gelak evil ke khalid?

aku up lagi kepada voucher haagen dazs : RM29.90

Syed Moto @ Dr M:

aku bid E43 serta E146 dengan RM10.01 dan voucher JJ Rrm10 ...dan dengan menyimpan e59 aku

kalau camtu .. RM30 utk E43, E146 ddan aku simpan nombor dobi aku juga

Chamat:

aku nak bid dgn voucher kopitiam bernilai RM1.50 utk 2 biji telur separuh masak (tp mungkin akan gaduh la dgn macha tu sbb selalunya jadi telur rebus)

Kadaque:

betul ke crita nih wong? Apa bukti dan sapa saksi yg mengatakan dia OKT1(XXX) dah masuk MCOBA tanpa btau geng2 dia? Memang syarat class of 94 kena join MCOBA sama2? Ada discountka masuk ramai2?

XXX:

Kau lah AJK batch yang tulen Kadaq, periksa dulu sebelum jatuhkan hukuman.

Aku giler tak bersalah, lepas ni aku nak mintak2 kawan2 aku pakai baju mcm family Razak baginda.


"XXX's Fren" - sapa nak ambik
"XXX's Ex-Housemate" - muta baik kau ambik
"XXX's Ex-Bedmate" - kalai, ayul....

Kadaque:

kah kah kah ..teringat aku pasal meeting TNG.

XXX:

Shit kau mention meeting TNG - sure aku kena lagi ni.... tukar topik cepat2.
Back to masuk MCOBA.

Chamat:

eh eh, jgn tukar
ini topik menarik
kita mulakan dgn speeches AJK batch amacam

and ha ha luckily everyone disgressed and ended up discussing whether Haagen Dasz is better than B&R ha ha ha

POST-SCRIPT

Affidavit Pembelaan XXX

"Pundek punya Wong, masa e-mail aku down laa nak buat dakyah2 nak buang aku dari batch.

Begini penjelasannya:


1) Ada 2-3 orang dari MCOBA dah beberapa kali tanya kenapa tak jadi member, sebab aku banyak bising2 pasal koleq kot

2) 2 hari lepas diajak oleh beberapa orang yang agaklah decent untuk minum kopi, lalu timbul lagi lah cerita tak masuk MCOBA ni

3) Pagi Khamis aku dihubungi bahawa Setiausaha Eksekutif MCOBA akan mendahulukan wangnya sebagai bayaran yuran tahunan, supaya aku dapat disahkan keahliannya minggu ini - sebab minggu ini EXCO bersidang untuk menerima ahli2 baru. A few times he e-mailed me asking for me to submit details, which amazed at the determination and tak sampai hati (after all ni pak cik yang dah berumur), I relented.

4) Maka pada hari ini aku dapatlah e-mail mengesahkan aku ahli MCOBA, walaupun masih belum bayar satu sen.

I have also given my undertaking that I will chase those in the batch to become members as well - with the arrangement agreed before i.e. instalment payment of RM100, RM100 and RM160 for life membership payable by end of this year.

Maka aku submit lah kepada semua - jangan lah dengor dakyah2 Wong yang memang saja nak melemahkan Leman sbb boleh tahan lah jugak sumbangan aku kat Leman dalam Carey Award race ini.

Minggu depan mati lah korang kena kejar aku join MCOBA ha ha ha"

Mighty Ducks: A Journey of A Thousand Mile

The Junior Duckies closed the official hockey season with a fourth placing at the national inter-SBP hockey tournament (well technical official season as although there are many other invitational tournaments; only those organised by Kementerian are sanctioned by the school) today. All the Bapak Itiks seemed to be contented with the results given the limitations the boys and the team had had to work with all this while – that the team is new, they rarely had any games exposure let alone on the turf, there was no coach all along and serious training only began a month ago (if navigating mid-year exam with only less than 2 hours training each day is considered serious training after all). They didn’t even have a proper set of jerseys before this (by the way I am describing an MCKK hockey team not a school from Ulu Manong!)


Personally the rational mind dictates that it was a good result and a good start – though you can’t help but to play around with the “what ifs”; after all until semi final yesterday the boys were considered the top seed and a favourite to at least go to the final. It could have been the boys all the way to the championship but in the final analysis, the lack of a proper hockey program in koleq all these years put us at a slight disadvantage. However on the plus side, despite the so-called neglect – we have to give the credit to the boys and take pride that they managed to emerge as the top four and those who were present during the tournament would agree that we were in the same league as the so-called hockey giants of SBP like SMS Machang, SERATAS and Sains Johor. It was only minor issues – mostly due to lack of practice – that disadvantaged our boys.


