A True Story..Christian - The Lion

I was blog hopping..went to MM's blog and found this..so I decided to share it with you guys



Awwww!!!!!...the song was one of my favourite..Armageddon sound track 1998

Short of Engineers?

Short of Engineers? Really???(I sounded like Kyle Broflovski from South Park)

The Star,Monday April 20, 2009

Malaysia short of engineers

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia is facing a shortage of engineers, which will impede the country’s development, said Institute of Engineers Malaysia (IEM) president Prof Datuk Chuah Hean Teik.

He said there was a need to train more engineers before the situation became critical, adding that the country would need about 200,000 engineers by 2020.

Currently, there are only 60,000 engineers in the country, Prof Chuah said.

“We should plan ahead and not wait until there is an acute shortage,” he said after IEM’s 50th anniversary dinner and awards night at One World Hotel here on Saturday.

He urged parents to encourage their children to consider engineering as it was a stable career and, additionally, would enable them to branch into other sectors.

“Students who pursue engineering are taught to think analytically and critically.

“This kind of training provides them with skills to go into other careers such as banking, teaching and management,” he said.

At the dinner, former Works Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Zin Mohamed was made an IEM Hono- rary Fellow.

The IEM 50th Anniversary commemorative stamp and first-day cover were also unveiled at the dinner and will go on sale today at post offices nationwide.

(thestar.com.my - or go to http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/4/20/nation/3729357&sec=nation)

Sekolahku...Part 2 - More about the kids

I went through the previous entry and it helps me to remember more about my premier school time. So I decided to write more about it.

Premier School
I am not the 'scorer' type and I never was in 'Top 3'. I never had my homework done. And for the same reason Miss Suzana Teoh brought me, Kishok Kumar, Shashi Kumar, Pak Ali, Hassan ( who have a twin brother(Hussin)in kelas Kuning) to the Headmaster's Office. We waited there for about half an hour before we went back into the class without seeing him. Lucky Mr Ahmad Khairuddin was not around at that time. That was during standard 3. I remember getting 4th place in the class during S4 and was given 'Hadiah Galakan'. The present was to encourage student like me to get into top 3 but it never happen.

Jothi and Sui Li seems to be so perfect. They always competed each other and both managed to get 100% in Mathematics almost in every test and exam(Which I found to be very impossible to achieve). Sui Li came from a family which played very important role to the school an the town. Her late father was the councillors of the MPSP. The hall of the school was named after her grandfather(corrected) Ooi Kar Seng. Mdm Ooi (her aunt was our class teacher) were one of the best teacher in school. There were no sense of competing for other students in the class except for Sui Li and Jothi. Seems to be so impossible to be in par with both of them. Both were the best of all and both were beautiful and smart..A combination that you wish to have it for yourself. In my case not the beautiful. Handsome will be enough...hehehehe

The boys were very naughty. Pak Ali was the worst of all. But I can't remember why he didn't join us to fight with Hanizah and her mom. Hanizah joined us during S4. She came from SK Ninja Turtle and at that time..the gender war had already begun. We used to call her carrot (I don't know where we get that) and her mother(which always came by during recess) joined the war and called us lipas. The war between us (me, Ahmad Nazri, Amirul Akhbar, Ahmad Faizal and Swizaidi Vs Hanizah, Hazirah, Fazlina and others) was so long and it lasted till we were in S6. I fought with Jothi one day..That was during S6. But I can't recall the issue clearly. She threatened to tell my mom(she was teaching in SM Methodist..SRK and SM was in the same compound and share the hall and canteen) about me. I told her "If you want to I can call her now," and she just stood there..looked at me and left. I was like..."Huih, lucky me, kalau dia bagitau mak aku mati laa aku malam nih".

My mom was over protective. I can understand why. She just don't want me to be influenced with other naughty kid. She won't even allow me to talk to my friends via phone. They'll kill the line if they hear my mom's voice. I was in the house one day and David came by all the way from Sg. Bakap to meet me. My mom opened the door and said "Safwan tak dak," and then slammed the door. Poor that kid. David joined us starting S4. He was from KL and have the KL accent. He don't even know how to speak Tamil and couldn't get along with other Indian boys in the school. It took him quite a while before the boys can be friend with him. We were mean(judging from my nickname) at that time and called him names like "Tosai" and "David Arumugam" but he never get angry with us.

Shashi was the quite Indian Boy in class. Always get along with Kishok and Tinesh Kumar. Tinesh always proud of his name because it sounded like Teenage + Mutant Ninja Turtle. We even call him by singing the opening song of TMNT. There was a boy named Azran who always skip schools. One day he came and Pak Ali found 3 copies of Playboy magazines in his bag. He told him that that was his brother's and he wrongly took his bag to school. The boys take turns to look at the mags and probihit me from joining them because they were afraid that I might told the teacher about it. I only know about that the next day when Md Zin told me all about it.

