Valuing friendship above feud

In early 1981, I was studying for my GCE A-levels at Aston College in Wrexham, North Wales in the UK. I cannot recall how many Malaysian students were enrolled there at the time, but if I was to make an estimate, I would say upwards of 40 persons.

Wrexham is not a big town. Prior to arriving in the United Kingdom, I've never heard of the place before. I vaguely knew that Wales is a separate country within the UK but it totally surprised me that the Welsh speak and write in an entirely different language. I lived in Wrexham for about a year and have pleasant memories of my stay there. The slight regret that I have is in not making an attempt to understand a bit more of Welsh.

Aston College no longer exists, having been merged with a few other colleges in North Wales and later upgraded to a university in 2008. A search on Google Maps indicates that my former A-level college is now known as Wrexham Glyndwr University. I also tried to search for the house that I stayed in the final term of my studies but since I could not remember the street name, the search was fruitless. What I can recall was that it was quite a walking distance away from the college, perhaps around 30 minutes at leisurely pace.

The house was an end unit of a row of a 2-storey terrace block, probably built in the 1960s. Although an old building (even at that time), the house was adequately renovated to serve as student accommodation. Each floor had been separated so as to make two different units (which they refer to as a flat). Each flat had central heating, a small kitchen and a bathroom. I stayed at the top unit with my coursemate named Yaacub Mohamed whom I know from our MRSM Kuantan days. The ground floor unit was rented by a friend name Khairil Faizi who previously studied at MRSM Seremban. I cannot remember who Khairil's housemate was.

Anyway, what triggered this post was memory of an event that was posted by a mutual friend of Khairil and me on his Facebook page. This mutual friend is Sofian Abdul Rahman or better known as Boe, who also formerly studied at MRSM Seremban. Boe was doing his A-levels at London at the time and had come to Wrexham to visit his friends. He slept over at Khairil's flat. Late one evening I went downstairs to see that Khairil and Boe were deeply concentrating in a game of Scrabble. As I watched them play, I noted that the scores were close. Towards the end of the game, Boe played a high-scoring word that would've made him the winner. Khairil vehemently protested that there was no such word. Boe laughingly said there is. The argument went back and forth and got a bit heated. Boe then looked at me and said, 'Tak percaya tanya Fadhil.'

At that time, my vocabulary was still weak and I could not give Boe the confirmation he was seeking. But I had a thick dictionary upstairs in my room so I offered to run up and check. Boe gave a surprising response. No need, he said... I concede that there is no such word. Which meant he lost the game. At that young age, I witnessed a true example of how to gracefully concede so as not to upset the feelings of your bro.

When I related this memory to Khairil recently (as a comment on Boe's Facebook post), he replied that Boe is that sort of friend. He values friendship above feud.

I still recall the word that Boe tried to play because I later checked and found that it is valid. I'm pretty certain neither of them remembers that. Maybe one day I'll tell them...

Me and housemate Yaacub. Wrexham 1981

MCO Haircut

In a previous posting, I mentioned that I do not mind if barber shops are not allowed to operate under relaxed MCO conditions. Among the reasons that I gave was that I have experience in sporting a long hairstyle before.

Who am I kidding, really?

My days as a rock fan are long gone. My hair is almost totally gray now. I have an itchy scalp problem and keeping my hair long doesn't help.

So when the electric hair trimmer that my son ordered online arrived yesterday, I asked him to give me a haircut after he was done trimming his. Abah nak style yang macam mana, he asked. Well... any style that you are comfortable doing, I replied. As long as it looks neat. Ok, he'll try one way first, he said. Just a little trim. If I don't like it, he will cut a bit more. To allay his fears, I told him not to worry too much. We can always go for the crew cut as a last resort. Hahaha...

As it turned out, he ended giving me a young man's haircut style. Very short on the sides and back with a pronounced thicker mop of hair on top. It's a look I'm not familiar with but I can live with it. It's not like I have to look good for a job interview or anything...

Thank you, son (Imran Azizi).

Not too bad a cut from an amateur barber

Hari Raya Aidilfitri 1441H / 2020M

Sambutan bulan ramadhan dan Hari Raya Aidilfitri yang tersangatlah berbeza pada tahun ini. Tiada siapa yang menjangka yang hidup kita pada beberapa bulan yang lalu sehingga kini dan seterusnya telah terkesan oleh sejenis mahluk halus yang tidak terlihat dengan mata kasar. Coronavirus - namamu akan tercatit dalam sejarah dunia sebagai satu musuh yang telah mengakibatkan bermacam angkara, kerugian kewangan dan korban nyawa.

• Tiada solat jemaah di masjid. Bermakna tiada juga solat tarawih di masjid sebagaimana tahun-tahun sebelum ini. Sebaliknya ini melatih ketua-ketua keluarga untuk mengimamkan solat tarawih di rumah masing-masing.
• Tiada solat sunat Aidilfitri di masjid.
• Tiada tradisi kujung mengunjung di kalangan sanak saudara dan sahabat handai.
• Tiada acara bersalam-salaman dan bermaaf-maafan secara sentuhan fizikal. Diganti dengan pertemuan secara alam maya melalui panggilan video menggunakan Whatsapp video call ataupun Zoom.

Selamat hari raya Aidilfitri untuk pembaca-pembaca sekelian. Maaf zahir dan batin. Taqabbalallahu minna waminkum...

