Not many know that I once went to a boarding school. Yes, I DID. But this disarrayed budding teenager, at that time just couldn’t keep herself in the compounds of the prestigious academic body for long. Well, it simply meant that I left, chickened out, fled, vamoose, cabut after the first academic year ended.
MRSM Kuantan, Alor Akar, Kuantan (pic courtesy Rosdi's FB)
Nothing was wrong with the academia there. The unsettledness came very much from within me. And obviously this took a toll on my studies and had caused a lot of unhappiness in my dad. I recall putting a fuss about the whole thing but dad was adamant with his decision. In the end, I consented and I must say that was one of the wisest thing I’ve ever conformed to. Guess fathers know best huh??
I missed my boarding school friends during the early days after my transfer but being in a day school did seem to offer new adventures to this newbie in town. Mana tak nyer, after school I had to rush alongside with the Georgian boys (the KGV boys lahhh….they were huge and good looking too..heh..heh) for a seat on the public bus. Siap panjat ikut tangga belakang lagi. And the usual trick was to throw the school bag into the bus and that would automatically “chop” me the seat. By hook or by crook I had to get onto that first bus home as I had to rush for tuition classes later in the afternoon. Nak makan lagi, nak tido jap (wajib wooo..) and nak cycle to the class lagi. No way I was going to be left behind to take the “bas belakang”.
That was just a teaser bit about the my life story during the five years of my secondary studies in a day school in Seremban. If I recall now how it was back then, well, I just have this to say, “The experience made me what I am today.”
There were ups and downs, of course, and they came in many forms. But the one that almost freaked me out was the expectations of a first born and being an anak cikgu (those days anak-anak cikgu were the talk of town…so and so dah poi England buek medic..etc..etc..) God is GREAT (and must have been the doas of my dad) and Alhamdullilah, I did pretty okay in my SPM exam. Thus, dapat lah naik kapal terbang (a real big deal at that time) and go to the States to further my studies. And the rest is history. You know, I know and no need to cerita so long winded anymore.
So that was a quick blast to the past.
Now enter the Broadband, Internet, social networking era. Facebook, Blogger, Flickr, Picasa and the whole cyber networks come into the picture.
The whole group...one very ceria bunch (pic courtesy Sam's FB)
It must have been during my early days in Facebook that I did a search on that boarding school that I went to some thirty one years ago. I almost fell off my chair when some familiar names began appearing. OMG…OMG!!! Talk about jejak kasih the cyberway.
Dr Norintan & Marini
I did the first move lah kan by requesting to be friends with those names that were familiar to me. One friend led to the other, and as the name says it – social networking, Facebook did most of the connecting. Nasib baik lah, after years of doing the disappearing act, my boarding school friends could still recognize me and were kind enough to accept me into the circle. Thank you guys, this meant a lot to me.
Thus, when the invite to a get together last Monday night came, I prompted a positive response. Never mind what the turn out was going to be like, but I was sure going to make an appearance. The venue selected was a popular Kopitiam in Bangi. Errr….tak familiar lah pulak with the Bangi area. Anyway after checking for directions with colleagues who reside in Bangi, I was pretty much confident I would be able to find the place.
And what happened when we met?? Lots and lots of “ooosss….”, “ahhhhssss….”, “oh my god…..” Biasalah girls with our overwhelming blasts of emotions. The guys pulak…cool je. But one thing for sure we were one very noisy lot. Lucky thing we were not thrown out by the kopitiam folks!!
Che Fuzlina & Batman
“Anak you berapa?”, “You kerja kat mana?”, “Stay kat mana?” were the so familiar exchanges of information going round the table. After 31 years, and upon doing quick homework at flicking through the ole school album earlier that day, I remember most (errr almost, truth be told) of the girls. But the challenge was in establishing the face to the name of the guys. Gosh, I was one embarrassed soul when trying to recall who’s who. But now, since dah kenal, I’m sure I could spot them from a distance…heh..heh.
Helium Class beauties and brains (of course..) L - R Standing Oat, Dr Norintan, Azidah.
Seated L - R Linda & Mimi
L - R Mimi, Dr Norintan, Azidah & Moi (pic courtesy - Dr Norintan)
It seemed like we could talk the whole night but like all good things, it had to come to an end. It was way past midnight when I excused myself. Jauh gak nak drive from Bangi to Shah Alam in the wee hours of the morning. Plus takut juga what if orang di dalam nanti tak mau buka pintu (ni bukan case aci-aci bukak pintu…but ane-ane…please don’t lock me out!!), or worst still “license minum-minum di kopitiam” kena tarik ker…Hahh, yang ni lagi haru!!!
Anyway, thank God none of the above happened. But I did take the wrong exit and that caused me to detour like some 4kms from my actual route. Obviously, it was difficult trying to doze off that night. Culprit?? One, the coffee and two, flashbacks by the masses of the good days in Kuantan.
MRSM Kuantan Batch4 (1977 - 1981) (pic courtesy Sam's FB)
So to all kuatagh81, I am so, so glad we met that night. Moga diberkati silaturrahim yang dijalin and berkekalan sentiasa...InshaAllah.
