Well Done Cikgu

Maka berduyun-duyunlah datang yang berhormat dan yang tak berhormat memuji dan menunjukkan rasa takjub dan rasa belas kasihan – kerana Madihah cemerlang dalam peperiksaan SPM.


Nik Nur Madihah had lived for 17 years and suddenly all eyes have been focused on her and her family. Pak Cik admire her no less but I feel equally sorry for so many, many others like her, many of whom have never reached anywhere to be noticed, let alone to be given some tea and sympathy.

Last month, Pak Cik was requested to see a group of 20 ‘selected’ (top) pupils of standard 6. Half of them are fishermen’s children, like Madihah. The school has about 40 pupils in standard 6. During the last four years, only three students have scored all 5A’s in their UPSR exam. Can we say that over these years not one child from this school deserves sympathy and encouragement? To gauge their understanding in maths, I gave those 20 ‘selected’ pupils a test from STANDARD ONE maths. Surprise, surprise, a number of them were not sure of eleven, twelve and thirteen, and few did not know the meaning of 'near’ in ‘nearest to’.

What future will these innocent faces have without help today?

Last week I was equally astounded to find that none of my current twenty odd FORM One pupils could tell me the difference between 'we', 'our' and 'us'. Believe me, these are not children without brain. You, who have been through Almanar, know it too well how many of you have managed to get all A’s in your PMR exams. You are not of poorer quality in brain-power than many others, though you may be poor in many other aspects. You needed a chance, were given it and have pulled through, some with distinction.

Nik Nur Madihah is not a miracle and it should not be necessary for a child to have scored 20 A’s before a silent cry for help begins to draw attention. We should never forget that she is unlikely to have achieved her success without the school (Sekolah Menengah Arab Maahad Muhammadi, Kota Bharu, Kelantan) and its teachers. Pak Cik would want to loudly say, “Well done cikgu. You all have lived up to what is expected of your noble profession. Keep up with the excellent contribution to the community around you.”

Pak Cik will end this particular posting with a few lines quoted from an article written by the great Pendita Zaaba way back in 1927, more than 80 years ago:

“….. Kita sangat kekurangan orang yang berperasaan gemar pada faedah-faedah ramai (orang yang public spirit kata orang putih). Barangkali yang berperasaan demikian belum ada satu orang dalam tiap-tiap 10.000 orang Melayu melainkan kebanyakan masing-masing menilik kepada faedah diri, loba kempada tembolok sendiri, tamak ke perut sendiri ‘kalau kita sendiri tak dapat faedah apa guna?’ ………”

Berkhidmat kerana Tuhan untuk kemanusiaan.

STOP PRESS - Congratulations

This is one of the days that make Pak Cik forget my age and how tired I can be. I have just heard two pieces of good news. Firstly, the person, of whom I wrote in The End Of The Tunnel – In Sight – (Part 3) – It Is His Lucky Day, has obtained all 9A1 in the recent SPM exam. His dream of becoming a doctor is non-stoppable now, insya Allah. I wonder whether his father stops manning his road side ‘sugar cane’ stall to celebrate the day. He stopped for a while yesterday just to send a second daughter to Almanar on his old motorbike.

Secondly, a girl associated with Almanar has obtained 8A1 and 1A2 (in Ugama of all subjects!) in the same nine subjects. Since she has A1 in all the maths and science subjects she may want to consider going for a first-class honours degree in Islamic study, to make good!

I am lost for words on such an occasion as this. Hope there will be more good news coming.

My heartiest congratulations go to all of you my dear.

To Sir With Love

A Form 4 girl handed in an essay for correction. Her piece of work may not excite many, but it does Pak Cik. She talks about her days in the primary school, focusing on what she is not likely to forget. Her memory of a certain teacher, one who taught her English in Standard 5 and 6, stands out with a trace of emotion.

She remembers her Sir Azmi. That was the name of an individual who she and friends very much dreaded. ‘A violent temper’ is how she recalls of him, one quite generous with his ‘rattan’. She had had her share. So painful it was that she cried and sobbed and that she cannot forget. “But if I come face to face with him again I want to thank him,” is her thought of him today, six years down the line.

Today, this girl remembers her Sir Azmi as one who tried his best for her, the pain being part of his way, how detestable the act may be in the eyes of many. Pak Cik am much more appreciative of that young teacher, cikgu Azmi, whom I know well enough, without the Sir – he having no reason to lay his ‘rattan’ on me!

Long, long ago, at the beginning of his teaching career, Azmi was like an outcast on the island which, today, is a well known island resort off the coast of Terengganu , a long way away from his home in Johor. There was nothing on that island then, except for a sheltered village of fishermen. A school of some sort had been built by the government to give the fishermen’s children a fighting chance to be literate or, with luck, a better future. If the children were of any good they would continue their secondary education at a school on the mainland, where they would be accommodated in a hostel.



It was on that isolated place, remote from modernity, Sir Azmi learned not only to be on his feet as a teacher but also to understand the harsh life of traditional fishermen and their families. He began to be aware of the significance of his contribution to the next generation of these islanders. He went through a hard time to improve the performance of that school and, indeed, after some years he began to see result. Pak Cik could sense his satisfaction and pride as he related to me his experience.

He did his time on that island, and success earned him a transfer to a school on the mainland, back to civilisation, so to speak. He began to see different challenges. As chance would have it, he came to hear of Almanar. He dropped in to say hello to Pak Cik and we began to see that, though far apart in age, we had something in common. Intent on improving his pupils’ English, he sought Pak Cik’s assistance to double up on his effort. Surprisingly, in return he volunteered to spend some of his free time to take a class at Almanar. This is how from time to time Sir Azmi keeps surfacing in my memory. In fifteen years of Almanar’s existence he is the only person who has ever given such an offer, to teach English at Almanar. Cikgu Azmi is one in a million, an unsung hero in his own right.

Pak Cik can vividly recall the day when the result of UPSR results were released. Sir Azmi turned up excitedly to say that his school had the highest ever number of pupils with A grade in English. We rejoiced over his success. He had every right to feel elated.

