THE 40 YEARS OLD SECRET

My classmates at Sultan Ibrahim School Pasir Mas. L - R (sitting of course since I am standing) Tuan Haji Azmy Omar Al Ahmadi, Tuan Haji Ab. Rahman Ismail.

Between the three of us we have been keeping a secret. It is now more than 40 years on and the secret is still intact. We haven't forgotten about it since it is still fresh in our mind. Everytime we meet we will mention it and contemplate on telling the persons involved as we guess they wouldn't mind about it. Their anger if there is still any would be gone by now. The last time I broached the idea of revealing the secret to the persons concerned, the other would restrain me from doing it.
On Sunday the 12th of April we met for breakfast at Tuan Haji Azmy's place and took the above photos to remind ourselves that our secret is still a secret to our other classmates.
Hopefully one day we will reveal the secret to the persons concerned and I believe they will just laugh about it.
I will reveal the secret once we decide that it has been long enough and we just forgive and forget among the persons concerned as we are getting old and may not live long enough to ask for forgiveness. Afterall what we did was in the line of duty.
To those classmates of mine of the batch of 1968, can you guess what is the secret about?

My Ex Teacher

My ex teacher Dr. Vijaya Samaravickrama was featured in the Sunday Star. After 50 years of teaching Dr. Vijaya has decided to retire though the desire to teach still burns bright within him. Read the full article on this link below:

http://thestar.com.my/education/story.asp?file=/2007/10/21/education/18942639

To Dr. Vijaya, I say thank you for all the knowledge that I have gained from you. Enjoy your retirement and may god bless you with the best of health.

Read my earlier blog about him here.

Friday Oct, 26 2007

He had just switched on his handphone to call his wife in KL since he had switched it off during the flight from KL to Kota Bharu. I managed to call him after failing to reach him since 8.30 am when he was supposed to reach Kota Bharu. How surprised he was when I identified myself and he was wondering how on earth I managed to get his phone number. (He admitted that he forgot that he gave me the number via email 2 days ago. Age must have caught up with him I guess).
Mr. Vijaya immediately came out from the venue where he was scheduled to lecture on Buddhism at 10.00 am. He gave me a warm hug. After 45 years of seperation, the meeting was definitely nostalgic. It was then 9.15 am and I know at the most I have 30 minutes of his time.
After the usual how are you and all that preliminaries, I updated him on who is still around in Pasir Mas that he once knew. He was happy to know that En. Mahmood Yaacob, En. Zain Mahmood his former teacher colleagues at Sultan Ibrahim Primary School Pasir Mas and fellow Kirkby mates are still around and so is En Ahmad Rahman the former HM of Sultan Ibrahim Primary School. He was sad to know that Mahmood Mohd Zain who played The Witch in his MacBeth has passed away some years earlier.

Though he would be staying back in Kota Bharu for the night, his schedule of lectures was full till the night. He promised to allocate the evening to meet his friends and us his ex-students the next time he visits Kota Bharu which is done twice a year.

By his admission, he is not internet savvy and was arm twisted to use the email by his boss at Taylors' College that all future notices will be via email only and if he fails to attend meetings, he will have to face the consequences. A staff of Taylors' was assigned to assist him to learn how to email.

Sir, its only your refusal to learn that prohibit you from enjoying the good of the internet. If only you would open yourself to it, there is so much more that you can contribute to society and your religion via the net especially on the subject of World Religions which you specialize in.

Mr. Vijaya tried to dissuade me from addressing him as Sir, just call him Vijaya as we are now friends he said. I told him that he is the rare few that I will call Sir in this life, so please allow me to address him as that.

The staff at Taylors College addressed him as Dr. Vijaya when I was trying to first get in touch with him. So I have been presuming that he had done his Doctorate which doesn't seem to be the case as he admitted during the meeting. My apology to Mr. Vijaya and everyone else for the misrepresentation.

Taylors' College wont be retiring him just yet. They failed to find a suitable replacement to this teacher called Vijaya Samaravickrama to teach on Drama and World Religions. Thus he will contribute to society the way he knows best, by teaching.

Need I tell you who is the man in the white shirt?

Hostel Life - Part 2

Ashaari Amin (now Tuan Haji) was instrumental in getting me back to stay in the school hostel.

Prior to that I was staying with my foster mother on the fringe of Pasir Mas town. We were in form 4 then. Reading story books was my main priority then compared to studying for my exam. Since School Certificate of Examination ws only due in 1968, I thought studying for the exam can be done during the year itself.

