AlFatihah

Tengahari semalam lebihkurang jam 1 tengahari saya dapat panggilan daripada Madiah, sahabat MRSM Kuantan. Dia mengajak saya ke Hospital Sg Buloh untuk melawat sahabat kami Joe.

“Dia collapse di rumahnya. Sekarang dia koma.”

Terkejut benar saya kerana baru 3 hari lepas, hari Sabtu, kami baru berjumpa beliau dan keluarganya. Kami ke rumah Allil di Nilai, juga sahabat MRSM, kerana Allil buat kenduri kesyukuran dan doa selamat. Beberapa orang sahabat MRSM juga datang. Isterinya, Masyitah ialah junior kami beberapa tahun di MRSM. Saya sempat berbual-bual dengan Masyitah semasa makan. Katanya dia sudah bosan bekerja, dan berangan-angan menjadi suri rumah sepenuh masa.

Saya tak dapat ikut Madiah kerana ada kelas pada jam 2 hingga 4. Semasa di kelas, handphone saya yang di‘silent’kan bergetar-getar di atas meja bilik kuliah. Balik dari kelas saya menguruskan beberapa perkara dan lupa membaca sms. Rupa-rupanya ada beberapa missed call dan sms dari 4 orang sahabat. Lebihkurang jam 5 baru saya membaca sms.

Our friend, Joe, passed away at 3pm today.

Saya terus menelefon suami dan memberitahunya. Dia sudah kenal ramai sahabat-sahabat MRSM saya kerana kebetulan belajar di universiti yang sama atau berjumpa semasa reunion dan sebagainya. Kami mengambil keputusan untuk pergi ke Sungai Buloh. Saya diberi peta ke kawasan rumah Arwah Joe di Kundang.

Di dalam perjalanan saya rasa biasa sahaja. Seperti hendak pergi bertandang sahaja. Saya pelik. Mungkin kerana berita itu terlalu mengejut dan otak saya belum register sepenuhnya. Tapi sampai sahaja di tol Sg Buloh kaki saya mula sejuk dan jantung saya berdebar-debar.

Joe sudah tak ada. Aku ni nak pergi melawat jenazahnya.

Sampai di surau Bandar Baru Kundang, sudah masuk waktu Isyak. Jenazah sudah siap dimandi dan dikapankan. Selesai solat Isyak, mereka terus sahaja solat jenazah dan segera ke tanah perkuburan Tasik Puteri. Laju dan efisen saya lihat urusan jenazah di sini.

Kami ikut ke tanah perkuburan. Saya duduk menunggu di wakaf berdekatan pintu masuk. Keadaan kawasan perkuburan gelap. Hanya kawasan penyimpanan jenazah sahaja diterangi lampu.

Sahabat-sahabat satu batch MRSM Kuantan, ie Alil, Bad, Murad, Fauzan, Mail, Dagu, Jamal, Misai, Zam, Asmadi, Kerok, ZulGelap, Pazir datang melawat Arwah Johari Maaros aka JoePatah buat kali terakhir. Arwah meninggalkan isterinya Masyitah, dan 4 orang anak, berumur di antara 15 dan 4 tahun.

AlFatihah buat Arwah Johari Maaros. Semoga Allah mencucuri rahmat keatas rohnya.

Entri Kilat

Assalammualaikum. Ini entri kilat. Bukan banjir saja ada kilat tau. Saya letak gambar-gambar aktiviti saya sejak minggu terakhir Ogos.

Jumaat minggu cuti sekolah Ogos 2008: Lunch dengan kawan-kawan MRSM Kuantan Batch Ke3. Meraikan Shel yang bercuti dari London (sebenarnya dia yang belanja). 32 years of friendship. Ini belum kira keseluruhan Batch 3 lagi. Huh! Boleh runtuh bangunan!

Thank you Shel, hantar Dashen ambil saya (di Melaka) dan Shida (Bangi).

Can you guess saya yang mana satu? Hehehe...

