Putrajaya Lakes and Wetland Photography Competition.

On saturday, 23 february 2013, I accompanied my daughter to a photography competition organised by Putrajaya lakes and wetland unit of Perbadanan Putrajaya. we arrived at the site at about 8.30 a.m. After registering there was breakfast and then workshop on how to capture good photographs by a Mr Syibli, very enlightening indeed. Another workshop on photography as a career or how to make money from photography. Next briefing on the rules of the competition, the dos and don't. My daughter was competing in the secondary school cathegory so she had to take photographs of the wetland plants. I walked part of the ground with her and friends. The sun was bright so I decided to drive. Alya, Humaira and Muis contied to walk by the lake. I took some pictures of the wetland and also scene of the competition.

The trip to Assen, Holland

27 MAY 1992
Another train ride to Assen, in the north. Tineke said she liked this part of Holland because it still retain the country life. while on the train ride I could see the farms and farm houses on each side of the track... very picturesque and there were many willow trees. I especially like the purple flowering plants/bushes. Assen town was very quiet. We went to the Museum. There were beautiful art exhibits depicting Dutch history, archeological findings and the culture of people of Assen, their clothes, the way they furnished their dwellings, dining and cooking utensils, spinning wheel and others. very informative indeed but a bit stuffy especially the archeological artefacts.
Then we got on the bus to schoonord open air museum "De zeven Marken" . There were the sodhuts of early settlers. In 2854 when people in other areas lived in modern brick or wooden houses, they still lived in primitive dwellings. Most of the houses also had stable for the horses. There was a school, a cave dwelling of Emmet and Bremmet the giants, carpenter shop, gaol and others. I bought a few precious stones which look beautiful and colourful. next visit to utretch and Amsterdam.....

visit to Rotterdam city and harbour.

The city of Rotterdam looks modern with the famous pencil building and the Euromast, 180 m high. Tineke told me that the historic part of the city was damaged by the German Air raid in 1940. From the central station we took a walk across a park and went up the Euromast something like the KL Tower but since it was built in 1960 so we wouldn't expect much but it was the best way to see the city where the harbour can be viewed clearly. I could even see how the gate is opened to let the ships into the canals. Next we got on the speedo boat cruise and was taken on tour of the harbour. It was a great port indeed. In the evening we cycled to a park in Ridderkerk. I  found myself strunggling with the unfamiliar bicycle which Tineke had rented specially for me. To make it worst cycling on the right side of the road is something difficult to do when we stopped at the junction and I forgot which way to turn. we knocked against each other once but it was not serious. At the park I made my acquaintance with some plants which I  had only read in books before plants such as the poison ivy, the dandelion, forget me not, the daisies and others. I also saw some birds which is not common in malaysia such as the raven.  In the evening we went to Tineke's mum's house for dinner. her brother Jan was also present. Tineke had brought with her a pan in which she told me had only been used to cook eggs. Her mum prepared a delicious steak made from they called it vegetarian meat specially for me. at least I had something different than the usual eggs, bread and chips that I'm taking from the day I arrived in Holland.

photographs of Europe trip

photographs of me at Dubai international airport, moscow airport and in Amsterdam

Interrogation at Schipol, Amsterdam.

I arrived at Schipol, Amsterdam at about 2 pm. I quickly went to the immigration to avoid having to que in long lines. Unfortunately being Asian, I had to. Worst, being Asian and a female travelling alone seems to cast some doubts on the Immigration officers mind. I was taken to an examination room where I was asked questions like where I'll be staying, how long would I stay in Holland, where to apart from Holland etc... and in the end after being shown the US dollar 1500 travellers cheque that I brought with me, they let me through. While passing through the immigration I saw a Malaysian family passed through easily because they came from England. most probably students on holiday. Once outside I was met by Tineke and we took a train to Rotterdam central station and took a bus to Ridderkerk where she lives. Meanwhile I had my first french fries with peanut butter. It was delicious may be because I was feeling hungry not taking any food on the plane. Tineke's house was a cosy 2 rooms house small but enough space to feel comfortable with dining, kitchen and living room on the ground floor and bedrooms on the first floor.  At about 6 pm, Tineke took me for a walk to the town. We went to a mart, a GIANT like market where she bought some canned food and fruits. We also went to the bank where she worked so that I could cash my checque and so I got to meet a few of her friends.  on the way back I encounter my first dyke and was shocked to see that it wasn't really a wall but an earth bank, some sort of batas in malay but big ones where they can even have roads or houses build on it. so how can the story of the boy who saved the town by shoving his finger in the hole of the dyke happen? I wonder. Anyhow the sceneries were beautiful. there were ducks swimming in the moat or small stream, there were weeping willows also my first and the next morning I woke up to bright sunlight, went down but found Tineke still sleeping and thought that I would like to take a walk but could not open the door, the key somehow would not turned and therefore I just looked around the living room and incidentally glanced at the clock to see that it was 4 a.m , so that was my first experience of early sunlight in late spring. so back to bed and I was confused about my subuh prayer too. later I got to know that I would have to pray at about 3 somethong.

