Aim Higher

Standing from Left: Abg Abdillah Aerowaini, Onn Abdullah, Maliana,Julai Dom, Pharmy, Kudpudeen,Late Odita,Mohd Salleh Sabol, Khalid Yusuf, Sulaiman Razak and Ramlee Tambekseated from left: Ikhlas and Malek







In November 1966, Headmaster of our school, the late cikgu Osman Ali, announced the result of 1966 common entrance examination which we sat earlier.None of us were selected to study in government secondary school.I was the only student from Pulo District Council School selected to repeat my study in Primary six for another year in another Primary school in the town. I could still remember the speech made by the Headmaster that morning.

Cikgu Othman said " I wish to announce here that only one of our primary six students has been selected to repeat his study in Primary six. The name of the student that has made the school proud is...." The praise that I still remember till today.

But in January 1967 I did not go back to primary six as announced earlier. The new headmaster of Pulo District Council School informed me of the two choices that was given to me ie either to repeat in another Primary School or to further my study to Form one at St Thomas's Secondary School. I liked the idea of studying at St. Thomas's School but there is a condition attached to it. I needed to pay school fees at the rate of private secondary school for one year. If my performance is good only than I would be allowed to pay the normal rate of aided school.

At first my father disagreed but after detailed explanation by the headmaster my father accepted my choice. And so begins my life in St Thomas's School, one of the best secondary school during the time.

I stayed in St. Thomas's School for five years (from 1967 to 1971).The time spent in the school were memorable one. I met many friends and teachers. It has been quite sometime I did not meet my friends.

After thirty six years since I left school, there's so many thing that has happened in life. Some are good and memorable while some are sadness . If I could rewind the time, I would like to restart my life in School again.One thing I could always be proud of my school is our school motto "AIM HIGHER". For all these years that same motto kept me moving on and faced the challenges in life.

Hail to the Thomian!

Snippets of life

I was born in 1953 in a village situated at the bank of Sarawak river. I am the fourth child in a family of seven. I have three sisters and three brothers. The eldest, a sister by the name of Segera, passed away at the age of 9 in India. There is no collection of her photo but according to my late mother, the late Segera was a very beautiful girl , fair skin, dark hair and very Indian look.

One might wonder why she passed away in India, thousands of miles from her hometown in Kuching. According to my mother, Segera was adopted by my grand father, by the name Mamu Ghafoor, who brought her back to India. Mamu Ghafoor loved Segera very much. but Segera did not have a happy life in India.  

One day father received a letter from India. The letter came from mamu Ghafoor. He brought along a news that broke my mother's heart. Segera passed away after a short illness. They said Segera was having high fever. My mother cried and cried and felt very sick. But she was a strong woman who have met with lots of challenges in life. She managed to go through the sadness. 

These are snippets of life that I could share with the world about the life of this simple family. Hope it will not occur to others. It's a sad story and always caused me to cry whenever I remember it.

Once upon a time in the month of Syawal

 


One year old Laila, my first child in 1977
 
Hari Raya 'Aidul Fitri is celebrated by Muslims worldwide upon completion of fasting during the month of Ramadan. It's a celebration of victory for those who had successfully completed their fast during the day in the month of Ramadan, one of the five pillars of Islam.
In my village, celebration of Aidul Fitri during the 60's and 70's were really grand . I could still recall during my childhood time, in the early morning of Aidul Fitri I would put up my best dress in the form of Baju Melayu and followed my father to the masjid to perform the salat and to listen to Imam's "khutbah" advising our villagers to uphold the religion of Islam.


After the salat, food of all sorts offered by the villagers to the masjid would be served. The atmosphere were really magic. The villagers ate together in a big feast, a reflection of brotherhood.That was the time we, as children were waiting for, the makan time. The time to taste the delicious food brought by our villagers. Every houses in the village would brought their delicacies for our consumptions. That's a reflection of cooperation and brotherhood strongly upheld by the villagers.

After the salat in the masjid, we would go back to our homes. At home, mother would be waiting for us. All the family members would sit down. We would ask for forgiveness from each other beginning with mother asking forgiveness from father and vice versa. Then came the family members from the eldest to the youngest. A very touching moment for all of us.

At night the whole village came to life. The lights from every homes and along the road shone the night. It's a seven nights celebration. We used the lamps with kerosene oil to lighten our nights and at the same time with lights around us we would start playing with fire crackers and also bamboo cannon. It was a bright and noisy night. A night that I would never forget till my last breath.

