30 October 2012

Do we have a winner?


We were in the grounds of our local mosque awaiting for the Friday prayers when a familiar gentleman wearing a broad smile gave me a tap on my shoulder. Obviously he was bursting to give me a good news.
Amirah menang hadiah karangan. ( Amirah won a prize in an essay competition)”

Amirah was an Almanar pupil for three years from her Form One until she scored all A’s in her PMR examiination and gained admission into a boarding school in Kuala Terengganu. 

I am not at all familiar with the various competitions for school children. This particular one, organised by SM Sains Alam Shah, Kuala Lumpur, is called 
  
ASiS INTERNATIONAL ESSAY AND POETRY WRITING COMPETITION -2012
As shown below Amirah came out third in the essay competition, the top two went to pupils in Kenya and India.
1st  -  Faith Pepela – Alliance Girls’ High School, Kikuyu, Kenya.
2nd  -  Roshni Khatri – St Marks Senior Secondary Public School, New Delhi, India
3rd   -  Nor Amirah Ab Manaf – SM Sains Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia
These top three received cash and Distinguished Award Certificates for their essays.
    ________________________________ 
With a special smile Amirah called with her younger sister to tell us the news
 ________________________________________________ 
 
Over a lunch in their house yesterday, Amirah’s parents were all too ready to throw credits at Almanar for threir daughter's achievement.  When things have not been easy these two years at Almanar and out of frustration I often feel like throwing in the towel, an  occasional success, the like of Amirah’s, is real tonic. And now, wishing her all the best, I have reasons to look forwards to 2012 SPM examination results. I think we have not heard the last of her yet.

Congratulations to you, Nor Amirah. You have given me reasons to carry on.


Berkhidmat kerana Tuhan untuk kemanusiaan

26 comments:

Temuk said...

Congratulations to you, Nor Amirah and al-manar! Keep up the good work.

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Dear Pakcik,
I was told that there are now more than 60 residential schools in the country. Mama has been contributing her motivational skills to a program for poor students (projek khas in boarding schools) organised by the ministry for the past two years. I'm pretty sure you're very proud of Amirah. purrrr...meow!

Wan Sharif said...

Sometime a success like this make it all worthwhile. Do not throw in the towel.. I believe you know better than me the scoring system in the the hereafter.
May you and yours be in His Rahmah and Pleasure Sokmo sokmo.

Al-Manar said...

Temuk,

Thank you for the encouraging expression.

Al-Manar said...

C-f-S,

I certainly like to know more of the the special project for the poor children. It would help to know if there are representatives based in the East Coast who Pakcik can contact for details.

Al-Manar said...

Ayoh Wang,

How I wish people like you would one day return to serve, Ayah Wang. The number of sad stories people choose to ignore and wish to remain untold is very depressing, Ayoh Wang. And they are our people.

Anonymous said...

Assalamualaikum

At the moment I stood on stage in Alam Shah Science School's majestic hall I remembered Pakcik for the opportunity. To pakcik Hassan, i can only give my undying gratitude..and not to forget my wonderful teachers...

Nor Amirah Ab Manaf

abdulhalimshah said...

There can be no winners without adequate guidance and support and you have provided that vital link to many. Just soldier on and in the army they say old soldiers never die, they just fade away.

Al-Manar said...

Dear Nor Amirah,

Almanar is proud to have one like you and I know your parents have much more to be proud of. It gave me pleasure to sit with you two days discussing what possible course you can take after SPM.

Makcik and Pakcik pray that you will achieve what you dream of.

Call on us again and all the best.

Al-Manar said...

AHS,

Children like these make their own future with His blessing. Their parents play a vital role, no doubt. The rest play supporting roles.

kaykuala said...

Dear Pakcik,
Unpolished diamonds! They sparkle on rare occasions. This is no ordinary competition. It's an international award. Well done Amira!
Given half a chance Amira shined more than expected. Such a satisfaction to A-Manar. Don't throw in the towel Pakcik. You're still needed. They've placed their trust in you!

Hank

ninotaziz said...

This was an International competition. Was it in the papers? And if not - why wasn't it in the papers?

Pakcik, this piece of news bring me great joy and pride. Please please please never give this up.

C-f-s's Mama attacks these projects of hers with teeth bared. She is really good at it and whips all of us to contribute too when she can.

Al-Manar said...

Hank,

Every now and then we get a good one which lift our spirits. Working against time and things not going the way we plan, we cannot help getting frustrated.

Al-Manar said...

Ninot,

I expected something brief in the paper. Obviously it has no political mileage.

To see the result I had to visit
http://www.asiskl.org/aiwc2012/

A numnber of Seri Puteri girls were behind the top three winners.

No, dear Ninot, it isn't that easy to bend my spirits. I will stagger on. Yersterday I had to sack a boy who had started to show vandalism. What becomes of our rural young ones?

Haslina said...

So sad when good news like this isn't published in the local papers. This is no small feat, okay? Nur Amirah is not just a Malaysian but she's also from one of East Coast states (whose 70% of the people are not fluent in English). This shows WE CAN DO IT!
Yes Pakcik, when our students make us proud, I am glad that I am a 'CIKGU'.
Allah bless you and Al-Manar.

Al-Manar said...

Haslina,

As a Cikgu you beat a child of someone with 'connections' for truancy, and you will get yourself on the front-page with full c-v!

For a long time I have stopped subscribing to any papers. Every day I only pick one up after approving the frontpage headlines and pictures; I even buy two if I see 'cerita cerita budak sekolah buang anak di Terengganu'!

Selamat berkhidmat Cikgu.

Fadhil said...

Tahniah kepada Nor Amirah atas kejayaan ini. May you continue to achieve further success and be an inspiration to the younger ones at Al-Manar.

And may Allah swt bless Pakcik and Makcik for the good work that they are doing...

ZABS said...

Salam tuan,
Tahniah untuk Amirah dan tentunya buat Al Manar juga kerana telah memberi persediaan awal kepadanya.

Al-Manar said...

Oldstock,

Thank you for all the good words and wishes. We can only try our best but as you know we are never the master of our destiny.

Al-Manar said...

ZABS,

What a pleasant surprise to see you again. I hope all is well. Thank you for dropping in.

nwar said...

And yet there are those ignorant few who chose to belittle the successes (after successes) of Al-Manar.

Pakcik's No.2

Al-Manar said...

Nwar,

We cannot hope to win them all. We ask why and may find something to tone down our expectation; to be realistic.

aliya said...

Dear Pakcik,
Bravo! As I once said, given the proper guidance and motivation, students from Terengganu can be as good, if not better, as students from other states. It's also heartwarming to know that Nor Amirah won the prize for an essay written in the English Language.
Congratulations again to Amirah and al-Manar. Keep up the good work.

Al-Manar said...

Aliya,

HE has created us all with natural attributes. The best stainless steel knife made in Sheffields would need to be sharpened. Children, wherever they may be from, need appropriate environments. And apart from immediate family members, teachers like you are among the initial necessities. Your children, those at home and in school, are lucky to have you.

Anonymous said...

I bet her writing is as good as yours. How lucky she is to be able to learn English from you. Congratulations to Amirah.

AZMIERA

Al-Manar said...

Azmiera,

We do not teach everything. It is own effort to do a lot of reading good materials and practice that produce good results.