On top of that, the drama leading up and during the tournament was fit for a movie! SM has not recovered from his broken bones so understandably the parents insisted that he could not play. He managed to persuade the parents at the time the bus was almost leaving koleq’s compound and not before the parents had to guarantee not to pursue any liability claim ha ha. Two of the players (Farid and Amin) had conjunctivitis throughout the week and had barely recovered. Some of the boys kept having cramps and muscle pains that I wished I had taken a nursing course! And before the semi final, Topoi (another key player) who caught a cold a few days before the tournament got worse and his body was almost exploding (and he vomited in the middle of the game) after the 2nd game – KNO and I were panicking whether we should send him to the hospital right after the game. Thank god we didn’t because if we had he would have been admitted and IV-ed for dehydration – we rested him for a night and got him to drink as much as possible to bring the temperature down; at least he managed to play in the semi and 3rd/4th placing.

Full results are as follows:


GROUPING

MCKK vs. Sains Dungun: 0 – 0
MCKK vs. SBPI Kuantan: 5 – 0
MCKK vs. SBPI Gombak: 2 – 1
MCKK vs. Sains Johor: 0 – 0

To emerge as Group B champion (Sains Johor eventually qualified to the final after defeating Group A champion Sains Machang)

SEMI FINAL

MCKK vs. SERATAS: 0 – 0 until full time, lost penalty flick 2 – 1

(SERATAS went on to win the tournament after defeating Sains Johor)

THIRD AND FOURTH PLACING

MCKK vs. Sains Machang: 0 – 1


Everything happened so quickly – I checked this blog entry and it said Joe, Chibiok, Epit, Idzam and KNO committed to Mighty Ducks on 13 January 2007. For the next one month we were having weekly meeting to strategise how to approach koleq and to lay down the foundation of what may resemble an adequate hockey program for MCKK. By the first week of March the hockey program was launched and we did not have any rest since. A week after that was MC-RMC Weekend, then MSSPK tournament for 4 days, then MC-PFS Carnival, then the North Zone, last week’s intensive training and this week’s national level tournament. In between we managed to squeeze in one or two intensive trainings for the teams.


There should not be any tournament after this until we manage to talk our way through to enroll the boys for some invitational tournaments at the year end. We can get some break and breathing space – yet there are many things that need to be put in place that I am sure the so-called break will be short-lived. By next week there will be call for post-mortem, we have to start planning to assemble junior teams (F1 and F2) since there is none for the time being and work out how to lure the F3 back to the field (since the whole team has avoided hockey pitch lock stock and barrel save 2 players). By the time we put through our proposal we have to be content with all the weekends already fully booked with academic oriented activities until the end of the year.


But we owe it to the boys to soldier on. It’s really cruel to whip up so much sentiment and hope that for once they will be looked after only to take a back seat and let the euphoria dies down. I am telling myself and everyone to kiss many of your weekends for the next few months good bye!

As the person entrusted with the responsibility to look after the boys’ welfare and manage the soft issues (together with Epit), I am touched with the rapid change of attitude so far. When we first came back giving a pep talk after a game can be challenging but the boys now listened attentively to you. We were extra careful when we reprimanded them before but we are a lot more open and honest now and they take it professionally too. I was on the verge of giving up at Sungai Petani before since I could not handle the communication breakdown, but now I feel like I have known them for a very long time.


This is the potential of koleq boys that never fail to amaze me; or never fail to make us come back. They are quick learners, they make a turnaround quicker than McKinsey does any company when they put their minds together, they put 200% efforts if you manage to convince them that it’s a worthwhile fight. And how you wish those who have had close quarters with them; see them for what their talents and potentials are – that we have the privilege to mould the best brains, the best talents and the best potentials.

On behalf of everyone in Mighty Ducks – I just have to thank Joe and KNO so much for taking overall charge of the tournament this time around; from before the boys reached Kuantan to after they have left. Thank you for making sure everything was OK even at night and thank you for looking after Fird who had to stay outside; thank you for the mansion that TNB provided for the team ha ha (a scene of Bobo and Wahida’s sexual escape too)



I have to specifically mention these few names as well on behalf of everyone in the team:

The other Mighty Ducks who were there – Badut and Red (the other half), Canoe and Chibiok.