The next best thing that occured uring the festival would be the visit to the house of our friends, relatives, neighbours and of course to the young men, the house of their girlfriends.The house owners would serve us with cakes of all sort of colours and taste. Drinks at that time mostly aerated drinks with various flavours such as orange, cherry, sarsi and also ginger beer. For those who had less money to spend would serve the cheaper drinks ie cordial which were known that time as AIR SERBAT. It was really very nice drink.
Another item in the agenda would be going to the movie. Attending movie in the theatre were one best option for entertainment. Malay Films would be shown in the theatre and most film would achieve box office. One good film that I attended in the late sixties , i think, was Raja Bersiong, a film with the script written by the former and first PM of Malaysia,YM Almarhum Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj.

Those beautiful moments had long passed by. I have seen and walked through this beautiful moments for the last 53 years, and I hope to go back to my vilage in the future and enjoy the fine moments again and again until the time I call it a day.

Sampan and Sarawak River

My family moved from our previous home at Batu Lintang Road to a Malay village across Sarawak river called kampung Pulo Hilir in 1962. We had to move because my mom could not stay at Batu Lintang due to illness that she had. She needed someone to look after her and that time her younger brother and sister were in the village. I had to move from my first school, SK Lumba Kuda and went to a new school in the village, Pulo District Council School.

By the end of 1966 I had completed my primary school time. In January 1967 I started my secondary school study at St. Thomas's Secondary School. The school situated at Mcougall Road about 5km away from my home in the village. To go to the school we needed to cross Sarawak river.And so crossing the river in a sampan that cost ten cents became my daily activity. I started my journey to school as early as 6.30 am and reached school before 7.15 am.

To walk from home to school in the morning was quite enjoyable but not the trip back. Walking home in the bright sun at 1.00 pm was really a challenge to us. I walked to school for three years. My late father only bought me a bicycle when I was in form four (4th year secondary school). That solved a lot of my transportation problem.

Those were the memories of my schooling time 4o years ago. Now sampan is still alive and kicking but the paddler are all new breed with modern facilities. Although the shape of sampan is still maintained, it is now powered by a diesel engine. The paddler that stayed in front remain as a pilot of the journey to cross the beautiful Sarawak river.

COOPERATIVE SOCIETIES IN SARAWAK

Receiving award from then Federal Minister of Agriculture, Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim during convocation of Institute of Cooperative Auditors

Photo taken during a visit to Malacca by fellow colleagues from various JPK offices throughout Malaysia. I was squatting in the middle. On my left Abang Mohammad Marzuki, now General Manager of Koppes Cooperative society Ltd.

I left Education Department in 1986 and joined Department of Cooperative Development ( http://www.jpk.gov.my/) as Ast. Auditor. After a few months service with JPK, I was sent to Institute of Cooperative Auditors at Petaling Jaya, Selangor to further my study in cooperative auditing. It was a six months course. I attended the course during night ie from 6.00 pm to 10.00pm. During the day , I attended induction course conducted by Cooperative College of Malaysia ( http://www.mkm.edu.my/mkm/malay/).

I came back to Kuching late November 1986 and was posted to JPK Hqrs. I used all the knowledge gained from ICA to improve the internal control and internal auditing for the various cooperative societies in Sarawak by giving them short courses. During this time I have the chance to visit various places in Sarawak from Kuching straight to Limbang.

I left JPK in 1991 to join The State Treasury Dept.( http://www.treasury.sarawak.gov.my/) Serving in JPK had given me the chance to meet various people from the state be it Iban, Bidayuh or Melanau. One great thing I lerned from the experience is the kind heart of the people of Sarawak. It is really a blessed state. I am proud to be trhe son of this country, Sarawak, a place like no other....

MY FRIEND, CAPTAIN MANSOR

Back in the early '80s, I was posted to Stampin Secondary School . Most of the staff came from Peninsular Malaysia as the school is one of the first to use Bahasa Malaysia as a medium of instruction.I made a lot of friends frm Peninsular Malaysia.

One of the programmes during that time was the exchange of students from Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah to Sarawak sponsored by Sarawak Foundation.During school holidays, thoses student that came from Sabah and Peninsular Malaysia did not go back to their homes as the the cost of transport would be quite expensive . Sarawak Foundation would only provide them with air tickets back to their home towns once a year i.e. during the year end holiday.During mid term holidays I used to 'adopt' those students. They stayed in my home for two weeks. One of them that I could recall is Farizol, son of army captain by the name Mansor.