Me, Amirul, Nazri and Faizal tried to teach Eswari, Suganthi and Rathika(I think there were others but I couldn't remember clearly) to read Jawi. We even teach them to recite the Kalimah Syahadah (muslim's declaration of faith) to them..Amirul was the guru besar and others were teachers to them. There were no intention of influencing them to be a muslimah. It all started when Eswari was curious about the arabic letters. We teach her and in return she teach us how to write some tamil letters. The 'school' was never achieved the goal..hahahaha.

There were 'racial war'. We fought in a rubber band 'lastik' during S3 and the war was between Malay and Indian Boys. Tan Meng Ghee joined the Malay side and Tan Chee Boon joined the Indian side. Both parties suffered bruises and Tinesh got a hit right to one of his eyes. Meng Ghee's elder brother is Meng Hui. Both were like taiko in school. Meng Ghee seems to have all the money he needed. He always have at least 10 ringgit in his pocket every day and always be very generous to us. I remember one day that I forgot to ask my mom for my money (RM1 per day...It started with RM 0.50 during S1) so I asked him to lend me his money first. He gave me a ringgit and the next day, he just tell me.."Takpa la..takpa..tapaiyah bayar,".

Chee Boon was from Sg. Bakap. He came to school every day with his 'serabai' face as if he was not taken his morning bath. His Chinese accent was so thick that he uses the word 'aku' instead of 'saya' to the teachers.

Amirul Akhbar Bin Amir was considered as the boys leader. His name really show who he was (Amirul means Leader, Akhbar means Big..he was the biggest of all). One day Kishok pull his chair off when he want to sit down. His head hit the chair's edge and we all were froze. Kishok then realise that he made a mistake and try to apologize. Amirul just hold his head and started to shed tears. I know that it hurts like hell but to see that Amirul shed tears was like IMPOSSIBLE.

There were other kids in kelas Kuning and kelas Biru that I remember very much. Deepashini, Brandon, Khairul Fareez, Kartigaayan, Clayton, Nur Baiti and Jamiah were in the blue class. Badrul Zaman, Zulkarnain, Uma were in the yellow class. Brandon was the top extrovert person in the school. He can made friends with all the students and never get involved in any 'war'. The Malays respected him because he was circumcised when most of us were not 'yet'. It happened one day when he wanted to join us chatting about explicit thing and the boys asked him to back off because he 'belum sunat'. He then said.." Eih..aku sunat laa,". They said he is a liar and ask him to prove it. So he did it. I was not there..I mean I don't looked at ' his'. I stayed outside the toilet and the malay boys inside there were like "Betulah dia dah sunat," I wasn't circumcised yet at that time. He and Karthik (Karthigaayan) were like brothers in the 'previous life'. Both were 'gila2' and love to crack jokes and play pranks. I remember seeing both of them playing infront of the class when Cikgu Syeikh was sleeping during the moral class.

More to come
P/s: Schoolmates from SRK Methodist Nibong Tebal, class of 1995 who read this post are encouraged to write more about it or to correct anything. Let the door to the past opened so that we can look back and laugh to this priceless pieces of memories.

Sekolahku...Part 1

What I am today is the result of my educations. I'm nobody without it..I'm useless without it. Pretty sure that I'll become a burden to the society.

A quote from Aristotle: The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet. (brainyquote.com)

I was brought up by my parents who were both educators. They met at a school name SMK Tun Syed Syeikh Barakbah, Sungai Bakap in 1980(I guess). My mom's house was only a stone throw from the school. My dad however travel approximately 40km every day (from Bagan Ajam, Butterworth) to work. Both were very committed to their job and to the education world itself. They married in June 1982 and settled down in a town called Nibong Tebal or NT(which always be reffered by the name Ninja Turtle by me and my fellow friends during my adolescent period)

My informal education seems like very formal to me. Every right or wrong, the do's and don'ts and roman and arabic letters, the syllable of every letters combination, drawing, music, speeches, toilet skills, discipline and other subjects were given without a cent. Plus, they provide me and my siblings with shelter, food, protection against negative influences, environment and against our devil side of nature. I can't remember clearly when did I started to read. My early memories were not as good as my friend (here). He can remember things since he was 2 or 3 years old but I only can recall some starting from the age of 4. I remember learning to read in Malay language. Learning Muqaddam was hard but I manage to get through. Special thanks to my father's rotan. It helps...really!!!

