Sukanterer and Yengko 2008: People

Sukanterer & Yengko 2008's group photo with all the teachers who received the inaugural Long Service Award

I was asked once by a junior; from a Class of 99 over a teh tarik at one of the mamak stalls – how did we manage to keep having events among ourselves when some batches tend to grow apart as they leave MCKK? Where did we get the money especially for endeavours like MightyDucks (those who know how much it costs to run a sports team in MCKK will appreciate the amount of dents MightyDucks had had on our pockets!)? Whether the AJK Batch still command the respect to organize batch events?

I did not know then whether my straight-forward answers enlightened him; or he took my answers for a joke.

My batch is made up of a group of under achievers (moi included), almost the anti-thesis of the kind of people we usually encountered from MCKK. We were neither too proud of being the products of MCKK, nor were we bitter of the fact that we were (and are) a speck of dust in the grand scheme of things; not much different from the people we meet from other schools or institutions despite our origin in this grand old duke of Malaysian education system. From our school days, we were careful not to be too forthcoming in wearing the MCKK brand name on our forehead until we feel we have earned the right. That explains why we are averse to any boastful slogans or quotations on MCKK on our T-shirts, car stickers or websites.


Yet we are extremely proud of the time we spent together in MCKK – the bond that we have among us as a group of people; the childhood that was coloured by the experiences growing up together; the people who have shaped our upbringing. MCKK, the teachers and Kuala Kangsar thus are family and home to us – rather an object of pride that we ride on.

This eventually leads to certain traits among us that make it so easy to hold a batch reunion or run programs:

1) Nobody wants responsibility among us as nobody assumes he is better than others. All events are usually run by a group of self-proclaimed committees – which more often than not are not necessarily the typical ‘important persons’ you recall from koleq. Even the very whole structure of AJK Batch (which presumably so pre-occupied our prefects back then in 1990!) crumbled in the early years of Form 3 and never to exist again – which goes to show that as a group of people, we have difficulty living with a formal structure of positions and power ha ha.

2) Because nobody wants responsibility, nobody questions the decisions made by the self-proclaimed committees (the likes of KARIPAP and all its predecessors). It is very well understood that since other people have taken pains to sacrifice their time and money to organize events – we either support by participating; or shut up in the event that we disagree because nobody forces you to participate in the first place. You can try to complain or make fuss – but so far the Male-ing List (under the leadership of the recently crowned Carey Award 2008 winner who is also a self-proclaimed AJK Keselamatan Blog) has not been very kind to this kind of act.

3) At the end of the day, it’s the same people over and over again who take charge for certain events in the batch. The weekly futsal convener used to be Ayien, before it was passed on to Idzam. The Winning-11 convener was either Syam or Chibiok. The weekly Auld Dawg’s game/training sessions (these are fitness and rugby training sessions for fat and not-so-fit people hence the name “Auld Dawg” for “Old Dog”!) are organized by Epit and Kadaque. The Islamic-related conveners (and they have a lot more Islamic credentials than the BRU chaps back in koleq ha ha) are Ezrin, Pyan or Ikram. Similarly you have a set of people who organize collection for zakat scholarship to college boys, a set of people who organizes golf games etc. And it’s always been the same group of people who organizes reunion functions.

4) After a while, this creates specialization; some sort of niche areas among us. On one hand you have a steady pool of people quite considerable in size, who have the experience handling a set of events according to their expertise – on the other hand you have the majority who acknowledge that these people know what they are doing and therefore will not question much their decisions (though I still get the threat to be thrown out of the batch and my no. dobi auctioned every once in a while). It’s meritocracy at its best – these groups plan their activities independently and once in a while they will throw the idea to the Male-ing List and it takes off from there.

So my advice to the juniors – among the first thing you need to have among you; is to be done with ranks and over-obsession with positions. Do not look up to your prefects, or KPKM Excos, or AJK Batch in awe for whatever past greatness you recall them with from the koleq days – always remember that we are always equal regardless who we were in MCKK. However, there are some of us whom we have appointed to take charge so they must be consulted or lead where necessary, in the capacity that they are only the “first among the equals” – never above the rest. This way, each time we need to pool our resources together, there is less hesitancy because the request comes politely from a friend – not an instruction from people who presume leadership over us.


This formula – the “live and let live” arrangement – has worked so well among us since 1994 that there was hardly anytime since then that we were at great odds with each other. Even back in MCKK, we have our own specialization – when we needed to extort leniency from the school; they would send me as the “diplomat”/“politician” due to my ability to lie through my teeth and not flinched a bit (ha ha); if we needed to use physical strength to settle scores with other batches then Toy, Kadaque, Ayul, Zadin and Gang would assume the pivotal role and so on. Unfortunately we did not have anyone to assume the role of Grand Imam to be sent in for spiritual related matters; so we owe a big thank you to Kak Ramlah for leaving us alone in 1994; otherwise the BRU record would have been tainted even more.

(I digress) The bottom line is – learn to respect each other even though you disagree with some of your batchmates now; or be gentle with some others who look completely “que” or “bell” because one day they might rise above the rest.