while on a stopover in Dubai on the way to Amsterdam.

First Trip out- Europe

May 1992,  It was my first holiday abroad. Tineke, my pen-friend for 7 years invited me to her house in Ridderkerk, Amsterdam for a 3 weeks holiday. Being a Kampung girl and had just graduated from USM I had never stepped out of Malaysia before. It was a dream comes true.  I had always wanted to visit Europe especially England after years of reading novels classic or otherwise of life in countryside or towns in Europe.  I could almost pgictured myself gazing at the Moors or mansion on the hills, horses running free. Travelling on gravel path under the streetlights. I did not have much money to spend so I had to choose the cheapest flight available and it turns out to be the Aeroflot. On 21st May, I was scheduled to fly at about 2 pm. My brother in law and sister were kind enough to send me to Subang Airport which was the only International Airport at that time. We made a mistake of starting late from Banvgi and arrived at the airport at about 1.30 pm. The checked in counter for the flight was already closed and the passengers were already called in. I had to appeal to the officers at the counter for assistance and  they were kind enough to help. An aeroflot flight security officer whizzed me trough, had my passport stamped and soon I was with the other passengers waiting to board the flight. I somehow had to carry my luggage into the plane. Luckily I travelled light it was not too big. Another problem was I did not have a seat number so I had to sit very far at the rear end of the plane. Fortunately for me I sat next to a very friendly male KUSZA lecturer who was going back to England after his term break. He's doing his PHD in England. He and an Indian girl from Ipoh  were to be my companion for our two hour walkabout in Dubai Airport and four out of seven hour transit in Moscow. He also was kind enough to share his donuts so that we could have something to eat in Moscow Airport.  I realy did learn an important lesson that day for my future travels and had never repeat the mistake. I made the point to reach the airport early whenever I'm taking a flight. Another important lesson that I learned was to make sure that the camera I take with me works because I borrowed my brother's camera which he had never used for sometime. When I tested it to see whether it is okay, it looks good and not willing to waste many films (there wasn't any digital camera back then) I was satisfied enough to rely on it for my photo snapping session and I regret not buying a new camera. As a result I did not have many photograps to remember the holiday by. ...... I'll post the second part of this and also some photographs (those few that I managed to have it taken)  later.  

Beautiful Butterfly

This afternoon on the way to Bangi right before I stepped into the car my daughter called me to show what she had found. It was a beautiful Rajah Brooke Butterfly taking a rest on the sidewindow of a car. She wanted to shoot a picture but being scared of insects she wanted me to help. I used to see quite a number of these butterflies when I first settled down in Putrajaya 12 years ago. Nowadays I rarely saw them so I was also quite happy to see one today and had a few photos taken. Later on I saw news of such butterflies being called as giant butterflies and considered rare. These are photos of the news and a picture of the butterfly that we found.

MPKI in memories 2

PBSM camping at Teluk Batik Lumut, Perak. 1981

memories of MPKI in pictures

my student card

E1 class photo

Badminton club committee members
trip to Penang

Opet, my pet cat.