It is a loss to any school that loses the service of a teacher like this. Pak Cik know it too well that he was sad to leave the state he had grown to love. But, in some way he was relieved to be transferred out of this state. He wanted to escape the ‘political maneuvers’ of those with envy and jealousy. Sir Azmi finally learned one bitter lesson in real life; the credit from one’s effort and success may at the same time earn him some enemies. Today, Sir Azmi is serving in a state where his wife came from. Pak Cik am pleased to learn that Sir Azmi, now richer with four children of his own, is helping the people of his community - “…….am trying to do something like Almanar,” he said to Pak Cik with his typical humility, with his normal enthusiasm nevertheless.

Cikgu Azmi, you are very much remembered, more than you realise. Some cannot forget the pain inflicted by you but their love and appreciation are greater. Pak Cik and family know that your four children will do even better than those you have helped on Pulau Redang and elsewhere. Perhaps you have misplaced your ‘rattan’ where you used to be. The four kids are lucky to have you and a mother, a qualified and dedicated teacher no less.

-----------------------------------
P/s for ex Almanar :

Pak Cik know that there are at least two of you, who have qualified as teachers,and are now serving in the interior of Sabah . I know Sabah well - when Kota Kinabalu was simply JESSELTON. As you are thinking of home in Terengganu, learn what you can of your pupils and do something for them in the true spirit of Sir Azmi and

Berkhidmat kerana Tuhan untuk kemanusiaan

Almanar’s gate is closed, sorry. No class to-day

Photo taken on 26 Jan 2009

Go home and don’t look so sad, my friends. Go and celebrate the Year of the Ox. You may not be exactly one, but in this beloved country everyone celebrates everyone else’s New Year.

Come again tomorrow and try your luck into Almanar. The grass inside looks green and tempting.

The End Of The Tunnel – In Sight- (Part 3)- It is His Lucky Day

An old office colleague, now a successful entrepreneur, turned up from Kuala Lumpur with his family, grandchildren and all. How pleasant it was for us, living in this quiet part of the world, to receive such a visit and sit lingering over a lunch. Before parting he passed Pak Cik a sum of money in cash plus one cheque, saying that it was to be used at Almanar for whatever purpose I found it appropriate. That was two days ago, a visit unexpected and fund unsolicited.

Yesterday afternoon, an ex-Almanar pupil came over to consult Pak Cik over an offer she received for a one-year foundation course for medicine. On successful completion of the course, the sponsors would send him to an overseas university. SPM results will only be known in two months’ time. That a pupil is selected today for such a highly demanded course must reflect an expection of an excellent SPM result. He must also have satisfied his interviewers at a session a month ago. I have known him since he joined Almanar five years ago after getting 4A and 1B in his UPSR exam. Three years later he obtained 8As in his PMR which earned him a place in a prestigious boarding school. So to all intents and purposes he is a good bet. So all things considered, Pak Cik advised him to accept the offer.

Alas, there was a snag, an immense problem to him, as a matter of fact. He was advised that some expenses, including the registration fee, had to be borne by him. A normal family may not bat an eye over a sum of the size quoted. But for a bread-winner, working at a factory and with eleven mouths to feed, the sum creates a major obstacle. How on earth can the family afford the sum which must be ready on registration in less than one week? How timely it was that a do-gooder came to Pak Cik’s house just one day earlier. Pak Cik handed my ex-pupil some cash from what I had received, telling him that it was not out my pocket. He cried bitterly over the unexpected gift. God works in a mysterious way.

Pak Cik, as a facilitator, an intermediary can only pray that one day this pupil will be a doctor, one with humility and huminity – Berkhidmat kerana Tuhan untuk kemanusiaan.

Judging from the way he has performed thus far, he will, in a matter of time, be out of the long dark tunnel. And so is Pak Cik’s continued expectation of you all, ex-Almanar pupils. But do not hope for it without sustained effort, your own sweat.

P/s:
Pak Cik cannot at this point disclose this pupil’s identity. Hopefully, I will be able to do so when he has gone through the tunnel, Insya' Allah.

Hatinya baik (He had a wonderful heart) – Part 2 ( Al Fatihah)

While the world are celebrating the joy of New Year, Pak Cik would like to spare a moment thinking of how I should put it in plain words my thought of an unhappy event that took place in November, the month that saw me writing about the significance of 01-01-01, the Poppy Day (Pak Cik Reminisces Part 5), and the departure of a very dear friend, Dato' Ahmad Badri (Hatinya baik - Part 1).

Pak Cik ended the year of 2008 with the posting of old prayers that I transcribed from the first page of my diary written 50 years earlier on 01-01-1959, in Happy New Year 1430H and 2009. So let me begin 2009 with an equally solemn piece.

The untimely departure of Dato’ Razali Ismail was widely published. It is getting to be an old event and fading into the past. My diary today is this blog and I simply have to record something meaningful to me. (By no means Pak Cik am expecting to read this in another 50 years’ time!) I was very tempted to write about that event when the death took place but resisited it. Allah Yarham was special and I had to wait for a special time to record it hoping the effect would be special too. So allow Pak Cik to make this to be my new year posting, requesting an Alfatihah from my Almanar pupils and my Muslim readers for this very special person – hatinya baik.

Datuk Ahmad Badri (of my posting, Hatinya Baik - Part 1) left two days into the month of November. He was very close as a friend. Dato’ Razali left us two days before the end of the same month. Unlike the former I cannot call him a friend. He married into a member of my family. He addressed me as ‘Wah’ like some of Pak Cik’s nieces and nephews. Others preferred ‘Ayah Ngah’, instead. To you, my Almanar children who are equally precious to me, it has been ‘Pak Cik’. One day I will write about how I own different names!

Pak Cik will not write what has been published in our mass media. I want to be more specific of the very thing this extraordinary mortal did that touched me. It was something very personal and flattering but I do not think he realised how that inspired me to carry on with my effort at a time when I was uncertain whether the difficulty I was experiencing then was worth my time and effort. I had disapproval, believe it or not, from a number of individuals in the field of education. In fact I still have some today. You know some of them are in your own school, dear Almanar pupils.

One morning in September 2002, when Almanar was in its seventh year of existence, two cars pulled up in front of Pak Cik’s house. From one of them stepped out two gentlemen dressed in dark suits. One was the unmistakeable bubbly Dato’ Razali whom I knew too well. Following him was a tall gentleman who was introduced to me as Datuk Abdul Rafie Mahat (not yet a Tan Sri then), who was the Malaysian Director General of Education. Helding my hands firmly this important figure from Kuala Lumpur uttered something which still rings clear in my ears today, “I want to meet the unsung hero.” I was completely taken aback by that ‘unsung hero’ bit. What had this state Director of Education been telling his boss that prompted the latter to make that very special brief visit? - an important national figure paying homage to an old kampong folk.