@@@

Lepas lunch naik Rapid KL di KLCC dengan Shida ke KL Sentral then naik komuter ke Bangi. Ya Ampun...sesaknya.

Decided to wait for Hubby di Bangi walaupun dia ada di KL pada masa tu.

Hubby lambat sampai ke Bangi. Cermin kereta kena pecah di KL.

@@@

Ambang Merdeka 2008: Solat Zohor di Masjid Tengkera. Pertama kali solat di sini. Cantik dan unik masjid ini. Saya suka kolahnya yang besar.

@@@

Malam Merdeka: Ke KL dengan Juwaidi mengambil pembantu baru di stesen Pudu. Sampai Pudu jam 11.45 malam. Tepat jam 12 kedengaran dentuman bunga api dari Dataran Merdeka (teka aje). Orang sekeliling nampak selamba. Mungkin kerana lebih 60% yang berada di kawasan itu bukan warganegara Malaysia.

Malaysia Merdeka!

Surat daripada Cikgu

E-mail ini diterima daripada bekas guru Bahasa Inggeris kami di MRSM Kuantan.

>>
I am sending this letter to several of the press. The home ministry and the ministry of women, family and community. Could you send one to the kuatagh group and anywhere else u think would bring some meaning. I heard Azli has a forum. Please let me know. Thanks.

Letter to the Editor/Relevant Authorities

On the night of 29 April, my dear sister was brutally murdered in her bedroom; she had sustained head injuries, her internal organs severely ruptured. What would the last moments have been for her before she died? Did she expect the blow to come from someone she trusted and took into the safety of her own home? How she must have put up a fight, worrying for our aged mother, blissfully unaware of the gruesome murder taking place in the next room .My sister was found the next day sprawling in a pool of blood . She was 62 and lived with my mother, 84 years of age and an Indonesian maid. There was no sign of forced entry. The Indonesian maid had disappeared, leaving her bloodstained clothes behind. From the evidence, according to police, the maid is the prime suspect.

How can I describe the essence that was my sister Habnah? The newspaper reports only describe her as a victim, maybe just another one of many that we read about so often in the papers over tea or coffee, or while waiting to catch the bus. That victim, my sister was so much more. She was generous as she was kind. It took her sudden death for us to realize how much she gave of herself, to each member of our very large, close knit family and especially to my aged mother-making sure she took her daily supplements, reminding her of her meals, her rest, managing the repairs of the house, groceries, my mother’s daily meals, finances, medical health, as well as the 1001 things that a loving and dutiful daughter does every day for a much beloved mother. How could this have happened?

Could it be possible that a person we had let into our home to take care of two elderly women was the perpetrator of this heinous crime? My late sister was always careful to lock all doors and windows as precautions for security. But what precautions can one take when the criminal is locked in? We had engaged the maid from an authorized agency, had complied with all the procedures, made the requisite payments. Do we not have a right to expect that the maids we employ had at least been vetted to ensure that we are not letting into our homes psychotic, deranged persons who commit unspeakable acts of violence? Much fuss is made when foreign maids are allegedly abused or ill treated by employers, and Indonesian and Malaysian authorities are quick to jump in to render protection and justice. But what justice is rendered to my late sister? What protection is afforded to employers and their charges against the wrath of psychotic, deranged or violent foreign maids? I have been told that the chances of apprehending the prime suspect-the Indonesian maid is extremely slim, because of the ease with which she is able to slip out of the country undetected. What is even more fearful is that she could slip back into the country still undetected to take employment in another unsuspecting household, under another name. Such is possible because of the serious lack of mechanisms of proper identification of foreign maids. There is not even a thumbprint, and sometimes not even a signature nor even a surname for proper identification. Are background checks conducted to ensure the foreign maids we bring in have no criminal records or mental history? What procedures are in place to ensure there is no recurrence of this tragedy? The answer is- there are none.