Opet was only three months old when my husband brought it home after paying a mere rm100 to it's former owner, his friend. Opet was the last to go after its three other siblings were all taken. Opet soon became my daughter's favourite companion. It was like the brother, she never had. Two weeks later Opet was found missing. We searched around the house and also around the ground floor of the apartments. We asked around if anybody saw him but nobody did. We were leaving for a 3 days holiday in Cameron Highland. We were hoping that by the time we got home, Opet would have come home. As soon as we got back, Alya started calling for his name but he wasn't to be seen. My husband happened to walk by the apartment store where his friend, abang Leman kept his tools, he started calling for opet and to his amazement he heard a response, the meowing of a kitten and there was Opet looking distraught but otherwise fine. From that day on Opet would never go near strangers. Opet would sleep on Alya's or my bed putting his head on our legs every night and during the day he would sleep on a floor mat with the picture of a cat and a dog choosing to be on the side of the cat's picture. Opet is of European breed so it has long and thick fur but soft. there are times when he lost more fur than usual. We also would take him to see the vet once a month for vacination and others. He doesn't like to be in a car, that is to travel so put him up for boarding whenever we go for holidays. Unfortunately we were only given one and the half year of his time because in may 2012 we lost him forever. He was sick for about five days when we took him to the vet and was told he had a fever. He was okay for two days, on the third day when I got back from school, it was as if he was calling for me and I went to pat him and as soon as he heard my husband's voice he took his last breath.  He was put to rest on the hill in front of our apartment. Thanks Allah for lending him to us even for a brief 18 months, we had enjoyed having him eith us.

Sejarah Maktab Perguruan Kinta Ipoh. (MPKI)

Di MPKI aku belajar menjadi seorang insan bernama GURU.  Daripada wanita yang pendiam, pemalu ku tabahkan hati menimba ilmu untuk menjadi pendidik anak bangsa. ia satu langkah kecil, kini setelah 31 tahun aku masih berkhidmat sebagai pendidik.  TERIMA KASIH MPKI atas asuhan mu.

Maktab Perguruan Kinta Ipoh (MPKI), Jalan Dairy, merupakan kesinambungan Pusat Latihan Harian, Ipoh yang ditubuhkan pada bulanJun 1957. Pusat Latihan Harian ini ditumpangkan di bangunan asrama Sekolah Rendah Jenis Kebangsaan Inggeris, Jalan Pasir Puteh, Ipoh (sekarang sekolah tersebut dikenali dengan nama Sekolah Rendah Kebangsaan Raja Ikram.

Pusat Latihan ini tidak mempunyai kemudahan asas sebagai institusi latihan guru pada permulaannya. Dengan tenaga pengajar seramai 6 orang, pusat tersebut terus memberikan kuliah kepada 109 orang guru pelatih. Mereka ini menjadi perintis kepada kemajuan dan perkembangan maktab ini seterusnya.
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Pada ketika itu, kursus-kursus yang ditawarkan dirangka khas bagi guru-guru yang akan mengajar di Sekolah Rendah Inggeris, Melayu dan Cina. Tempoh kursus pula ialah selama dua dan tiga tahun. Pemegang Sijil Rendah Pelajaran mengikuti kursus selama tiga tahun. Pemegang Sijil Rendah Pelajaran mengikuti kursus selama tiga tahun sementara pemilik Sijil Persekolahan Seberang Laut/Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia dan "Senior Middle III" berkursus selama dua tahun.

Selepas beberapa tahun kemudian kursus bagi guru-guru yang akan mengajar di Sekolah Rendah Cina dan kursus bagi pemegang Sijil Rendah Pelajaran ditamatkan. Pusat Latihan Harian di Jalan Pasir Puteh ditutup pada bulan Disember 1966 apabila sebuah maktab siap dibina di satu kawasan seluas hampir 10 ekar di Jalan Dairy, Ipoh. Maktab ini mempunyai segala kemudahan asas sebagai institusi latihan guru kecuali asrama guru pelatih.

Pada bulan Disember 1969 kerajaan menutup Pusat Latihan Harian ini kerana bilangan guru telah melebihi keperluan. Bangunannya diambil alih oleh pihak Politeknik Ungku Omar tetapi pada bulan Februari, 1974 Pusat Latihan Harian ini dibuka semula dengan nama baru iaitu MAKTAB PERGURUAN HARIAN, IPOH. Berikutan dengan itu maktab ini terus maju dan berkembang sama ada dari segi fizikalnya mahupun bilangan pelatih dan pensyarahnya.

