I left high school about 20 years ago. Four years ago, I set foot on its ground again for its Golden Jubilee Celebration. I was thrilled and excited to see the familiar classrooms where I once study (or sleep 
); the dorm where we used to lepak and had midnight snack; the walkways where we used to run heading for the dining hall coz if late, the queue will be very long; the gym where we had fun playing the game called bola baling; the public phones where I used to wait for ages to call home or ahem-ahem..
; the warden room which we tried as hard as possible to avoid going to for it has this certain negative aura; the teacher’s lounge where we knew some of our letters were held since its content may be of a threat to us, not the national threat kind of thing but a threat to the boys-girls relationship boundaries 
; the school compound which once upon a time had mango trees and cempedak trees which led us to temptations beyond resistance; the showers, where each morning with sleep heavy in our eyes, hung our towels on the door as a sign that we are booking that particular cubicle so those towels which were at the most bottom, will get to use the shower first (some rule eh… but it works) and lots of other things that are quite impossible to jot down here.
); the dorm where we used to lepak and had midnight snack; the walkways where we used to run heading for the dining hall coz if late, the queue will be very long; the gym where we had fun playing the game called bola baling; the public phones where I used to wait for ages to call home or ahem-ahem..; the warden room which we tried as hard as possible to avoid going to for it has this certain negative aura; the teacher’s lounge where we knew some of our letters were held since its content may be of a threat to us, not the national threat kind of thing but a threat to the boys-girls relationship boundaries ; the school compound which once upon a time had mango trees and cempedak trees which led us to temptations beyond resistance; the showers, where each morning with sleep heavy in our eyes, hung our towels on the door as a sign that we are booking that particular cubicle so those towels which were at the most bottom, will get to use the shower first (some rule eh… but it works) and lots of other things that are quite impossible to jot down here. 
Pic from 4 years ago with some of the batch-mates. In the pic: Arm (grey tudung), Tie Z on her left (yg maintain ayu), Dayangku Lily (yg macam tengah baca doa tu) then on the opposite side, me (yang nyaris-nyaris tak masuk dlm gambar), then Ila (yg nampak mata je tu) and Elin (yang kalau posing memang class..)Nostalgic abis dpt makan kat dlm the same dining hall again... *Addendum: Enit is in the pic!! Furtherst middle right. Only half face showing. This is totally aging. Boleh tak perasan pulak..*However, time goes by. People change, apatah lagi tempat. Walaupun tak ada bah, ia tetap berubah. So some changes were noticeably observed in the school but I’m sure for the better. Now, at 2010, I received a description of the school’s new look via email. It was written by one of our seniors, Sis Wardah, describing the change that has transpired in the school. Somehow I had this feeling that yearn for the school to stay as it is, but that's like wishing you won't get older eh..?. However the report itself is beautifully written and I could not resist sharing it here.
Begin report:
I must say I was IMPRESSED upon driving up to the main tarmac, near the office building. There is this BIG and LONG brightly painted with our school green color, welcoming board spanning across at least 2 classrooms length, at the admin block to greet visitors. The words "WELCOME TO SEKOLAH TUN FATIMAH". Also they have transformed the whole length of the ground floor corridor, at the block facing the tarmac into a covered green awning walk-way. The bilik guru has been moved from the other block to this block and it looked much much better with new sturdy tables. And the Pusat Sumber has been moved to a more humane area from the 4th floor, i.e. to the block nearest to the road, second floor. This floor is connected via a brigde from the tarmac so students now frequent the Pusat Sumber, not like before.
At the "kolam" area infront of the office, the fish tank is gone and replaced with beautiful shiny glass panel laden with all the prizes and awards which were in the Pengetua's room all this while. This has made our sisters happy and motivated to see all the winnings made by the school and their seniors. (I tak sempat nak ambil gambar ni. Later lah ok..)
Oh..yes, the canteen. The place where sampah used to be thrown and an eye-sore was cleaned up and turned into a cosy enclosed air-cond eating place for teachers and visitors..like me.. where I spent my talking time with the Pengetua -- at least about 30 minutes max there.
Oh there are a million things to tell you. Kak Junaidi has really done her best and yet she says she is still not finished yet. Next year she is due to retire, so she likes to get most of the changes in soon.