I cannot bring my sister back to life, and nothing will alleviate the pain, grief and shock of losing a beloved sister in such cruel circumstances. But I write this even as I grieve, in the hope that no one would have to go through what my family members and I are going through. I know there are many households in Malaysia where foreign maids are left to take charge of vulnerable and defenseless persons – the elderly and incapacitated as well as young children. There is a critical and urgent need to address all the weaknesses and deficiencies in our existing system relating to the employment of foreign maids. Procedures and mechanisms of proper identification, stringent vetting of backgrounds, a tracking mechanism to ensure blacklisted foreign maids are denied entry will ensure a much needed measure of protection to employers and their charges. This is especially crucial in the case of foreign maids, because unlike other categories of foreign workers, they are brought to live into our homes and therein lies our vulnerability. My sister would not have suffered such an unspeakable fate had there been such procedures in place.

So who should bear responsibility for her cruel death? The ‘prime suspect’ who wielded the death blows or the authorities for their lackadaisical attitude in perpetuating a ‘system’ that gives scant if any protection to employers by allowing such ‘persons’ to take employment in our households ? It is too late to save my sister, but not for other vulnerable households. I implore all Malaysians to join me in appealing to the relevant authorities, particularly Immigration, and the Home Ministry to take urgent action to protect our households. Let us not delay any further for inaction or apathy on our parts may cost the loss of another beloved life or lives.

In conclusion let me ask a chilling question? How sure are you that the new foreign maid you are bringing into your home is not the abovementioned ‘prime suspect’ or someone like her? Sleep on it -- that is, if you can.

Rahmah Sahamid

The Teachers in My Life

I am putting their names here so that I will never forget.

Di Kampung
1. My Parents: They worked so hard for us. My Mother: who taught me the Tajwid very early in my life. My Late Father: who taught me kindness and compassion towards others.
2. Guru Mukhti : My Quran teacher. My father’s best friend.
3. (Arwah) Pak Ngangah Abd Majid: He gave me money for every correct spelling.

Di Sekolah Rendah Stella Maris, Tanjung Aru, KK.
4. Miss Bibi Gill: My class teacher in primary school. She called and gave my father the only application form to MRSM for me.
5. Miss Bibi’s father: He taught me the difference between: “Can I…?” and “May I…?”

Di MRSM Kuantan
6. Cikgu Ramli: MRSM Kuantan’s first Pengetua and my first Math teacher. He still remembers my name to this day. Thank you, Sir!
7. Cikgu Shahbudin (History) & (Arwah) Puan Rahmah (BM) – husband and wife.
8. Cikgu Nik (BM teacher) – a kind person.
9. (Arwah) Cikgu Junaidah (BM) – I remember her strong voice.
10. (Arwah) Cikgu Jamal (Art) – Serious but kindhearted. He helped me and my friends build a model house for our science project.
11. Cikgu Ramli (Sejarah) – Sir, your dictations were out of this world!
12. Miss Christine (English) – Cikgu Ramli’s buddy
13. Cikgu Idham (Geografi) – peta, peta, peta
14. Cikgu Fadhil (Geografi)
15. Cikgu Hussein (Sejarah)
16. Ustaz Yusof & Ustazah Latifah – cute couple.
17. Ustaz Yusof (1) – He taught me how to do my Solat 5 waktu.
18. Ustaz Wan Yusof (3)
19. Mr Wong Kok Ming (Math) – One of my favorite teachers. “Tell Laura I Love Her”. Basketball coach.
20. Cikgu Ridwan (Math) – gave me a big hamper when I was sick with chicken pox.
21. Cikgu Stephen Ambrose (English) – Your hair sir, I like…
22. Mr Liew (Math)
23. Mr Ho (Math) – “Siapa itu M. Teng?”
24. Ciku Borhan (Add Math) – Minta maaf cikgu kami suka bully Cikgu.
25. Cikgu Zakaria (BM) – my favorite teacher. He tried teaching me and Roy tennis but we were too lazy. Tak apa cikgu, at least jadi linesman MRSM vs SMS pun ok juga.
26. Cikgu Zamri (Sains/Chemistry) – Terima kasih cikgu kerana masih ingat nama saya.
27. Cikgu Rodzo (Biologi) – Incredible memory, brilliant teacher! Datang kelas bawa kapur sebatang sahaja.
28. Cikgu Razali (Biologi) – Ekspidisi Kelas Neon ke Bukit Pelindung.
29. Cikgu Kamarudin (Fizik) – sekarang Prof Dr. Many times I failed in Physics. Mujur SPM lulus.
30. Cikgu Dolah (Muzik) – He taught us the guitar and the recorder, and let us plan our own stage production. You rock, Cikgu!
31. Cikgu Faizah (Librarian) -- We know the Dewey decimals because of you. “Awak jangan bagi saya naik minyak!”
32. Cikgu Yusof Fembot (Fizik) – hockey coach. Warden.
33. Cikgu Shah (Sukan) – taught us swimming. Volleyball coach.
34. Cikgu Yusof (Biologi) – a.k.a Cikgu Montel. Never taught me but one of the most popular teachers. Mesti masuk senarai.
35. Cikgu Zaleha , Mrs Yusof Montel (Biologi) – my homeroom teacher 1
36. Cikgu Jalail (Sukan) – Homeroom teacher 2
37. Cikgu Vanaja (English) -- I caught you with wine-filled chocolates.
38. Cikgu Jambu (Geog) (tak ingat nama sebenar), Cikgu Roslan, Cikgu Halim, Mr Khoo, Mr Peter Ng (Eng), Cikgu Ghazali (Chem), Cikgu Shukor Ain (Math), Cikgu Shimah (Chem), Cikgu Samy (Mod Math), Cikgu Fariza, Cikgu Zain, Mr Micheal Tan.
39. Cikgu Ejam (Chem) - I cannot recall this particular teacher’s face, kenapa ya?

