Tokonang Den (2)

I remembered once incident happened to me about 9 years ago. I was in my office in Jalan Dato Onn, Kuala Lumpur (the old JPM Compleks) when I received a call and was told that the partner for Teh & Azlina, a lawyer’s firm, wanted to speak to me. Well, due the nature of work, I received a lot of calls, mostly from Merchant Bankers and lawyers. So, when finally, the call was connected and a lady by the name of Azlina introduced herself, I just took it as a stride and as the usual routine. But when she asked me whether she could asked me a personnel question, I was a bit worried but nevertheless said yes she could. She asked me whether I was from STAR and knew a person by the name of Azlan. Well, there are many Azlans in STAR. Azlan the headboy in 1973 (Azlan Ally Oops), Azlan Hashim) (Dato’ from batch 73 or could be other Azlans as well. She continued and said that, if I couldnot recalled, he brother asked her to mention the name Azlan ‘Nonoh’! Oh yes, of course I knew who Azlan Nonoh was!. Our on Azlan Hashim (Dato’).! The term ‘nonoh’ came about due to his flabby breast as if it contained nonoh (nanah!). But I couldnot recalled who was the ‘inventor’ of this glamour name. Azlan, is the youngers amongst us, batch 73. He joined us a year after we made our entry at STAR in the Remove Class. There were a few others as well who joined a year later as Azlan’s such as Kamarshah and Tengku Zainuddin.

Towards the later years of our ‘adventure’ in school, we definitely had acclimatised and felt very comfortable studying in a fully boarding school. We had learnt the tricks and antics, knew the dos and the donts as well as the hows to survive. When you were younger and at the lower grades, you quickly finished your meal and left quickly for classes or preps or whatever activities you were planning to do. But not when you have created a kingdom out of the dining hall. Yes sir, the routine changed when you were seniors and the dining hall was at your mercy. You could see then few guys who went round and ‘collect food’ (left overs). Of course, the favourite time and the favourites meals had got to be breakfast when nasi lemak or nasi goreng was served. The ‘sambal daging’ and ‘sambal sardin’ served then could even challenged the dish prepared by Chef Wan!! There many candidates but Norizan Tan Sali (Cik Jan) won the accolades and was given the famous nickname of ‘Cik Jan Kulek (Collect!). Of course, Mat Dollah fought hard to win the title but Cik Jan was the obvious choice!

Zainuddin Mohd. Yusof or Cik Jai was a quite guy. Nonetherless, nobody will ever had the chance to catch him for Cik Jai was quite a runner. He was the 400 meter runner for Yellow House. And he played sepak takraw – as a tekong, quite well. I was sure that Omar Suhaimi had nohesitation of what so ever in putting down Cik Jai’s name for Yellow House takraw team. But, he had not taken sports rather seriously as his studies. I was not surprised then to see Cik Jai excelled in his studies for he studied hard and was a really hardworking guy. When I was told by Cik Jai , that back in his old school, he drank fresh milk almost everyday, I was dumnfounded but later understood the reason why. Cik Jai came from Pahang, from a village known as Kampong New Zealand. The fresh milk was sponsored by the NZ government!.
It was a kind of formality when he was chosen to study abroad – America after the MCE. The next thing I heard about Cik Jai was that he had died. But I dont really know the details. To Cik Jai., semoga Allah mencucuri rahmat keatas rohmu.., Al-Fatihah.

End of Part 2 (To be continued).

Polling Results

Not many supported the idea of the gathering cum birthyear celebration planned for next year. Sad to say only 1 participated in the poll and he had opted for Penang or Cameron Highland.
I need to discussed this idea further with a few guys and for sure we want this gathering to materialise!! Bet you.

Tokonang den!

This was another photograph taken at the Ipoh railway station before we departed home after our MCE Examination. The shot was taken by Aminuddin AHK (Dr.) He posted the photo to me and even had a message inscribed behind it, ' My flight is on 23rd. (December 1973) at 6pm. It's only 2 hrs more. I'm rushing now. See you later, pal! He was leaving for Australia to do his matriculation.