Anyway, on behalf of KARIPAP, I therefore must thank the following people without whom Sukanterer Reunion wouldn’t have been as memorable as it was:

Class of 94
Everyone in Class of 94 who bought the idea whole-heartedly. Not even one person actually ridiculed the idea since it was first mooted; everyone was so supportive right from the start.

When we began with the Carey Award Race (the inter-house spamming competition that saw Googlegroup suspending our membership 4-5 times throughout the 15 months period); everyone participated and it made the whole experience so memorable. Despite the out-of-this-world rules put in place (e.g. Minggu Bahasa Melayu where everyone has to send e-mails in Malay; failure would cause house points to be deducted – or the crazy CAR point system with all its controversies); everyone was so sporting and adapted to the crazy rules.

It amazed me to see everyone – without any qualm – obeyed the rules during the Sukanterer; both for the games and the conduct in koleq that we have set (Note 1). That everyone – from the most alim like Ezrin, Pyan, Zaman etc. to the most yengko (he he will not name them) – put on the house t-shirt and ran in almost all the events. I was also laughing watching the video again – because not even a single person cut corners during any of the events and ran according to the lanes; whereas I half expected someone to breakaway from the rules and tried to play jokes by running across Padang Big School.

(It’s either most of them had to behave in front of their wives; or we all have grown up so much).
After the event, some of us went on to play football at Padang C and being the stickler for rules (as annoyingly as always), I specifically gave the instruction that they must clear the field by 615 pm because it was rude to continue to play when the boys would have left. Again, I half expected that they would nod in front of me but continued nevertheless until Maghrib (as you would normally see during Old Boys Weekend) – but at 615 pm, they all cleared the field! I was at the hockey field with the MightyDucks boys and someone SMS me to inform that they had cleared the field. The feeling of ecstasy at that time is difficult to describe; better than any amount of muscle spasm!

During the dinner and Long Service Award; everyone was so sporting in the appreciation shown for the teachers. I was unprepared to handle the dinner – it was the only event that we didn’t go into details (apart from the videos and montage) – so occasionally I had to make off the cuff remarks and prayed that it would be received well. For each of the teacher who was supposed to receive the Long Service Award, we designated a student with whom he/she would have had memorable encounters.

There were the usual ones – e.g. taekwondo president to give away the token to Cikgu Putri (she was the taekwondo advisor) – but there were also the not so usual because we ran out of ideas.

When it came to Cikgu Shamsuddin, we called upon anyone who had been slapped by him – and Syam nonchalantly came to the front to hug Cikgu Shamsuddin and gave away the token. Likewise as I was describing Miss Sherry and her tenure in koleq, without having to mention any names Mpro quickly stood up and came to the front, to the thunderous applause from the floor.

It was all so memorable.

Even the attendance to the last event – Session 17 i.e. the 17th monthly gathering to discuss Islam and share concerns on Islam among us – bears testimony of the “live and let live” arrangement. As Ezrin, Pyan, Zaman and Ikram so wholeheartedly participated in all the other events; so did others in this one event which they organized. They were about 20 of us that morning, the highest attendance ever so far (and the longest session as well, if I can recall). 20 might not be a big number; but considering most people were awake until 3-4 am the night before; it was quite a challenge to wake up for Subuh berjemaah and to continue with a discussion session up to about 10 am.

For all of this – for the understanding among us that we should reciprocate each other’s accommodation of the differences that exist in between us; for accepting that some will have to take charge while the rest give the utmost cooperation because what matters is the job gets done – we should be glad for the time we have spent and grown up together. We should be thankful to MCKK for the experiences that had taught us the meaning of life thus far; for us to become who we are.

Wives and children
There were numerous times that we had to organize meetings, or gatherings that we had to take the husbands away from the wives and children. For the KARIPAP alone, we had more than 10 meetings altogether before the final event – some of the meetings were even hosted by the wives! The 3rd last meeting on 5 January was held at Epit & Aily’s place – and it turned out to be a mini-reunion and we did turn the house upside down.

There were times I wonder what the wives thought of me – because usually I was the source of the meetings (or the husbands conveniently used my name to get license to go out – “Nak gi meeting reunion ni….”); but most of the time the wives have been so supportive and sporting as well.

We have to apologise for all the time taken away from the family and thank you very much for being a part of the big family (the husbands will make it up to the wives later – either in the form of better performance behind closed doors; or bigger necklace this year or no more Winning-11 for 6 months!).

MCKK
We have to thank the school’s administration for allowing us the opportunity to use Padang Big School for the event. We made a conscious decision not to use any other facilities because it would disrupt the routine – so we only utilized the field during the time the boys were out for an outing.

Thank you to all the teachers who joined us to receive the Long Service Award. Thank you to the boys who assisted us during the Sukanterer to jot down the points (I did try to manipulate them to give Leman more points but to no avail because Mttop was guarding all the time) and all other administrative stuff. Thank you to the hockey boys and debaters who joined for the dinner and shared the laughter (and went on to win most of the lucky draw prizes!).

