January 2006 Editorial

The beginning of the new year 2006 will be busy indeed for all of us whether you have new school going children or not and for some of us settling down to a new place, like a close family friend of ours the Houghtons in Taipei, ( whom we have known for nearly thirty years- how Time flies ) who will be moving back to Brisbane, Australia because Andy has been offered a new job he cannot refuse, whilst those of you who have school going children and more especially for those whose children enter the primary school for the very first time, these could prove very hectic indeed. Undoubtedly, the last two months or even at the very last minute, you would have bought new school bags and all the essential stationaries for your children. These days, the school bags are not only very attractive but they could prove very costly too although there are budget bags around but these would not last. I cannot imagine how I would have fared if at that early age of seven when the body is still frail I have to carry all those school books to school daily. I was fortunate enough not to have to do that in those days. In fact I cannot recall if I had to carry any books at all ! As a matter of fact, at The Malay College, all our textbooks and exercise books are permanently placed in our respective desks. On the very day we reported to our class, a set of text books were already placed on our desk. The only thing we had to add on were the exercise books, and the other essential stationaries. That's how pampered we were at MCKK and to this very day, this practice remains intact.

Just before the year ends Farazil and Farahat turn thirty six and thirty eight respectively. How Time flies. We suddenly realize we not that young any more but thank God we are still in good health and able to enjoy life the way that we want and dream of. With Farah two years ahead of Farahat and Izzat at thirty one and not forgetting Ghazali going forty five and ten grandchildren to enjoy seeing them grow up, life has been very kind and beautiful for all of us. To add to it all, all our 'menantu' get on well with each other despite their diverse interest and backgrounds. What more could we ask of ALLAH other than our gratitude for HIS bounties on us for past, present and future. We now look forward to the bright future ahead of us, Insyaallah !


The New Year no doubts heralds new resolutions which could be many for some whilst for others they simply could not be bothered. Many times in the past, I did make these fresh resolutions , not written down, but in my minds, with the hope of following and carrying them out in the course of the year. More times than not, I hardly did anything to them. After all, life moves on as usual unless something special or untoward happens. When you attend any of the motivational seminars or talks which I often did in the past, though not so since four years ago, I did get inspired or my mind opened up to new ideas etc. These internationally well-known speakers really did the works on you and bore an impact on my mind for quite some time - hence the need to attend these talks every now and then. They helped change your perception and mental attitude to the problems that you daily face. You are taught to be positive and to be proactive to events that affect your life.

Cost wise, the seminars are not cheap and when we add the books, the CDs or cassettes that you might be tempted to buy for keeps or follow up, they can be very costly indeed but worth the while though. However, once you went over them and keep them on the shelves, they will remain there forever and more often than not, will never be heard of or seen again, just like all those books and magazines that we all store and keep in our house ! Many a time in the past Ainul and I would want to get rid of these books and magazines but to no avail, simply because we tend to attach sentimental values to them . Don't you experience that yourself ? These days, there are new things that we collect and keep. My latest novel reading experience was an audio book, (or talking book if you like to call it) "The Summon" by John Gresham. It was Arman and Farah's recent birthday present for me. Whilst the "book" costs a lot more than the normal one, the listening experience on the novel is very interesting indeed. In fact, I might get hook on this latest novel " reading", since it makes it so easy to finish the book when someone reads it for you and you can listen to it while driving or sitting at home or even in the restore if you have a portable CD player. These audio books most certainly is a great help to those of us who makes lack of time to read as an excuse for not doing so. Of course we cannot deny that present lifestyle, especially in the cities where it's a feat just to juggle job and family, and then there's the TV to watch and the garden to weed,( ' ha! ha! really ?' says Ainul ) shopping to do and people to see and the lack of sleep to add to them all, it becomes pretty obvious, where is the time to sit down for serious reading or any reading for that matter ! Hence for those who stay up all night or wake up extra early just to read, ( like what I am doing these past years) and those who read during meals which is common in the western countries or in Japan for that matter, and on public transport, in queues and waiting rooms and for some, although it's very dangerous to do so, at the wheels during traffic jams. For all these hassles, I fully recommend that you try these audio books. Definitely, from the recent experience that I had with my first audio book, it is refreshing to know that you can finish a novel by having someone to read for you ! Isn't that just neat ? In our country, these talking books have not quite caught on with us yet. In fact Malaysians, in general, tend not to be very enthusiastic about listening to any other than music, more so as I mentioned earlier on, these books are pretty costly. Time will tell though, and like everything else in the past, we will all eventually ape the westerners habit of audio reading, just as we have done with the Walkman, the mobile phones etc. of today. For that matter, talking about new year resolution, may be I might have one additional and that is to try to save up and buy more audio books for my "reading" pleasure !

