Reunion: "Usrah vs Wayang" 2013

Back in Prep School, in the early days of our batch, dissatisfaction fermented and anger was brewing among the younglings.

The source of the disquiet (which was fast becoming a pent up frustration that may explode into full blown rebellion) was the prefect's ruling that we could not watch the fortnightly movie screened on Saturday night at Hargreaves Hall.

Our prefects were puritanical. They were convinced that on their shoulders rest the heavy responsibilities of turning us to become men of steel who would one day save this country from the menacing Chinese (hence the "Anak kecil main api" that we have to sing every other night during the hated fire drills).

So they set out to shield us from any elements or influence that can spoil us and made us weak.

Fortnightly movie was one of the biggest evils in MCKK those days (the fact that it is an all boys school with no risk of a boy-girl couple fondling in the dark, continue to bemuse me till this day).

So every Saturday, when other batches went to have lighter moments at Hargreaves Hall, we had to go to surau for usrah with the prefects. Then, we had to go to our classroom and could only watch forlornly from afar the Hargreaves Hall. Every now and then the laughter or cheers emanating from the hall brewed more frustration.

Eventually, boys began to whisper that since we had paid the movie fees (each student has to pay an annual fee of RM20 for the movies), we were entitled to watch it regardless of what the prefects thought was right for our upbringing.

This disquiet exploded into full proposition that came to the prefect's knowledge.

So the day of reckoning came - one Saturday, after Maghrib prayers, we were to ask to choose whether we would like to watch the movie or join the usrah that would still go ahead.

It was the first great schism of the batch (ha ha) - eventually the split was almost even. About 50 per cent of us (with me being one of the strongest proponents of the right to watch move, hence I was among the first to line up) chose to exercise our movie right, while the other half chose to remain loyal and respectful of the prefects.

I was very happy that night thinking that we finally exerted our rights, so off we went to the Hargreaves Hall.

Instead of A-grade (or even B-grade) Hollywood movie that we thought we would be watching, the movie screened that night was Khartoum produced in the 60s. I also noticed that the hall was very empty with only Form 1 and Form 2 coming to watch, the seniors chose to go to classroom instead.

At that time, I knew the prefects had taken us for a ride. The decision to so call allow us to exercise our right was a charade, intended to teach us a lesson and make us feel bad. They knew all along that it was Khartoum on the menu that night.

We went back dejectedly. After fighting hard for a month to exercise our right to watch movies that we had paid, we only managed to watch Khartoum (which only Sheppe seemed to enjoy).

But the dejection was only the beginning of more trouble to come.

That night, the bell rang at 2 o'clock in the morning and so the fire drill began. The dejection was quickly surpassed by the desperate plea to relax the muscle and go back to bed after 2-3 hours being drilled in the morning with exercises - push ups, half way ups, running, raising our legs half way while we were on our back etc.

Till this day, the subject of Khartoum and the right to watch movie remains a spark for laughter among us.

To honour that, the theme for 2013's reunion is:

USRAH VS WAYANG

The reunion shall begin with tahlil and usrah at a nearby mosque, after which we will convene at my office. Instead of Khartoum, we shall screen the 18-rated Ted (although most people thought that it is a care bear type of movie, so there was an initial protest requesting a different 18-rated movie).

What happen after 12 midnight is still kept close, we may repeat a drill - although the only muscle involved this time around will be the vocal chord muscle ha3.

Welcome 2013, being old doesn't have to feel bad :-)

 

Goodbye 2012

This must have been the longest hiatus between one post and another. A few years back, I was adamant (and was very optimistic) that come what may, the blogging here will continue. It records the tapestry of friendship that we started a long time ago in MCKK.

(Well, that was a few years ago and many things have changed).

Strange enough, I cannot list down what is so monumental about Mentula Ingens in 2012.

I notice our batch members have become so vocal in their cynicism of a small faction of old boys in the MCOBA Net. Understandably so, given the frustration of trying to reason out with people who are so set in their own ways (and who benefit a lot from the current regime, I must say ;-). That's why it is must rule not to engage with people who will not listen to reason or argument.

Maybe that's also the reason why Gadap (better known as AU - Abu Usama) always skillfully cut short any heated arguments with references to Kota Damansara, amoi and pretty girls (or occasionally promises of contracts from Umno!). That seems to work well so far.

I notice Sumali's wedding could have been the only wedding of batch members this year. We can continue to wait for Fadli's wedding of the century, but that is fast becoming a BN style "Janji Ditepati".

Apart from that, I can't recall anything substantive or monumental about MCKK this year.

MCKK was ranked 2nd in terms of academic achievement in the recently announced PMR 2012, but I guess that no longer shocks or excites the crowd considering Mr Anand had managed to turn around the declining results ever since he took over in July 2010.

I had a chat with one of the hockey boys I used to manage through whatsapp last night. Inevitably, our chat ventures to Mr Anand and how the school had been under him.

I was shocked that the boy was very critical of Mr Anand and spoke favourably (even to the point of cherishing) of his predecessor (He Who Shall Not Be Named. On second thought, who cares - his name is Rauhi). As I began to peel the reasons behind the negative perception of Mr Anand layer by layer, I realised how good Rauhi had been as a teacher-politician.

There are many instances where the boy (and presumably the same feeling permeates through his batch) dislikes certain things that happened in koleq, or disapprove certain teachers for their bad performance, but Mr Anand gets all the blame.

I give you a few examples.

The hockey team despises Safaliza for her whole-hearted attempt to sabotage the team. When the boys organised friendly games, she would withhold permission until last minute and then zappp she would tell the boys the school did not permit it.

The boys are very critical of Fairuz Leman and his ability to head the IB. In fact, that was among the first questions asked to me: "if Mr Anand is so good, why did he appoint Fairuz Leman to head IB because clearly, someone else can do a better job?"

It took a while to explain to the boy that all had taken place under the instruction or nod of approval from Rauhi. In fact, these teachers who were in his good books ran amok in the school bullying anything or anyone they considered against Rauhi.

But the skill with which Rauhi deflected everything and put the blame (or maybe the work of his remaining minions in MCKK) on Mr Anand, even on the former's key decisions (e.g. appointment of Fairuz Leman as head of IB) - is a classic example of how school managers in Malaysia nowadays are more skillful at office politics than running an education institution.

That said, with a benefit of hindsight, our talk about what was during Rauhi's reign is akin to talks at Hogwarth during Voldermort's reign - so quite fitting the He Who Shall Not Be Named label accorded to Rauhi.

Apart from that, 2012 remains sombre. Toje's passing away was a rude shock. He was the first one to have left us in the last 10 years. Apart from Allahyarham Kiwi, we have not heard of any personal calamity. I pity Awie most as the sadness and feeling of loss must have been worst for him, as Toje was the only batchmate in Terengganu all this while.

If any, 2012 gives a glimpse of what may become if we don't pull our act together and re-forge the closeness which have defined the last 20 years.

Out of that realisation, we shall embrace 2013 with "Usrah vs Wayang Reunion" on 4th January 2013. It has been ages since we have a reunion :-) so this one hopefully will be a blast :-)