REMBAU MOST REMEMBERED

My late grandmother's house in Rembau is as interesting  as the other grandmother's house in Temerloh. However, nobody lives there anymore. Before my grandmother passed away, she moved out and since then the house was left vacant. The last time I went back to Rembau was last year. Even from far, I could see that the house was falling apart. It had become an old and dilapidated house. Obviously, it would not last long enough for the eyes of a few other generations. When I looked at the house, I could almost see myself years back as a child running in and out of the house.There were too many memories to share. Some still give me the chills! 

Let me begin by describing the house first. It was a big wooden house with three different parts. The first part was the kitchen which was attached to somewhat like a levelled family area by a few steps. Adjoining was the second part of the house.You know what, this side of the house was actually the spookiest of all. It was like a hallway, big and gloomy. I do not remember seeing any rays of sunlight penetrating through the holes in the walls or the roof. If you ask me, I would rather go out of the house through the kitchen door to get to the front part of the house than to just walk through this hallway. 

Finally, the front part where the living room was. To the best of my memory, this was the least spacious and spookiest of all. We often spent sometime there for bull sessions.You must be wondering why I was so scared of the hallway. Even thinking about it gave me goosebumps! 

I could still recall the night when my sisters and I slept there, right in the middle of it. We huddled closely together as it was so dark with no shed of lights at all. We were already fast asleep when we were awakened by small stones being thrown at us from the ceiling. I did force myself to look at the direction from where the stones came flying but could not see a thing, just stones and more stones being thrown at us! That's it! I told myself. I grabbed my blanket and together with my sisters, we ran out of the hallway screaming at the top of our voice! What an experience!

But do not get me wrong. There were many other wonderful stories about this kampung of mine. It's just that what I remember most about the house is that incident ! Maybe I will share with you more stories some other time!

ANGAH

It was indeed a special day and the ambience was simply blissful. After all the hard work, the students and the teachers deserved this special celebration. Angah  kept on expressing herself excitedly, to the extent that I had to remind her of social graces. She was just so happy to be there, meeting the teachers and old friends! We were at SHAKS, her former school for the 2012 prize giving day; a day when teachers and students received special recognition for their excellent academic performance and achievement. I believe that special occasions like this will serve as a stepping stone as well as a motivational drive for them to continue giving their best in the future. Congratulations and Thank you so much to all the teachers in SMK Sultanah Hajjah Kalsom from the bottom of our heart !

"RAYA" ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS!

 

google.com

WISHING ALL MUSLEMS SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDIL FITRI AND MAAF ZAHIR BATIN

LETTING GO

Last Monday, I would say, was one of the saddest moments in my life as a mother. “When I sent my eldest daughter, Nadhrah off for her foundation course in Shah Alam,  I found myself overwhelmed by an incredible feeling of melancholy. I was sad down to my bones.”  

I took these lines (make a few changes) by Randye Hoder in Motherlode at http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com who wrote about “Struggling to Let Go of  My  College-Student Daughter.”  

Hoder  wrote , “ Regardless of how often she comes home, or how many times a day we chat or text, Emma is now gone in a far grander sense. She is well on the road to adulthood, and from this, she will never return.I know full well, of course, that this is completely normal. And I take pride and joy in seeing Emma make her way so confidently and capably. She is, after all, doing exactly what she is supposed to do. She’s going to be just fine. I know, too, that we will always remain close.Nonetheless, Emma’s going to college has signaled the passing of something that I cherished — her childhood and my relationship to her as a child — and I can’t help being a little sad about that. ”

What Hoder wrote  matched my feelings perfectly. This is exactly what I am going through right now.  It’s quite comforting to know that I am not alone “struggling with this transition”.  

Nevertheless, I have great faith that my Nadhrah  will make it through. For Allah swt will not lay on us a burden greater than the strength we have, to bear. In Shaa Allah. 

 

COLOURS OF KMPh

My first meeting with these two students was more of a coincidence. The time was 5 pm. I was all ready to go home. It was just a matter of  pushing in my chair and putting everything back into places. That was when I heard voices behind me saying, “Teacher, are you going home ?” I turned around and said, “ Yes dear, it's already 6 .” Then, I noticed the worried look on their faces. I toned down and asked, gently this time, “ Yes, how can I help you ?” That was like giving them green lights! They went on and on telling me about their problems. To cut it short, I said yes, I would help them and the next hour was spent on  providing solutions to their problems. Since that day, we became close “friends” as they would often come for consultation. 