That was not the end of the ‘unsung hero’ episode. About four months later Pak Cik made an appointment to meet the Principal of a secondary school outside my area. I had to introduce myself and my involvement with Almanar. His eyes lit up as something suddenly dawned on him. “So, you are the ‘unsung hero’ our DG mentioned in his talk!” That was Pak Cik’s second surprise. I could only guess, not wanting to show my interest, that the late Tan Sri Rafie had chosen to quote me and Almanar in his speech some time during his visit to the state.

In no small way the above episode inspired me. Unexpected recognition by people who matters in my type of activity did just that. Sadly both of them departed at a time when they could have continued to serve ‘kerana Tuhan untuk kemanusiaan’ – Dato’ Razali at 59 as the Deputy Minister of Education, and Tan Sri Abdul Fafie Mahat at 60 as the Chairman of Education Service Commission.

From the number of conversations I had with Allah Yarham Dato’ Razali I can categorically say education was in his blood. He preached what he believed and he proved that what he believed could be substantiated. He was not one who blew his own trumpet. Only those close to him knew he raised good children, his eldest being a graduate from Cambridge . He was not just a father, a teacher, a principal of a Teachers’ Training College , a state Director of Education and a Deputy Minister of Education for nothing. Many owe him something. Pak Cik owe him his simple gesture, the ‘unsung hero’ episode, that I interpret as a sign of the man’s attitude and dedication towards education. Little did he realise what it meant to Pak Cik, an inspiration at a time I needed it most.

For one who had a good heart ( orang yang mempunyai hati baik) let us pray that he is being suitably rewarded by the Absolute Creator Himself. Let us recite Alfatihah for him, for Tan Sri Ahmad Rafei and the likes of them.

Berkhidmat kerana Tuhan untuk kemanusiaan.

Happy New Year 1430H and 2009

“Bismilla …..

Kepada Tuhan yang Maha Kuasa ku persembahkan segala-gala yang telah ku buat ditahun yang telah berlalu dan apa yang akan dibuat ditahun-tahun baharu. Kalau kejahatan mengatasi kebajikan dimasa yang telah lampau ku pohonkan semoga kebajikan bertambah ditahun baharu.

Kepada Kau, Tuhanku, ku persembahkan kesyukuran dan lautan terima kasih. Tak ada kejayaan yang telah ku perolehi kalau tidak dengan pertolongan dan keizinan Kau. Dari Mu ku masih dan akan selama-lama meminta pertolongan. Moga-moga Kau tak akan menghampakan permintaan ku yang suci.

Dengan adanya Engkau wujudnya aku didunia. Kepada Kau aku akan kembali. Saksama dan rahmat ialah yang aku pandang-pandang kan .

Amin”

That transcript was written fifty years ago today on the first page of Pak Cik’s Diary: Thursday 01-01-1959. (equiv. Hijrah 20.06.1378 )

I can still vividly imagine sitting alone in my room at 152, Herrick Road somewhere in the Midlands . The feeling of loneliness pervades me even as I was transcribing this today. It was cold, very cold in that room in a house without central heating. The use of an electric heater was too expensive for a student. It was loneliness living in a house with fellow students, none I could share my feeling with conversing in Malay language. By then I had been two years in that house enjoying an international company, eating foods prepared by an elderly English landlady. “Fish for you today, Hassan,” means everyone else was enjoying what I told her I could not take as Muslim. “You should try this, Hassan. Mrs Robertson is good at this, you know,” one or two at the table would tease me. Let me not dwell on this unpleasant subject.

You, children of Almanar. Pak Cik thought those words of prayers out when I was at about the same age as you who are at university today. I am proud to have those diaries of my yester-years. I look back and evaluate whether or not I have lived my life the way I promised myself fifty years ago. My above prayers tell me a lot of things, my success, my failure, where I have gone wrong and what little good I have achieved, and is there no room for improvement? If you make no effort to write down what you do and how you feel today, you will have lost the opportunity that one day you can look back and take pride, or bow your head with shame, in what has transpired in your life. Pak Cik said it all in those short prayers 50 years ago and I can say I have very little regret. He has answered my prayers.

To all of you I wish a happy new year, 1430 and 2009.

Berkhidmat kerana Tuhan untuk kemanusiaan.

Merry X’mas Ian

Pak Cik have just received these beautiful pictures from my dear old friend, Ian Sanderson who now lives in the States ( see my earlier posting, Pak Cik Reminisces - Part 4) They had had 25 cm of snow.







To him and family, Pak Cik and family wish a merry X’mas. We wish merry X’mas to Jane and Peter Swarz, Julian Dalzell and family, who are all in the States. Our special wish goes to Pauline Ford of London who has just shortly lost her beloved mother. Our heart-felt condolences, Pauline. We remember it too well the day we took you, Pauline, and Nell on a tour of Masjid Negara. Likewise I wish merry X’mas to Christian visitors to this blog.




Will it be a white X’mas? Mi and Zaharah in London are sure to be out walking the Oxford Street for the beautiful lighting, or is it not there any more?

To Pak Cik's past and present Almanar pupils: Look at those beautiful snow-covered scenes that you have all read about in books like Jane Eyre, and imagine that one day you have a chance to see them for real - a change from the current monsoon rains and the sound of heavy waves lashing our shore now, day and night.

Pak Cik Reminisces ( Part 6) - No2 (Nwar) reminisces

This morning Pak Cik received an e-mail from the elder of my two sons both of whom and their big sister are today grown up with children of their own. Pak Cik could not hold my tears reading something that kicked my own memory back to the days I used to take my two boys to Masjid Negara. It brought home how old Pak Cik am today, and how blessed Mak Cik and Pak Cik are that today we have a chance to read what goes in the mind of our son, reflecting the very thought that went through our minds those many many years ago.