For those of us who love the movies and music and songs, there are the dvds, cds on these too. Fortunately these days, these are not voluminous and can be easily kept in special folders made for them, very unlike those days when we had the video tapes which were very bulky and easily spoilt or damaged. With technology, everything seems to be miniaturized these days. The cell phones are getting smaller and more features added on them. The hand cameras will very soon become absolete with the availability of the built -in digital camera in the cell-phones. Worst of all for the camera shop operators, the traditional customers for hand cameras and the processing and developing of the films therein are considerably reduced. No longer can we see the film processing machines at these shops now. Instead these are replaced with the PC that has built-in program to handle film developing. The cell-phone or hand phones we call them locally, will very soon have incorporated in them a screen that emits life transmission of your caller just as you are also seen by your caller. These were gadgets that were then used by Dick Tracy in the comics books those early past years. At that time, no one could imagine that this kind of thing would materialize and materialize it does in such a short time during our life time. Whilst gadgets get smaller, other things become bigger and mammoth-sized. Take the airplanes which are now not only bigger and faster but they are also computerized for easy and accurate flight by the pilots. The airports of the world are getting bigger and the runways longer. Cargo ships and even cruise ships get bigger and travel faster too. The legendary Titanic is nothing compared to the new Queen Mary that now ploughs the ocean for cruising tourists.

With our experience of the recent past years, there is nothing to compare to the comfort and the fun that go with a cruise holiday. Our first cruise was in 1993 when we were complimented by Sunrider to enjoy the Caribbean cruise for eight days and seven nights in the Crown Princess, a ship belonging to English-Dutch company based in London. With the wonderful experience we had at that first cruise holiday, we did another one . This was The Alaskan Cruise in the Sun Princess in 2002, which was followed by the Baltic Cruise in the Grand Princess in 2004. Hopefully we will next go on the Mediterranean Cruise next year failing which we might just go and visit Arman and family in Chicago. We thought of going to Florida too to have fun at the Disney World, Epcot, MGM studios and other super attractions there, hopefully this time to take Maisarah with us for a promise long overdue. John and Farah have responded with the suggestion to celebrate Aisya Iman's second birthday in Florida with us. To us, the more the merrier. The only worry we have, just as all Malaysians do is whether we could get the American Visa which of late cannot be taken for granted anymore like the good old days, plus the fact that we now have to pay exorbitantly nonrefundable Visa application fee. It is common knowledge that a lot of Malaysians have failed to get the Visa and money loss ! It seems very unfair indeed to forfeit the applicants money, but then being the most powerful country in the 21st Century, it could do almost anything to others.

This bullying attitude reminds me of the numerous bullying incidents in schools these days. Where previously bullying was intended as an initiation tradition for the newly enrolled students by their seniors and the object was merely to let the new guys know and respect the school traditions, commencing with respects to be shown to the seniors to be followed by simple manual chores such as to carry the seniors books or even shoes to the dormitories or flush the dirty toilets of the day, of late the bullying or ragging for the better word, has become very extreme and gone completely out of control with incidence that could lead to body injuries and on a few occasions even death. Where the masses are involved in such things, there is bound to exist extremists, just as the religious extremists fanatics, like the suicide bombers we hear of so often and common these days. The world must be going crazy and populated with crazy people these days ! Has this to do with the foodstuff that we eat today or with the thinning of the ozone, which heat now affects the delicate human brains ! May be too, the influence of the movies to the masses, more especially to the young people. Already it is said, the thinning of the ozone has resulted in the births of more female than male babies these days. Imagine our future world with less males to go around to propogate the human race !

