Saturday 12 June 2021

Lockdown Day # 12 : I Was Once A Sweet Young Thing

Sekolah Rendah Sultan Sulaiman I, Standard 6 (1979)

Well, aren't we all? Aren't we all, eh?? In this post which is nostalgic to me, what I can say is that I am glad my school days are over. Do you miss your school days? I'll be very honest and I will tell you that no, I do not miss my school days. In fact I hated school.

From kindergarten and primary right through secondary education, I did not enjoy school. I mean, OK, I might have enjoyed some of it, like my days at Sekolah Menengah Sultan Sulaiman, Kuala Terengganu from Forms 1 to 3. Other than that, blah! I wish I didn't have to go to school.

My earliest recollection of school was my early education at St Theresa Kindergarten. I was clueless as to why I was there. Blur sotong.

What I remember were these - I was terrified of one particular nun (she was big sized and scary), there was a boy who was constantly trying to hug and kiss me (Wai Ko, you hamsap fella, where are you now?), I became a bully (Wee Eng Ai, I am so sorry) and I played truant with two other girls. Somehow I graduated kindergarten unscathed. 

I don't remember much of standard 1 or 2. What I do remember was sitting for a special exam where I skipped one year to standard 3 which meant that I saved one year of primary school. Yup, I was in the express class and no, I did not think that I was very clever. I was still blur sotong.

I am publishing my old photos and in some of the later ones, you will know which is me. I know some bloggers are not shy to show their faces (especially those leng luis and leng chais) but me, I cannot. Not my current face anyway.

But old photos, I can show lah. They are from more than 30 years ago and I don't look like that anymore. Besides these days what with masks and face shields, I doubt if anyone can recognize me. 

So.

Sekolah Menengah Sultan Sultan Sulaiman, Form 2 (1981)

Then after Standard 6 it was off to secondary school, a slightly scary prospect as I did not know what to expect. I had to choose between Perdagangan (Commerce) and Sains Rumahtangga (Domestic Science). Boys had to choose between Commerce and Industrial Arts.

I thought it would be cool to make rojak in school (I saw it in the domestic science textbook) but no, my mother decided for me. No rojakYou go Perdagangan (but ma... I like cooking.....).

It was all right, that's when I got to learn and enjoy bookeeping and decided I wanted to become an accountant. Of course I realized with benefit of hindsight that bookeeping is the accounts clerk's job while an accountant has a much bigger scope of work.

Alas, after Form 3 my father was transferred to Kuala Lumpur and our family had to relocate. I was really sad to leave my friends behind.

Assunta Secondary School, Form 4 Science III (1983)

That's when I started life at Assunta Secondary School, Petaling Jaya. I am very sorry, Sister Enda Ryan. You are a wonderful lady but I did not like Assunta

See. I even wrote this at the back of the photo.


I felt very weird at Assunta because I was surrounded by aliens. From planet Kuala Terengganu to planet Petaling Jaya I had a lot to adjust to.

I was suddenly surrounded by so many non-Malays. The Chinese there spoke mostly Cantonese/Mandarin (which until today I can't speak). Even the Malays were so...different. The Indians, eh, I loved the Indians. I hung out mostly with my Indian friends.

After Form 5 I had a short stint (about a month) at La Salle, the brother school of Assunta. Then it was off to matriculation. Thank God because I hated Form 6.


I did my Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) matriculation at Sekolah Sultan Mahmud, Kuala Terengganu. I was back to my own planet surrounded by Malay friends with whom I was very comfortable with.


The first person I made friends with when I enrolled was Lid (Noorlida), a girl with big eyes from Felda Trolak. I was very scared and homesick because this was my first time away from home. I went through a very deep depression (my first major one) while at this school but no one ever knew about it.


This is where I met the late Kak Mar (Maryam Abdullah), a French girl. Kak Mar (may she rest in peace) came to Pulau Duyong, Terengganu at the age of 9 with her mother, a lecturer at the University of Sorbonne, FranceHer mum fell in love with a local man, married and settled down in Pulau Duyong. If you spoke to Kak Mar, you couldn't tell that she was French. She was 100% Terengganu


This is a photo taken at our matriculation farewell dinner and that chap you see is Samy from Klang. Samy was like some sort of a celebrity and he was very popular among the girls. Every time they caught glimpse of him, it was like Samy! Samy! heh..heh.. That's what it was like being the only Indian student at the school.


