The Old Town and The Old Campus

I guess my most enjoyable life was during my college days. I entered college after being persuaded by Abang Nan at the very last minute. At first I was not interested because I was not offered the Mass Communication course that I was interviewed for and had to do with Library science which sounded so odd to me. I was among the very last students to have registered at ITM. It was nearly 4pm. I remember that my niece Noni also gave me some comforting words so that I would join ITM like she did before. She's actually a year older than I am and joined after her fifth form doing Quantity Survey. I had to do my STPM because I wanted to do Mass Comm after failing to enter earlier to do Transport. Why Dip. in Transport? Maybe I was so enthusiastic about those huge express buses, trailers and container trucks. They look cool enough for me and maybe because of the incident that I could not afford a bus ticket home for hari raya in 1976, so that I could have my own bus?

Life during the orientation week was ok I guess? Not that bad... I've been through worst during my school days. My adventures began when we were transported to our very own little campus in PJ Old Town and our very own apartments in Old Klang Road. Everything seemed to be old I guess? The campus was a very small campus and has a unique 50's era design. The design I love most. It was like living in a different era. I could see similar designs when I was in Phnom Penh a few years back. Actually Phnom Penh was one of the most modern cities in Southeast Asia during the 60's but the bloody war has turned the nation backwards. Thanks to Pol Pot with his selfishness and brainlessness ideology that destroyed everything. the campus consists of 2 blocks of girls' hostels a dining hall, a canteen, a library and 2 blocks of lecture rooms. The campus only catered for the School of Library Science, Off Campus Studies for Business and Accounting and the best part, The School of Secretarial Science!

The most wonderful part was our hostel in Old Klang Road. It was actually a two-room apartment converted into our hostel. We were located right in the middle of a huge Chinese community. Right in-front of our hostel was a chinese temple and a few blocks of flats of mostly chinese community. At the side of our hostel were a few bungalows of the United Garden. Every apartment was shared by 4 or 5 of us. It was not like the Jati hostels in Shah Alam where they had to share 10 students for every apartment.

The college provided a bus for our daily commuting to Old Town. It was total fun for us. I was blessed with a motorbike which I took from my Abang Ta after he bought his 1st car. Anyway sometimes I love to join my friends on the bus while saving some petrol money.

By the 2nd Semester the girls had to share our hostel because the hostels in Old Tow were not enough to cater for every beautiful girl in the campus. One thing I should commend the ITM was that it was very kindhearted to have provided enough accomodation for every student who wish to stay in. Bravo!

The Beringin Hostel where I stayed was a very comfortable one. We were being surrounded by a mostly chinese neighbourhood. Right in-front of our hostel is a small chinese temple which I believe belongs to a kongsi because I sometime witnessed some rituals being held there where some tough guys were seen rubbing their bare bodies with hot boiling oil from a huge pot.

Back to the girls story... The girls had moved in to share our hostel block but only on the top floor. The warden, Encik Ismail had to take extra care about the situation and I guess you know better. The wonderful thing was that I was among the privelleged few that were trusted by the authorities to be the hostel committee member. What's the privillege then? We were authorised to enter the girls' room whenever needs arise such as identifying leakages, power breakdowns, jammed doors or anything similar. Hmmmm... at least I got to know how neat and tidy these girls' rooms were compared to our rooms or maybe suitably called chicken coops...

Since then life at the hostel has lighten up and quite cheerful I could say.. hehehe... Every night the girls would come down to the tv room and we became to know them better. We became more like family because there were not many of us and we tend to know each other better. Some of the girls even gave us some food or tit bits especially when we did not go to the dining hall during weekends. we also helped them tapau some food from the makciks' stalls near the Old Klang Road or roti canai Joe (our favourite mamak stall).

Our neighbourhood was quite interesting. We had the Kimisawa supermarket with Burger King just a ten minutes walk from our place and we always watched midnight movies during saturday nights in a very large group. We even had our favourite cendul vending rickshaw just 3 minutes away. It was totally fun for us.

At least one special week of the year we would be entertained with a free whole week of open air kung fu movies at the temple. We just watched from our corridoors. This was normally during their new lunar year celebrations. At least with this kind of experiences we learned a lot about the chinese community and their culture. They are
are actually very simple people. Throughout the three years of living there, I did not witness any misunderstandings or problems living within the chinese neighbourhood. In fact it was quite fun.

