Part 2 - Apa Khabar Orang Kampung?

The drive from the office to Gemencheh that Friday afternoon took me almost 2 hours. It was easy driving on the North South highway till the Simpang Ampat exit. I’m pretty familiar with this route as this is the same one I’d take when ever to go I send Faris back to college.

From the Simpang Ampat exit, I drove towards Tampin and then up to Gemencheh. In no time, sights of kampong houses in the Tampin and Rembau areas were in my view. Ahhh…it always felt good to be away from the hustle bustle of the city. I however wished the trunk road was bigger. It would make travel faster and safer. Heavy laden lorries were crawling on the road and over taking them had to be done with extra caution.

The program was supposed to start at 3.30pm. When I got there, my colleagues who arrived earlier to set up the training equipment and test the online tool were already waiting for me. They too, were very relieved upon seeing my presence and when I walked into the room I felt like a celebrity. Mana tak nya….. all eyes were on me. The group was different this time, there were both adults and children.

Junior learners

I must say trainees enjoyed learning how to use the online communication tool. Now they could blog – write postings about their activities in the kampong and exchange news with the other online communities on the Portal. Well, that’s the wonderful part about being in a cyber community. So near, so close and distance is NOT a factor anymore (kalau tak percaya, the Makcik Bloggers can vouch for this..heh…heh)

The adults group

Halfway through my session, it poured!! It was so heavy and making myself heard was a real challenge. Fuhhh…I have never employed so much of my lungs and diaphragm in projecting my voice, ensuring that it was loud enough to fill the entire room. Terasa macam dalam kelas vocal Cikgu Siti Hajar in AF pulak. Lontarkan suara….lontarkan. Semput dibuatnya lepas tu.

Intermittently, in my explanation, I used the Neghori speak. Ahhh…lagi suka lah the kids. Cikgu eh, buleh speaking!! Har..har…kau jangan main-main jang, cikgu kampong kek Pilah yo, naik motosika pun buleh sampai. Ontah-ontah omak kau pun cikgu kona :) And that got the kids roaring with laughter!!!

It felt great having to share knowledge and seeing the participants enjoying themselves, such an opportunity didn’t come often I guess. And this was also the reason I agreed to doing the session. Nothing beats seeing the satisfied looks on the children’s faces. Strip off my corporate title, the management position, I’m just another teacher, wanting to impart the knowledge that I have. And this was just what I love doing.

The training session finished at about 6.00pm. Because of the heavy rain earlier, we didn’t get to go for the tea break. I haven't actually had any food intake since breakfast and my good ole tummy wasn’t too happy with the way I was treating it.

Two exemplary senior citizens..age is not a deterrent in knowledge pursuit

Before wrapping up the day's work, I did a quick brief to the client on our deliverables and they were happy with what they saw earlier. Legaaaaa……

I was to put up at A’Famosa Resort that night. But Nissa had called me earlier saying that Mercy was not well and she wanted me to come home that night, tak kisah lah how late. Since everyone in my team was like lapar giler, we decided to go for a quick bite at the near-by kedai makan. Hujan, lapar…yours truly telah habiskan one plateful of fried kwaytiau!!! Dah kenyang I was ready to head back to Shah Alam. The next day, I was to drive down again for the launch. Haiyaaa…jadik PLUS ronda lah nampak nya :(

During my drive home, I called Faris and asked if he wanted to come back to Shah Alam with me. The poor boy was actually on his way to do a test and he said if I could wait till he completed his test, he’d come accompany me home. I drove to UniKL and did my solat at the mosque. I was so tired that I dozed off while waiting for him.

We arrived safe and sound in Shah Alam around 11.00pm. Half way during the journey, Faris took over as the driver. I was too tired and could hardly open my eyes. Tau-tau je dah sampai rumah….hai, entah macamanalah budak ni pecut agaknya….mentang-mentang Mama dia dah terlenaaaaaa…….