My early childhood education was in Taski Al-Arqam Taman Berjaya. Learned to recite the doa and the learned fighting there also. To be frank with you guys, I was a sissy at that time. Always cry especially after being bitten by a kid name Fahmi (he is a year younger than I am). Somehow I manage to be brave enough to fight him off after he bitted my brother(Hilmi). Hilmi was like "Abang, dia gigit tangan Emi..huuuuu," and I just throw a punch and kick Fahmi simultaneously. Next was Tabika Perpaduan by Rukun Tetangga Taman Seri Nibong. This is where I started my early chilhood education. I was one of the kid who already can read at that time. Most of them were still thought that A was an abbreviation of AYAM while I already can read out their names in the registry. Fahmi was also there. His mother was my kindergarten teacher. A very kind hearted, soft spoken teacher. There was another teacher, also kind and helpful but already met her Creator. Fahmi was still bitting people at that time but spared me..probably scared of me after what I've done to him. One thing I love about this kindergarten was plastecine or clay. There was lots of it and we the kids love it very much. I remember one stormy afternoon, I peeked out from the windom and saw a tree struck by lightning. The flash and thunder was so bright and loud, I was shocked and fell on back. Lucky there was this girl who helped me up.


During December 1989, I started my official formal education in an old school, in fact the oldest in Seberang Perai. Sekolah Rendah Kebangsaan Methodist Nibong Tebal was founded in 1898. The buildings were old. Old enough to give a child the education as it done to his or her grandfather. Me for example, the school was also the place where my grandmother's sibling learned. At my time, I stayed in the same class from standard 1 till 6. Not just me, we all did. There were 3 classes for each batch and we all will stay in that class till end. I was in Kelas 1 Merah, 2 Merah, 3 Merah, 4 Merah, 5 Merah, 6 Merah or Aman (there were changes to the classes name during my final year there). I was the class rep for one month during standard 1 and was appointed as the school prefect starting from standard 4. Cikgu Md Dali called us on day to meet him at bilik KH. 5 pupils from each classes. At first I thought it was a disciplinary action since Cikgu Md Dali was the Discipline Teacher. We all were shivering(afraid), but I suggested to them that he may want to appoint us to be the school prefect. They all took my words and began to relax a bit. When Cikgu Md Dali arrive, he acted as what I've predicted. When he ask who will be the Head Prefect, all of them(I think) answered simultaneously "HAFIZZZZ," (That memories is still fresh as it was yesterday because they did that again during my secondary education). I don't agree at first but later accepted it. My first task was to empty the classes during recess. Me, Amirul Akhbar Bin Amir, Brandon Lim Eu Chern, Ahmad Nazri Bin Abd Rahim and others(the male prefect) turned our first task into a 'police sentry' game. We caught them and send them to the staff's room almost immediately. My trousers get very dirty after I fallen in a puddle of mud during the chase. I was the Head Prefect for afternoon session (standard 4 was the eldest batch in afternoon session). I was the Head Prefect for Standard 5 and was the Head Prefect during standard 6. But I hold the title less than a month after Vasanthe Jothi A/P Rajapathy accompanied by Ooi Sui Li met me and ask whether I agree to step down and give her the position. I said yes and accepted the proposals-almost immediately. Amirul, Nazri other prefect was angry at me because of it. I couldn't understand why I did that but later in my life I learned that that will be one of my principles of life. By the way, Jothi was the right person for the job as she was very bright, she can play piano, dance traditional Indian dance, never 'ponteng' even for one day as if she never get sick and always take the 1st place trophy for academic achievement. Best student for all subjects taught there with exceptional to Pendidikan Islam(I bet if she was in the class she will get the trophy too). Ooi Sui Li was also one of the brightest student there but always being 2nd after Jothi.

My first crush was during standard 2. Cikgu Md Zain held his class outside the classroom (We were sitting facing a wall with murals of Rukun Negara) when we noticed that there was a girl accompanied by her parents walk passed us. I can remember clearly how the boys react to this 'commercial break'. Pak Ali (Fadzli Bin Hamzah) said "Huiyoo," , Amirul said "Cantiknya,"and others gave their comments on her.

After the class with Cikgu Md Zain we went back into the class for Cikgu Rafeah's. She arrived late that time and with her was that girl. Cikgu Rofeah brought her in and ask her to introduce herself. "Nama saya Faizah Nor Bt ? (Can't remember her full name and the correct spelling),"
Cikgu Rofeah then asked her to take the empty seat beside me. The other boys were so jealous at that time. What unique about her was because of her attitude. I broke a pencil into 2 pieces. Just for a show off (later I regretted because that was the only pencil I have). She then pulled out 2 pencils and """SNAPPED""" the 2 pencils fractures and travelled in to the dust bin and I was like "WAAAAAAA!!!" I fell in love almost immediately. But I don't know what kind of feeling was that. When I realise that I don't have any pencils left, she just laugh and gave one of hers. The boys gave me the title Mat Pit Pondan (one reason is because I cry a lot and the other reason was because they are jealous of me and Faizah..Hahahahaha) We used to chat a lot in the class. She also have a strange sickness. One day, there was a class photography session, She told me that she'll faint if she looked at the camera flash. So I told her to close her eyes and she did. She fainted a week after during the assembly.... hahahaha. Well..there were no fate between she and me + the pupils of SRK Methodist. She moved to Sg Bakap for standard 3 and later flew to UK as her father continue his study (that was what i heard)

---I'll continue the story on my secondary education..not about the teachers but the environments