I wish to share with Almanar’s pupils, past and present, what my son, Anwar, wrote in his e-mail message:

“I was in my reminiscing mood as I leaned against the big column half listening to the khutbah after the solat hari raya at Masjid Negara this morning. It was drizzling and weather was 'pleasantly' gloomy (autumn-ish) with cool breeze gently blowing across the open spaces of this great mosque - so many fond memories here.

I watched Azim and Arif from afar, both smartly dressed in baju Melayu, chatting & giggling away, oblivious to the surrounding, ahh... both still 'little' boys in my eyes, young and innocent. The solemn khutbah about son and dad, nabi Ibrahim and nabi Ismail, made me conscious of that unconditional love I have for the two (and the little rascal at home, of course). I wondered, surely 30 years ago, when I was here with my little brother and my Babah, for sembahyang hari raya, sembahyang Jumaat, tarawikh, the same thought must have crossed Babah's mind looking at the two of us 'cuit sana, cuit sini', oblivious to the real world - that unconditional love. - Nuar”

Mak Cik, Arif, Azim & cousin Aziz

Life would indeed be a lonely place without our loved ones.


You, children of today will surely, many many moons and years from today, come to a moment that you realise how much you truly owe your parents. So strive hard at your studies, that with your education you can do something for them – not forgetting the community that you belong to.

Nuar, Pak Cik & little brother Amran

Berkhidmat kerana Tuhan untuk kemanusiaan.

SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDILADHA

To all the present and past pupils of Almanar, and to those who happen to visit this blog, Pak Cik wish you all Selamat Hari Raya Aidiladha. Very soon thsose of you who sat for the recent PMR will get to know the results. Let us hope and pray that all is well.

PakCik Reminisces (Part 5) – 11-11-11

This is a delayed posting. Strictly it should have been done at 11am on 11th day of the 11th month of this year.

It was like an automatic alarm trying to tell Pak Cik something when I was murmuring to myself, “Oh sebelas haribulan November, dah hari ni” ( Oh, it’s already 11th November today). Pak Cik said that as a matter of fact as I was viewing my teaching itinerary for the day. Somehow that 11/11 rang a bell deep in my subconscious mind. Then, seeking an answer to the alarm I repeated, “ Eleven, eleven?”. Then it clicked, a picture of a blood red poppy emerged - the Poppy Day, the Armistice Day !



Armistice Day of what war is that? It is the first World War, sometimes referred to as the Great War of 1917-1918. It started with antagonism between Austria-Hungary on one hand and Serbia on the other. Germany was allied to the former whilst Russia was to Serbia . A chain of alliances, brought in Russia , France , Britain and finally USA . The whole antagonism and conflict were brought to a climax in a war which lasted for four years, leaving a total of twenty million people perished in and outside the battlefields.

Finally, the war ended with an armistice that was signed at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918 – the day known as the Armistice Day. So 11 am of 11/11 of 1908 marked the 80th anniversary of that Great War in which Malaya was never involved. But being part of that colonial power we were made to ‘honour the dead’. Pak Cik recall those annual events, and it stays there, deep in my memory, brought to the surface on mentioning 11/11.

The Remembrance Day was well known among us in Malaya as the Poppy Day. Apparantly, poppy plants were seen to bloom after the war well across some of the worst World War I battlefields in Flanders. (Note : Flanders is a geographical region located in parts of present day Belgium, France and Netherlands.) The red colour of poppy flowers was the reminiscence of the bloodshed. Coincidentally, a famous Canadian poet had the following line in his poem, Flanders Field,

“ …………...
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
……………...”

It was then seen appropriate for poppy flowers to be adopted as a symbol of the bloodshed of the Great War.

As I mentioned above, Malaya was never involved in the war, unlike the Second World War. We were, nevertheless part of a great power. The rest followed without question. Before Merdeka, during Pak Cik’s childhood days, 11th November, the Poppy Day was celebrated. Poppies made of fine red cloth material were distributed along the pavements of shop houses and everywhere. Each had a pin that could fasten the false flower to the front of your dress. “ A poppy, sir?” a girl or boy, holding a tray of them, would offer you. On accepting one you were expected to push a coin or two through the slot of a tin hanging from one arm – donations to the to welfare fund of the war victims



That belongs to Pak Cik’s past. And today you, ex-pupils of Almanar, read and hear of such tale as related above. What of it, one may ask. What is it to me? Is it just ‘a tale told by an idiot’? We hear of wars everywhere. Question yourselves, “Are we not lucky that we are safe and sound?” I, Pak Cik, belong to the past generation. Nothing matters very much to me any more. But many things matter to you. Work and prioritise what needs doing. Be ready for any dark tunnel that you may have to go through.

Berkhidmat kerana Tuhan untuk kemanusiaan

Hatinya baik (He had a wonderful heart) –Part 1- Al Fatihah

Early in the evening of Sunday 2nd November Dato’ Ahmad Badri bin Mohamed Basir, a very dear old friend, peacefully passed away in Kuala Lumpur . Al Fatihah

Pak Cik was informed by a mutual friend on the Friday evening that Dato’ Ahmad Badri was in a rather critical condition. With Mak Cik I drove down to KL in the morning of the following day, Saturday, after hurriedly canceling a number of scheduled classes. In the afternoon of the same day we visited our friend who was breathing hard from an oxygen mask. At the end of that visit, the last occasion we saw him alive, and on excusing ourselves, Pak Cik could hardly hold my tears saying to his dear wife, “Walaupun Badri sakit, hati-nya baik.” (“ He may be ill but he possesses a wonderful heart.”) I was implying to that piece of organ quoted in Prophet’s famous hadith. That is what truly matters in all of us, the heart. As it were, it was just about twenty four hours before we received the sad news of his departure.

Throughout the morning of the following day,Monday 3rd , his house received literally hundreds of visitors, or could it be more than a thousand? It was a measure of the man’s stature in life, a public figure, humble and approachable, the same that we had known for about forty years.

Some years ago, at the end of one of my visits to Dato’ Badri’s house, he popped out the following statement, “ Hassan, I would like to contribute something, a small sum on a monthly basis towards what you are doing. You just tell me how much.” Pak Cik cannot ever forget that occasion – that offer that came out of the blue. Never had Pak Cik given a hint a need for donation to him, for that matter to anyone. He was interested in Almanar and often commented favourably and now he felt the need to contribute instead of verbal supports. Somehow, Pak Cik did not take on his offer of monthly contributions. However, it was coincidental that I had just planned to purchase 150 copies of a five-volume book on English grammar It involved quite a sum that Pak Cik was about to commit. Involuntarily, Pak Cik put that as an alternative. Without batting an eyelid Dato’ Badri agreed. Strange enough, he was even grateful for the opportunity to contribute something. It was a cause he believed in. That speaks volume of a man I had the pleasure of knowing.