In Old Town we also had our favourite food court near the old big roundabout which does not exist anymore. We would normally go together in a big group of girls and boys for our special dinner treat once in a while. We had our favourite ais kacang and ice cream stall, Rahman's Ice cream stall. The sotong kangkung there was the best among the best. We also had Pak Atan's Nasi goreng ayam which really suited my taste bud. I also met my favourite barber Ipeen, an IKM graduate when he was working in a mamak's barber shop in Old Town. He is still my best barber till now. He has a small shop on the first floor of a bazaar right behind Masjid India by the name Ipeen's Barber Shop.

The Buka Puasa Adventures

I am sure many of us would love to talk about this. Actually I am trying to figure out what to bring home for buka puasa today. Yesterday Lady Luck was on my side. I managed to skip the terrible jam at the Bukit Jalil KESAS hi-way when I used the Putrajaya Hi-way. I succesfully brought home some satay for the family. I bought them at the Seri Kembangan R&R. It appears to be the only makan shop there besides a drinks stall. Could not forget the grinning smiles of my family.

Today my next attempt is to fetch Afiq in Bukit Jelutong and speed thru the Elite Hi-way via Puchong back home and try to secure some food anywhere possible. Last Friday I failed. We buka puasa in the car instead. I pray to Allah that my mission will be accomplished. That's what me and amoiglam have to go through every working day during Ramadhan. Last year was the worst when we only used amoiglam's car to work. I would send her to the LRT station at Sg. Besi every morning and by 5.30 sharp I had to race back from office to Sg. Besi tinseltown, grab whatever possible (if posssible I'll just buy the cook himself and bring him home). By the time I was walking back to the car amoiglam would appear from the LRT station. We had to brave thru another jam at Bukit Jalil via Bandar Kinrara and by the time we arrive home the children were already holding their glasses waiting for the azan.

This year we decided to drive our own cars because there is a fly-over construction right in front of my office that causes another bloody jam. I had to park my car a few blocks away from my office by 4 pm everyday just to skip the jam and to make sure that we arrive home with the grubs before buka puasa. What a beautiful life... How I wish that I could bring the whole family to work and just buka puasa at the mamak stall nearby my office everyday. Sometimes I wish I could work in Brunei where they go home by 2pm during Ramadhan.

Actually Buka Puasa during my school days were very much simpler than now. We actually had nothing special except for the kurmas. Before 1980 our special treat was only sambal tumis kerang or ikan bilis that we bought for 50 cents each from the staff quarters. I would normally keep some for sahur at 3.00am because the sahur food was almost inedible. Things only improved after 1980. I don't really know why. After 1980 we were allowed to go out and buy some kuih in a small setinggan town we called 'Texas' which now has been turned into 'Downtown' near the Cheras Velodrome.

The Wedding Video

Told you all before that my hobby is videography. Today I would like to present a video clip as part of the whole dvd I did for my little naughty nephew Sham(used to be), now an architect. They came over for buka puasa last night. Sham was born in Seremban after I finished my STPM before I entered ITM. I remember flying back to Seremban with my mother from Kota Bharu after his birth. Abang Uni, Sham's father asked us to stay with them in Seremban for my mother to take care of Kak Yam during her confinement. I had to leave my volleyball team in Pasir Mas and could not join them in the Kelantan Amateur Volleyball Open Championship for that year, 1983.

I took my new 2nd guitar along and stayed there until my STPM results came out and entered ITM. Seremban was a very wonderful place to stay. Abang Uni even paid for my driving lessons and that's why my driving licence file is in Seremban JPJ until now. I am grateful to him until now and will never forget his good deeds. Thank you Abang Uni and Kak Yam.

I became part of their family from their Seremban days. I even stayed with them when they were staying in Jln Conlay, KL until Afiq was born. After that we bought Kak Zah's house in Serdang and lived there until 2004 before moving to our present house in Equine.

I am presenting this videoclip as a very special dedication to my very beloved family members especially my wife amoiglam and kids, Kak Yam, Abang Uni, Rina, Suzy, Sham, Kak Zan, Abang Nal, Abang Pin, Kak Som, Abang Nan, Kak Zah, nephews. nieces, grand nephews, grand nieces and our whole clan. I thank god that I am fully blessed with such wonderful siblings, in-laws and family. Thank you everybody, I love you all. Like what amoiglam always say, I did this with love....