After a year of matriculation, it was time to go to the university. I did not have the privilege of studying overseas like my two brothers. But it's OK. God meant for it to be that way because had I gone overseas, I would not have come back. Serious.


I must say that I enjoyed my days at UKM the most. I was so happy that I didn't want to come home. In my final year, I registered for the Masters program but sadly, I did not get to pursue that next level of education due to family circumstances. Or else I could have earned my PhD and delved into the world of recombinant DNA and such.

But then again, I would be very busy during this pandemic, finding ways to zap the virus. At least as an accountant (where the government thinks that my services are non-essential) I can stay at home and write all these grandma stories to entertain you.


When I was at matriculation, I met a wonderful friend, Tim (Siti Fatimah). I loved her to bits but we lost touch after she made it to medical school. I failed to enter medical school not because I did not have the brains for it. It is because of something else which I cannot mention. But it's all right. Again. Pandemic. Doctor. No grandmother stories. (In other words, sour grapes)


This photo brought tears to my eyes. We were so young and so happy. Tim, wherever you are, I hope that you are well and happy. I miss you.

Ah, this is me and Rubi (Rubaidah). Rubi is a clown and she is quite a riot. I remember her as being hilarious and she never failed to make me laugh.


This photo was taken during Siraj's birthday (You can tell which one is me hah..hah...). It was fun. 


As you can see from these photos, I hung out mostly with my Malay friends and we get along real fine. In fact, I speak Malay like a Malay, close your eyes and you will think that I am your regular makcik.


I am not the sociable type but here I am in more glamorous settings. It was a department dinner or something like that. Not my usual crowd but you know lah, sometimes we are obligated to attend certain functions.

Becky who is seated to my left once gave me food that her mother cooked for her. It was during semester break (we all stayed back to complete our thesis) and her mother sent food to her everyday. But our friend was too busy going dating and needed someone to eat the food. So I had about almost 2 weeks worth of home cooked Indian food for dinner. Thank you, Becky's mother!

Ah! Those were the days when I was a sweet young thing!

30 comments:

  1. Same here! I never was really into school. All I wanted was to have some fun and yes, I had my share of it. No regrets. You sure look like a nice young girl, the apple of every teacher's eye. I like your sweet smile.

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    1. Though you were not into school during your school days, you became a teacher! Oh no, I was not teacher's pet. I was the quiet one, quiet like a mouse. LOL!

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  2. I enjoyed looking at all your old photos...The last one is the best coz so many lengluis...Does Becky's mum aware tht u have been eating her homecooked meal? Her mum is so good to bring her food daily but she pulak tak nak makan....spoilt child😂😂

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    1. I don't think she dare to tell her mum. LOL!

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  3. Did anyone told you, you look like Lin Ching Hsia, you look like her in the 4th last photo :)

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  4. School memories are part of our lives whether we like or dont like. I was very quiet and good girl throughout my school days. Pretty scare to go to kindergarden as I remembered my class teacher was big sized and fierce looking lady. First 2 years of primary school was blur to me but thanks to a teacher who took me in as her tuition student, I did well in primary and secondary schools.

    I can feel how scared and anxious you were to be away from home at such young age. But I guess that make you a strong lady you are now.

    Thanks for sharing your photos.

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    1. I was very quiet too in school. Good to know that you did well in primary and secondary school.I was just a so so student. LOL!

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  5. Pheewwiiit!! You were so young and pretty! Probably the best looking gal all the way in the photos. I do enjoyed my best years mixing up with Malay guys AFTER SCHOOL. However, I hated school most of the years as I had the wrong footing right from Standard One. The psycho teacher traumatized me and my classmates with her sadistic punishments. She pulled the boys shorts off and stripped them naked in front of the whole class! She even threw their shorts down from first floor classroom downstairs. She was already married to a rich man and had kids. She still fancied small boy's birdie? Wakakakakaka I escaped her sick punishment but one tight slap from her for failing to spell some words correctly cos I was also blur sotong like you at 7 years old. I went home for dinner and my mother noticed her favourite apple's had red marks. She was so angry and brought the matter up to the Education Department in KL! Anyways, I got transferred to other class and surprised to see that other friends had fled too. So my primary and secondary school was no fun until I was in US. It was heavens living in the boarding school with Koreans, Japanese and other monkeys.

    I will print your photos and carry them when I hang around Uptown so that I can spot you. I believe you still look the same esp with your feet. I am sure any blogger in the universe can spot me a mile away since I am so transparent like an old uncle. Okay next post, more photos pleaseeeeeeeee!!!