During a discussion on Biology, Ashaari asked me to describe the alimentary system. He was horrified to know that I couldnt describe it. The alimentary system was elementary to students of a science class who was due to sit for the School Certificate of Examination in slightly more than a year's time.

He immediately asked me to move in to the hostel and promised to talk to the hostel master for a place for me. I definitely qualify to stay in the hostel with my home being located 10 miles away. Compare that to Ashaari's home which was just 1 mile away from the gate of the school.

A short letter addressed to the Hostel Master Mr. G. Thanda and handing the letter personally to him was all it took to enable me to join the hostel life for the second time.

I cant recall the exact date of my return to the hostel nor could I recall how I carried my beddings and few belongings to the hostel. Being a school prefect I was automatically appointed as the hostel prefect. Life changed for the better for me since now I will be going to class without an empty stomach. Meals will be regular. There will be at least 5 meals a day including mid morning tea break and afternoon tea. There will also be games in the evenings and prep class after dinner till 11 pm for the seniors. Those who were in form 5 will continue studying till the wee hours. The regular study among peers helped me with my grades.

Mr G Thanda demonstrated how to be an effective Hostel Master. As a hostel master we rarely see him around the hostel except during the occassional walk around the dorm. One day during prep class, one of us by the name of Abdul Rahman Hasan Koya (now deceased) fooled around by going out of the class and made silly dance movement. The next minute we saw Mr. Thanda walked over to him and in the sight of everyone he gave him several tight slaps on both cheeks. He felled down and Mr Thanda helped to bring him up on his feet then the slapping was continued . That was the one and only time that we saw Mr. Thanda punished any one of us and the impact was long lasting. Though we don't see him around, he could be somewhere in the darkness watching us.

One of the most memorable incident in my hostel life that year was when I got drenched with a small bucket of water while in deep slumber one night. I must have been boastful after prep class and somebody thought that I needed to be taught a lesson for that. The way they usually did it was to place a container full of water on your mosquito net while you were sound asleep. The weight of the container full of water will gradually lower the container until it finally reached a certain level whereby any body movement will make the container spill its content on you. It was more like a time bomb that will drench your body and not only your blanket but also the matress. I got mine on on a night when Pasir Mas was at the height of the monsoon season and flood water was nearing the level of overflowing the Kelantan river bank.

I was so frustrated that I took my revenge on the most innocent of persons who happened to sleep on the bunk above me. The victim cursed aloud and the dormitory light was switched on. With lots of guilt, I pretended to be asleep. The person who slept above me was none other than my best friend Ghani Senik (now Tuan Haji). So Tuan Haji, as I have confessed today in my email reply to you, I was the one who caused your cold discomfort that night. I believed many knew that I was the one who did it but they just didnt point me out.

There was not really much to recall for the year of 1967. More so when the teachers boycotted all extra curricular activities and we were left on our own to do any activites.

Part 3 will describe my final year of stay in the hostel of Sultan Ibrahim Secondary School Pasir Mas. It constituted the most memorable part of my hostel life.

The Teachers Of Old - The Secondary School Teachers 1964

It was 1964 and we had passed the Standard Six exam to enable us to join the Sultan Ibrahim Secondary School in form one. The unfortunate ones who failed the exam had either to drop out or join another school called Sekolah Lanjutan and pass the Lower Certificate of Examination whereby they can rejoin us in form four.

Our form teacher in form one was Mr. J.V.Moses. An Indian teacher who came from another state which we didnt get to find out. We remember him as a teacher who walked at a very fast pace. He seemed to be more or less like Mr. Philias Fogg in the book Around The World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne. He commuted daily from Kota Bharu by taking the bus to Seberang Pasir Mas, take a ferry across the Pasir Mas River then walk the two kilometers to the school. Since our class was in the afternoon session, walking to school in the hot afternoon sun was a torture to him. For him it was a daily routine. We joked among us that like Mr. Philias Fogg, Mr. JV Moses must have counted his every steps that he walked to school. It was not really confirmed if he did count his steps as non of us dare ask him about it.

Mr. JV Moses encouraged us to read lots of story books. This was where the habit of reading was inculcated in many of us. We are indebted to him for this beautiful habit. He told us to read books by Enid Blyton which suited us because of the simple vocabulary that she used. The Famous Five became the rage of the class. Everytime we read her books, we imagined ourselves to be in England. Every recess hour would see some of us rushing to the library to grab any copies available on the shelves. Being a small library, the stocks were of course very limited. From the Famous Five by Enid blyton we progressed to The Hardy Boys and The Beagles.