Bobo and Wahida – who joined for full 2 days and ponteng one day of work. Thank you for the financial contribution as well and sharing the passion and pride.

Jita – who drove all the way from KL for a day trip and for the monetary contribution so far.

Kuchai, Radin, Pejal, Fadhil – for the financial contribution for various expenses from the jerseys to the isotonic drink to the rent of pitch

Fuad (Class of 96) and Nuddin (Class of 98) – the only other old boys not from Class of 94 who made it there and stayed with the boys

KE (Class of 92) – for the support and coordination and understanding

MCKK Staff – Cikgu Badri, Cikgu Khairi and Abg Megat for all the support so far

Thank you to all the other Mighty Ducks (Epit, Mpro, Idzam, Wong and Chamat) whose contribution (time, efforts, financial etc.) I should not even mention here for it will not do justice. Thank you to everyone (especially the whole batch of 94 who had adopted these boys as if they are our own flesh and blood) and finally – thank you to the boys for making it possible.

Interesting time ahead – we just ask you to be patient and stay with us throughout.



FOOTNOTE – MIRACLES OF SMS

“4th place lost 1 nil to machang. Not bad though cud ve been us. But we lost 2 better teams on both accounts. D gud thing is our boys r almost at par despite d neglect. Interesting time ahead. Thank u 4 all ur help n sacrifices cudnt hv been where we r without u. Take comfort dat we r doing smthing gud”

“Tahla, I just kesian dgn backgrnd dia n really wanna see him go far in life”

“Gud job n u played well. Less heart attack comprd 2 sp. I know u guys were almost at par. Cuma tinggal bits n pieces nk improve. Interesting time ahead. Remember think long term n work hard we hv 2 earn d victory. We ll c u smtimes”

“Hei thanks a lot.. Maybe my physical is ready but not 4 my mental.. That’s y I look nervous. Nway thank bnyk2.. Tradition will be recreated.. We’ll do da senior job (Italian job) hahaha.. Ok, drive lek lok..”

“Please say thanks 2 abg joe, canoe, kano, n badut too coz willing 2 spend time wif us.. Aar! Sebak la plak!!!”

“Wahidah baru call, ingatkan mende, rupenye tanya result match. Send my regards to d team. Tell them this gonna b d best thing ever happens to them in koleq so make it something worthwhile n to be remembered of. G’luck to d team!”

“All the U-16 team would like 2 wish tank you 2 the all old boys 4 spending ur time & effort 4 us..”

“By the way, the team would like 2 say srry.. We just manage 2 get 4th in tournament.. I think koleq is not fully prepared yet..”

“U guys did great given d time n limitations we had. U guys deliverd what is askd of u in this tournament. Next is 2 bring it 2 d next level. Gud job.”

“We’ll do better next time, insya allah”

“You guys are on track for THE elusive victory. Its just the beginning”

“To be honest, that is still good news. Thanx bro”

“Tough luck! There’s next year 2 look 4wrd tho. Congrats to korang & d boys 4 making further in such a short time thn dreamt possible ”

“Champ group tu!”

“Mcm mane badut dpt nick name tu n tosen tu islam ek?”


More pictures here, some videos here (as always KNO beat me to it and was the first to upload)

Full report on the game given by Joe here

Mighty Ducks: 3 Months After, 1 Week Before

The U16 hockey team will be competing in the national level inter-SBP competition in Kuantan on 16 to 18th June (this coming Saturday to Monday). The North Zone level was in early May and right in the middle of their mid-year exam, so we didn’t have much time to practice after that for the national level. We had to resort to an intensive training cramped in 3 days covering as much aspects as possible – the rest we have to leave it to fate, their determination and rezeki.

I feel like I’ve known these kids for ages although we only took over in early March. For the U16, we only paid extra attention to them in early May – but by now most of us already know what shoes they wear, who is whose betik, which group exists in the team, everyone’s interest etc. Along the way you can’t help but feel very close to them.