On another note: You could also "see" other important and intangible changes too... the 'air' of Kakak-kakak bullying adik-adik is hopefully thing of the past.. She said she had a hard time identifying the root causes, but ALhamdullilah it was ironed out last year and hopefully we are seeing more of the seniors embracing and welcoming the new adiks with open arms. She said however closer monitoring is still needed to ensure the culture which we had last time will be returned accordingly. HEM is a new outside teacher hand-picked by the Jabatan -- she is Puan Maimunah, a very motherly figure and I am sure the new girls will relate to her. Puan Saidah is now guru cemerlang and will concentrate on teaching. I met Pn Saidah and a few other teachers at the canteen.
I must commend the way Kak Ju playing her role as the passionate Pengetua handled her PR with the parents and their soon to-be-left behind daughters. She would dakap the new girls and made them felt welcomed. I was told around 127 new girls registered that day. They estimated that each girl would be accompanied by a pair of parents, so they arranged chairs for around 127x3, but the turn out was over subscribed by 7 to 8 times; Grandma and Grandpa, abang-adik-kakak were also there to send off this new Puteri Srikandi. So obviously you expect some delays in the registration process -- understandable. But luckily the dewan is now fully air-conditioned and has a new face lift.
Apa lagi nak cerita eh.. oh yes, the dorm... The dorm which I went to (former Block A) now Blue coloured has been tiled with white tiles to cover the old cement surface. The toilets are due to be reno in the next phase. The bed sheets are all white with the School Badge printed at the foot of the sheet. So sejuklah sikit mata memandangnya. RM20 each bed sheet. Nak beli ke??? For we all the price is special...at RM50.00 he he he...
I will append some of the pictures I took with my not-so-clear mobile handphone camera.
All in all, I seriously suggest that those who have the means, and if you ikhlas, please lend a hand or contribute some extra funds to the school while Kak Ju is still there and trying to make our school pristine again.
Kak Ju also asked that you all please DOA that the school gets good SPM results so that it can be adorned with a special entitlement which carries with it a substantial financial assistance. The recent excellent PMR 1.01 results was such a great gift to the school and all the form 4 girls were gleaming with pride whenever they introduced themselves as Form 4 girls.. and why not? because almost everyone got 8As... woosh..some of them are R2V players too.
Lastly, I hope to organise a get-together to visit Cik Kalthum. I thought of getting the UTM and JB girls on board. Kak Ju would like to come along so that we can use the NEW SCHOOL BUS.
End report.
p/s Apart from minor typo errors, the report is just as K. Wa wrote it… Hmm.. is it terminologically correct to use WYSIWYG in this case..? ha ha…
Met a couple of friends from school, Hemy & Elin, earlier today at Old Town White Coffee, Ampang Park. It has been ages since I met Elin. And it’s just the right time to see her since it’s her birthday in 2 days time. Well, as for Hemy, tak de le rindu sangat, sebab hari-hari jumpa kat FB… ha ha… 
Elin and I came a long way together from school, being classmates for five years. We shared lots of memories together: our obsession for rock bands, boyfriends (she still call me by a name which is related to one of my old flames
), our way of entertaining ourselves when feeling sleepy in class, sleepover at her dorm (which is actually prohibited then), sleepover at sick bay (which is totally no entry especially to healthy students), and oh yes… the mango tree…
On the contrary, Hemy and I were classmates for only 3 years but hey… siapa tak kenal Hemy… She is definitely of a different league, being more ‘nakal’ than me
. Even tho I broke some rules back then, but if I say I was a prefect, people will certainly take my word for it 
cheh...perasan... But having said that, I salute Hemy for what she was before and what she is now.
We had a good chat and some good food. We had Coffee Cham (coffee and teh campur = Cham?). We had kaya & butter toast (nice), curry potato toast (very nice), tuna toast (ok la), cocktail sausage basket (a bit salty) and samosa (a bit tiny for our big appetite, or rather Hemy’s big appetite). Well, she’s buying, so it’s just logical for her to eat more. Terima kasih daun keladi Hemy, lain kali my turn.