Heavenly taste

Last night's buka puasa was ok lah... Today I wish that I could get something more exciting. Maybe some Nasi Kerabu or Nasi Minyak or Nasi Briyani Johor or maybe the magical Nasi Tumpang? mana mau cari Nasi Tumpang in KL? Gila ka? I think if I can find Nasi Tumpang in KL I would buy the whole lot for my family. They just love it. Even my Sister-in-Law from Ipoh also loves Nasi Tumpang. If I ever knew how to make it I would have done it commercially here in KL. Wanna know what Nasi Tumpang is? You can only find them in Kelantan. Sold only at Pasar Chabang Tiga, Pengkalan Chepa and Pasar Kubang Pasu, Kota Bharu. You may also find some at the Pasar Malam that used to be Pasar Malam near the Kota Bharu Bus Station. Now they have relocated it somewhere nearby. I can't remember the name of the place. Maybe next time if I ever have the chance to snap a photo, I will place it here.

Nasi Tumpang is actually a wholesome of original nasi impit wrapped handsomely in banana leafs in a cone style. It has three stages. The top part is stuffed with serunding ikan or serunding daging. The middle part is always stuffed with omelette and the bottom part is stuffed with either ikan tongkol masak lemak or udang masak lemak. My favourite is the one with ikan tongkol because the one with the prawn is normally stuffed with very small and not so fresh prawns and further more the fish adds more flavour to the whole thing.

I love nasi kerabu with lots of vegetables especially the shredded long beans, bean sprouts and daun kesum. Topped up with extra serunding and sambal tumis and a lot of the magical budu. Foooyyyyooo!!!! Tambah lagi keropok and eat it with daging bakar and ikan goreng celup tepung! Alamak kena pergi cari lah petang ni.... Bye!!!

If you like rojak mamak, my favourite is always the one in the Sungei Besi tinseltown near the Sungei Besi Army Camp. I call it tinseltown because it's one of the smallest towns in KL. The gravy taste just fine. Not too sweet and not too spicy but full of flavour. Throw in some sotong sambal and extra cucur kelapa or cucur udang. Dooosshhh!!!

The rojak is sold by a guy on his motorbike. This guy, Din starts selling at 1.00pm daily and at 11.00am on Sundays. The cendul next to him is also quite ok. Even the one sold in Jalan Bellamy could not match this rojak. Long ago my favourite used to be from the Kampung Pandan Fishhead curry outlet on the 1st floor of the Central Market, but now the outlet does not exist anymore. You may also try the rojak in Jalan Ipoh within the entrance to Damai Complex under the tree of course. Nearby amoiglam's office.

You want to taste the best original basic Mee goreng mamak, try the one prepared by Daud in front of the old Dewan Bahasa building at one of the food stalls at the corner between Jalan Dewan Bahasa and Jln Maharajalela. No frills and fancies like chicken, beef or shrimps but simply delightful.

The best Ice Kacang I've tasted is in front of 7-Eleven in Brickfields next to the YMCA. Try the Ice Kacang Special with strips of kelapa muda. Perghhh!!! Enough for today...

A Wedding and Four Funerals

It is not like the movie title 'Four Weddings and A Funeral'. For the past four weeks I've attended only a wedding but four funerals instead. Just got back from another colleague's 18 year old daughter's funeral. She passed on last night after buka puasa in her father's car right in-front of the University Hospital's Trauma Centre Entrance. She had high fever. Condolences to my friend Shaari Shafie.

Before the Jenazah Prayers I felt so sad looking at his daughter's face. I could feel how sad my friend was because I also have a son of the same age. Al-Fatihah...

Hari Raya Holidays

Hari Raya holidays is something that most of us Malaysians would look forward to or maybe try to avoid. The joy of balik kampung is something that used to be an annual excitement for many. As for myself, the balik kampung feat is something like preparing and strategically planning for a battle. Why? Firstly I have to make sure that the family car is fit for the road and safe for every passenger. 7 of us are going to travel in a single car and it should be in an excellent condition.

Just imagine if the air-cond suddenly breaks down once we are already in Kelantan. It did happen once to me. Luckily one shop still opened during the hols and and had the spares. Normally the car would behave very well during normal days but once we are already at the kampung then the car started having tantrums. I have had so many experiences of balik kampung failures in my life. There was once my old Ford Telstar radiator fan just failed a day before balik kampung and luckily my beloved Abang Nan lent his second car at the very last minute, a Wira Aeroback. It was a very cramped journey all the way and before we reached Kota Bharu during twilight a silly goat just crossed the road and I did not have enough time to step on the brakes. I hit the goat on the side panel. Luckily the silly goat survived but I had to bear the cost of replacing and repainting the side panel. After all actually the goat was not silly enough except for the owner himself.