In 1982 , his father was transferred to Kuching. Its so nice to meet Farizul's family. Captain Mansor and I became good friends. Durin Eid Fitri 0s 1983, He brought his family along to visit me and my family. From then on we have started a beautiful relation between the two families.

Few years after that, Captain Mansor and his family were transferred back to Peninsular Malaysia. We have lost contact since then. I really hope to be able to meet this beatiful family again in the near future.

ONCE UPON A TIME IN SIMUNJAN(3)

I served in Simunjan in the district of Lower Sadong from Mac 1973 to May 1976. Throughout my three years' stay, I visited quite a number of villages within the district. Amongst the villages that I have visited were Kpg Sungai Putin, Kpg Sg. Apin, Kpg Rangawan Kpg Semera and  few others.

I recalled  in 1973, I was invited to attend a wedding ceremony of a Bugis couple in Kpg Sg Apin. The invitation was extended to me by the village Headman of Kpg Sg Api, by the name Encik Matak or better known as TK (Tua Kampung) Matak.TK Matak always came to our school to visit his son, Majek. Majek was studying in Form one that time.

It was a very interesting and unforgetable wedding ceremony because that's the first time I have the chance to attend a Bugis wedding. One thing I observed and still remembered till today is the food. We came to the wedding at aroung 10.00 a.m.We were immediately served with a drink of coffee/tea and sixteen types of cakes and biscuits. The cakes/biscuits served included those known locally as Kuih Bangkit, Kuih China, pulut (steamed glutinous rice)and many others.

By 12.00 Noon we were served with rice with at least eight type of dishes, which includes curry beef, chicken,eggs and many others.I always attended Malay wedding and I could see the great difference when come to the serving of food. Most Malay wedding occasion, dishes served seldom more than five types but the Bugis served eight types. It's something I have never seen before. For the next few weeks I keep talking to my friends in Kuching through phone , telling them how I enjoyed the tradition of Bugis marriage and wished they were there.
Back to the village headman, Encik Matak, I have a great respect towards him. As a headman, he showed his people his commitment towards his son's education.He made it a point to come down from his village in Sg Apin to the town of Simunjan. From Simunjan town he would rent a bicycle to go to the school which was 3km away.Mind you, to come down from Kpg Sungai Apin to Simunjan, you need to use express boat, a journey through enormous Sadong river which would take more than 2 hours, depending on the tide.

Encik Matak was quite particular when come to payment of school fees. Every time he came he would pay the school fee of RM4.00 per month. At the same time he would bring some food, biscuits etc for his son, Majek.

I never had a chance to see the headman after I being transferred back to Kuching. I was transferred back to Kuching in 1976. I have never seen him or his son after that.

Two years back, in 2003, my daughter, Siti, was studying in Petra Jaya Secondary School and she's would be sitting for her PMR Exam soon.I was called to the school to meet her form teacher and discuss with him about Siti's performance. That's something I have hoped for. I would like to hear from her own teacher how she performed. I met her teacher and discuss with him about Siti's performance and attitude, etc.

Then came the surprise. He introduced himself to me. I was really surprised. This form teacher of Siti is no other than Encik Majek, the son of the headman in kpg Sg Apin.

Encik Majek greeted me with utmost respect and shook my hand.We talked for a while.During our conversation, Majek informed me that his father, Encik Matak, a village headmen from Kpg Sg Apin has passed away for quite some time.I felt sad to hear the news. I rgretted very much for not able to see the late TK Matak.To me,he may have gone forever but his commitment and determination to see his son's success will be remembered for a long, long time, at least by me and Majek.

May his soul rest in peace.
Al-Fatihah..

Photo taken at the verandah of Sg Apin Primary school:Left, TK Matak,3rd from left, Encik Lim, a teacher, behind Encik Lim is Jerry Chia, a teacher and a good friend of mine,next to Encik Lim is Encik Chong, followd by Cikgu Sharbini Hj Dawi. I was standing 3rd from right.

ONCE UPON A TIME IN SIMUNJAN(2)

My life in Simunjan, though quiet and lonely, didn't mean that I need to stay as such. I hated loneliness. So, to escape loneliness during weekend, I cycled down to the town of Simunjan from my home at Simunjan Secondary School. The school was about 3 km away from the town.

In Simunjan, I would spent my nights with my friends , government servants too. Amongst them, come names like Julaihi Suhaili, Cosmas Allen and Abdillah Aerowaini. Nights with them would be spent either by attending films at the theatre or playing cards in the game of Jokers..etc

Cosmas , if I could recall , has retired from service sometimes two years back, after reaching the age of 56. Julaihi is still serving in one of the departments in Kuching and definitely will be retiring in a year or so. Abdillah , a classmate of mine in St. Thomas's School is now a Police officer , serving in one of the district, as a District Police chief.