Being a non Malay speaking teacher Mr. JV Moses helped us alot in our quest to learn English. Like our experience with Mr Vijaya in the primary school, English is the only language that we could communicate with Mr JV Moses. So like it or not we have to speak English with our teacher. The learning process was very fast.

Food was Mr. JV Moses greatest problem while in Pasir Mas. He couldnt get used to the food available here. Thats the reason he had to commute from Kota Bharu. The State Education officcer and the Headmaster must have taken pity on Mr. JV Moses because he was later tranferred to Sultan Ismail College in Kota bharu and thus saved him from his daily misery. Our loss of such a dedicated teacher was the gain for the student of Sultan Ismail College.

Sad to say we lost contact with Mr. JV Moses. How nice it would be if we could contact him again to say thank you for the knowledge we have gained from him.

Hostel Life - Part One

Hostel life was the most memorable part of my life. Till this day I vividly remember those days when we lived in a hostel within the school compound at Sultan Ibrahim School (SIS) in Pasir Mas, Kelantan. I had the opportunity to experience life in the the same hostel twice. The first time was when I was in standard six way back in 1963 and again when I was in form 4 in 1967 till I left the school after completing my form five that was after doing my School Certificate and Malaysian Certificate Examination in 1968.

The same hostel catered for both the primary and the secondary school. As such there was a mix from the smallest from standard one to form 5 later from the sixth form living in the hostel. Later the school opened up Sixth Form classes for the Malay medium students. English medium students had to go to Sultan Ismail College in Kota Bharu to do their sixth form and sit for the Higher School Certificate examination.

During my first stint at the hostel, the hostel master was Mr Vijaya Samaravickrama. Mr Vijaya was my class teacher when I was in Special Malay Class 1 and teaches us again when I was in Standard Six.

Each hostelite was given a a bed. Its either a lower berth or the upper ones depending on the availability. They were the Vono Steel double decker beds. The seniors will ofcourse had the first choice. You have to bring your own beddings including mattress, pillow, bedsheet, blanket and pillow covers. The kind of matress you bring depended on how wealthy you are. The son of an Army captain brought a dunlopillo mattress with a matching pillow. Others mostly own locally made kapok mattress and pillows. Making up bed is the most important ritual in the morning. An inspection by the hostel prefect on duty with everyone standing by their bed ensured that all beds are made before going to breakfast. Bedsheet must be unruffled and the sides firmly tucked under the matress. The blanket must also be neatly folded and placed on the end where we lay our feet when we sleep. Anybody who failed to make up bed will be punished by the prefect and made to clean up the toilet the next day much to the enjoyment of the persons who were on roster duty for the day to clean up the toilet. The toilet will be inspected too to ensure that those on roster did it properly. Failure means having to do it again before being allowed to go for breakfast.

Another personal allocation is the cupboard for the seniors and cubicles for the juniors or kids. The cubicles are also known as lockers. This is where our personal belongings were kept. The prefect may also announce a locker inspection and everyone will standby their lockers to for inspection. This ensured that lockers were neatly kept at all times.

Another regulation maintained during Mr Vijaya's time was for every hostelite to have their own set of fork and spoon for dinner. This is personally owned and used for dinner. Everyone are required to use for and spoon during dinner. Dinner was a quiet affair and no onle is allowed to speak during dinner. Even noise from the fork and spoon is not allowed. So evryone must observe the best way to use the fork and spoon so that no noise is produced. When things got noisy, a sharp rebuke from the hostel headboy or from one of the prefect at the main table never failed to bring complete silence.

This habit was inculcated in us so early in life that till this day I am still observing it and passing it on to my children. How annoyed I would be if I were to hear people eating with loud noise when using the fork and spoon in a restaurant. It shows a poor upbringing of the person involved.

For those who were on roster for the day must also water the flowers using either watering cans or water hoses. The older students usually get to use the hoses and the poor small kids had to carry the watering cans or pails.
Those who are not assigned to do watering the flowers were free to play games or practice for the sport events.

Preps or study is done after dinner. Everybody must be in prep class. A hostel prefect will take care of one group which did their prep in the school classrooms. They will only be released at 10.00 pm to go back to the hostel. Lights would be out at 11.00 pm.