After a few years we got ourself a brand new mpv and it was a total relief for us but the cost of maintenance is definitely a bomb plus the rising cost of petrol. The traffic congestion is another story. If I were to go back to Kelantan, I would try my best not to start my journey during normal hours and also the normal Kuala Lipis-Gua Musang route. I always hate meaningless shorter routes but full of road hoggers and bumpy rides. My choice is always the Grik-Jeli route or maybe sometimes the Kuantan-K.Terengganu route for less traffic. Last year I tried starting our journey at 12.00 midnight en-route Kuantan and stopped for sahur and a short nap at my niece's place in Kuantan. It was a beautiful and smooth journey. We even had the chance to visit my big brother Abang Pin in Kemaman and stopped for some traditional kuihs and Nasi Dagang for buka puasa at Kuala Terengganu. We did not mind the long hours as long as there is no traffic jams. It was not stressfull at all. BUT!!!!!.....

When I entered Kelantan, the story was different. I always wonder why do these people just love to take their own sweet time hogging the trunk roads. My blood always gets boiled to the brains whenever I drive in Kelantan. There seemed to be not much sense of urgency in my own people's culture. That's a true fact, I guess. They seemed to be comfortable in their own ways. Well... it's a free country anyway... just take your own sweet time and leave the worrying to others... maybe my perceptions will change once I get older... Maybe.....hopefully...

Of Seniors, Peers, Wardens and Ghosts Part 3

To those who have had some experiences tasting some hostel life may agree with me when I say that almost every hostel is haunted. I have had my share of these experiences. Quite interesting indeed. I am not an expert in ghost stories but I have heard many tales about them during my hostel life.

Our hostel existed since 1963 and was believed to be built on a site where some Japanese army were killed in battle. It was in 1977 during the Chinese New Year holidays when most of the boys went balik kampung or to their relatives' homes. I was also not around. My dormitory was 1c2 of Block C. It was only a two storey newer block and our dorm on the second floor is the same level of the road leading to Block A and B which were on a higher ground. Out of maybe 16 of us only 4 stayed on during the hols because they had no other plans.

On the eve of the Chinese New Year while they were of to bed around 11pm the surrounding was so quiet and there was a gush of wind blowing inside the dorm. I couldn't recall who but one of them suddenly heard voices and footsteps of a marching troop on the road which was clearly viewed from within the dorm. He called the other 3 and all of them witnessed the same thing. Soddenly the room became very dark and windy and there they saw a big dark figure in thin air floating on the ceiling. They were just stunned and scared. They could not utter a single word and just kept quiet until everything went off. The next morning, all the four boys suffered from fever until we came back 2 days later and told us about their encounter.

Another story happened during the early 70's. The Chief Warden whom we called Lee Van Cleef because he had some resemblance of the infamous western movies actor especially in the eyes. He was doing his routine midnight patrol. He was looking for boys who might be trying to sneak back after the midnight show in KL.

Suddenly he saw a few boys still in their all-white uniforms walking towards Block A. He did not waste time and went after the boys. The boys ran towards a big tree behind Block C and climbed up the tree. He straight away went under the big tree and flashed his torchlight towards the boys but what he saw were no more school boys but a few horrible looking creatures with fangs staring, grinning and laughing at him. That was all I knew... Oooops! Sorry!

Jam or Jammed

Ramadhan in KL means another series of traffic jams in the evening rush hour home. Both of us had to drive our own cars instead of the usual car pooling. Why? If we were to use one car means we are going to arrive home at 7.15 pm every day, if there is no irregular jams. I guess the Klang Valley Traffic jams would not have happened if there are no kiasu drivers who loves to potong q or those sleuth drivers and also apologetic gedik drivers who just love to take their own sweet time negotiating corners or hogging every single lane of the expressways. I hope the authorities would find some genius solutions to overcome this teething problem.

I sometimes wonder why people in the Klang Valley still chose to live in areas like Cheras, Ampang and Selayang and complain about traffic jams. As far as I knew Cheras has been a regular area for traffic jams since the early 70's, but I still can't understand why the housing developers still lured their potential buyers into believing that their new homes would be within 10 minutes drive to KL. It is a total bluff and these people really believed it. Well, it's a free country anyway?

