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I was in Fukuoka, Kyushu Island, Japan for about two weeks in the summer of 2004. I was sent there under the JICA training programme. JICA stands for Japan International Cooperation Agency. The picture above shows me among the Japanese sunflowers. This sunflower garden was once a solid waste landfill site. The sunflowers must be getting good nutrients from the former wastes.
I gave the title to the photograph as 'Beauties and the beast' from the title of a famous fairy tale.
I have fond memories of Japan, especially its people. You are greeted everywhere. There is a place called Acros Fukuoka. It is a fourteen storey building where with a hall where once in a while philharmonic orchestras play live classical music. From the back it looks like a pyramid. On normal days you can climb to the thirteenth floor but on Saturdays and Sundays you can climb to the flat roof on top.
I made it a routine to climb to the roof top every weekend. On the way to the top you are walking under trees. Yes, they grow trees thirteen storeys high.
During my school days promotion from primary to secondary school was not a formality like it is today. Students in Primary Six had to sit for an examination to get into Secondary One. Those who failed or did not sit at all had to say goodbye to formal education.
Admission to secondary school means extra expenditure to our parents. Secondary schools are normally situated in towns whereas almost every kampung has its own primary school. This means for every student entering secondary school his or her every parent has to spend more for transportation and hostel fees.
Due to this many kampung kids were not allowed by their poor parents to sit for the said examination however smart he or she were. Initially one niece of mine joined this category. But later due to my mother's interference she was allowed to further her studies. True, however poor my family was my mother never prevented us from furthering our studies.
The secondary school entrance examinations were centered in urban schools. In my case I had to wake up ealy and catch the first bus to get into my examination centre at a school in Kuala Klawang, Jelebu, Negeri Sembilan. I was equipped with a ruler, a few pencils and a little bit of money that my mother gave.
On entering the examination room I saw that every student from the home school was having a box which I had never seen before. Only months later when I succeeded in enrolling into secondary education did I learn that the boxes were Geometry Set Boxes.
The teacher in charge of the examination room briefed us about the examinations. I remember him saying in Malay "Those of you who excels in this examination if you are a boy you will enter Sekolah Tuanku Abdul Rahman, Ipoh and Sekolah Tun Abdul Razak, Tanjung Malim, both in Perak. If you are a girl you will enter Sekolah Tun Fatimah, Durian Daun, Melaka".
I said to myself "Surely being from a poor family and a poor school I stand no chance. If anybody in this room have a chance it must be one of the students with the 'magic boxes'.
So it came to s surprise for me, my family and my teachers that I obtained Grade A for that examination. It turned out that I was the only one from the same examination centre that obtained Grade A. This also meant that I had beaten those students equipped with the 'magic boxes'.
I was called to enrol in Sekolah Dato' Abdul Razak, Tanjung Malim, Perak. The school sent an invitation letter with a list of items and clothes that I had to bring along during registration. The items include the 'magic box' or from now on known to me as the Geometry Set Box.
Why Dato' Abdul Razak and not Tun Abdul Razak as what the then Deputy Prime Minister was titled? The answer was to avoid any confusion with the initials STAR for Sekolah Tuanku Abdul Rahman, Ipoh. For this my school remains by its initials SDAR for Sekolah Dato' Abdul Razak from 1957 until today. When his name was given to the school in 1957 Dato' Abdul Razak was Federation of Malaya's Minister of Education.
Actually there is another school named Sekolah Tuanku Abdul Rahman. It is situated in Gemas, Negeri Sembilan. There is also a Sekolah Tunku Abdul Rahman in Sarawak. But there is only one SDAR or Sekolah Dato' Abdul Razak. Now it stands proudly at Sungai Gadut, Seremban, Negeri Sembilan.
Tun Abdul Razak then became the country's second Prime Minister from 1970 until his untimely death in January 1976.
Only when Tun Abdul Razak died did I learn that the Dato' title he was holding was a hereditary tile of a Pahang State Chieftain. Before Abdul Razak the title was held by his late father Dato' Hussein. So naturally when Tun Abdul Razak died the title Dato' was transferred to his eldest son Mohd. Najib. So my school is right all along in using the name Dato' Abdul Razak.
The Dato' title to Mohd. Najib was given personally by His Highness the Sultan of Pahang before Tun Abdul Razak was laid to rest at the Warrior's Mausoleum at the National Mosque grounds in Kuala Lumpur.
I don't want to elaborate about my school here. I have made post in my other blog http://maarofkassim.blogspot.com under the label 'Sdara'. But I am glad that the son of the notary man who was the country's second Prime Minister and who gave his name to my secondary school is now the country's six Prime Minister.
Datuk Sri Mohd. Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak had followed his father's footsteps.
Congratulations, Datuk Sri.
I took the above photograph when Pak Lah came to visit Seremban and Negeri Sembilan on 4th March 2005.
I am lucky that my office is situated facing an open space that is usually referred as the NS Padang in Seremban. This field is also the Lima Zulu or landing zone for helicopters ferrying dignitaries who come to visit Seremban.
Normally members of the public are not allowed to encroach into this field when there is a helicopter landing. But somehow for this occasion we were allowed instead. So I took this opportunity in photographing the happily smiling Pak Lah. You can see my Menteri Besar also smiling in the photograph.
From today Pak Lah is no more the Prime Minister of Malaysia. I do not want to comment on his tenure when he holding the highest executive post in Malaysia. But now that that he has retired I hope he will enjoy a good retirement life.
Farewell, Pak Lah.
Me and my school friends based in Seremban met again on 28th March 2009 at Restoran Bunga Raya 2, Taipan, Senawang. Twelve of us attended this get together.
Here are the photos. I don't know all the names.
The date was 3rd January 2009 and I celebrated my 59th birthday. I was blowing the candles on my birthday cake accompanied by my grandchildren from left Fahim, Danial and Haziq.
It was not a truly merry occasion though. My elder brother Shamsudin passed away nine days before at the age of 61. I just hope that I am blessed with the best of health. Life if so precious to enjoy.
Test again.
Look at the photo above. Aston Villa's goalkeeper Brad Friedel was shown the red card after felling Liverpool's striker Fernando Torres inside Aston VIlla's penalty area. Liverpool was awarded a penalty kick. To add salt to a wound Friedel was giving marching orders by the referee.
Liverpool were then already leading 4-0. Aston Villa's reserve goalkeeper Brad Guzan was forced to be brought in. To do that they have to sacrifice an outfield player. Guzan's first job was trying to save the resulting penalty pick by Liverpool's Steven Gerrard. He failed and Liverpool went on to win 5-0. But credit must be given to Aston Villa for not conceding any more goals.
I watched the game live and I thought the referee made a wrong decision in sending off the goalkeeper. A similar incident happened just a week before also involving Liverpool. This time Liverpool's goalkeeper Pepe Reina felled a Manchester United striker almost in the same situation. Although a penalty pick was awarded to Manchester United Reina was not sent off.
Naturally Aston Villa appealed to the English Football Association to have the sending off decision overturned. The FA made the right decision in upholding the appeal. That means Brad Friedel does not have to be banned from Aston Villa's next game.
The three faces of Haziq.