Very few of us could afford to send our clothes to be washed by cleaners. Those who love to wash daily do it whenever they were free. Weekends were washing days for most

Once a week we had a free day. The free day bagan on Friday night. Freedom means we were free to go out of the school compound but not allowed to go home. The free day will continue until 6.00 pm on Saturday. Sunday was a school day in Kelantan.

Such were the regulations in a hostel. The hostel prefect were the enforcer and not many dared to break them. Some who dared to sneak out to town on non free nights found their beddings outside the hostel the next day and were told to move out of the hostel by the hostel master. thats how we were disciplined in those days.

I left the hostel after the Standard Six Examination.

Part 2 will be about my second stint in the hostel some years later when i was in form 4.

My School Days

It was 1967 and we were in form 4 at Sultan Ibrahim Secondary School in Pasir Mas. It was then the only English school in this small town. Our Biology teacher Mr. Toh Kin Woon (Now Datok Dr) sent us on a field study to study various topics for our ecology class. The class of 40 were divided into four groups each comprising 10 students. Each group was given different topics to cover such as padi farming, rubber small holding and some others .

My group was comprised of 5 Malays and 5 Chienese. This is an all boys group. We had to walk a few miles for our field assignment since not all members could not afford to even own bicycles what more motorbikes as often is the norm nowadays among school children. We enjoyed the 4 miles walk to the village as we passed by beautiful chinese houses with peculiar curved roof. These wooden houses remain standing to this day. According to Liong Siok Hui of The Star, this curved roof seemed to be only pertinent to Kelantan.

Our subject was Pig Rearing. Upon discussion among the group, we decided to visit the nearest farm operated by a chinese farmer in Kampong Mekasar. There are also pig farms operated by Thai farmers in tumpat which is quite a distance away.

Pigs are reared in unsheltered pens with wooden fences and earthen floor. This contributed to the muddied state of the sty which emanated a strong stench. Believe it or not not a single one of us seemed perturbed by all this unhealty state of the subject and everyone of us took it as a matter of necessity for our study.

While having a look at the sty and its conditions, our presence attracted the attention of the owner who lived in a house nearby. After a short explanation by our chinese member as to the reason of our visit, the owner who is about 40 years old, opened up and agreed to answer our questions on the subject of pig rearing. We had our informations on how pig was reared in the traditional ways and the economics of it from the farmers experience and perspective. We realised that he was a very hardworking farmer as everyday he had to collect leftovers from restaurants in the town to feed his animals since they are voracious feeders.

Our next stop then was the veterinary office in Pasir Mas. The Vet then was a Mr Raja who was a very friendly officer. He assigned his Veterinary Assistant Che Husin Che Musa who answered more questions on pig rearing in the district. The questions were mostly on statistics, modern rearing techniques, diseases of pigs etc.

Armed with ample information about the local industry, we were able to put up a very creditable presentation to the class and deftly answered questions fielded by the class. Mr Toh Kin Woon was very impressed with our work and we gloated on the accolade.

Now of course you would want to find out what is so great about this excercise? I didnt see it as significant either until later in life when Major (R) Chong Chow Kar who was a member of the group sent emails to our classmates reminding us of this field trip we made as students during our schooldays. He reminded us of the camaraderie that we had among friends. It reminded us of our blindness as to the colour of our skin. It reminded us that nothing is taboo among us if we can see the tree from the forest. Do you think Mr Toh Kin Woon had the audacity to assign Malay students in Kelantan to study pig rearing as a subject for field study way back in 1967?. I guess no one would dare even suggest such a subject now for fear of being labelled as insensitive to ones culture and religion. If the assignment were to be done now I could envisage that students would go home and tell their parents about it and hell and fury would be unleashed in all the media and ptotests would be held by the so called guardian of morality. Remember PAS had a field day riling Pak Lah when he was put in charge of controlling the JE Virus when the industry was hit by it.

Upon reflections, I guess the education back then was far superior compared to what it is now. Schools seemed to be the best avenue to bind us together. We respected our teachers so much and regarded them as our mentor. When we did something wrong we were slapped in front of the class for everyone else to act as a lesson for evryone. We didnt whine abit or rushed home to tell our parents because doing so would elicit further beatings from our own father who would feel ashamed of us for doing something wrong in school.

Since it was so good I often wonder why did we change the system. Above all I regard the conversion to Malay as the medium of instruction as the biggest mistake by the country's leaders. It put the Malays at a disadvantage more than the others. I will dwell more on this in my newer postings.