A colleauge of mine lives in the Cheras area. He starts his journey to the office by 6.30am and would normally arrive at the office by 7.45am. I myself start my drive at 7.00am, send my daughter to school 15 kilometres away and would normally reach the office after continuing another 25 kilometres at 8.00am. I live in Seri Kembangan in between the borders of Cyberjaya, Puchong and Seri Kembangan. Cheras is only a few kilometres away from the city centre but the journey to work is like travelling from Seremban. Logically the consumption of petrol is actually higher for stop n' go driving compared to consistent driving. We are actually wasting a lot of our precious time and money on the road. I don't suggest people to commute from Bukit Beruntung nor Lembah Beringin neither.

Tepuk Dada Tanya Pakar Sakit Dada...

Life is Shorter

This morning we received another sad news. My colleauge's son had passed on at a very tender age of 10. Condolences to Norlina and family. Her son had been suffering from cancer of the blood for more than a year. Norlina and her husband had tried every way they could to save their son's life. Norlina even took a years leave without pay just to be with her beloved son but after a few weeks back to work, her son had passed on at last. Farewell little boy... May God keep you in his tender care.

Of Seniors, Peers, Wardens and Ghosts: Part 2

In 1976 the school rules were very lenient and I can consider as remarkable. It was under Haji Hamzah Salas that we had such a wonderful administration with so much freedom. Going for our weekly outings meant wearing anything comfortable as long as there are no slippers or round collared T-Shirts. You may even wear your favourite jeans. Bravo!!! No warden permission were needed. Just write your names in the log book and get lost! Be back by 6.

I always loved to go out alone. I was only 11 yrs old but I have roamed all around Taman Midah, Mountbatten Road, Masjid India, Chow Kit alone. In those days it was quite safe to walk alone for an 11 year old boy. Not now bro... Sometimes if Rafee (Died of Leukimea while studying in ITM) asked me to follow him back to his house in Sentul, I would gladly follow because at least I got to taste some home cooking for lunch. I only had the chance to taste my mother's cooking only during school holidays. In 1976 I only celebrated Hari Raya at my brother's place in Selayang Baru and didn't get the chance to go home because the bus fare of RM18 was unaffordable. You even have to book a month earlier because there were no such thing like extra buses to Kota Bharu. So when my brother and family went out I just stayed home and cook my Raya Maggi Mee. Heheheehe...

I also learned some silat lessons when I was in Form 2. It was Silat Lincah under the Mahaguru Omar Din. It was an exciting experience and sometimes a bit funny. Before the practise sessions some rituals like Memagar Gelanggang were done by the Guru. He would burn the kemenyan(incense) and walk around the gelanggang. Once you were within the gelanggang you wouldn't feel the real pain when you were punched or kicked. I remember that I could do a flying kick that I'd never thought I could do. Wah! Macam Bruce Lee lah! But once you were out and stopped practising, the pain will be felt... Heheehe...

Of Seniors, Peers, Wardens and Ghosts

When I first stepped into the hostel in 1976 I was so amazed with the school that I was supposed to stay in and study. It was a boarding school somewhere in Cheras in KL. Things were totally different back in 1976. There were almost 700 of us in the school. It was a different environment altogether for a foolish kampung boy like me who came all the way from Pasir Mas, Kelantan. I was only 11 years and 4 months old that very day. Yes I skipped my standard 2 session and entered standard 3 straight away because I was in the 'Express Class'. It was a normal practice in the education system during those years.

My late mother, my eldest late brother Abang Pa and my 7th brother Abang Nan who was studying in UTM were there to send me. We were greeted by a Sixth Former Prefect whom I called Abang Leman (Dato' Sulaiman Shafie, former Speaker for Perlis State Assembly). Later on I found out that he was my Dorm Leader and became my 'abang angkat'. Abang Pa gave me RM15 and told me that's my first pocket money for the whole month and I didn't really know how and from where I was supposed to get my money for the following months. From then on I was left to be on my own and it was a really new and quite scary experience with total strangers around you.

Luckily Abang Leman was very responsible to his younger brothers in his dorm. Abang Leman was a very interesting character indeed. He stands at only 5' 3'' but has a heart of a lion. He was born in Perlis but also had some relatives in Kelantan. One of his nephews, Ghaffar happened to be my former classmate in Pasir Mas. Abang Leman was a very fluent orator and he just love to debate with his friends especially with his sparing partner Abang Rosli (Dato' Ahmad Roseli Ibrahim, former Kelantan State Assemblyman). They would just find any issue that ever crossed their minds and started a debate. A weird kind of hobby indeed. Abang Leman had always admired the late Tun Razak. I saw him wept when the late Tun Razak's demise was announced in the morning news. During his happy hours Abang Leman would play his accordion a couple of tunes. My friend Yusri or Mat Yus would sometimes play the accordion while Abang Leman was not around. He was a talented friend too.

