The end of the line...

I guess this is it. This 15-year-old blog shall come to a close. There are a number of reasons why I have decided to stop posting any more entries here. It is obvious that I have not updated since September of last year. This first post of 2023 shall be the last of Just observations...

The opening entry was done on Tuesday, 8 April 2008. I had initial plans of writing an anniversary post for this year but then I simply did not have the drive. Ideas for an anniversary post quickly shifted to one of closure.

Over the next few months, I would be progressively deleting all posts except for the token opening and closing entries. In other words, the blog itself would not disappear because I value the oldstock.blogspot trademark too much. Hopefully, Blogger would allow me to hold on to that unique account name as long as possible.

I may return to blogging someday but most likely on a different platform and covering a different subject matter.

Goodbye. Thank you for the wonderful experience.

A teacher who is close to his students' hearts

 

It is normal to hear of students who visit their former teachers after they have long left school. It is quite rare to hear of the reverse - teachers who make the effort to visit their former students. My former secondary school teacher at MRSM Kuantan is one such rare breed.

Cikgu Zamri Mohamed Isa taught me Chemistry when I was in Form Four. When our Pioneer batch held their annual reunion in Johor Bahru three years ago, I volunteered to help by picking up Cikgu Zamri and his wife when they arrived at Senai Airport. Last Saturday morning, I received a call from him saying that he is in Kluang at his daughter's house and was wondering if I was at home in Johor Bahru. Of course, I was honoured that he would like to come over and visit. I shared the location of my house and a few hours later, Cikgu Zamri and his family arrived at our humble abode in Kampung Melayu Majidee.

A convenient coincidence in that my better half had cooked Laksa Johor that very morning, which made it a special serving for our guests from Kuantan.

Cikgu Zamri is well-liked by hundreds of his former students from his teaching career spanning three decades at a number of MRSMs. The oft-spoken trait of his, as mentioned by many former students is his remarkable memory of the full name of his students.

Mothers and daughters-in-law

 

Three generations of ladies in our family

Four mothers and three daughters-in-law in the same pic. A rare photo indeed. Only possible because international borders have re-opened and Aidilfitri celebrations can return back to normal. This photograph would have been perfect if our three granddaughters were in it. It would then show 4 generations of ladies in our family. But the eldest granddaughter was in a reticent mood while the twins were already asleep.

Praise be to The Almighty... "Which then of the bounties of your Lord will you deny?"

The twins first time visit to their father's hometown

Our 2nd son and his family came down to JB for a visit. So we took the opportunity to do some raya shopping for the twins. Sogo department store at Mid Valley Southkey was the destination.

Both girls were still recovering from slight flu and it was quite a challenge to cater to their occasional grumpy mood. When all the coaxing and cajoling do not seem to work, this grandfather suggests that we all take a drive and explore the various places in Johor Bahru that they have not been to before. Apparently, the smooth ride and cool interior of Tok Abah's car were quite relaxing and put them at ease.

Humaira (the elder twin) holding the hand of her mother and grandmother.
Haura is in her father's arms hidden in the back

When I grow up, I want to be an engineer

If I were to look back to the days when I was in primary school, I do not think the profession of engineer had been in any of my answers when the teacher announces to the class, the oft-asked question, 'What do you want to be when you grow up?' If I recall correctly, my frequent reply was being a detective or police officer, obviously being influenced by the many mystery books that I had read and the detective shows on TV.

When I was in secondary school, my ambitions changed a bit. Although being an investigator was still in the picture, the top choice was to be a journalist. Being offered a scholarship to study at university changed all that.

This time last week, I had the wonderful opportunity to have lunch with two of my friends from a long, long time ago. They are my friends from different times of my growing-up years but their paths crossed, and now they have become mutual friends. Both are lecturers of engineering at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, here in Skudai, Johor Bahru. Although in reality, neither handle classes that much anymore as they are retiring pretty soon. Prof Noordin (on the left in the pic) is a Mechanical Engineer, while Prof Shahrin (on the right) is a Civil & Structural Engineer.

Noordin was my classmate in primary school while Shahrin was my classmate in secondary school. In all probability, Noordin or Shahrin may not have answered 'engineer' as their ambition of choice those many years ago.

Three senior engineers meet up for lunch