The Reader

At last, we have a Post Office!

Yes, at last my kampung folks now have a POS MINI BERKOMPUTER(Computerised Mini Post Office)  after 50 years of MERDEKA.It is better late than never.

How do we kampong folks get our letters in the 60's and 70's when our houses have no numbers and no street names?Most of the time, those letters were left by the postmen at the kedaikopi (coffee-shop) in the kampong.Many a time, a study offer and job interview letters were lost because they depended on the goodwill of the kedaikopi owners or someone who took them to deliver to your house.

I am glad now we do have a new species called POST MINI.In the old days, a Post Office was a big brick and mortar building with a few postmen and a postmaster.Now,it can be one-man operated shop. Thanks to privatisation/corporation of Malaysian Post Office.IMHO, this is one success story of a government agency.

The nearest post office to my house is located 5km away at Bachok town.To go there in the mid 60's, either we ride bicycles or take a trishaw or walk a few km before we can find a bus route.Not only that,from my kampung we need to cross a river with a hand-operated ferry.So,if a boy wished to send a love letter to a girl,a paid messenger is cheaper.I happened to be one of the little postmen,for a fee of 10 sen.The amount was big in those days for a dangerous job;-) Nowadays, text messages(Malaysians call sms) flow through my windows and we parents donot have a clue of what transpired through the airwaves between our kids and their friends.When I went to a boarding school(SDAR),  receiving registered letters were great news.It was pocket money from my parent.And nowadays,my son asked me to maybank2u.When I was a student in UK in 1973-76,my letters took at least one week to arrive at my kampung.Last week,my son left for Boston,USA  and when he arrived,he just sent text message to me and later we talked over the phone.

Those were the days...

Do you do R.A.K?

I read about this article on Random Acts of Kindness and I felt ashamed of myself.You can read it here.Out of 29 on the list ,mine was less than 5.I failed miserably...How about you?

On the other hand,I received a few but more than what I have given away.

Below is a list of RAK from strangers to me:

1.On the way back from KL Sentral,I took Putra train to KLCC.A young man gave away his seat for me.

2.As I was looking for a place to park my car in Ipoh,  a man came to me and told me that he was leaving and pointing to his parked car.so I waited for him to drive away and I got the parking lot.

3.I emailed an online acquantance online about the accommodation for my friend's daughter .A few days later, he came back with an answer after he drove a few miles to check the hostel.

4.I came into a crowded Pos Malaysia office to send a parcel.Before I cout get my Q number,a lady came to me and gave her Q slip.She decided to go some where else.I saved half an hour of waiting.

Playground:dirty and dangerous!

When was the last time you went to the playground in your neighbourhood? I just did this morning after my morning cycling.To my horrors, there is a manhole without any covers.If your kids happen to be running around, he or she will fall and surely suffers serious injuries if not dies in the hole!The grass appreared to look like  not been cut for the last three months and rubbishes are over the places.

Our roads are cleaned by DBKL cleaners most of the time.I just donot know why the playground are left behind.By the way, this playground is located next to Jalan Wirawati Market.(about 5km from KLCC).

A few weeks ago, one of neighbour's wife was robbed(snatch thief) at another playground next to Esso Station near Jalan Pria,about half a kilometer from my house during her morning jog!

Now,DBKL has invited the members of the public to see and give comments on their new masterplan.I would rather go to mamak shop for teh tarik and roti canai.

Alumni Mini Seminar

Yesterday,I attended one-day seminar organised by a member of our school alumni so that we can gain some knowledge from our friends who are SME(subject matter experts) in their respective fields of specialisations.The photo on the right shows the attendees in deep thought while listening to the speaker.It cost only RM60 person at Residence Hotel,at Uniten.

Four papers were presented covering Intellectual properties,Airbus 380,Speed Reading and Project Management.After lunch, we have a DC(Deep Discussion) on a topic entitled The Impact of Early Education in Human Capital Development.

From the DC,I made the following conclusions:

1.We had undergone different types of upbringing.It depends on who are our parents and the environment where we live.
2.Our early upbringing before going to schools and during primary schools had bigger influence on our characters.
3.Our parents had more time with us than we have time for our children. Nowadays, kindergartens have more influence than parents who are working.
4.More allocation of fund/resources are needed from the government for early education.It is cheaper to pay now than to pay later.ROI is much better in early education.
5.Parents need to be educated about parenting and should pay more attention when their children are growing up.
6.When it comes to 'aqidah( belief) in our religion,my late father never delegate or abdicate to anyone as far as his children is concerned.If we are not capable,then only we can delegate to someone but only responsibility and not accountability.

Note: The photo above was taken from sdara website by Dr Khairun Nazar.

Below is a photo taken by Mohd Shah during our DC:

Lest I forget...

Last November,2006, I started a new blog in Bahawa Melayu(Malay Language).My intention was to talk about life and development of my Kampung Pondok Beris.Somehow,I failed miserably to keep it updated.In 2007,I only posted less than 10 postings as compared to a few hundreds in this blog in English.Honestly,I am not confident to write in Malay.When I was at school, my English was always better than my Malay.Anyway,I will try harder to write in Malay.By the way, my English is not much better;that is why I write everyday so that I can improve it.