Di Tempat Kerja Dulu
40. Ustaz Ismail (Cek Wei) – Guru Quran saya. A unique way of teaching. Ajarannya melekat dalam otak saya sampai sekarang.

Sekarang
41. Puan Sifu – Puan Ainon Mohd. My mentor.

Ya Allah, Engkau lindungi dan berkati guru-guru saya di atas jasa mereka mendidik kami menjadi manusia di atas muka bumi ini.

AlFatihah. Kita sedekahkah kepada guru-guru saya yang telah kembali ke Rahmatullah. Semoga Allah mencucuri rahmat ke atas roh mereka.

They Are Closing Down My School!

The Powers That Be up there decided that they are closing down MRSM Kuantan after 37 years. It will become a feeder campus for UniKL, something like a matriculation college. But thanks to the dedication of many alumni members (petition, solat hajat, etc) we heard that MARA is going to retract that decision. Let’s just wait until we get an official statement before we can celebrate.

My good friend, Shel, sent this email from London to us. And I share her feelings for this place we used to call our home.

***

MRSM, the place your parents left you by yourself for the first time in your life,

The place where you bought your first water bucket, berus sabut and nila,

The place where you learned to wash your own clothes,

The place where you learned to appreciate water,

The place where you tasted awful dry biscuits with white tea,

The place where you first ate fried chicken, peas and baked potatoes,

The place where you heard sirens...sometimes at 4am,

The place where you watched The Omega Man,

The place where you sang, danced and performed,

The place where you heard Saturday Night Fever and Grease,

The place where you learned to dabble in small businesses,

The place where you bloomed,

The place where you started getting interested in the opposite sex,

The place where you had your first crush,

The place where you had your first love (puppy love or deeper),

The place where you had your first kiss (well, at least a 'selected few' of us), [MS: before the public apology and canning…]

The place where you first got broke,

The place where parcels and mail were such joy,

The place where music was taken quite seriously,

The place where you first learned to swim (most of us did anyway),

The place where they taught you more than just for your exams,

The place where you were put to socialise,

The place where we met each other.....

It was my home...I used to hate you sometimes when I was there but you mean so much to me when I finally had to go...

***