Berbagai kursus disediakan termasuklah kursus-kursus bagi guru sekolah menengah. Maktab baru di bangunan lama ini telah dibuka dengan rasminya oleh Timbalan Perdana Menteri merangkap Menteri Pelajaran Malaysia ketika itu Yang Berhormat Dr. Mahathir Mohamed pada 1 Oktober 1976. Nama maktab ini telah diubah kepada nama barunya, MAKTAB PERGURUAN KINTA IPOH, yang dikenali sehingga hari ini.

My MPKI life- Memoir of a teacher's trainee.

May 1980. ferried by an uncle, accompanied by my mother I arrived at Maktab Perguruan Kinta for my registration at about 3.00 p.m. Only a few teachers trainnee were around at that time. Many had registered in the morning. I was one of the late-comers. Three seniors, the orientation committee came to show me the 'hostel' where I was to spend the whole of my one and the half year as being a student of the MPKI, stands for Maktab Perguruan Kinta, Ipoh. MPKI is situated at Jalan Diary Ipoh, next to the famous Ungku Omar polytechnic. and Raja Chulan School. My hostel was a private hostel run by a lady. She had converted two  double storey shop lots into hostels. There were eight rooms, four large rooms which could accommodate 6 students each, and four smaller rooms which could accommodate four each. That night about six male seniors came for another 'orientation ' session which actually a get to know the freshies sessions. I wasn't one of those sought after fair ladies so I was not disturbed except for a brief what's your name stuff. One of the seniors happened to be my former classmates so we got down to having a few moment of chit-chatting.  My room mates.. well there's Suwaibah and Nik Asiah from Kelantan, Hasnidar, Raja Mazuin, Hajar and I from Perak. We became best of buddies eventhough we were taking different courses. My best friend was Hasnidar and I thought we would never forget each other but we seemed to part our ways once we were out of college. Hasni.... you are still my Best Friend and I miss you. Who knows our paths may cross again.
The next day I got to meet my coursemates, 32 of us in E1 (PIIA), Norhaizan as the class monitor and Afif, the assistant. I enjoy my college years, the Psychology class especially where I got to learn about what makes people tick. I soon forgot all once exam was over. I still wasn't one to do a lot of studying, I don't fool around in class though that's why I still manage to win two awards during graduation that is Best Students for Bahasa Melayu and Geography. Sadly none of my family except for a cousin was present during the certificate giving ceremony solemnised by Datuk Khalil Yaakub who was in 1982, the Vice Minister for Education. I wasn't very keen on my English class though, handicapped with my elocution skills. I kept quiet most of the times to hide my disabilities. Co-curriculum and field trips were few of those sweet moments. First year saw me as one of the committee members for Badminton club. Our E1 team cameout as Badminton college champion, and I was one of the players, eventhough I was only a passenger as I lost all my games. We went on study trip to Penang as Librarians. Geography field trips took us to Cameron Highland and Pulau Ketam and Bukit Melawati. As members of Red Crescent we went camping to Teluk Batik , Lumut. I also did a seven day voluntary work with the Red Crescent at Taman Murni Thai Refugee Camp in Pengkalan Hulu. We also made trips of our own to Batu gajah, to Penang, Sayong and to Kota Bharu and Pasir Puteh, Kelantan. I also got to meet somebody special and was in a relationship from July to December in 1981.  It was only meal dates while on my way home from Ipoh to Kuala Kangsar but I cherished the memories. THANKS MPKI AND FRIENDS FOR THE AWESOME 1980-1981.