Elin and I came a long way together from school, being classmates for five years. We shared lots of memories together: our obsession for rock bands, boyfriends (she still call me by a name which is related to one of my old flames
), our way of entertaining ourselves when feeling sleepy in class, sleepover at her dorm (which is actually prohibited then), sleepover at sick bay (which is totally no entry especially to healthy students), and oh yes… the mango tree…On the contrary, Hemy and I were classmates for only 3 years but hey… siapa tak kenal Hemy… She is definitely of a different league, being more ‘nakal’ than me
. Even tho I broke some rules back then, but if I say I was a prefect, people will certainly take my word for it cheh...perasan... But having said that, I salute Hemy for what she was before and what she is now.We had a good chat and some good food. We had Coffee Cham (coffee and teh campur = Cham?). We had kaya & butter toast (nice), curry potato toast (very nice), tuna toast (ok la), cocktail sausage basket (a bit salty) and samosa (a bit tiny for our big appetite, or rather Hemy’s big appetite). Well, she’s buying, so it’s just logical for her to eat more
. Terima kasih daun keladi Hemy, lain kali my turn. 
The only dishes that are visible are samosa and curry potato toast. The rest dah selamat ditelan and some were not ordered yet then.
We are old friends all right but we are wayyy from old…(ye la tu...) And I left them for more gossiping at 5.30pm ++, half an hour behind my daily schedule. And on the way back I called my hubby, just to enquire whether he’s already home. Nope, he was just about to go home. So, ok la, tak le dia sampai rumah dulu. And he mockingly said, tu la… jumpa kawan2 sampai tak ingat anak, nasib baik tak lupa laki..’ And I said…’of course tak lupa, that’s why I call’. When actually, the main reason I called was to find out who will be picking our youngest kid from the day care center, me or him…
. And he mockingly said, tu la… jumpa kawan2 sampai tak ingat anak, nasib baik tak lupa laki..’ And I said…’of course tak lupa, that’s why I call’. When actually, the main reason I called was to find out who will be picking our youngest kid from the day care center, me or him… My 2nd child is not well since yesterday. She started coughing and complaining of chest tightness. So this morning, hubby and I took her to a clinic nearby. It is a 24-hour clinic and we often seek for treatment there especially when other clinics are either closed or the doctor on duty is not in.
It is not yet 8 am when we arrived at the clinic. But there were already 2 people waiting and another 2 coming in while we were waiting. My kid’s name was called and we went in. The doctor is a female and young. Maybe the same age as me (I’m still young ke..? ) or maybe younger. But I like the way she treats her patients. She’s friendly, good with kids and the most important thing; she really looks like she cares. My kid had to be given the nebulizer and her lungs were clear after that, Alhamdulillah.
We exited the doctor’s room and I was amazed 
to see how full the waiting room was. Almost all seats were taken. Phew… I’m glad we came early or else we would be waiting there for ages. But it’s no surprise to see many people there. The doctor is the main reason, I think. If I’m comfortable with that doctor, I’m sure others share the same feelings too thus they come again and again... No wonder they managed to expand the clinic. From 1 shop lot, now they have taken up 2 shop lots. I’m impressed. Bed-side manner does matters.
to see how full the waiting room was. Almost all seats were taken. Phew… I’m glad we came early or else we would be waiting there for ages. But it’s no surprise to see many people there. The doctor is the main reason, I think. If I’m comfortable with that doctor, I’m sure others share the same feelings too thus they come again and again... No wonder they managed to expand the clinic. From 1 shop lot, now they have taken up 2 shop lots. I’m impressed. Bed-side manner does matters.
We went home with bottles of meds: antibiotic, ventolin & antipyrexic syrup. My kid is not very keen on taking tablets medications. Macam la ubat syrup tu dia senang makan… sheesh…
It’s such a pressure dan mencabar kesabaran waiting for her to gulp down the meds only to end up with she vomitting it out…
Adoii... memang bertuah anak ini…
It’s such a pressure dan mencabar kesabaran waiting for her to gulp down the meds only to end up with she vomitting it out… Adoii... memang bertuah anak ini… We attended a wedding on Saturday, hubby, my youngest daughter and I. The rest of the clan preferred staying home. Yeah…they have come to the stage where they began to feel restless when tagging along mummy’s or daddy’s events… I kind of recall that feeling too, years ago.
Ok, about the wedding.. It’s the wedding of an ex-colleague’s son. Held at Dewan Gemalasari, RISDA Headquarters of Jalan Ampang. We reached the place after 1pm and parked outside the building’s premise instead of trying our luck parking inside. Coincidentally, the convoy of cars of the bride's group arrived at the same time. As we were walking through the entrance gate, a car honked. I was irked because I did not block the car’s way. Nak jalan, jalan je la. Hon-hon pulak..