Mighty Ducks brought together a rag tag of different people from our batch who were never in the same group back then. The fact that at this age, we came together and re-forge a closer friendship (that could not have existed this well back then in college) is in itself a journey that adds value to the whole experience. The ability and understanding that we have to put aside all the labels, masks, egos and identities we as individuals wear in our respective lives for the sake of a bunch of kids in dire need of attention and guidance – is a comfort that I always fall back to when the toll that this endeavour takes on us sometimes proves too much to stomach.

On one hand we have the ex-hockey players Badut, Chibiok, Joe, Mpro, KNO and Canoe. I have to admit that I was never close to Badut in school for reasons I can’t quite fathom myself. Apart from Persatuan Bahasa Melayu, we never ended up in the same group – hence the distance. Chibiok was even more distant (ha ha maybe the fire drill “bapak kau setan” put us at a distant right from the start ha ha) and there were times I had been harsh to him and vice versa due to the different directions we took in koleq. I was a lot more uptight in junior years and was so hell bent on keeping everything in its place, Chibiok was quite trigger happy ha ha; so the two of us sometimes did cross fire ha ha. (Although I need to point out that in our final year there could have been a commonality in the form of the junior whose bed was right to mine in Dorm 21 ha ha).

I got along fine with Joe throughout my years in koleq but just like Badut – we were never close. On our own free will, I am sure I wouldn’t have chosen to sit down in his crowd and vice versa back then. Canoe is from a different batch altogether, so go figure.

Of all the hockey players in Mighty Ducks – only with Mpro and KNO whom I have had many opportunities to work together and along the way understand each other’s styles. KNO was my classmate since F1 to F3; he was also in KPKM in our senior years. In our last year in koleq, KNO was instrumental in helping me out to make the Dataran Pemimpin (Leader’s Square) a reality for KPKM 1994 – and that included going to shop for the trees, planted the trees and even designing the whole place.

Mpro was a lot closer because we seemed to have been able to get along since day one, also perhaps because we did share common friends in the like of Epit, Sheppe, Zahir, Syed Asrul (and the northern clique). We were also budak coop since Form 2 (though I quit after Form 3 and he went on to be close to Sherry ha ha ha).

I can say I am a lot closer to the non-hockey members of Mighty Ducks. Chamat was among the first person I spoke to in koleq during one games hour and he gave great encouragement in my early years to improve my English ha ha. Chamat has this attitude in life that I will do what I think is right for me and I will put public opinion secondary; which sometimes did inspire me to have a bit more stomach when I did have to ignore public opinion.

Epit has always been close even when he was a senior prefect and “ayam tambatan” in Prefects Board 1993; especially during the period in 1993 the Fects Board would have wanted to impale my head on a pike for what I had written about them in Warta KPKM (Underground Version). Never once he ever brought up that issue with me though I can appreciate the difficult situation he was in.

No one was ever able to “leash” Wong when he was in koleq; he had always been his own man – so my relationship with him had always been that of a close friend, dating from those days in Form 1 when we the Terengganu boys were so close to each other. He was also my deskmate in Form 3 and had a hand in many dodgy replies to letters I sometimes received from girls from other SBPs (before I got bloated out into my current shape).

Idzam joined us in Form 4 and although I have had a cordial relationship with him we never got opportunities to be really close. He spent most of his time with the Sc6 guys and so was naturally closer to them.

So there you have it – a bunch of people who lead a very different lifestyle, who come from very different groups in koleq and out of the blue thought that maybe we should put our heads together for a bunch of kids we didn’t know.

How is it so far? Marvellous. I discover that this is as much about us re-discovering our friendships and capitalising on lost opportunities back in koleq; as much as it is also about the boys realising their potentials and discovering what it means to be a budak koleq.

I am reminded that with everything in life, it is always about the experience. The whole journey so far is about going through the experience as a team on both sides of the fence – the coaches, the players; the team as a whole.

And it’s a wonderful experience.

And that’s why with the intensive training camp, we wanted to provide the kids “an experience” that they can remember, that can remind them when they are at our age what it feels like being in a team.

Instead of just hockey training, we brought them camping in a remote area by Sungai Perak; deep into Sungai Siput. While the idea of camping itself is not that horrendous, the logistic of shuttling a team of hockey players and coaches in and out of that place to Ipoh for tactical training on the turf was quite a nightmare. The balance between making them go through the camping experience and giving them enough rest to train the next day can also be quite delicate sometimes.

