Amanat Bill Gates

Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a High School about 11 things they did not and will not learn in school. He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world. Here goes:

Rule 1: Life is not fair- get used to it!

Rule 2: The world doesn’t care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

Rule 3: you will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won’t be a vice-president with a car phone until your earn both.

Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.

Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.

Rule 6: If you mess up, it’s not your parents’ fault, so don’t whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren’t as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest form the parasites of your parent’s generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winner and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they’ll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn’t bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING n real life.

Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don’t get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.

Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you’ll end up working for one.

The 'Future is in your hand, hold it gently'

A budding poet trying his best...

Here I lie in stinky vapor, Because some idiot stole the toilet paper,
Shall I lie, or shall I linger, Or shall I be forced to use my finger.

Before he graduated to be a poet, he wrote this...

Here I sit, Broken hearted
Tried to shit, But only farted

Someone who had a different experience wrote,

You're lucky, You had your chance,
I tried to fart, And shit my pants!

Perhaps it's true that people find inspiration in toilets.

I came here, To shit and stink,
But all I do, Is sit and think.

There are also people who come in for a different purpose...

Some come here to sit and think, Some come here to shit and stink,
But I comehere to scratch my balls, And read the bullshit on the walls....

Toilets walls also double as job advertisement space...written high upon the wall)

If you can piss above this line, the Singapore Fire Department wants you.

Ministry of Environment advertisement.

We aim to please! You aim too! Please

On the inside of a toilet door:

Patrons are requested to remain seated throughout the entire performance.

And finally, this should teach some a lesson...Sign seen at a restaurant:

The hands that clean these toilets also make your food...please aim properly!

--------
from Free Malaysia Today

Tokonang Den (13)

BEHOLD. Come June 11, it is the time again for all football fanatics throughout the world to enjoy and cherish - a month full of top class football matches. All eyes will surely focus on South Africa where the greatest show on earth is about to begin - where those with the footballing skills will unleash their talents in search of glory...and of course fame and wealth! Never mind the fact that this World Cup tournament will be without Ferdinand or Ballack or Ruben or Drogba? guys who will not make it to Johannesburg.

World Cup tournament though brings back this memory of my yesteryears in Tiger Lane. The one that I shall not forget.

The year was 1974 and West Germany was the host nation of the 10th. World Cup. England already out of the contention and didnot qualify for West Germany.... and that already killed off my interest of the World Cup. But the article that I read in the paper over the weekend, rekindled and ignited whatever little interest that I have on the World Cup. It was an article on Holland and their so called 'total football' - and of course.., their superstar.. Johan Cruyff. Of course there were other 'stars' of WC 74 - such as the likes of Franz Beckenbauer, Johann Nesken, Gerd Muller and Paul Breitner. But my interest was more on Cruyff and Holland 's total football!

What prompted me that night was something beyond explanation. But then I had already made up my mind and I stood by my plan. So that nite after prep, quietly I sneaked to the servant quarters to watch Holland playing Sweden. Without prior arrangement, without any hint nor signal and little concern whether I might be disturbing him, I knocked on Hassan's house - aah.! . thank God, reluctantly, he let me in. But I was lucky then for Hassan also wanted to watch the game! We did not talk much though and were totally glued to the box (could it be other reasond as well? I hope not!). The game was okay and ended in a scoreless draw. But, as reported and predicted, Cruyff was having a great game, really outstanding., the real maestro .. the Dutch master!

It was way past midnight when the game ended and after thanking Hassan, as I made my way back to the hostel, out of nowhere, came this car. It was none other than the one driven by the Principal himself - Pak Ya (Yahya Shafie). I was stunned but didnot panick though. When he asked me, I answered him in my stammering voice, that I just came back from the servant quarters watching football i.e the world cup. I expected him to get out from the car and gave me his famous 'penyepak'. But, thank God no he did not. I guessed he must be up to something extra, a bigger agenda than mine and more important perhaps for he simply instructed and shoved me to see him first thing tomorrow morning.

I could not sleep well that night. Worry about my fate and the agony of having to bear the shame of being slept by Pak Ya.., would he be calling a special assembly to punish me? could he ..., aaah! What musibah have I landed to, I was cursing myself to sleep. How I wish then that tomorrow never came or I was away in a faraway land! Solemnly though I promised myself then that should I escaped from getting Pak Ya's famous 'treatment', I will recite the surah yassin thrice!

Friday morning and without telling anyone, I headed for the Principal's room. Pak Lau was already there outside Pak Ya's room. I thought he was there because of my case. So I was quite shocked and surprised when he asked me as to why I was there! Pak Lau went in when he was summoned by Pak Ya and when he came out, he told me that I was to be sent to the Detention Class for 2 days beginning Saturday. I could not believed my luck and could have jumped for joy and peluk Pak Lau! But luckily I didnot!! Simply a big thank 'you Sir.' to Pak Lau.