Over the years every one going through the English course at Almanar has had to read the books and analyse their contents. Since my return from Kuala Lumpur I have made it known to pupils at Almanar that from now on we have to recite a short verse from Quran each time we open the books that carry Dato’ Badri’s name on the inside cover. This will be our normal practice in memory of that wonderful friend, our small contribution in return.

To those ex Almanar pupils Pak Cik would seek you all to recite Al Fatihah for the very person who has a share in what you have learnt at Almanar. May Allah bless his soul. He will always be sadly remembered, a man yang hatinya baik.

OBAMA?

It is a global event, the resonance of Obama’s victory.

Questions:
In America and the western worlds? But of course!
In Kenya where his father came from? No doubt – even a public holiday for the country!
A school in Menteng, Jakarta? Some suddenly remember too well of a classmate named Obama – very intelligent as well, he was, no wonder!
South African Archbishop Tutu said it showed “that for people of colour,
sky is the limit” What a spiritual insight indeed!
Even Obama’s step-gradmother in a village in Kenya? What a sight ,
jubilantly dancing and cheering!
A fantastic luck for a small town in Japan, called OBAMA, meaning a
small beach (Doesn't sound like THE Long Beach?)
Enough reason for the people there to celebrate!
and so on ....
and so forth ....

That man has promised to defeat the Alqaida and Taliban in Afghanistan!
He has promised to stand by Israel!
Would he dare to say that he would help the blacks and the blues (and the people of Desmond Tutu”?
Could he come out loud and clear saying that it was all wrong to fear visitors with Muslim names visiting America?

Has any of the last 43 presidents of America done something for Malaysians conscientiously?
Will this one be any different?

Pak Cik would rather spend my time and energy on something very close to my heart, that would, hopefully, be of some benefit to a few rather than on a global scale, the great American dream!

To Pak Cik’s pupils : Manage your time and work and keep questioning what and why. Be prepared for a long tunnel ahead, very dark indeed at times.

At long last, the end of the tunnel - Part 2

(Out to sea with tears and toil)

A good twelve years ago, a boy of thirteen joined a group of new Form 1 pupils at Almanar. He had just passed his UPSR (Standard Six) examination. Like the rest of the group his result was not good enough to qualify for admission into a boarding school. But he was certainly better qualified than his father, a simple fisherman. It was not an easy life for a fisherman of 37 to feed his family of six children. The mother had to help out to make ends meet by working as a hired hand preparing fish for making keropok. The boy was simply called Hazri.

Hazri, today, with Abdul Aziz (Form 1), the size Hazri was when he joined Almanar 11 years ago

A very conscientious and responsible man indeed Hazri’s father was. He might be lacking in education but he knew its value in life. He was what he was because he had no proper education. For that reason he was determined to see a change in his family. Hazri was his first boy. The boy must have education. It was his dream that this boy would never have to weather the South China Sea day in and day out, come rain and shine, for an elusive catch. He left a legacy of words in his first son's memory, “ Carilah apa pekerjaan pun. Jangan sekali-kali mengikut cara ayah ke laut! Belajarlah.” ( Choose whatever profession you wish but never be a fisherman like your father! Study.)

A neighbour, who had a son of Hazri’s age but with better UPSR result, suggested that Hazri be sent with his son to a ‘paying’ tutorial class in town. Alas, it was hard enough for Hazri’s father to keep the family in one piece. The father had to content having his son receiving free tuition at Almanar, a small and unknown one-man show in the village. The father could only hope that the old ‘Pak Cik’ of Almanar would succeed in helping his son. It was a further relief to him that Almanar allowed his son the use of a new bicycle. Two and half years later the father was struck by cancer. That was just about six months before Hazri’s PMR (Form 3) examination. Life was even tougher for the family. At one stage Hazri did not turn up for classes at Almanar. That worried Pak Cik because the boy had shown great promise in his study. The boy could not afford to miss class.

In explaining the reason for his absence from Almanar class, the fifteen-year-old boy related to Pak Cik how sad he was when, one evening, he found the family with no rice to cook. Determined to do something he approached the owner of a chicken farm nearby for a manual job, washing the premises. At least he could earn a few ringgits a day. To his disappointment the ailing father found out what he had been doing. Absenting from Almanar class was a sin. “Biar kita berlapar. Jangan engkau dibuang kelas oleh Pak Cik!” ( Let us starve but never let Pak Cik find reasons to dismiss you from his class! ). That was the man’s firm order, his commitment towards education, That at all cost his son would never ever have to go to sea. On one of Pak Cik’s visits the frail man, lying helpless and in pain in bed, had little to say other than a few broken words of thanks for helping his son.

It was during a fasting month when the ailing father was admitted to hospital in a critical condition. Just before the time to break fasting Hazri’s voice came through the phone to say, “ Pak Cik, ayah dah nazak …” And, it so happened, that was the eve of the day the PMR results would be released. Pak arrived too late at the hospital.

At the burial ground on the following day, when his father’s body had been safely laid to rest, Pak Cik told Hazri to pull himself together. He should get his PMR results from school that same afternoon. He had to look ahead, as a man his father wanted him to be. Dutifully Hazri went to get his exam results and immediately called at Pak Cik’s house. It was a day too late. His father would be proud to see his son’s performance. ( May Allah bless his soul ) With the results Hazri gained admission to a MRSM college at form 4. He was definitely on the right course – further away from the sea that his late father dreaded most.

The rest was history. Today Hazri stands tall among the young men in the city of Kuala Lumpur, working as a graduate in Mechanical Engineering. He will probably, one day, hire a boat and set off with his family from his old wooden house by the sea towards the island resort of Redang. This time he will remember the great many trips charted by his father in fair and foul weather – for a different purpose, that Hazri, his son, would never be like his father.

As a matter of interest Pak Cik asked Hazri what had become of the neighbour’s son who had an edge over him in many ways twelve years ago. With a grin on his face he simply muttered, “He is a factory worker.” Such is life.