Anyway, back to the period of my MCKK days, the English language classes we had were humorous when I pondered back to those days. Almost all those from the northern states of Kedah, Perlis and Penang, had that special northern dialect intonation whenever they pronounced certain English words. For instance, water is pronounced "wata", hence water colour is "watakala". ( Come to think of it, it is similar to what my daughter-in-law Yoshie and our grandson Aiki pronounce similar word today ! ) Add to these we hear the other special intonations by those from Kelantan and Trengganu and parts of Pahang. The best and almost correct pronunciations came from Selangor, Negri Sembilan, Johore and Malacca. It was no different when it came to Malay readings. I could see hidden amuse on our teacher's face. Our first teacher was Encik Hashim and if I am not mistaken he was from Muar, Johore. It is a known fact for many years past, whenever a Johorean claimed to be from Muar, he somehow acts and claims as if Muar is the most civilized place on earth ! This is reflected by their near conceited attitude when he is in the midst of the others from the other States. And true to form when he does act that way, the rest of us are sure to shun him. I had such experience even when I was in the University of Malaya then, but that's another story I will relate to you readers later on. Anyway, coming back to our Encik Hashim, he did not don the Muar superior suit but most certainly was a very impressive teacher to all of us. His best subject was English and phonetics. He was very patient with us in all the other subjects that he taught. In fact he was the only teacher we had for the class all year round. I learn my first singing lesson from him. He told us how to breath well before starting the singing lesson and warm up tones before singing the proper tunes. I really enjoyed this singing classes and before long he singled me out for special tunes as a soloist. Singing became my forte as I grew up in the College and my obsession for it and the guitar which I later on learned to play almost cost me a dropout in later years. It happened when I was in Form Three when my year end school results showed a drop to second from the bottom of the class from the usual eight to ten positions.

It became great concern for my dad when the Headmaster personally called him about my apparent lack of interest to study. This also goes to show just how dedicated the teachers of those days were. They made it their business to be concerned about their pupils - something that is seen to be seriously lacking in today's schools and teachers generally. Why this is so is not surprising of course because the teachers of today have never sought to be teachers out of their own free wills but because of the need to get a job for a job's sake. Hence the almost total unconcerned attitude of their teachings which naturally results in the kind of kids that show little respect for their parents left alone elders and others that do not fancy them. Isn't that sad for our society today ! Only the other day, when I was telling a cousin of Ainul, that at the MCKK then we only had at the most only twenty eight pupils to a class, it came as shock to him and he remarked , " No wonder you all always achieved better results than the rest of us !" Classes on the average in the schools these days have 40 plus students ( they use this word these days, whence those days "students" refer to University levels only ). May be this is what we need to look at for all our schools, but of course you and I know that it is impossible to do so when there are not enough schools to cope with the ever growing children population. In a way, we cannot blame the couldn't careless attitude of the present day teachers. On top of having such big classes, the amount of paper work they have to do too have become voluminous , a situation which made Ainul quit teaching then !

Are teachers better paid these days as compared to just a few years ago ? They are better paid but then the cost of living has also got much higher. We used to be fairly comfortable with our combined income of eleven hundred when we first got married but these days even as a bachelor with two thousand income , survival seems very tough for those who live in KL ! Farah worked as a private tutor to music both at home and at school outlets and lately before she left for the States she was a music lecturer at Mara University. Her combined income could be more than four thousand a month but she could not keep up with her domestic needs. To add to it all of course, Mara paid her salary only recently after almost four months delay and that too was short of what it should be ! Now Farah would have to write in to them to correct it. This is the case of very poor administration at this higher institute of learning, a disgrace to the so called modern technology of today when things should be more efficient ! Granted that Mara has more than three thousand lecturers in all but this is no excuse for the technological inefficiency. Poor Farah, she left for the States unpaid ! At this stage, we cannot venture to think that there must be countless thousands out there in all institutions of learning and other government bodies too that face similar predicament but they endure it in silence for fear of losing their jobs if they make too much noise or any noise for that matter ! Life is hard these days but then it has always been , relatively speaking.

At the College, we all learn to be self-independent. We managed our own personal affairs to the best that we could but we were never alone . We always have our teachers to guide us, our seniors and our prefects. Thus we develop a kind of very close community of our own, when friendship becomes a life time relationship. The only thing that we did not become is the Mafia kind of comradeship. The Malay College Old Boys Association or MCOBA as it is better known today is a very successful one as compared to all others out there. Through the old boys and their initiatives, we have enmassed thousands which went to support the old College and its activities and scholarships for deserving students local and overseas. The College have produced countless administrators for the country , for both the government and private bodies and commercial houses. In politics we have had a Prime Minister, Deputy and assistant Ministers , Governors of States such as Melaka and Penang and countless others in the political arena. I recalled the time when I was an undergraduate, I had a friend from Johore who wanted so much to try and experience the MCKK life style and persuaded me to take him along to one of our Old Boys weekend. This I did and to this days he never forget the elated experience he went through and it was merely by any standard an old boys gathering only and not the real College lifestyle !