That weekend was the first time ever I spent my Saturday and Sunday in a detention class! But a well worth punishment I should say!

Learning math in schools

Little Johnny was busy doing his homework. As his mother approached she heard:

“One and one, the son-of-a-bitch is two.”
“Two and two, the son-of-a-bitch is four.”
“Three and three… ”

His mother interrupted, asking where he had learned this way of doing math. Little Johnny remarked that his teacher Ms. Margo taught him.
His mother was rather upset and told him to stop the homework.

The next day she stormed into Little Johnny’s classroom and confronted Ms. Margo. Little Johnny’s mother told Ms. Margo about Little Johnny’s different way of doing math, and his claims that Ms. Margo taught it that way to the class.

The teacher was flabbergasted. She said that she couldn’t understand why Little Johnny had said what he did. Then suddenly, Ms Margo exclaimed, “Oh, I know, here in school we say, one and one, the sum-of-which is two.”

From: Funnyflux.com

'Tahniah STAR' Dinner

I was in Ipoh last night. Together with Azlan and Yahya Daud alias Wahab and Fathil Sharif, playing host on behalf of STAROBA to a group of athletes from the school who had done us, STAROBAns, STAR and parents, proud. In the recent concluded athletics meet in stadium Perak for the Zone Kinta Utara, they were declared the champion in the boys team event. Dinner was held in Hotel Impiana (the old Casuarina).

We assembled at Fathil's place and left for Ipoh around 440 pm, having assured ourselves that we would be in Ipoh by maghrib. InsyaAllah!. Apart from the slight jammed in Subang Jaya, journey was 'smooth and relax' and easy. Being the co-pilot, Azlan has no choice but to play DJ through out the journey. Azlan performed remarkably well! With his many repertoire of jokes, yeah.., who cares about HotFM or Era Radio or Radio Sinar! And the three of us, we were keen listeners! Lan., you rock! We arrived in Ipoh at 730 pm as scheduled.

Dinner however, started slightly late - at almost 930. There was this unforseen things happening that has to be resolved first. Biasa lah! There were about 30 of them excluding teachers.You could tell then that the boys were really starving! Azlan in his opening address expressed his appreciation and conveyed STAROBA's gratitude on the achievement and acknowledged the effort put up by everyone involved in sports. Yahya during his speech, expressed out his burning desire (together and with the help of the school) to unleash and groom STAR hidden talents, in the quest to bring back the glory days of STAR in athletics!. It was almost 1130 pm when dinner was finally over.

We dropped Yahya at Bukit Beruntung toll station on the way down and three of us safely arrived in KL around 245 am.

As I drove home from USJ Subang Jaya, I could not help but admiring the effort, and energy that Yahya had put up to lift the standard of athletics in STAR. Having to spend one's time, almost daily for 2 1/2 hours, travelling all the way from Telok Intan, starting at 450 pm and arrived home at 9 pm, is one hell of an effort!. What a sacrifice! What a commitment! He did it simply for the love of the sports and his beloved alma mater. As Yahya said it in his dinner speech, ..'at the age of 57, I should have been spending more time praying at home! but...' I wonder how things would have been if Yahya had been the school principal , not in Perlis but in Ipoh.

Anyway, well done boys. Well done STAR. Keep up the good work. As Azlan said it .., Tahniah STAR, teruskan usaha! Of course they can. Yes, we can!

Batch '73 - Reunion

Dear All STARians Batch 73 (Form5),

During our most recent weekend trip to Ipoh to attend STAR Annual Sports Day (those who went from our batch were Jabbar Abdullah, Mohammed Salleh, Omar Abdullah, Rostam Wahidin, Wan Husin and myself), there was a suggestion that we arrange our 73 Batch reunion (or even a family gathering like we had in Melaka in Dec 2008) coinciding with the STAR Old Boys Weekend (OBW) which is planned in July 2010. The proposal is for our batch (to decide with or without our respective family members) to put up somewhere in or very close to Ipoh. We hope to hear from you on your proposed place. The programme can be finalized in due course. The idea is fior us (and our family members) to be housed in the chosen place by Friday. We have our Batch programme the Friday evening. On Saturday we can attend the OBW programme at STAR and attended the OBW dinner (most likely at STAR compound/padang). On Sunday we continue with our Batch's programme till afternoon.

Your idea, comments & suggestions are required.

Note that recently an ex-Exxon-Mobil guy gave me the contact numbers for MUSADEK MUSALI: Office 03-20532109 mobile: 0193242262, but I have not managed to get his return call yet.

By the way, I may have to relinquished my '73 Batch Coordinator's role very soon as I will most probably be accepting a job offer with one of the foreign Oil Companies based in Miri Sarawak on a one-year contract as GM of Admin & Services. The appointment starts 1st April 2010. I will update all once this is finalized & confirmed.