Jawatan Pertama

Disember 1980, aku ke USM, Pulau Pinang untuk satu temuduga. Hari itu aku ditemani rakan karib teman sekelas, Aziyan. Malam sebelumnya, aku bermalam di rumah Aziyan kerana kami perlu bertolak pagi2 untuk sampai sebelum 11.00 pagi. Walaupun agak gementar berdepan dengan tiga orang penemuduga segala soalan yang diajukan dapat ku jawab dengan baik. Januari 1980, aku telah ditawarkan Jawatan Pembantu Makmal di Makmal Kimia. Sewaktu melaporkan diri aku berkenalan dengan Kak Halimah dari Kluang, Johor. Aku menyatakan hasrat untuk mencari rumah atau bilik untuk disewa memandangkan waktu itu aku menumpang di rumah seorang sepupu yang telah berkahwin dan mempunyai ahli keluarga yang ramai. Aku dikenalkan dengan Zawati yang mencari teman sebilik. Seminggu kemudian aku berpindah masuk ke bilik yang beliau sewa di rumah sepasang suami isteri di Batu Uban, jarak lebih kurang 700 meter dari pintu dua USM. Aku selesa dan gembira tinggal bersama Zawati, mami dan mamak. pemandangan laut luas yang hanya 10 meter dari beranda rumah, suasana yang sangat berbeza dari kampung ku yang di kelilingi bukit-bukau. Namun sama2 memberi ketenangan dan kedamaian. Kami hanya dikenakan bayaran RM 100 sebulan termasuk makan pagi dan malam. Di tempat kerja, aku ditempatkan di makmal kimia organik. Setelah diberi latihan selama seminggu kami bersedia untuk menjalankan tugas. Aku di selia oleh Abang Abdul Rahman dan Abang Jamal yang peramah dan kelakar. Kak Halimah menjadi rakan karib di tempat kerja, kerana walaupun bertugas di makmal berbeza namun kami selalu keluar makan dan sekali sekala melawat makmal masing2 waktu kelapangan, kalau tidak pun bersembang di interkom. lebih2 lagi semasa kami mula bertugas pelajar sedang bercuti jadi tidak banyak kerja yang perlu kami lakukan. Tiga bulan berlalu, satu hari aku mendapat telegram supaya aku pulang ke kampung hujung minggu tersebut. Rupa2nya aku mendapat tawaran ke Maktab Perguruan Kinta, Ipoh dan perlu melaporkan diri pada 2 Mei. Hati berbelah bagi, aku agak berat untuk meninggalkan jawatan dan rakan2 di Pulau Pinang. Walaubagaimanapun atas desakan ibu dan ayah aku akhirnya meninggalkan USM yang menyimpan seribu kenangan manis dan tempat di mana aku belajar menjadi dewasa.

School years - Primary school days.

It was january of 1966. I woke up early that morning, at 6.00 am. It was my first day of school. I could not sleep the night before thinking of meeting new friends and teachers. I've never been to a school . I was placed in class 1A. My teacher was cikgu Tajuddin better known as cikgu Ta. A kind man of about thirty seven. He taught us all the subjects except English and Pendidikan Islam. I sat beside a beautiful girl known as Zalizah daughter of a retired sholdier who used to serve in Singapore and had just moved back to Raban to live. so she had interesting stories to tell. There was also Harisun who was friendly enough for me to follow her home . My house is  only about 250 metres from school. to reach Harisun's house we had to walk for about 2 kilometres. It was worth it because once we got to her house we were met with a beautiful scenery of a small stream. The water was cold and clear. We waded in the stream to catch fishes. At about three I started to walk home and only reached home an hour later. I saw my mum looking worried talking to my uncle on the verandah of our house. It seemed that she had gone around the village lookingfor me when I failed to  return home by two. from that day onward I never go any where without telling my mother

SMDA batch 1977 reunion.

on the 25th December 2012, after more than three decades of parting ways, about 20 of us from the 1977 batch of SMDA Lenggong assembled at Warisan Villa Homestay belonging to Haji Hamdan. Eventhough we had made some contacts before through facebook, it was a very momentous scene almost emotional to meet after 35 years. All of us had made a new life of our own in different parts of Malaysia. Our paths had not crossed but the memories of childhood days and being school buddies are fresh in our mind. Giving a chance to go back in time I would surely choose to be back in SMDA in 1973-1977. Present at the reunion are also three ex-teachers, so the reunion started with heartful stories from the teachers. Then it was makan time with hearty Kampung menu including ikan bakar. And then we had Karaoeke session, songs of the seventies. We also brought gifts for gifts exchanging session followed by delivering of anecdocs, story moments by each of us. I cherished the small talks we had at the tables and hope to meet each other again somewhere.