Old boys are proud to don their College ties every Wednesday and it goes without saying this Alma Mater display to some extend give an extended assistance to those who are in need of some recognitions or connections whenever they visit government departments or commercial houses to explore , secure business opportunities. In short the College tie recognition opens the doors to conversation to an old boy anywhere any time. Recently when I was buying some stamps at the local Post Office, I happened to glance at a special counter specially set up for those who missed out on recent past issues on First Day Covers offer. When I approached the display counter, almost immediately the desk counter clerk in charge remarked , " I know that you are an Old Boy of MCKK. You are wearing the shirt with the MCKK logo!", which was what I did wear on that day. He admitted that he was not a Collegian, but then he says he happened to have a few copies of the College Centennial First Cover Edition stamps left for me to buy if I so wished to do so, to which I naturally did ! Such powerful recognition, leaves no doubt in my mind, the wonderful feeling that the MCKK is indeed a great school !

This year the College is One Hundred Years old and yet all the buildings never look as old as it should except for the old rain tree at the Big School which trunk has grown bigger through the years and the branches and leaves extending outwards a lot farther and thicker. By its continued presence at the front lawn of the Big School, the rain tree has witnessed memorable events of the College over the century. If it could speak, what wonders it would utter for the world to behold, for here under its huge trunks has sat countless boys who have matured to greatness for their parents and the Nation as a whole ! And yet, there had never been an incidence in the history of the College that any branch of this great tree had hurt any of the boys whenever any of it happened to break and fall, as if it knows and love the boys there !

That reminds me of another great tree in our very own house compound. When we moved into our house on 24th April 1967 we planted two mango trees as well as two coconut trees. Planting coconut trees in any Malay house is traditional, almost instinctive, because by traditions we Malays live amongst coconut trees as evidence at the seaside shores where the fishermen lives. Hence at our house today, we still have the two coconut trees albeit they have grown very tall indeed but still bearing fruits, and only one mango tree , the other one was accidentally cut down in the early years past. However, the mango tree, like the rain tree at the College, has grown so huge that its branches help to shade our front lawn and signify as a landmark for our house. But of course apart from these trees, we happen to have the "High Chaparral" gate front too. The idea of the design signify our fondness for the cowboys TV series of the early sixties !

I like western movies, I mean cowboy movies, simply because more often than not the heroes will win and with all the actions, fist fights and gun shootings and fallen horses and broken wagon wheels etc. . we know that it's going to be happy endings. Cowboy movies of the past very seldom arouse controversies or dealt with serious politics or social ills. These days however, the same kind of movies which are very rare these days, would invoke serious thoughts and sexual exploits that could at times be quite embarrassing when we have children with us. But the modern computerized and digitized photographic films of our time these days cannot but amaze us all. Only the other day we watched the latest "King Kong" a said remake of the old one but this time by the now famous director of "Lord of the Rings" Peter Jackson. It was simply too realistic to be believed. Although most of the creatures in the film are animation of the latest computerized technology, they are so real ! Hence when we watch the old movies, even the old Star Trek films , these seem to be "flat" and archaic by comparison ! In short, modern films have killed our imaginations and make everything pictorial. How I wish they would produce films to show the evils of drugs and smoking by way of their effects on our health.

Over the radio these days we hear it mentioned several times daily on the need for us to stop smoking because cigarettes contain over 40,000 chemicals which are very harmful to our health. With the aggressive publicity on the need to stop smoking by our government media, we would have expected this to be a deterrent but instead we find the youngsters indulgence in smoking have increased in greater numbers. Only the other day when we were at the City Bank in KL and overlooking the street pavement of the bank, we saw a group of ladies puffing away to their hearts contents. During our younger days, young ladies did not smoke or may not do so in the open as it is these days. Ladies who smoke are deemed to be from the prostitutes community. Why is this so ? This can only be answered by the smokers themselves.The world would be a better and healthier if mankind stop smoking. What say you smokers out there ?

Less we forget, we received mail from Muhrizah or Ta Ja, stating that she was tickled to see that we mentioned her in our November's article as teaching at Oklahoma University when it should have been at Oklahoma State University, although both are state universities. In fact she did not teach there but she was the Coordinator of International Program for the university and also dealt with immigration issues since last two years she held office there. Ta Ja and her husband Alan has since retired from their job at the University having reached sixty five but they could have stayed on since the retiring age at the institution has been raised to seventy ! We wonder if the raised retiring age was an exception rather than the rule - an expediency to circumvent the needs of the moment especially when they do not want to lose the services of Ta Ja and Alan. We wish both of them a happy retired life. Like everything else, we do have to call it quits some time, which is exactly what I wish to do right now with this month's ramblings.


See you till next month folks - God Willing ! HAPPY NEW YEAR AND SEASONS GREETINGS TO YOU ALL !