Laila , Namamu Teratas.

Last Saturday, we (Batch 77) had a very small get-together at Dr. Hairuszah's house in Taman Maluri. Since I don't drive and dont know the way to Zah's house, I was told by Zah to follow Laila Alias. We met at Tesco Shah Alam and we went together.
I wrote a few lines about Laila as I know her then and now. I am putting this up in srikandi blog with the hope that somebody junior would read it and smile with me.

Here it is .

Laila , Namamu Teratas.

The first person that made friends with me the first day I joined MAB was Norlaila Said, a very pregnant lady from Pahang. We stayed friends till today. We were separated for a while when I had to work in the finance department and later to the Carpark Management in KLIA while she stayed in Subang Airport. Lucky her! I had to travel daily to KLIA for 6 years..and grew bigger along the way…he he he..I got my second chin while snoring on the bus! Later when I was transferred back to HQ in Subang, we got close again.

I can tell her anything and everything. Monday morning is never complete if I don't see and tell her of the weekend happenings. Everything dari cerita luar hingga hal-hal dalam kain, semuanye dia tahu, that's the level of friendship that we have. And I trust her completely. Nothing bad about me came out of her mouth and my secrets are safe with her. Best kan ada kawan gitu! And when the song 'Laila namamu teratas' by Amy Search became popular, I sang it to her. She just smile..

And, the first person that I got to know in this world is also a Laila. She was my mother. She used to tell me of the dreams she always had that really delighted her and me. She was beautiful and energetic and I miss her so much. When she was in Hospital KL, down with cancer the nurses there nicknamed her 'Laila Manja' and she liked it. Hhmmm..

And one Laila Alias from STF batch 77 asked me two days ago 'How close were we when we were in STF?' ha ha ha…This is the teratasest of my Laila's question! I laughed and Laila continued 'I know that I was very strict and very quiet back then'. Holding her hand, I don't have the heart to tell her that thirty years ago , in STF I tried my best to steer clear from her way!

But this Laila that greeted me in the Shah Alam Tesco parking area is a different person altogether. She talked and talked all the way to Dr. Hairuszah's house in Taman Maluri (for our batch get-together) that I could barely say anything at all. I enjoyed hearing her talking. Her mixed Malay-English was like a song to my ears. Dear God almighty…people do changed. I never imagined her as such a talkative lady.

So Laila Alias…Namamu kini teratas!



SK Hasnah Khalid

Ramadhan at Desa Tun

We all loved Ramadhan at Desa Tun because of so many reasons. The wardens and teachers were nicer than usual, minimum Detention Classes (because everybody behaved??), no morning ‘riadhah’, no house games, no PE, accelerated time tables and the list went on and on.

The funny thing is I can’t remember what was served during ‘sahur’. Can you? Maybe it’s because we all had ‘sahur’ half awake. I usually just shoved whatever food was put on my tray into my mouth. We rarely had any conversation going on at the dining hall. The only objective was, ‘eat fast, so that can go back to my beloved pillow A.S.A.P’. Usually I couldn’t recognize most people during ‘sahur’. Yeah, all STFians looked different during the wee hours. Maybe they’re all like me, never really bothered to comb my hair or splash water on my face, hence the half shut eyes.

The sleep after ‘sahur’ was usually really deep that chances of missing the first morning period were high. Thanks to all the school prefects who would make rounds at the hostel blocks to ensure nobody was getting less education. Hehe. However, there were cases of sudden migraine that forced some of us to drag our feet to the sick bay (and continued sleeping – if there were beds available, lah), only to be awakened by the fierce Kak Normah who would usually ask, ‘Ni apa kena ni?’ Her thundering voice was enough to inspire us to hurry back to the dorm, showered, get dressed and rushed to class. Forget psychological approach and diplomacy, Kak Normah’s voice was more effective.

The accelerated time table was to allow us to take longer naps in the afternoon. Bedtime again, baby! At least that’s what I thought back then. Only recently I realized that when we fast, our concentration period shortens but gets more intense. This is based on my own unofficial research done on myself when I was in Uni. Remind me to elaborate on this in another posting.

The afternoon prep hours during Ramadhan were meaningless (to me, lah). Who could concentrate on the books and finish homeworks when your tummy was busy singing ‘Keronchong Untuk Ana’? Those were my least productive hours during the day.