But the boys were up to it. When we asked them to cook, they did willingly and in fact enjoyed it very much. They cleaned everything without being asked and arranged all the utensils and dishes nicely at one place. They were punctual and sharp on the dot, they hardly complained on every single instruction we gave them – even I initially had doubts whether they would have cooperated for some of the games that they may consider beneath them; after all we only know them for almost 2 months.

We actually blindfolded and tied their hands at the back and asked them to put up the tent in that physical conditions. One group actually managed to do it within half an hour; though the others were slightly behind. I kept saying to myself that if I had been subjected to this back then, I cannot guarantee that I would not walk out of the team ha ha.

Even the captain; who sometimes is known for his temper – is trying his best to manage his team on and off the field diplomatically as requested by us. It’s a very easy choice for 16 year old to ignore us; but he chose the hard way because I think like so many other budak koleq; they want to win so badly they’ll pay any price for it.

We can never tell whether a 3-day training camp will have significant impact on them; but hopefully they will remember what has been entrusted to them and take the learning points (about team and about life) to their hearts.

As for what will happen in Kuantan this weekend, please come and support them. They will need every single clap they can get.

BRIEF OUTLINE

Friday 8 June

AM:
- Chamat brought them running all the way to Istana Iskandariah and back

PM:
- set up tent with everything tied and blindfolded
- cook
- management games

Saturday 9 June

AM:
- woken up twice in the middle of the night by my car honking the night away, the causes are still a mystery (and the car was parked right in front of the tents)
- woke up at 6 am and started cooking by 630
- left for Ipoh at 8 am
- training @ Ipoh turf

PM:
- light running at Taman Dr Seenavasagam
- came back to the camping site at 630
- cooked nasi lemak
- management games
- reflection session

Sunday 10 June

AM:
- woke up at 6 am
- cooked breakfast
- clear camp site
- left for Ipoh at 830
- training @ Ipoh turf
- friendly game with MCOBA
- friendly game with Class of 05
- set pieces and tactical training with Thorsten Hielderberg, the hockey technical consultant helping the team

PM:
- sent the boys back at 4 pm


HIGHLIGHTS

- sirap ayam
- “kau drive je sampai jumpa jalan mati” (walaupun nyaris2 langgar bukit)
- nasi lemak sushi
- tuala bini Badut
- conjunctivitis attack!
- “kau sound aku baik2”
- “sepohon kayu daunnya rimbun”
- “tolong ambik aku kat KK pukul 12 malam”
- “pon pon pon pon…”; “chibiok keter kau laa pi la check” (although it’s clear it’s a different car honking the night away)
- Chibiok bergolek2 macam ayam golek cuba nak score goal
- “malam ni kita buat khinzir beratur la, sempat lagi beli babi ni” to the amazement of everyone
- “kalau tak sembuh pun cramp kau, paling kurang habis daki kau dia urut”

And many more.

Thank you to everyone who had helped; KNO and I will post the photos shortly when we have time to upload.

Harian Metro: Pendebat MCKK Hebat

Tribute To A Friend

Ben and I in Cambridge in 1995 during the healthier days

I came back from Kota Tinggi crushed and devastated in all respects. As I ponder what to do next, naturally I turn to the one person without whom I would never have done many things I had in the last 17 years.

I have not spoken to Ben for a very long time, somehow we grew apart these last few years. He and his illnesses and me and my hectic schedule; and my insistence to pursue what I wanted – even if it was not in alignment to what we had always talked about way back in school and colleges; made us see and talk to each other less.

I used to chat with Ben regularly since I was 14. He used to write from Oxfordshire and Cambridge regularly when I was in college and I remember how I proudly displayed the letters on my desk under the plastic sheet, knowing it would be an envy to those who care. Each time he came back from the UK, I would be among the first one to call Kampung Tunku. We would chat and for hours I would be standing at the phone booth – when my telephone card ran out of its credit he would call me back. I used to write to him regularly too sharing every little update of events in koleq.

Such was our friendship that even when I was offered an Esso scholarship to the US before I sat for my SPM – my preoccupation was to find another scholarship to go to the UK; which eventually I managed to get.

On the second day I was in the UK, he took me for a dinner with Sdr Akramsyah Tan Sri Sanusi at Khan’s in London. I remember that night vividly – Akram was reading Mein Kampf and both were in the process of formalizing UKEC; Akram repeatedly asked many questions to gauge how “worthy” I was to be regarded so highly by Ben. Many times I was given the impression that I was not worthy of all the praises Ben had showered me.