During the 70s , concerts were held quite often. Performers were local talents and also stars from Kuching. In one of the concerts held in Simunjan sometimes in 1974/1975, we were invited to sing our fovourite nos. ie Melody Fair and a number by late Broery, Jatuh Cinta( Fall in Love). Cosmas played his magical guitar and harmonica. Girls loved our performance , especially Cosmas, with his creative presentations. Fresh in my mind, there's one cute girl that we called Melody Fair who fell in love with our songs and we too , fell in love ith her.

Given the chance , I would like to perform again with the same team, well for the old time sake. Who knows, we may be able to meet Melody Fair. I wonder what she's doing now. Is she married? With whom? May be she's a grand Ma now. Life is so sweet in the 70s..I love Simunjan and the times spent there.

Well, I have a better way to remember Simunjan and its people. I adopted a boy in 1975 from one poor family. And this adopted brother of mine is now serving as a policeman in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah...

A One Month Teaching experience

I completed my study at St. Thomas's School in 1971.With Senior cambridge cert. a started to hunt for job. I was offered a teaching post, temporary of course,at one of the primary schools in Kuching. That was in June 1972.
In this school, I met a fellow army corporal from Education Unit of the army by the name Abdullah, I think. Abdullah came from Perak. He's a nice friend. Even though I ended my carrier as a teacher after one month, we continued our friendship until his departure to Semnanjung Malaysia sometimes in 1973/1974.
As a token of our friendship I gave him parang Ilang( a sword used by Iban warrior) and he gave me his photo with someone special, maybe.
After that I have never been able to get in touch with him. I do not know where is he now. If anyone knows him, pleas convey my special greeting to him...
oohh. I really miss the good old days....

My late father's advice

My late father came from India in the early 30s. Life was quite difficult that time. To support two families (one in India and the other, my mother , in Sarawak) my late father had to do two jobs. During day time he's a bread seller and at night he worked as a watchman.

Father wanted to see that we have proper education. One day, back from cutting grass for our cattle, father told me this.
"My son, I'm not rich. I won't be able to leave anything of value to you and your brothers/sisters. I could only give you this."
Father passed to me a box of pencils. With a box of pencil father wanted me to change my life. Until today, that piece of advice is still fresh in my mind. The advice will be passed on to my children and grand children...That's something to ponder..

Once Upon A Time In Simunjan (1)

In 1973 I was posted to Simunjan in the district of Lower Sadong. I served in in Simunjan until May 1976. That time, there's no proper road. The transportation service to the state capital, Kuching would be either by Express boat that ply through Sadong river, crossed South China sea and then to Sarawak river or by boat to Gedong. From Gedong we'll get a bus to Serian. From Serian to Kuching we'll have a choice either by taxi or bus.

Photo of myself and my colleagues at Simunjan Secondary School. I was standing in the middle. Some of my colleagues have gone forever. I missed them. They were all good friends. To those friends , may God bless u all.

Triangular Love

In 1973 I was transferred to a small town in Sarawak known as Simunjan in the district of Lower Sadong. It's a peaceful yet lonely place. A lot of new things in life is known to me and for sure I made a lot of friends. One of them today is a member of State Legislative council (DUN). I feel proud to have friends fighting for the people.

How was it possible , that I felt in love with 2 girls, one from my home town and the other , a teacher from a small town of Tatau. I have to make a difficult decision .

In 1975 I made the decision to get married with a girl from Kuching. We have just celebrated our 30th anniversary last November.





I was married to my sweetheart on the 29th November 1975. We have been married for the last 31 years and blessed with 7 children(4 boys , 3 girls) ranging from the age of 30 to 7 years old. We are now a grandparent with 5 sweet grand children (1 boy 4 girls) through the marriage of our eldest daughter, Laila and second boy, Khairul.

Police Cadet Corps

During my school time, as a member of police cadet corps. The activity has given me lot of inputs in life and travelling too. With the corp , I have the chance to visit Satang Island. That's one of the sweetest time of my younger days...oohh how I love yesteryears...

School time(1)

Photo taken during prophet Mohamed birthday celebration in Kuching in 1970. I was in Form IV studying at St. Thomas's School. Among those that can be seen in the picture seated from left the lateHj Odita Ibrahim (2nd), Datu Hj Khalid Yusuf (sixth) and Hj Abg Sharkawi (7th).
I was standing 3rd from left.