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    1. OMG your primary school teacher was so extreme! I was lucky I did not encounter any psycho teachers. Good luck tracking me down at Uptown. LOL!

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  6. I did well in primary and secondary schools but during my Junior College days I ran into a male Mathematcis teacher who looked down on weaker students, my rates for Mathematics plunged during those two years.

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    1. So unfortunate that you had a bad experience in junior college with the math teacher. Good teachers are so important.

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  7. You are still a sweet young at heart thing. You still look the same. I can recognize the top part of your face. How did you get from studying science in ukm to being an accountant? Do tell us that story if you don't mind sharing. I enjoy all my primary and secondary school days because I was the teachers' pet due to my older sister being in the same school so all the teachers know me as yy's sister. Lolx! It must be horrible for children not to enjoy school because school occupies so much of children's time. How did you play truancy in kindergarten? Parents drop u at kindergarten and u ran out to go somewhere else? So young! Where can you go without people noticing? What language do you speak at home?

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    1. Lucky you that you enjoyed your school days and were a teachers' pet some more!

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  8. Nice walk down memory lane. You look like a sweet & studious Hermione from Harry Potter. The only thing I like about school were field trips, year end parties, concerts & sports day- yay no lessons!


    Some interesting research on masks

    https://www.collective-evolution.com/2021/06/03/there-was-a-religious-belief-that-lockdowns-facemasks-work-professor-sunetra-gupta/


    https://americasfrontlinedoctors.org/frontlinenews/watch-millions-against-medical-mandates-offers-crash-course-on-face-masks/


    https://swprs.org/face-masks-evidence/


    https://youtu.be/7_b0AhqvAVw


    https://www.technocracy.news/dentists-mask-mouth-can-lead-to-strokes-heart-attacks/


    https://www.activistpost.com/2021/04/its-official-your-mask-can-harm-you.html


    https://principia-scientific.com/?s=masks


    Take care, stay safe, question everything & come to your own conclusions.

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    1. Nope, I did not even like sports day or any of those special school events day. Something must be wrong with me. LOL!

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  9. Thank you for showing us your precious old photos of schooling days, as well as those interesting stories. I'm a forgetful person and can't remember much of what happened during my schooling days, LOL But one thing that I remember vividly is one of my kindergarden teacher suicide in her house due to some relationship problems ~>_<~ (This happened after I graduated)

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    1. Oh dear, how scary! I can remember quite a lot from my school days. There are some more stories but dunno if I have time to write it. LOL!

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  10. I wonder if I ever found some of my old school photos, I'd be as daring as you to post it...wuahahahaha! :D Like Choi Yen, school days was a blur to me, can't remember anything exciting except the painful experience of being stung by a bee during one of the school's sports day (and I've been afraid of bees ever since). I didn't have any lifelong friendships from there either.

    Wow, you're one smart lady to be able to study medicine where as I don't have the brains for it. But I was a SYT too lah, kekeke, taking part in the Freshie Queen Contest that I did not win but was placed...hee..hee! ^_~

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    1. P/S: I think you chose the right profession...as you have the looks of an Accountant from your young days already! ;)

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    2. OMG! I was also stung by a bee but at the library. It was so very painful! I also did not form any lifelong friendships throughout my years in school and uni. My partner on the other hand is still in touch with some his old high school friends.

      Wah seh! You placed at the Freshie Queen Contest which means you were more than a SYT. You must be a looker, so come, come dig out the old photos! LOL!

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    3. I take it as a compliment that I look like an accountant wahahahaha!!!

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    4. What? Dig out the photos? It will be pay per view!! Wuahahahaha! :D :D :D

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  11. Thanks for sharing your wonderful memory and yet a very unusual life experience as compare to most of the Malaysian Chinese at your age ( Ha Ha I knew how old are you!!). I guess even today you still have more Malay friend than a Chinese Friend !

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    1. Now I have more Chinese friends. Opposite pulak. LOL!

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  12. You must be the only Assuntarian who didn't enjoy her time there. All the people I know who attended Assunta raved about it until I feel inadequate for not being accepted to Assunta. I went to the infamous 'gangster school' - Taman Sea but I don't think I turned out too bad after all, if I may say so myself LOL!

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    1. Maybe it's because I was not "pure" Assuntarian as I was imported LOL! I think it is over rated lah hah..hah...

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