Whenever I had a look at this photograph, especially that of Syed Azuddin and Shahrin Shuib(both Arwahs), it reminded me of the school talentime that batch 73, as the Third Formers then, organised after our Lower Certificate Examination (LCE). Me, together with Wan Husin and Syed Azuddin, we formed a trio and entered the talentime. I guessed we were not brave enough to sing alone and opted to form a trio! Our group was called 'Mick, Joe and Hengkie'!. For the semi final, we sang 'Five Hundred Miles' from the group Peter Paul and Marry. I had never appeared on stage before let alone singing and was terribly nervous when I looked down, I could see the two judges - Ms. Foong Pek Wann and Sdr. Mutalib (our senior). Anyway, we got into the final and delivered the song 'Leaving On A Jet Plane' also by Peter Paul and Marry. We must have sounded terrible for we did not win anything but the time spent with Wan Husin and Syed during that period was a memory second to none, the one I will cherished forever. After 1973, I totally lost contact with Syed and by the time I asked around, he was already gone. But nobody seemed to know how and when. Anyway, the talentime was won by Arwah Kutik for the solo event. He sang "Green green grass of home' popularised by Tom Jones of course and the group event was won by Lan Chik, Kutik and two others (couldn't reacalled them). They rendered a song popularised by an Indonesian group called Clique Fantastique entitled Puteri Gunung.

Shahrin Shuib, together with Zainudin Omar (Ogi), both of them stole Tiger Lane musical limelight. Together, they formed a duo that mesmerized the school.. They loved performing and the antics as well as the showmanship that both of them showed on stage could even won the respect of Adlin Aman Ramli or Paul Moss of One In A Million. If only we had such a TV programme such as Mentor or Akademi Fantasia or One In A Million then, I believed Zainuddin or Shahrin could even be one of the winners! Shahrin sure was one hell of a character. He loved 'studying' the dictionary and the small 'general knowledge' book! I remembered when we were in the remove class, he used to flipped and browsed thru the dictonary as if he was reading a novel! I was the least surprised when he chose journalism as a career. He even won a quiz show for University students organised by RTM! When I heard on the demise of Shahrin and that he was alone at home when he died, I could not but felt sorry for him.

To Syed Azuddin and Shahrin .. al-Fatihah.

Ramlan Malek was the quiet type. Even when we were playing football for the school Under 16, he will let his 'feet' do all the talking on the field. There was one occassion though I remembered most of Ramlan. It was during MCE exam week, when he and Ahmad Abu Khair came into my room, both looking rather angry and upset. Apparently, they were arguing over a petty matter - the right to be refunded of money already paid for a party organised by then Fifth Formers. Ramlan wanted to back out and in principal argued that he had the right to request for the refund since he wont be going to the party. He must have been really upset in finding that the organiser had invited girls from the Convent School as well as a bunch of Minah Kilang nearby. Abu Khair totally disagreed with Ramlan and the way he drummed his point upsetted Ramlan. I was caught in between and had to play it smart. Lucky me, I was reading then a book called 'The Art Of Influencing People" by Dale Carnergy. I applied one the technique told by Carnegy, and presto!! it worked. I managed to convinced Ramlan without insulting and humiliating him and not even hinting or suggesting that I supported Abu Khair. Ramlan saw my argument and the logic and he left my room a happy boy (I thought so!). That was my last encounter with Ramlan. Ramlan is doing extremely well in his life. He is such a 'big' and 'powerful guy' right now in Petronas and deservedly so.

(End of Part I) .. to be continued

No Joke No Fun..

Guillotine

Three men stood on the platform waiting their turn to be beheaded by guillotine: a priest, a lawyer and an engineer.
The priest was taken to the block first and when asked if he wanted to face up or down, he said he wanted to face up to see God when the blade struck. He was placed on the block with his face up as requested and the huge blade was dropped, but the blade stopped an inch above his neck! The crowd gasped. It was considered a sign of his innocence and he was freed.
The lawyer was then led to the block and asked the same question. He said he wanted to face down to see where he was going when the blade struck. He was placed on the block with his face down and the huge blade was dropped, but again it stopped an inch above his neck! The crowd gasped! As before, this was considered a sign of his innocence and he was freed.
When the engineer was led to the block and asked which way he wanted to face, he said he wanted to face up, so he was placed on the block with his face up looking at the blade and scaffolding holding it. Seconds before the blade dropped, he turned his head toward the executioner and said, "STOP! I think I see what the problem is."

From STAROBA.org.

Omar Suhaimi: Trailblazing Across Continents
Tuesday, 26 May 2009 17:20
Omar Suhaimi, one of the first PETRONAS men to manage an overseas operation, tells HELEN ANN PETERS what it was like belonging to the elite group who formed the vanguard of the national oil corporation's push for recognition and fame beyond national boundaries.
"We succeeded because of the belief and trust the management of PETRONAS had in us, coupled with our willingness to learn and blaze a trail" - Omar Suhaimi Abu Hassan

..MORE http://http://www.staroba.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=frontpage

It's football time!