Well, like in any other colleges, other than teaching, the lecturers are also involved in the activities organized by the college. Therefore, you should always prepare yourself for  unexpected tasks! “Lucky me”, I was appointed as the coordinator of the Musical Sketch Competition and in charged  of preparing the students to represent the college at the Division Level! To make it worse, it was the first time the Division  held such a competition! Mummy Help! At this age, creativity seemed like an obsolete word! I desperately needed help! So, I asked for the help from another three colleagues; Ize, Nana and Ling Ling. Together we stayed with the students and  made improvisations where necessary.

Now, let’s talk about the actors. My  my, guess who was in the list. One of them was the Indian student,  who was seeking for help the other day! Talking about what goes around comes around!It was me who needed help this time ! With him were 4 other students who really added  colours to the whole scene! These students were no ‘ordinary’ people on stage. They did not only have the right attitude  but each possessed the traits of a good actor. They were very determined and talented, had lots of patience and loved challenges as well ! In other words, they could be described as true professional pretenders in their own way ! 

The competition was held from 1 March to 3 March at Glory Beach resort in Port Dickson, Negri Sembilan. On the day of the competition, only one word could describe these students, Nervous ! Actually to tell you the truth I was nervous too ! These were the last few words said to them before they went into the auditorium, quoting Nana, “ Ok, this is d Day. This is the time to show them what you got. So, don’t try your best BUT Do Your Best !

Later that day, I was informed of the results. Alhamdulillah, we were second out of fifteen colleges ! However, I did not share the good news with the students as it was supposed to be announced officially the next day. They did ask about the results and  I had a very hard time pretending not to know. Phew ! Before going to sleep that night, I sent them the following message :

Hi there! REMEMBER 2 get a good night sleep 2night. Do not worry about 2morrow as everything happens for a reason. 2 win or 2 lose, that’s not the question. 2 me, all of you are still number one !

Seenu, you are one in a million !

Rebecca, you’re awesome !

Cynthia, you’re full of surprises !

Tung, you are electrifying And

Kai Shi, I will always REMEMBERH you !

Thank you so much 2 all of you from the bottom of my   Heart ! 
Love, Mdm Anis.
 

Little did they know that I was actually trying to give them hints about the placing! The next day when they were announced as the second place winners, bundles of joy were written all over their faces! Only then, the message became clear ! Gothca ! Now, who is the best pretender among them ? Ha! Ha ! Congratulations Seenu, Becca, Cynthia, Tung and Kai Shi ! It was  a great pleasure working with all of you! All of  You Are Indeed Beautiful Colours Of KMPh ! 

KAMPUNG MEMORIES

       This is another childhood memory which I would never forget. Years back, when I was still very young, my parents often took us back to our village in Temerloh. It was a time to look forward to because kampung life was always full of excitement. At the kampung, we would put up at our grandmother's house, usually for a few days. You should see the house! It was a large and long wooden house with  no electricity supply. Hmmm.. Now you can imagine how things were at night. The house was lit by only a few pelita and we had to carry them with us around the house. Therefore, certain parts of the house were kept in the dark when we shifted from one part of the house to another. 

God, I remember sleeping alone in a room, totally in the dark! My mom took out the pelita thinking that I was already fast asleep! I was too scared to move an inch and kept to just one position! I recited all the duas that I knew until I finally fell asleep. I also remember how we would gather in the living hall and mom would relate some stories about the house. One which I could never forget was about the visit by an uninvited guest. She came late in the night , landed herself on the roof and let out eerie laughs. Then, she flew around the house and scratched the walls loudly....eee scary....Not just that, sometimes the roar of a tiger could be heard since the house was near to  a jungle.

       Another interesting thing about my grandmother's house was the toilet. It was neither inside nor near the house. Aaaa....You had to do your 'business' at this one spot in a rubber estate next to her house. Ha Ha! No walls, no water supply; just you and rows of rubber trees! It was like enjoying nature while business was being done! To clean up yourself, you had to walk back to the house which was actually a few metres away! Eee, I remember walking like a monkey back to the house! What an experience! Ha! Ha! I was lucky because there were no naughty eyes around. However, lack of facilities was never a reason to stop us from balik kampung. There were so many other fun and interesting things to do than to worry about it. For example running up and down the doorsteps like almost thousands of times, swimming in the river, climbing up trees, picking fruits like rambutan, duku, langsat and manggis fresh from the trees, taking evening strolls in the rubber estates, chasing after chickens and ducks around the house and also listening to the jungle sounds at night. How I miss those days...

        Years passed and we seldom go back except for special occasions. Ever since grandma passed away, things have never been the same again. My grandmother's house has been rented out and we do not visit the place anymore. What 's left  now are just memories.