Deserted and lonely when the fisherman is gone

And Pak Cik pray that Hazri of this world will understand and appreciate the spirit that lies behind Almanar’s motto, lest he forgets that one day he, too, will have to contribute to the society in whichever way he can:

Berkhidmat kerana Tuhan untuk kemanusiaan.

Note

To be sure that Hazri did not find anything objectionable in the above writing Pak Cik had him go through it before posting. He wished that I record the following points:

Hazri today

"PAK CIK HASSAN" sounds short and simple but there is much to talk of him as far as I am concerned - a god-father to me. I first met him 12 years ago. I still remember the first time I studied Maths and English with him. I had zero knowledge in English and was poor in Maths. I was lagging behind but he handled me like a baby, teaching simple English grammar and Maths. He never gave up even when I asked silly questions. He helped me financially as well.

For me there is no other word than “Thanks a lot Pak Cik. You changed my life. You taught me to have positive views on life. You guided me in religion and even discussed political issues. You have helped me to fulfill my late father’s dream – that I would never be a fisherman like him. I could not have done it without your help.”

Pak Cik, once again thank you very much. May God bless you, Mak Cik and family with good health.To those pupils out there at Almanar make the best of Pak Cik. Believe me, as your senior (1st batch at Almanar) you can't get from school what you can get from him.

-Hazri-

It doesn't sound right, does it? ( Part 1 )

Last week Pah Cik was readjusting the timetable for Almanar when a form 1 pupil anxiously said. “Pak Cik, tiap tiap hari pun saya boleh datang ke Almanar minggu hadapan.” Then a chorus of other pupils quickly objected, “Tak boleh Pak Cik, kita kena pergi sekolah seperti biasa.” It was a baffling situation although the answer was indeed very simple. Pak Cik was too old - for that matter I was never trained to be a teacher - to understand the modern thinking in this highly complex field of management.

One group was given time-off for a whole week and others had to attend classes as usual. It transpired that those in the end classes ( of less able pupils ) could sacrifice their class rooms for the PMR examination (or to be sure that less noise would be created for the benefit of candidates cracking their heads in the life threatening PMR examination!) The ‘better’ pupils would continue to attend classes and be taught It was the same case with the end classes of form 4. They too, being poorer pupils, must not go to school and not be a nuisance.

So the school does not have to worry over the need for poorer pupils to get greater attention in education to catch up with the better ones. How simple the answer was to a simple problem.

That sounds right, doesn’t it ?

Selamat Hari Raya 2008

It is time for surprises. Pak Cik know for sure from past Hari Raya that I will be faced with such question as “Pak Cik ingat tak saya?” or “Pak Cik dah lupa saya?” Those were moments of minor embarrassment, but of great pleasure, nevertheless. And now Pak Cik can again look forward to these most rewarding encounters.

To every one of you, the ex-Almanar pupils and the present ones alike, I wish a happy Hari Raya. If, for some inevitable reasons, we do not meet on this occasion let us hope and pray we will somehow meet again in the not too distant future. I cherish the memory of those instances when you reacted to my scolding with long faces, the moments you were jubilant over your exam results and so on. And to see your faces again and be reminded of those lost moments is a pleasure indeed.

Selamat Hari Raya, maaf dzahir batin.

It’s AUGUST again. Let’s celebrate

August is just a month like any other month but is not quite like any other month – not to us, Pak Cik and Mak Cik. For a start our wedding anniversary ( never mind the number! One gets tired of counting, anyway)is in the middle of August. Mak Cik was born in that month as well. Unfortunately, Pak Cik – I missed it by just a couple of days, for an even better one, of course!

That is not all. Our daughter and our elder son tied the knot on 25th and 26th August respectively. Our daughter and our only son-in-law had their fourth child on their anniversary. Our elder son had his first boy born in August. And not to miss the fun our younger son had his second daughter in that auspicious month too. So IT'S ALL IN THE FAMILY.


So, true to being a loyal rakyat Malaysia Pak Cik had the Jalur Gemilang hoisted right to the very top of the flag pole in front of Almanar. We celebrate IT ALL, this month of August, with a prayer in our heart, humbly grateful to Him. For all these,

kita berkhidmat untuk kemanusiaan

Pak Cik reminisces (Part 4) - An old Friend resurfaces

Slowly and surely another month of August has crept up and caught up with us, making it the 51st Merdeka Anniversary. This is Pak Cik’s 8th posting since last year’s Merdeka golden jubilee. Without doubt the posting frequency has improved over that of previous years. It is Pak Cik’s hope to do no less in future. After all, this website and my e-mail are the most effective means of communication between Almanar and students associated with it.

During the course of this year Pak Cik had a very pleasant surprise, a message from one of my long lost friends of pre-Merdeka era. Those who have read Pak Cik’s postings a year ago - Pak Cik Reminisces, (Part 1)and(Part 2) - would realise that 50 years ago I was a lonely Malayan student in England, away from Malaya then and living in an English home with others who hardly knew where on earth Malaya was, Pak Cik had little choice but to adapt myself to the new environment. Over time Pak cik had many close friends from England itself. To my regret, we have lost touch with one another. By a stroke of luck, somehow, one of these old friends was able to contact me through the alumni association. He is Ian Sanderson, simply known as Ian among us. Apparently he migrated to United States, where he and his family are today.


Photo : 1961 Mechanical Eng class (L to R) - Peter Goodman, Harold Levy, Ray Perkins, Pak Cik, Anthony Roylance(dec) and Ian Sanderson


Ian sent Pak Cik a number of e-mail messages some extracts of which are recorded below:

“Hassan,

Hey, how are you- do you remember me, Ian [!] We are all well, Blair, my wife and I have been enjoying retirement-almost a year….. . I keep quite fit playing table tennis [ping pong] 4 hours a week with some retired men who are very good. Also I still bike 30 miles every few weeks and play tennis…. I like to sail- I crewed in a friend’s sail boat for a [ Block Island ] race. We came 5th overall. I also sing in a church choir…”

“…….I have 3 sons; Peter 39, Mark 36, Matthew 23 and 5 grandchildren ……”

“ ….I have no contact with our old class at Loughboro' unfortunately- but I do with people in the old cycling club. I have a lot of relatives in England, nieces, nephews, cousins, sisters- that I like to keep in contact with…. .”