I had to put up with that so many times with Ben’s circle of friends because of the high respect the people who knew him gave to him, so naturally they expected someone as larger than life to fit in the shoes laid ready for me. Ben would bring me to all his meetings and appointments; I would sit quietly at one corner with eyes looking at me weighing and judging. There was one night in his room in Cambridge that I broke down, because at 18 years old I just could not understand what the fuss was all about and why I was subjected to so much scrutiny; when all I wanted was to be left alone.

As cliché as it sounds, I was told that some of us do not have the leisure to live a casual life at the pace we wanted like the rest – because there were things given to us that others didn’t have. That night I came to realize many things that defined who I am as a person today.

Then came 1998 and we made choices. The choices we made had the largest impact on Ben so I had no right to talk about how 1998 turned my life upside down. I never regretted a single day the choices I made in 1998 onwards and I am sure neither would Ben. However along the way some parts of our ideals died with it.

So when I was restless and could not reconcile the turn of events at Kota Tinggi; I sent this SMS to Ben:

“Hi Ben. Thought of buying you dinner tonight. I missed the days when we chatted the night away it feels age ago. I could use a friend now”.

I found out later that he was in hospital – not that I was alarmed so much because going in and out of hospital is his routine nowadays.

But to actually saw him on the bed with breathing assistance, wired all over his hand for IV and blood and all the other physical deteriorations – I felt really sad. Here is a person whose genius and intelligence I have not found any match so far for his generation (and maybe other generations too), yet he is so beaten and broken by his illness. When I found out the real illness and diagnosis, I could not hide the tears.

But Ben being Ben, put on a brave face despite sometimes having difficulty to breath and we chatted away – sometimes with tears flowing unconsciously on my part. Even at his low point, Ben would have put aside everything to lend an ear and it made me felt so guilty that I had to bother him for something as trivial.

Ben had always been around throughout my life. There was a period in summer 2000 that I was at the lowest point of my life – he made a point to drop by in London occasionally in the middle of his business trips to buy me food and brought me out to watch movies; at a time when I couldn’t afford a movie struggling with low pay, high living cost and battered emotionally. There was a time he even paid my rent when I was short of cash.

Looking at him last weekend, I wonder whether I had been by his side as loyally as he has for me, especially during the periods he was fighting the illnesses. I don’t think I had – and that put things into perspective as the learner always took the learned for granted. He told me that with everything in life people grow old and someday we just have to let go – I guess there was a time that Ben too realized that I had grown up and was no longer the small F1 debater that he discovered in 1990; and he graciously let me go.

All this put things in perspective as I ponder many things that are weighing heavily on my mind.

Ben once wrote to me in 1992 this poem that had since become a standard banner for the MCKK debating team:

Long ago I shot my bow
Where it fell I didn’t know
Much later in a huge great oak
I picked it up still unbroke

Ku layangkan panah ku ke udara
Hilangnya jatuh entah ke mana
Nun jauh di kebun getah
Bila ku ambil tak jua patah

We have always been told to become that arrow that travels far to vanquish the enemies; that arrow which remains intact at the end of a battle.

If there is an arrow that fits the bill, it would have been him. I am sure he will prevail in this illness and remains intact at the end of it. Even if it doesn’t, Ben nonchalantly told me that he doesn’t have a single regret because he had lived an extra-ordinary life to the fullest.

Because he is extra-ordinary and those who know him would have agreed with me.

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There will be no blogging on PPM this year, a moratorium which I shall observe.

1) English lost to STAR at semi (we have defeated them 3 times this year in all 3 matches but voila)

* this is not considered blogging, but an update of the results he he

2) BM lost to SASER at quarter, the latter eventually lost to SAINA; a school which we have beaten in every single debate we had with them in the last 2 years (but never fail to go to PPM final)

So what's new?

It's a jaguh kampung competition, kan Haqqa?

So I would appreciate if I am left alone and please do not SMS me, call me or email me to find out what has happened - please refer back to previous years' blogging or commentaries because it's the same thing. Not only you will just get a recycled piece, you can get an earful of shouting and rage too.

Now I want to stuff myself so much till I become so fat I get a disability allowance!