Hair off the Scalp!

Visa application is just *&%#$@@& (insert random profanities).

OK,in the spirit of Ramadhan, I need to stop cussing, bawling, and cussing some more. O' Allah, give me strength to stave off the nascent anger and madness...

Need to get my head checked. Pronto.

Visitation...

So, I once again visited ASiS last Friday. Before you people start brandishing your contempt in my face and calling me a school-obsessed prig, I would like to state that the visit was the first since eons and I was there for the sole purpose of bidding farewell to the teachers and whoever whose paths intersected with mine. There were a few things, changes obviously, that begged the attention of my scrutinizing eyes. Here's a list for a long passage on this is bound to become arduous.

1. The first building that one will pass after passing the main gate is the library. Although I have no idea whatsoever of the current status of the place (previously, it was, for a greater part of the year, inaccessible), I saw a promising addition to the block. I think it's a computer lab. Students were filing out of the room when I arrived. Promising because a computer lab is a surefire recipe to attract students (oh well, librarians mostly) to use the library. The place has been in a sorry state for a long time. It’s about time for a change to occur.

2. Puan Rohaiza’s room, my personal haunting back then, is now equipped with a fridge! Wonder why the idea didn’t hit her when we were still around. It could have been a splendid place to stash food for use in the time of ‘crisis’ (it being free period). The introduction was a wee bit too late for any students to appreciate. Not that she grants entrance to just simply everyone…

3. There’s now a little Aladdin! Of course the real guy was still there, having returned from Seri Puteri where he wasn’t too keen of staying. The girls must have frightened him… Anyways, I miss the banters we shared over food pricing and quality… The best thing was, he still remembered most of my batch mates.

4. Bendahara, the house that I belonged to, tops the house system ranking. We’re, or rather aptly put, they’re leading by 2000+ points. Bendahara, I think, remains as the only house whose points went below zenith before making a meteoric rise to clinch the House of The Year award (whoa, exaggeration!), all in the same year. Of course we had to slave away our much treasured freedom on weekends, doing all sorts of gotong-royong imaginable to redeem all the lost points…

5. Cikgu Bad, my Form 4 Physics teacher, had defected to a new school. Cikgu Azwan, my Form 4 Chemistry teacher, is now a dad!

6. The oh-so-nice-and-friendly makcik cleaners were replaced by Indonesian workers. I see it as a highly dubious action. I know that the pay is cheap but to give way to them over local makciks who wish to earn something (or perhaps, they are the sole breadwinners in the families) is just ridiculous! There’s also a question on the security of students’ belongings.

7. For some strange reasons, I didn’t know that there was an expansion of the Staff Room until this visit. The renovation, which included the banishment of the adjacent Physics lab, was completed early this year. Teachers now sit in low-hedged cubicles, replete with a sitting area. In short, the place was far less scattered and disorganized. Again I was wowed by this improvement.

8. The place was still abuzz with the success of forging a partnership with some boarding school in Thailand. An envoy, which was consisted of teachers and selected students, visited the school last June. Last year, they invaded Indonesia. Again, I became a little envious and perhaps greedy. Why didn’t we have all that before??

9. The installation of air conditioner units in the hall hopefully helps in the school’s mission to scale the top spot in the next SPM. In my years, the stuffy hall could be a gauntlet to one’s olfactory system as well as a steep challenge to keeping attention. Even the stage background was adorned with pua kumbu.

10. Another addition in the hall was also noted. All I can say is I’m happyhappyhappy for it. It’s long overdue, but it’s there. It completed my visit. In a way.

Many things remained the same though. Kak Ton hadn't lost her chattiness (as well as her unrivalled obsession with SAS alumni), 'Diva' Norzila was still as blunt, 'Datin' Rohaiza hadn't lost her touch of class (she bought an induction cooker on the day of my visit), Cikgu Azwan with his furtiveness, Teacher Wan remained boisterous, Tuan Haji now sported a grizzlier look, Pn. Tuan Norma was still a ball of energy, and even a certain counselor was as dour as ever!
I sorely miss Pn. Hazilah and Cikgu Rose (one in Perlis, another in Melaka) … InsyaAllah, if conditions permit, we’ll meet up. A lot of catching up needs to be done.

That’s it for now. In the next post, hopefully, I’m gonna divulge certain consternations regarding my visit and beyond..

A bus with a View II

Sensational sunset. The blistering, molten planet slowly descended into wisps of varying colours at the far horizon. Unimpeded, the view was to die for.

Oh joy! What's that airborne contraption?

The plastic cover of the engine decided to alight from the bus as it coughed and spluttered in its way uphill. The complex mechanics of the engine were stripped for all to see.

God, what a journey!

Domestic Idiosyncracies...

Amidst the blizzard of personal businesses (which involve filling in a sheaf of hairy documents for visa application and sponsorship agreement and scrambling from one place to another for medical checkups) and in a grander scale, the ceaseless succession of cloying political dramas, it's easy for me to forget matters on the home front. Things are happening in my own backyard; familial quirks are not often given the benefit of attention by me. The head of the week was marred by an unedifying event which forced a certain couple to take refuge in their now dilapidated haunting. As usual, I only got to be in the know very recently. Of course, the prospect is remotely inviting. As Madam famously coined (not her original of course), when a door closes, another opens. The problem is, the threshold all of the parties concerned is about to cross leads to a litany of consequences. Yes, actions precede consequences. Haven't they heard of it before?

Hopefully the furore will subside and nothing becomes untangled and broken away at the end of the day.

A bus with a view...

A juxtapose. Brilliantine, azure sky in the morning. Soggy with freckles of moroseness in the afternoon.

2-0!

24 hours ago, I burned a bridge after crossing it and ushered in to the new era. The first day was marked with two extreme, very opposing emotions; one which transpired from an euphoric journey while another grew from a nascent, unspoken disappointment; both shared one common identity: that the ups and downs of life are more real from this perspective. I must arm myself to rise for the occasions and to take more responsibility in my doings. Gah, this sounds like a New Year's resolution!

Props to Pidah whose card was overwhelmingly adorable, Waa for a right-on-the-dot wish, and Naomi's rendition of one of the most enduring tunes in mankind history which is Happy Birthday that was worth recording. Endless gratitiude to those who remembered too...

It was also one of the quietest celebrations...

The Dirtiest Game!

They are pulling all stops to secure a victory in the upcoming by-election. Losing is not an option as the future surely looks bleak. Desecration propagated, opponents degraded in the worst possible ways, seeds of fear implanted. Politics are just stinking, disgusting, revolting, repellent. I'm keeping a good distance from such cacophony.