Two Saturdays ago, I helped organize a reunion of my old schoolmates in conjunction with the Aidilfitri celebrations. Previous reunions have been held before but on a smaller scale. What made this one a bit special than previous gatherings was the presence of some of our former teachers. In fact, this particular event was made in special dedication for a particular teacher named Mohd Zin Abu.
It all started off with an exchange of comments during the fasting month between Cikgu Zin and some of my friends on Facebook, on how he would love to meet some of his former students from MRSM Kuantan. Cikgu Zin is presently posted in Cairo, Egypt but would be back in Malaysia for the Hari Raya holidays. This prompted a few of us to get together and decide to hold a reunion. And so it was, on Saturday 18 September 2010, a lovely and cheerful meeting between old friends and teachers was held at Shah Alam. For some of us, it was the first re-connection after a lapse of 31 years.
Thirty-one students of the MCE/SPM batch of 1979 turned up plus seven of our former teachers. Some came from as far Kuantan, Johor Bahru and even Kangar, Perlis.
Cikgu Zin used to teach us Science... but apart from the academic subjects, he was like a father and advisor to most of us. It was a role that he carried out extremely well and even after retiring from teaching, he is asked to perform the same tasks today. Cikgu Zin is presently in Cairo on the payroll of the Negeri Sembilan state government, to act as guardian to all NS-sponsored students pursuing their tertiary studies in Egypt. The students there call him `Ayah' and his wife `Ibu'... what more endearing term can there be.
We took the opportunity to invite some other teachers to come to the reunion as well. Our thanks to Mr Peter Ng, Cikgu Kandan, Cikgu Rahmah, Ustaz Yusof Othman, Cikgu Hasmah and Puan Faizah for graciously making the event a truly memorable one. My thanks to all my old friends too... for making it an everlasting friendship.
Footnote : This post is also in dedication to blogger-friend Dr Hasmawati of BrainDrain, in Manchester, England.
Cikgu Zin sharing with us his adventures to date
Three wise educators - Cikgu Kandan, Ustaz Yusof and Cikgu Zin
Group photo of those who attended
14 comments:
Salam Oldstock. Glad to see you're back in your old skin. Keep writing for you've been missed..
As for the reunion, there's nothing like meeting former cikgus.. besar sungguh jasa mereka kat kita..
Aduhai oldstock, lamanye menghilang!! welcome back :D
Reunions can be both exhilarating & disturbing at the same time.. exhilarating bcos u find urself instantly transported back to the good ole days, and disturbing bcos the inevitable changes that we all go thru is staring u right in the face lol.
Welcome back Dear Friend and, as always, thanks for sharing.
Always pleasant to read your life experiences and the very kind and gennuine people that you meet in your life. Do you know how blessed you are ?
Keep well and Best Wishes
allanwee
one of the blessings of marrying Papaboyz is having his parents as my second set of parents :)
2 weeks ago we had one of his pioneer students from mrsm kuantan visited us here (just because we are Cikgu Zin's family) :) and he talked on how he had this wonderful teacher 30+ years ago...
welcome back mr oldstock :)
Salam Kak Kama,
Couldn't get away from it for too long... the writing, that is... although things on the personal front yet to be fully resolved.
But the writing helps to take my mind off things for a bit.
Justiffa,
Alaa... tak sampai dua bulan pun.. you couldn't be missing me that much, heheheh..
Yes, I know.. the disturbing part of reunions. But it seems to affect the ladies more than us guys :-)
Hi Allan,
Thanks for reminding me about being blessed.. having good friends are what makes the tough times pass by with relative ease.
Glad to be back.
Dr Wati,
Good to be back... You have wonderful parent-in-laws. Maybe one day I get to meet you and your hubby too.
It's nice to meet old friends and teachers. I guess one day it might be my turn with my ex-students! *cringe*
What a nice re-union after more than 30 years!
Welcome back. Missed your writings.
I'm getting lazier with blogging these days.
Wah best dapat jumpa kawan2 & cikgu2.
Salam D,
No need to cringe when you meet up with your former students but rather, savour the occasion. Your students success is the sincerest form of gratitude they can show.
Dr Sam,
It was a wonderful time, I enjoyed it very much.
As,
Although I'm back, I still need to start cracking with some more posts :-)
As for you my friend, don't be too lazy... but take a break if you need it. It really helps rejuvenate the mind.
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