We had a love hate relationship with Abang Leman. It's normal that school boys would hate prefects but would turn back to them whenever help is needed. We were only form one students and definitely were the mischievous lot. We just love to make noise especially during weekends. We called Abang Leman 'Spy Leman' because of his ability to catch us red handed while we were enjoying ourselves fooling around and making noise in the dorm. The best part was the punishment. There was no detention class or cleaning the toilet chores but we were made to sleep on the lawn outside our dormitories. But that added more fun to us. It was like camping out under the stars and moon light. I also had a few punishments myself. Frankly, we actually enjoyed it. Heheheh....

Abang Leman held a very important post in the Scouts movement. He was the Assistant Scout Master 1. Most of us in the dorm joined The Scouts because he told us that he would make sure that we enjoy joining the Scouts, and we really did. Abang Leman had taught us a lot about jungle survival. He organised a few camping activities the Scouts' way. We learned to make gadgets from Tembusu woods that we obtained from our Tembusu Camp at the back of the school compound. It was situated next to an abandoned mining pool. We learned the hard way in Tembusu Camp. I learned to cook in the rain, cut trees, sleeping on the trees while hiding from wild boars and rescueing one of our friends who was bitten by a centipede while sleeping inside the tent in Tembusu Camp when we were only 12 or 13 years old. Actually our school was situated at the entrance to Kampung Conggo or now Bandar Tun Razak. Some senior scouts had the chance to compete in the KL Scouts Jamboree at Castle Camp with teams from St. John's, Victoria Institution, La Salle School and other strong teams. After Abang Leman left school for UKM Abang Ibrahim Seman took over and it was also fun. We even camped out in Templer's Park with the Sixth Former Seniors including Abang Dud (Sa'adudin Sa'ad) and Abang Zol(Dato' Zolkeples Embong, Director General of Malaysian Sports Council).

We even had the chance to experience the Ist Class Scout badge test when I was in Form 2. The test was called Ist Class Journey where we had to endure the test of hiking a 60 miles journey around KL and Selangor in a team of only 2 boy scouts while collecting proof of our journey such as official chops(stamping) from Police Stations, Petrol Kiosks, The Museum, The Batu Caves Authorities, The Rubber Research Institute and many more. No hitch hiking nor using any public transport. We had to camp out, which we never did. My partner was Shamsul Baharin. We took the bus back to school and continued our journey the next morning. I only had RM5 in my pocket for food and bus fares and could only afford to buy air sirap to quench my thirst. We had to catch our meals during dinner back at the hostel. The journey was really a gruelling one when you had to bear with the scorching heat, dusty roads, had nothing to eat and being asked so many questions by the police and kiosk clerks. Pheww... My scouting experience was a very interesting experience.

Abang Leman once led us to climb the Cheras Hill (Bukit Cheras) which was situated next to the Cheras Christian Cemetery. We started climbing on one fine Sunday morning but before climbing we bought a few watermelons at the foot of the hill which were only sold at 15 sen per kilogram in those days. We walked through a small 'setinggan' area called Kampung Semerah Padi. I am not sure whether the kampung nor the Bukit Cheras still exist anymore, which I don't think so. We reached the peak after quite a while and were amazed with the landscapes of KL for our very first time. We could watch the Air Force planes landing and taking off at the Sungei Besi Airport from the top of the hill while enjoying the sweet and juicy watermelons. After resting for an hour we started our downhill journey of sliding and tumbling adventure. Bukit Cheras was quite steep indeed, but we managed to survive unhurt.

My scouting adventure was a very valuable experience in my life. I learned the hard way of collecting donations during the Scouts Job Week in 1977. Me and my partner Pakharuddin went all around Taman Midah, Cheras Baru, Kampung Conggo, Salak South, Sungei Besi Army Camp doing jobs such as cleaning dishes at the stalls, sweeping the garage floors and many other chores just to get a few cents and the most a dollar (RM1). If my 12 year old son were to do those things now, I would have surely objected or maybe took him back to stay at home comfortably. I will continue about hostel life in my next post...