After I read GUiT by Awang Goneng,it inspired me to write also the snapshots of my life in my kampung,lest I may forget it and will get buried with me when I die.If I were to write about my childhood days at my kampung in the 50'and the 60's,at least my children can read them and will be grateful that they have better lives than their father.

Here is the link to my first posting.

Old friends..

Last Saturday I attended a gathering for our old boys and girls at KLGCC. Going there in the rain was a big hassles because I had to circumvent  a few road blocks.Go,I must.I was missing in action a few times and someone has threatened me to 'disown' me from the Alumni;-)

It was really great meeting old friends.Many are literally old like me-a few with full white hairs and bald headed.And when we met ,as you would have expected it, everybody was talking.Not many people were eating;no one can talk and eat at the same time.

Being the eldest present, I was given a special gift- a box of chocolates! I is not everyday I get a box of chocolates at my age,so in return for the chocolates, I read a poem-Semalam,Hari ini dan Esok.

When it comes to chocolate,my heart melts away as the chocolates touches my tongue and dissolves slowly. I am not going to write about it because I have written  a few times before.By the way, I have read the novel Chocolates and watched the movie with my wife.

Now, I need more chocolates to be more romantic again...

Ramadan Project

  Ramadan Project 
  Originally uploaded by fatinsg

First let me congratulate Mr Mohd Shah Khalid,the leader of Kelab Rotary Kg Baharu,KL for organising a shopping raya event for  some unfortunate kids recently. Mohd Shah is the manager of MAS maintenance engineering unit and he has the time to play an important role in his society.I am proud that you made an effort to practise our school's motto- Berilmu Untuk Berjasa.

Asked anyone and the standard reply is I am busy with my work and my family matters.There is no time for charity work if we don't allocate time for it or for anything that matters.It is our choice- to let the world goes by or to do something about it.

Let's try our best to be a member of a group Allah called "al Muhsinun"- a group of people who do good deeds in this world and their final abode is al-Jahnah in the Hereafter.(ref Ayat 15-19 Surah Az-Zariat).

Salam Merdeka

Esok,tanah air tercinta akan merayakan ulangan tahun MERDEKA ke 50. Izinkan saya mengucapkan Selamat Merdeka kepada semua rakyat Malaysia yang sudi membaca blog saya.Sama-sama kita berdu'a agar negara kita aman dan maju dari masa ke semasa...

Berikut ialah cebisan dari tulisan saya  di ambang Merdeka pada tahun 1998.

Apakah itu sebenarnya kemerdekaan?Adakah diri kita merdeka selepas kita menghalau penjajah dari tanah air kita?Jika selaku insan kita tidak mengenal dan mengerti maknanya,amat sukar bagi kita untuk menjadi insan yang merdeka.Kemerdekaan insan adalah amat pokok dan unit asas untuk sesuatu bangsa hidup sebagai bangsa merdeka.Jangan kita kaya,tetapi pada hakikatnya kita hamba di negara sendiri.Pada pengertian saya,insan merdeka adalah mereka yang bebas dari tuntunan hawa nafsu dan hanya tunduk kepada fitrah dan hukum Allah.Negara kita boleh merdeka 100 tahun,tetapi jika fikiran dan jiwa kita masih dijajah,kita belum lagi menjadi insan yang merdeka. Bukan merdeka untuk bertindak mengikut nafsu dan perasaan, tetapi merdeka untuk bertindak berasaskan ilmu dan panduan wahyu dari Allah swt.Negara yang sebenar-benarnya merdeka dan berdaulat wajib mempunyai insan merdeka.

Catititan foto: Foto diatas adalah se kumtum bunga raya dari taman bunga dirumah saya.Warna kuning melambangkan banyak nilai-nilai mulia negara merdeka kita telah ternoda oleh budaya kuning...

 

 

Postcrossing

When was the last time you received a hand written letter or postcard? Honestly,I can't remember.Today I discovered postcrossing.com.It is about sending postcard to someone who have registered with the website.

This afternoon,I am going to buy a postcard to send to someone in Finland.I have not been there;the closest was Sweden more than 10 years ago.

I used to write letters to my mother when I was studying in England way back in early 70's.I must ask my mother where did she keep all the letters.It would be nostalgic for me to read these letters again to my children.

By the way, where did you hide the love letters you receive from your girlfriends/boyfriends?

Hand writing is cool. Just see what is on this mug:

Free Skype on 13th May

I got this info from my vox neighbour.You can talk for free to anyone for 24hrs.Please check the details at skype.com

Personally,I had used Skype to talk to my schoolmate when he was working in Holland.The receiption was reasonably acceptable then but could be better by now.So if you wish to have a free chit-chat with me with no telephone charges,please leave a comment and tell me the time you will be calling me.I love to hear from my friends/readers especially those in UK and Europe.

My handle is berisman