Early tomorrow morning, football fans throughout the world (almost), will be watching the much awaited Champion's League Final between Manchester United and Barcelona. Who will win this prestigous trophy, has yet to be known. pundits already throwing their money on United. Was it bcos of Ronaldo? or was it Rooney? Is Messi or Niesta going the steal the show from Rooney and Ronaldo? We'll see. It could be the night of the unsung heroes. Carrick or even Park J Sung could turn the magic for United. But I.m sure we gonna enjoyed the game. One thing for sure I'll be watching the game at home with my two sons. Too late (or too early) to go and watch the final at the 'Mamak's al-Maju' restaurant.

Talking about football, reminded me of the footballing years in Tiger Lane. We were crazy about football then. There were no Ronaldos or Rooneys or Giggs or Messis then. But the little plot of graas field between Green House and the school building (opposite the bathroom/toilets) was the place where we showed our talent. We produced some good footballers mind you. Sakaf Manaf was very good in dribbling and ball controll. He did wonders even within the tiny 'playing field!. i even wonder, until now, how come he never played for the school team. Even Shoib and Awe Adek learnt their football traits here. But sad to say, Green house never won the inter-house football game!.

When we were in Form Two, a game was organised by 'crazy and fanatic English football fans'. It was between 'Chelsea' and 'Leeds. The craze was because in 1970, Chelsea came out as F.A. Cup winners in Wembley beating Leeds 2-1 in a pulsating final (as was reported by the papers). We tried to emulate that scenario in Tiger Lane and organised the game. Among the 'Leeds' players were Arwah Kutik, Yunus, Mohd Nor Hassan, Lan Chik. For 'Chelsea' we had Awe Adek (he fantasized himself as Charlie Cook!) and Arwah Radhi Majid and Mutalib just to name a few. We imagines ourselves to the likes of Peter Osgood, Peter Lorimer, Peter Bonetti, Billy Bremner, Allan Clarke etc. There were no Drogba nor Lampard nor Ballack nor John Terry at that time!!

One player I admired most was Arwah Kutik. He was such a fantastic sportsman that he almost excelled in whatever game he played. He was the school and Perak under 18 goalkeeper, when most of us were struggling in the lower grades, i.e playing for the school under 16! Fancy that!. He even played rugby for the senior side after palying for a while with the under 16. But I had 2 wonderful memories on scoring goals against Kutik. Mind you he was 'the goalie' at the time! Both goals were more or less scored at the same spot and using the same techniques. Kutik must have thought at the time that I for sure would crossed the ball, since he had covered the angle, but instead lobbed the ball over him and scored the goals. He 'kena' twice, one during a game proper and one was a game during PE class. I was rather astonished when Rashid told me that he recalled the 'incidence' - of me scoring against Kutik during PE class. It was indeed a compliment when he said that.

Batch 73 did produce football players for the school, be it under 16 or under 18. We had Arwah Kutik, Arwah Radhi Majid, Wan Manshol, Mutalib, Yunus, Mohd Nor Hassan, Mohamad Saleh, Lan Chik, Ramlan Malek and Mail Gebang. We enjoyed the game and what mattered most was the comradeship, the thrive for winning and spirit of sportmanship.

For Arwah Kutik and Arwah Radhi Majid... al-Fatihah.

Memories

This photograph was taken in Johore Bahru in conjunction with the wedding reception in Pasir Gudang Complex hosted by Mohamad Saleh sometime in Mac this year. All four of us - Che Wan, Rashid, Rahim and myself - drove down to JB specially for the occassion. Rustam, Wan Husin and Omar Suhaimi were already there when we arrived. Syukur Alhamdullilah, it was a pleasure indeed to be given the opportunity to see Tumiran and Syed Hamid Bashah again. It was a gratifying, satisfying and emotional moment for me, personally, to be able to meet Mohamad Saleh, Omar Abdullah, Tumiran and Syed Hamid after 'hibernating' for 36 years!! Others in the picture included Hassan Ahmad (Batch 69) and Yusof Osman (Batch 72)as well as Juniors such as Ghani and Akbar. Saleh Jais (Batch 73, Arts Class) was also there, but unfortunately was not in the picture. We waited for Wak Khairuddin but we had to leave for KL without seeing Wak. But we did manage to see Wak at Halim Daud's reception at Selayang Baru though.