Contributor
Thank you to Mttop, Radin, Mpro, Kno and Chamat who contributed the prizes for lucky draw; in order to stay strictly within the cheap-skate budget of RM170 per person (that is the most cheap-skate reunion ever for a 2-day-1-night event; complete with dinner, 2 T-shirts, car stickers and other goodies).

Thank you to Suri who sponsored more than 300 packed Ribena drinks that by the time Sukanterer was over; all of us had more vitamin C than what we need for months!

KARIPAP
Finally thank you to KARIPAP – especially given the tough time I was going through in the last few months that I did not have the opportunity to participate as closely as I normally would; yet each one of you knew just what to do and carried on that the events were almost flawless.

In no particular order:

Epit (and Aily) – for all the time covering for me and making sure all was in order. For the superb LCD that has not even been tagged for asset no. that illuminated the night with the montage and videos. For chasing everyone to attend and to pay; the most crucial job without which there would not have been any reunion in the first place.

Awie – for skiving 2 days of work just for Sukanterer (and get caught for it!). For being the first to mobilize, the first to remind and to put all the necessary infrastructure for us to shout at each other to make sure everything was moving. For the unforgettable “Awak Unite Tak?” reminder on the blog; reproduced here. For all the sleepless nights putting together the best part of the event i.e. the montage and the videos. For all the teh tarik, dinner, outing and Sukanterer events that you skipped and sacrificed in order to deliver us the montage and videos. For capturing the most candid moments that was ready to be showcased barely one hour after the events. For the most genuine and funny moments captured on the photos and videos. For all your artistic skills.


KNO – for the task that nobody wanted to do i.e. treasurer to keep track of all out-flows and in-flows of money (when there’s more out-flows than in-flows and you are expected to top up the difference ha ha). For the “cyber café bergerak” to enable continuous update of the blog; that photos were uploaded almost instantaneously. For the flawless execution of the night; together with Awie, Ska, Idzam and Mttop.

Mttop – for single-handedly managing all the sporting events; from the Bowling Inter-house to the actual Sukanterer events. For keeping the points all this while (and being honest at that; given that Idris was relegated from the first position to third!). For the time taken from the family given the new-born babies and all. For the practicality and efficient management of the Sukanterer events that all were completed in the timeframe planned.

Radin – for the designs that we are proud to wear (no posh sloganeering, no annoying exaltation of MCKK greatness) in the cheapest budget we can think of (as to what happens to the t-shirt after this is a different matter); for patiently collecting orders and accommodating everyone’s request; for the sacrifice to skip Sukanterer events just to make sure that all polo t-shirts would be delivered before the dinner; so that everyone can wear for the photo-shoot with the teachers.

Mpro – for the pain to participate in KARIPAP despite being in Malacca. For saving our ass with the accommodation; otherwise all of us would have been booted out of the batch lock stock and barrel. For the gracefulness in accepting Idris’ defeat (he he). For the reminiscence of dormitories life and not-so-superb accommodation that just matched the value we paid for J

Idzam – for the superb prizes for Long Service Award, Carey Award and Sukanterer House Championship (superb in the sense they didn’t look too bad given the cheap budget allocated!) despite so many last minute changes; mostly on my part. For managing the hall as Stage Manager that all was well coordinated. For the hall decoration and arrangement that so far nobody complained (at least not right to our face). For all the time taken off the family and wasted on commuting to attend Sukanterer meetings.

La’ba – for doing the tough job and most crucial job of chasing everyone to attend and extort payments from them. For the failure to recall everyone in 5 Sc 2 that we had to locate Koleq Mag 94 for the full listing. For working with Epit to make sure the attendance was not abysmal despite so many constraints.

Ska and boyfriend ha ha (Zamri) – for the sound system and saving a few hundred ringgit from our already tight budget; that nobody would have expected the sound system that night was a “sambung sambung” sound system connected to different people’s systems and equipments. For carefully looking after the audio, video and lighting for the night to make sure the dinner and Long Service Award was nearly flawless.

Badut and Red, Hairul, Pejal, Sharap, Syed Asrul and many many others – for all the help extended before the events, during the preparation of the hall, during Sukanterer, during the dinner and after the dinner.

If people ask me why we keep having reunion gathering every 15 months or so; especially when we see each other all the time from the many activities held on weekly or monthly basis – because reunion gathering brings us together in the traditional “kenduri” spirit of our people. Because reunion gathering brings out the best out of each one of us; when each brings something to the table so that the function goes well. In the process we laugh, we catch up on the lost time, we renew friendships and we get to know the new family members.

It’s truly like the kenduri in the kampung of the old days – and it reminds us that we are one big family.

It will not be long before KARIPAP(Daging) announces another date for a reunion ha ha ha. Until then, thank you very much for being a part of each other.


NOTE 1

At registration, each was given the t-shirts, car sticker AND this poster:
It’s a set of rules that must be adhered to during the reunion:

Ahmad – No smoking
Idris – No swearing
Leman – No littering
Md Shah – Jangan main jambu

For more superb photos that capture all the best moments; please visit KNO's and Madd's. More will come from Reef, Wong and many others. KNO's short snippets can be viewed here.