Mujur tak keluar tanduk... And I don’t think I know anyone driving a car of that kind.The car stopped and the window on the passenger’s side rolled down. Nope, I don’t know the person sitting there. But hey, a familiar face on the driver’s seat. Laa…. Hajar rupanya.. I knew her from school and we were in the same matriculation previously. We managed to exchange a few words, I said, wedding colleague punye anak. She managed to utter, dgn anak buah aku la tu. And she drove on. Takkan nak bukak kedai kopi pulak kat tengah jalan tu. But I vowed to at least go find her before I headed home after the wedding.
Ok, about the wedding.. It’s the wedding of an ex-colleague’s son. Held at Dewan Gemalasari, RISDA Headquarters of Jalan Ampang. We reached the place after 1pm and parked outside the building’s premise instead of trying our luck parking inside. Coincidentally, the convoy of cars of the bride's group arrived at the same time. As we were walking through the entrance gate, a car honked. I was irked because I did not block the car’s way. Nak jalan, jalan je la. Hon-hon pulak..
Mujur tak keluar tanduk... And I don’t think I know anyone driving a car of that kind.The car stopped and the window on the passenger’s side rolled down. Nope, I don’t know the person sitting there. But hey, a familiar face on the driver’s seat. Laa…. Hajar rupanya.. I knew her from school and we were in the same matriculation previously. We managed to exchange a few words, I said, wedding colleague punye anak. She managed to utter, dgn anak buah aku la tu. And she drove on. Takkan nak bukak kedai kopi pulak kat tengah jalan tu. But I vowed to at least go find her before I headed home after the wedding. I enjoyed the food. Very nice. Seri Mayang Catering, if I’m not mistaken. Once finished with the food, we went to look for Hajar and chatted (and gossiping) for a while. Good to see her again. Wish I could stay longer and chat more but hubby had to go to the office afterwards. Bankers…
lots of deadlines especially the first 2 weeks of the month. But I managed to snap a photo of the newly-weds before we left. 
Dr Alini's son, Hadi and Hajar's niece, Afifah.
On Sunday, Syahidah's kindy held a programme with the authors of Bacalah Anakku and Read Easy books, Puan Nik Eliani & En Othman.
Puan Nik interacting with 2 of the kids.
Some of Puan Nik's words:
'Ibu bapa jangan ajar anak2 ABC, kalau nak anak cepat pandai membaca. Simpan ABC tu dalam almari' - quite hard to accept kan... since ABC is usually the first thing you teach to kids.
'Ibu bapa kena mainkan peranan mengajar anak di rumah. Tapi berhenti sebelum anak jemu' - Yes, I agreed to that, and she also said it's for the sake of the parents too, we tend to lose our patience...
Yes, I can relate to that too...
Yes, I can relate to that too...'Bila nak bunyikan huruf-huruf, ibu bapa tak payah lah control macho atau control cun' - The face can be very funny-looking when making speech sounds. Try it yourself: go in front of the mirror and try making the sound of 'c' Bahasa Melayu version. You need to pout your lips for you to be able to do the sound 'ch'. And it's not pretty, trust me...
Syahidah has been going to kindergarten for some time now, and Alhamdulillah she is able to read since last year. It's every parents wish for kids to excel in school and I'm wishing the same thing for Syahidah too.
Shahidah (white tudung) with her friends, reciting short verses during the programme.
I was confused this morning when I logged in to my FB coz I see 'colors' being written on status updates of most of my (female) friends. I thought, what did I miss? What's with all this colors? Why am I so blur...? And they are being quite discreet about it. However, after reading a lot of statuses and a whole lot more of the comments, then I got it. Colors of the bras that one is wearing is being updated. No wonder they are being so secretive about it .
. So what is this hubbub about bra colors all of a sudden? Some kind of marketing strategy by some bra company? Or just a game among the females in which guys are not invited? Well, with the power of the google, I search for this issue. I only typed bra color and it brought me to the exact information that I needed.
So alkisahnya, it's some form of a breast cancer awareness campaign. And so many blogs and postings are reporting about this such as this one. It's not just about the colors...
p/s picture above is from here
As a child, I don’t remember my parents buying a birthday cake or me having to blow out candles on my birthdays. And at that age, I don’t really bother about cakes anyway. My siblings and I did get toys from time to time, even though it was not our birthdays. But during those times, toys are not our main demand. We preferred playing outside (Polis sentri, kejar-kejar, main masak-masak, main nyorok-nyorok and many others), taking a dip in the river or playing with self-made toys. Only when I went to boarding school and university did I started to celebrate birthdays with cakes and candles and all.