“ …..The only person I was in contact with was Tony Roylance- alas he died 3-4 years ago…..”

“……Blair & I went on a great vacation to Italy & Greece recently ……..”

“…….I actually retired June 2007 ……..
From Ian”

That is Ian Sanderson who belongs to Pak Cik’s age group and was together with me for four years about the time Malaya became independent. It is apparent from the brief notes above that he is far more active and mobile than Pak Cik, professionally and physically. To all intents and purposes Pak Cik looked at Ian as a typical English lad during the years we were together. On that account I thought he was conservative enough to make his home in good old England. Instead he opted to migrate to America and be an American citizen. Pak Cik, on the other hand, have returned to my birth place – “.. belut pulang ke lumpur”.

Ian is a truly hard engineer to the core. He was active professionally until he retired in June 2007, a good 15 years after Pak Cik had called it a day. It is interesting to view Ian’s work background and experience. Before he retired last year he had been involved in most aspects of mechanical engineering work ranging from operations and maintenance to design and development, with designs patented to his credit as well. As a true professional he has, on top of it, authored several scientific papers.

Ian has three children, all boys, and is proud of them. Pak Cik have three as well but with a girl among them. Ian may say he is one up on Pak Cik since a girl is just a nuisance! I may indeed agree with him. My classes at Almanar are full of girls, shrieking, chattering, yelling, you name it, driving Pak Cik crazy at times! However there is a plus point in having a daughter, an opportunity to have a son-in-law!

Now allow Pak Cik to reminisce back to the Merdeka time, when Ian and Pak Cik attended the same lecture theatre, enjoying cups of tea served by the same tea lady during tea breaks and queuing up for lunch (of fish and chips for me) in the same dining hall. Ian was an avid cyclist and I was not. Cycling was a pure necessity to shuttle me between my house of residence and the college. Pak Cik can never forget an occasion when I was hurrying to college one morning. The road had an invisible thin layer of ice. That being the arrival of my first winter and inexperienced, Pak Cik soon found myself flat on the road surface with coat, overcoat, hat, files and all, after trying to make a clever manoeuvre on my bike. I knew a group of English school girls were across the road. Quite naturally Pak Cik expected humbling smiles and giggles. Instead they did the unexpected, hurrying across the road to offer help to a silly foreign student. That was a lesson in humility and civic-mindedness. I wonder how many of Almanar girls would react in such a manner under a similar situation – furtive glances and suppressed giggles at best!

Ian often enthusiastically talked about his hiking and biking with friends all over the country during weekends. And Pak Cik had to be contented with my hitch-hiking trips which were planned for semester holidays only. Pak Cik could never see the fun of sweating it out hours and hours on a bicycle. “These crazy English guys!” I used to say to myself. How strange it is that at my age today I have begun to appreciate it. Alas, I have none of the energy to pump up and sweat it out on the road. Now I sit to admire the likes of Ian. I am full of envy whenever I think of my Malaysian friend, Ramli, who takes it in his stride to cycle all the way home from KL to KB in Kelantan, calling at Almanar for keropok lekur. (To appreciate the true prowess of this Malaysian cycling enthusiast friend, Pak Cik would certainly recommend his website: When Less Is More)



Once, Ian told me that, when he was as young as 16, he had already been cycling with his cousin of 14 to places in the south of England, doing a distance as much as 140 km a day. I too was 16 once but my bicycle was for going to school, a distance of about 5 km! Now let Pak Cik ask how many of you have seen a penny farthing ( a bike with a small and a huge wheel – see photo ) being ridden? Pak Cik have and it was Ian who demonstrated it. He rode one during a college carnival week. It was a great annual event known as Loughboro’ Rag Week when students of our college staged a week of festival, reputed for a very sizeable sum of money collected for charity. Ian surprised us all riding a penny farthing! During the parade the traffic stopped. Guess how one makes a stop on a penny farthing! Ian deftly stepped off on to the hood of a nearby car. The driver didn't seem to mind. Few realised how much pain he took to be sufficiently good at riding that machine. On one occasion he managed to get up on it and soon found himself propelled unstoppable toward a nearby canal. Fortunately he fell off away from the canal. What a hilarious sight it was!

That was 50 years ago, a year after Merdeka.

According to his e-mail Ian still cycles on top of many other activities. He is in possession of an old bike, a rickety one indeed. Look at the picture of a proud man with his old bike – or should I say a prized bike with its old owner? (No offence intended, Ian, if you happen to read this.)

In his e-mail above he made reference to a Tony Roylance, another close English friend of ours, who has passed away. Tony too was a successful engineer. It is sad to hear of his passing. We were close those days (see photo above).

Pak Cik will end this posting a message for Pak Cik’s ‘anak buah’. I am sad to see that very few of you take up a hobby, a healthy co-curricular activity. I wish you would adopt one and learn to love and enjoy it.

End of the tunnel, at last! - Part 1

“Pak Cik,you still remember me, don’t you ?” I looked hard at the short chubby figure dressed in baju kurung and smiling broadly at me. It was a familiar face indeed, unmistakable with dimpled cheeks and all. Her name was on the tip of my tongue. Noticing my stunned look and slight hesitation she volunteered, “Ana…” That was as far as she got. “Ana Sarda!” escaped from my mouth quite spontaneously. That name is by no means a common one but I had it uttered over and over again during the years she was at Almanar. It is like the title of an old favourite tune which escapes you when you need to name it. Someone needs just to say the first word and you get the rest.

Ana Sarda joined Almanar early in 1998, together with a group of form 1 pupils. She was a skinny figure of twelve, to-day a charming lass of twenty-two. Pak Cik have not seen her for a good seven years. How she has changed over the years to one who is free and easy at conversation and generous with her smile.

Then, in 1998, she was the eldest of six in the family. Her father retired early from the army but life had to go on with the growing family. Her mother, a good cook, prepared half-a-dozen types of ‘kueh’ every night and her father had it all delivered to a number of coffee stalls before dawn to catch customers on their way home from surau after their subuh prayers. Ana did her share of the work helping her mother. Consequently, she could only start doing her school work after nine o’clock. But that was not all as she had to wake up again by four, an unearthly hour for children of her age, to help out with the final part of her mother’s work, frying, boiling, packaging and so on.