--
Omar Suhaimi Abu Hassan
012-5570621

Annual School Sports Meet 2010

Getting ready ..

Saleh Yusof .. the Green Mentor!

Yahya Daud and Omar Suhaimi., motivating the boys.

Day 1 (Friday): Omar Suhaimi fetched me from Putrajaya and we left around 615pm, and yes we were heading for Ipoh – attending the school 54th. Annual Sports Day. Journey was pleasant and Omar took his time and was careful on the road eventhough he had an appointment to be met. We had a brief stop at Tapah RnR for a bite of pau and arrived just on time for the Mentor-Mentee programme and the official handing ceremony of the sports day vest shirts at the school hall. The guys were already there – Mohamad Sale and Omar Abdullah (yes, all the way from JB!!), Rostam, Azlan Abdullah, Saleh Yusof (Batch 72 – Green House, but didn’t recognize him, he changed a lot!), Fathil Sharif , Tarmunif Mokhtar and of course Yahya Daud as well as other ‘old boys’ (couldn’t remember their names).

Session was conducted by Tarmunif. Of course everybody was upset and in total disbelieved (especially people like me who have not been in contact with the school), when we heard of the school performances especially in sports. Lost 3 – 0 to Izzuddin Shah in volleyball!!? Are we in Alice Wonderland or something? Never heard or dreamt of those days. Izzuddin guys might have felt like they were dreaming then! Un’percaya’ble, but it was a reality. Yahya who was seated next to me, was so ‘sedih” and was seen wiping his eyes hearing the news. Other games were not that encouraging as well. It was for the reason I guessed, among others, the ‘push’ on this mentor-mentee agenda. And of late, the exclusion from the top 20 schools as released by MOE, is the final straw! And the grievances echoed by the students, made everyone upset and sad. We need a transformation agenda and an action plan – very fast!

We headed for the infamous Ah Seng’s lien chee kang and popiah after the ceremony. Sheer addiction! And with Azlan around, his story telling, jokes and antics, we did not realize the time! It was almost midnight when we reached the resting place for the night - Heritage Hotel, of course after a brief of ‘tawaf’ along the ‘memory lane’ of Ipoh!

Day 2 (Saturday): We were early. We were already downstairs at 7am for breakfast. By the time we reached the school compound, the place was already bustling with activities – last minute preparation by the students to decorate the respective ‘house tents’. Carnival-like atmosphere!

Nasir Ahmad from Batch 72 (Dato, CEO of PUNB) was the guest of honour. Met others such as Yuzer Yusof, Azizan Maarof, Wan Husin, Malek Zakaria and Ahmad Hamdan of legal firm Hisham Sobri and Kadir (junior and the present president of STAR PIBG). The opening ceremony was splendid. Seeing the school brass band leading the parade was a déjà vu! Well at least to me. When I was with the school cadet band then, we were not as privilege as them now – we were without the ‘proper attire’ as entitled for a marching band, as the band was just been formed. Nevertheless we were the pioneer then! The crowd was there – though not big but it was understandable. Green House was leading the points, all the way, only to be piped at the last minute by White, who retained the championship for the fourth year. Was Omar Dolah and Rostam involved in this victory? Could not tell but they were seen to be talking to the White House contingent after the event. Mail Don would have been proud as well.

Highlight of the day was, of course, the tug-of-war, between Old Boys (STAROBA) against the school present teachers and staff. The opposite team might have thought that victory was theirs – probably seeing old boys like Mohamad Saleh in the STAROBA team, but we had the last laugh! STAROBA prove them wrong! With the right strategy of putting Azlan and Sokhini as ‘tukang’ cheer in-charge, STAROBA deservedly won 2 – 0! Could not imagine if the match had gone to the rubber!

As suggested by Azlan, we went to Ramli Mee Rebus at Tasek for lunch. Manage to get Fadzil Hasan to join for lunch. He has been very busy of late, especially with the arrival of the 12th members of his family. Had a baby boy on January 1, 2010! Others who were there included Dato Nasir Ahmad, Azlan Abdullah, Yuzer Yusof, Saleh Yusof, Fathil Sharif, Azizan Maarof and Yahya Daud. We departed for KL around 3.30 and stopped at Ulu Bernam RnR for the usual break.

The school 54th Annual Sports Day is over. It has been a meaningful and joyful trip and weekend for me. I just could not describe the feeling. The gratitude, joy, happiness and sadness … of being a STARian. I knew then that this was what I have missed and have been missing over the years! No wonder Omar Dolah and Mohamad Saleh travelled all the way from JB to Tiger Lane, no matter what! How I envy them. And already, I am very much looking forward for the STAROBA Weeknend this coming July.