Bonsai gardening... an update (2)

Bonsai gardening is a hobby that demands huge patience. It takes years of tending and care to see the plants grow into beautiful bonsai. Just like any other hobby, perseverance and dedication are essential traits to have.

In most situations, I consider myself a patient person. However a trickle of impatience does creep in at other times. In the few years I've been into this pastime, I've learned a number of things. Among these are :

1. Plants will get infected by bugs and diseases. Sometimes leaves turn yellow or curl up. Sometimes the leaves don't even grow.

2. Some plants will die.

3. Each type of plant has a different rate of growth. Some sprout new leaves and buds within a few weeks of pruning. Some can be easily propagated using stem cuttings while others require other methods such as air-layering.

4. A branch or two would definitely break when you first learn the wiring and bending process.

5. Pruning dense leafy growth is a hard decision to make.

Failures

I've had my fair share of failures.

• I had a dracaena tree growing in a normal pot for many years. I had trimmed the initial long stem to reduce the height and create branching. When the shape of the growth was pleasing, I transferred the plant into a shallow bonsai pot. It survived for a few months until I noticed that the leaves that fall off are not being replaced with new growth. I unearthed it from the pot and saw that root-rot had occurred. Cause of death : over-watering and possibly poor drainage.
• Somebody threw away unwanted ixora shrubs at a dumpster near my house. I scavenged a few and managed to re-grow them in poly bags. One of these shrubs is a tiny plant about five inches tall with four slim branches. New leaves were already growing well and it even had flowers on one of the branches. I decided to re-pot it in a tiny ceramic pot to create a small bonsai known among hobbyists as mame. I even wired the branches to create the bonsai look. It died on me after about two months. Possible cause of death : poor root structure due to being transplanted too early.

Moving on

Notwithstanding the failures, I'm pleased to note that some plants are growing well and are on their way to be good-looking (I hope) bonsai trees in years to come. Among these are a few ficus plants and a tree which I think, is a pulai species. The pulai tree was a shoot growing out of a crack in a concrete drain near a project I was involved in about a year ago. I had carefully prised it out from the crack, hoping to pull out as much of the roots as I can. I replanted it in a normal pot but then transferred it to a shallow pot when it quickly outgrew the initial container. Presently, I'm letting the leaves grow more and allow additional branching. My hope is to create a dense canopy with reduced leaf size. Something to look forward to in the coming years.

Pulai tree entering its 2nd year

Ficus retusa in training for semi-cascade style

Teacher's Day 2020

The following was a post on my Facebook yesterday 16 May 2020 to commemorate Teacher's Day.

It takes a big heart to shape little minds.

It is a humid and stuffy afternoon now. The dark clouds and occasional sound of thunder that threatened to burst into a thunderstorm had passed by my house as just a drizzle. Another area in JB is probably experiencing the heavy downpour.

Actually, it is such a good time to take an afternoon nap. But I've been taking too many daytime dozing sessions (especially in the situation of MCO and fasting) that it is becoming not such a good thing. So in conjunction with Teacher's Day, I've decided to explore my Facebook friends list and find out how many of them are teachers or do work related to the teaching profession (lecturers, librarians, counselors and the like).

Here's what I've found :

1. Facebook does not display my friends list in alphabetical order. Nor is it in frequency of interaction (some people who are inactive are found in the top half of the list while some who regularly respond to my posts are near the bottom).

2. I have a total of 466 Facebook friends (including some duplicates and those who have passed on). Of these, 46 are teachers. That works out to a whisker under 10%.

3. Fourteen (14) of those teachers are my fellow batchmates of MCE/SPM 1979.

4. Of my FB friends, I have seven (7) teachers who taught at MRSM Kuantan.

5. Four (4) persons on the list are family members (one sister-in-law, one daughter-in-law and two nieces). Yeah, ladies all of them. The guys in my family are not inclined to teach.

6. I have three (3) friends called Zura (Azura, Norazura and Maizura). Guess what.... all three are teachers.

`Selamat Hari Guru' to all my teacher and educator friends. All your combined weight in gold can never match the value of the knowledge you have imparted.

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Wan Shahriza, Zulika Abdullah, Roswati Abdul Wahab (a), Kharmilla Abdullah, Siti Hamidah, Sir Peter Ng, Noordin Mohd Yusof, Nor Ezan, Azura Omar, Cahaya Malam, Rashidah Jailani, Shahrin Mohamad, Azie Amin, Norazura Abd Talip, Hazlin Nazri, Puan Faizah Aziz-Wells, Marz Zain Al Din, Roseline Mairon, Khairanum Subari, Paula Khoo, Eniey Ab Rahim, Cikgu Rahmah Sahamid, Daud Mohamad, Siti Zaleha Muhammed Said, Adriana Ismail, Nida Elias, Cordelia Mason, Cikgu Mohdzin Abu, Zulkafli Hassan, Fauziah Abdul Ghani, Saufie Ali, Cikgu Zakaria Mohdnoor, Ruzaini A Arshah, Wanmai Wanman, Cikgu Kandan Saikon, Yang Farina Abdul Aziz, Kak Yong Irna, Abdul Razak, Haziah Hashim, Rohana Mustapha, Nur Diyana Zainal Abidin, Atun Manap, Suzyanna Mokhtar, Pat Goh, Ana Wahid and Cikgu Zamri Mohamed Isa.

(Mohon maaf banyak2 jika saya ada tertinggal nama sahabat yg juga seorang cikgu atau pernah menjadi cikgu)
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