That was Anna who, nonetheless, never failed to attend classes at Almanar with enthusiasm, albeit looking rather tired. Pak Cik came to learn of her nocturnal ‘co-curricular’ activity at home, and appreciating her position, I chose to ease my pressure on her. I even tolerated her occasional sleepy nods in class, fighting drowsiness. But Pak Cik was very worried particularly when it was barely three months before her important Form 3 examination (PMR). With hardly another choice I sought her father for a frank talk. It was such a relief to Pak Cik when he readily agreed to my suggestion that Anna be given the permission to stay with Pak Cik’s family during the months leading to PMR. Nuri then became her temporary home.



For some reason best known to Anna she left our house after the examination and simply vanished. There had not been a visit from her, not even a phone call. It was a great disappointment beyond words. And now, after seven long years of diappearance, she turned up. Pak Cik was least surprised when her second question was, “Are you angry with me, Pak Cik ?” I was truly lost for words. “Pak Cik I have finished my study at UPSI.”

Pak Cik and family offered her tea and sympathy with the sole intention of seeing her succeeding in life, and now she turned up to tell us just that. Should we grudge her for her disappearance and apparent lack of gratitude or should we be delighted with her success? She is now waiting for her posting as a teacher in chemistry, the subject she majored in.

A drop of tears for Ana!

It was a long dark tunnel and Ana has come to the end of it.

-----------------------

Foot-note:

1. While waiting to be posted, Ana has been seen at Almanar voluntarily giving help to
pupils with problems in science and maths.
2. Ana is now the eldest of eight, two more added into her family since she joined in
1998. She is hoping to take along her two young brothers, still in primary school, to
wherever she is being posted because she is determined to see their success in life as
well.

Ana has begun to live up to our motto : Berkhidmat kerana Tuhan untuk kemanusiaan

PIBG meeting of sorts at Almanar

For the first time in all these years, thirteen in all, Pak Cik decided to invite parents of new pupils for a get-together. Pak Cik opted for small groups of about twenty parents with the hope of promoting a more cordial gathering. Furthermore the Form One group of 2008 opened with quite a large number, close to forty.



Pak Cik began the afternoon with a simple introduction of Almanar, explaining the very reason for its existence – berkhidmat kerana Tuhan untuk kemanusiaan. (Ex-Almanar members must have heard enough of that, for sure.) Pak Cik tried to dispel the general notion that something offered for free was of lesser quality than one with a high price tag. Fortunately, in as far as the free tuition at Almanar was concerned, this was not difficult to sell. The performance of pupils associated with Almanar during the last several years had spoken for itself.

During the course of the ‘cakap-cakap’ session we talked, among other things, about Pak Cik’s rather critical view on TV, computers and hand-phones. Uncontrolled, the numerous entertainment programmes dished out over TV, and ingenious computer games are fast turning into a problem of addiction among children. It is so easy for the addicted ones to spend absorbing hours on TV or exciting hours on a computer. On the contrary, how tiresome and boring it is for the same pupils to concentrate for ten minutes on a school book!


A pupil not in possession of a hand-phone can be regarded ‘ketinggalan zaman’. Among certain groups of pupils that is how it is. It may be beyond the comprehension of many village folks that an unhealthy relationship between ‘shy’ kampong boys and girls can develop from the ‘misuse’ of this modern gadget. Sending SMS is private and is hardly noticeable and, hence, it causes no embarrassment. That extra courage to approach a girl or a boy is no longer necessary. Coffee shop ‘politicians’ lament endlessly over the worsening moral problems. Few indeed appreciate that an innocent looking hand-phone can be a serious beginning. In an urban environment, where parents are from the middle or upper class, modern gadgets are just things taken for granted. For that matter it is a norm to see two cars in front of a house. In a village where two bicycles are shared among a family and one bicycle for each member of a family is a luxury, a hand-phone does represent a different value, more so to a young teenager, and can cause a different effect, too.


Pak Cik cited to the parents an occasion when two girls exchanged glances as I was talking on my hand-phone in a room at Almanar, At the end my conversation one of the girls, wearing a cheeky smile on her face, asked Pak Cik the model of my hand-phone. They did not have to hide from Pak Cik that they very well knew it.

“Nur, it’s just a cheap Nokia, the cheapest Pak Cik could get for under RM 150/-.” I responded casually. “And what is the price of yours?” I asked, playing an admiring look at a hand-phone beside her book.

“It’s just over RM300, Pak Cik. This friend’s is worth nearly RM 400/-,” smiling at he girl beside her.

“Why are yours so expensive?” I asked, showing a genuine curiosity.

“Ours have cameras, Pak Cik,” was her reply. “Ask a silly question and get a silly answer,” I thought to myself.

Well, here is poor PakCik, totally lagging in ‘kecanggihan’, and these children, spending their annual bursary of RM600 from the government – being of poor family but way up front in the possession of something ‘canggeh’!

Indeed we have numerous problems at a village level, different from one to another, a fishing village or one in the interior. Pak Cik often wonder how many ‘experts’ and ‘pakar’ from our ‘menara gading yang bertaraf antara bangsa’ care to carry out this kind of social study and highlight the many ills in a kampong society. The Royal Professor Ungku Abdul Aziz did many of those during his days, hence his in-depth views of problems among Malay children and so on. A person like him could have thought of the need for an organization like Tabung Haji. He is convinced that Malay children in the villages need better nourishment for better brain. Alas, we are now all for turning our young ones to astronauts!

The parents listened to Pak Cik’s ‘cakap cakap’ and we all laughed light-heartedly. Finally we adjourned to Nuri where Mak Cik had some tea with ‘something-something’ simple prepared to end the occasion. That was an afternoon well spent.





Anak Pakcik No.2
-----------------------
Trust pakcik to jolt our senses to the reality of things! Indeed, the habitual act of taking things for granted. RM300 mobile phones? It is even scarier to find out from Azim (a form 1 student in urban KL) that some of his friends are walking with RM3000 handphones stuck in their pockets, and still complaining of lagging behind in terms of “yang tercanggih”! Ringgit and sense seldom come together.

For you dear Al-manar students, I envy you. You are with pakcik in his “prime time”, when he can sit back and share his life experience to all of you on a constant basis. His words oozes with virtues and wisdom, so children, listen up and pay attention!