Surprisingly, there would be surge of energy when it came to ‘round compound’ time! This was when you could see all the happy, pale (hungry) faces walking around the school compound in groups, waiting for ‘break-fast’ time; definitely not discussing school work and exam questions. Haha. What we discussed, I couldn’t really remember but we didn’t do any gossiping or bitching back then. Ah, such pure hearted young ladies. Yes, STF is filled with Gadis Melayu Ayu Pemalu. :)

I could remember ‘break-fast’ menu quite well. There’ll be the dessert: either bubur cha-cha, bubur pulut hitam or bubur kacang; then there were dates; sirap selasih or cincau as the thirst quencher; steamed rice served with the usual ‘lauk pauk’. Thanks to our ever creative ‘AJK Makanan’ from each class and of course, Makcik Dining Hall.

Maghrib prayers were performed at the hostel blocks’ praying rooms, usually late, as we’d take really long time at the dining table to ‘lick-clean’ all the bowls. We all loved the Makcik Dining Hall so much; we helped to ease the ‘doing the dishes’ part.

The highlight of a Ramadhan day had to be racing in our white ‘telekung’ to the gym to get the best ‘saf’ during Isya’ and Tarawikh prayers. Yes dears, those were the times when we performed our ‘solat jemaah’ in the gym. That was before the beautiful surau was built. We usually lost about 5-8 kgs during Ramadhan because of the fasting and the nightly ‘sauna’. The gym was hot, okay… and the fact that the Dewan Besar was so ‘besar’, it blocked all the night breeze from entering the school gym. However it didn’t deter the Ramadhan spirit in us to complete the 8-rakaat of tarawikh plus 3 witir. The spirit would soar even higher if our ‘toings’ were in the nearest saf or better still, if they’re next to us. Waaaa weeeee….. ‘tak larat’, okay. Tengah rukuk pun boleh sengih sorang-sorang.

The second race for the night (this happened during weekends only) will be from the gym to the school canteen. Back then, the Pakcik Kantin sold fish cakes, fish balls, kupang…. You know… all the ‘cucuk-cucuk kat lidi’ stuffs dipped in chili sauce. So, we’d sit at the canteen benches, enjoying the food and chit-chatting until Pakcik Kantin ‘tutup kantin’. Can’t really remember what time the lights went out during Ramadhan, but we usually ended the nights with another round of supper at the dining hall. Buruk lantak or what? Hahahaha. Hungry, what to do….

Oh yeah, during my senior years, we stayed up even on Ramadhan nights. I can’t remember what we were doing. We were either finishing our homeworks (that were supposed to be done during those unproductive afternoon prep hours) or studying for test (only if the test was on the next day, lah…) If the warden was in a really good mood, we’d watch movies on Singapore TV. (To current students, please don’t tell your warden we used to watch late night movies, okay. Hehehe.)

So, obviously the reason why the nap after ‘sahur’ was so deep was …. (please fill in the blanks. I’m sure you know the answer by now.)

Ramadhan Al Mubarak to all Srikandis – wherever you are.


SK Dayang '91

My Alma Mater

30th June-2July 2006. It was my old school's 50th year celebration then. And I, not wanting to miss the event, went back to the school, which was about 5 hours ride by bus from my home. My 2 best friends (Elin & Tie) and I purposely went by bus, just to capture the feelings of being a schoolgirl again. Even though many months have past, the memory never fades. Here are some of the photos taken and I know it was not much. Some photos were too blurred and not worth sharing here.

Now that the schooldays were far behind, the friendship bond formed between each of us remains and may it never be broken. Let the srikandi spirit flows eh?

The song below was our farewell song during the last few days of high school 17 years ago. This song was originally sung by Alan Parsons. Every time I hear this song, it brings tears to my eyes. Hope you enjoy the song as much as I do.

Old and Wise

As far as my eyes can see
There are shadows approaching me
And to those I left behind
I wanted you to know
You've always shared my deepest thoughts
You follow where I go

CHORUS
And oh when I'm old and wise
Bitter words mean little to me
Autumn winds will blow right through me
And someday in the mist of time
When they asked me if I knew you
I'd smile and say you were a friend of mine
And the sadness would be lifted from my eyes
Oh when I'm old and wise

As far as my eyes can see
There are shadows surrounding me
And to those I leave behind
I want you all to know
You've always shared my darkest hours
I'll miss you when I go

CHORUS
And oh, when I'm old and wise
Heavy words that tossed and blew me
Like autumn winds will blow right through me
And someday in the mist of time
When they ask you if you knew me
Remember that you were a friend of mine
As the final curtain falls before my eyes
Oh when I'm old and wise

As far as my eyes can see

*Posting on behalf of SK Leena '89