Now that I have kids, hubby and I will always hold a small ceremony
by having cake and candles every time the kids celebrate their birthdays. But no, we don’t believe in saying a wish while blowing the candles or about how the wish can come true if you can blow all the candles in one breath or any other history related to birthday cakes and candles. The cake and the candles are just for fun to make the kids happy. And it’s one of the time the family get together for some quality time. However, I have stopped having cake on my birthday for many years now… Dah tak kuasa nak tiup-tiup lilin..
Well, enough about that. I’m not going to ramble on the history of cakes and candles. Yesterday was the birthday of 2 of my girls. Syahirah Nor Ain (8 years old) and Syafiqah Nor Aisyah (2 years old). They were both born on 6th of January and coincidentally both were born on a Sunday.
So we had a cake yesterday.
Now that I have kids, hubby and I will always hold a small ceremony
by having cake and candles every time the kids celebrate their birthdays. But no, we don’t believe in saying a wish while blowing the candles or about how the wish can come true if you can blow all the candles in one breath or any other history related to birthday cakes and candles. The cake and the candles are just for fun to make the kids happy. And it’s one of the time the family get together for some quality time. However, I have stopped having cake on my birthday for many years now… Dah tak kuasa nak tiup-tiup lilin..Well, enough about that. I’m not going to ramble on the history of cakes and candles. Yesterday was the birthday of 2 of my girls. Syahirah Nor Ain (8 years old) and Syafiqah Nor Aisyah (2 years old). They were both born on 6th of January and coincidentally both were born on a Sunday.
So we had a cake yesterday.
This cake is priced at RM27.00We sang the song, Allah selamatkan kamu etc etc… and also the Happy Birthday song.
Singing with mouths closed???
They blew out the candles.
Mujur tak tersembam muka kat kek.
They ate the cake.
Yummy!!
Then they opened their gifts.
We used to buy gifts for all children regardless whose birthday it was because we hate to see the other child eyeing the other’s gift. And they tend to fight over the gifts too.. aiyoo...
But we stopped doing that sometime ago so only the birthday girl get presents. Well, jimat belanja is one thing. The kids learn to appreciate their gifts more.
But we stopped doing that sometime ago so only the birthday girl get presents. Well, jimat belanja is one thing. The kids learn to appreciate their gifts more.
Syahirah is enjoying her gift with her Along. Along pun dah start berangan nak the same gift for her birthday.
Syafiqah is feeding her 'baby'. She definitely has the motherly looks..
Later, we had dinner at Restoran Rumah Thai. The kids love going there. And we had Ayam Pandan (chicken in screwpine leaves), Udang butter (prawns fried in butter), mixed Tom Yam, kailan fried with salted fish and beef cooked paprik style.
And to finish it off, ice cream for the kids.
And I overate. I know I should have fasted today… isyh..isyh..isyh..
This is the sequel to my previous post. My kids are currently going through the usual pressure and the stress of school. They have started having homework on day 2 of school. And some of it is transferred to me as well. What the Malays said: cubit peha kanan, peha kiri terasa juga (Literal translation: Pinch right thigh, left thigh feels pain: which means when your loved one is in pain, you suffer too). And there are a few other pressures as well.
The other day when I went to my kid’s kindy to pay the registration fees; the teacher was looking through my kid’s registration form. And she made a remark: Oo.. ni yang lecturer tu ya..?’ I smiled and said yes. But inside, I was like.... alamak!! She now must have a certain expectation from my kid. She would expect my kid to excel academically and well-behaved just like how a lecturer’s kid should excel and behave. Aduss… pressure..pressure…
As if the above pressure is not enough, I have other matters to fret about. School uniforms and shoes... The level of cleanliness of my kids, even though they are girls, can be as bad as boys. Especially my second, she tend to have the dirtiest school uniforms, the muddiest school shoes and the filthiest school socks. And twice a week I would channel my energy to scrubbing and washing the dirty clothes 
The 2 pails of laundry. The whites are sorted from the dark colors. One pail has been tackled last night. Another awaits...
