Sweet Sixteen

Prep School, hamba loceng, grey, roll call, lights off, common room, asal lak common room? fire drill, knuckle.

New Hostel, Lata Kekabu, rebel, sampin 1 petak, duck walk, freak match Dorm 10, tukar baju laju-laju, mengira bintang dibalik awan, burnt banner.

Big School, cuak, kadir-kadir, rampa, pompoy, lesen, beruk, ular, senior comm, graveyard, night court, let go, PMR, tricosor, stadium raja bersiong, burn the gombang!

Honeymoon, 3rd best, freedom, burung, penguin, lambatnya 2000.

Senior, segregation, kencing berdarah, sket je boi, gantung, Ulu Chepor, SPM, SPM? oh shit...

05.12.1995-05.12.2011: 16 years bros, Fiat Sapientia Virtus!

Roadblock

Lama dah tak update blog nih, busy kerja and busy layan anak. Masa terluang selain tuh buat tido dengan main FM. Pemain tegar since 1997, true story.

Anyway since office hours dah habis (kerja bank Fridays balik 4.45pm, SSJ!), and hujan boleh tahan menggila kat luar, aku bukak cerita lama sebagai mengisi masa lapang.

Malam tuh entah apa pasal, Manao ajak pegi downtown Cheras. Redneck Selama (RS) pon ada sekali, maybe lepas lepak minum kat Taman Dagang kot nih. Anyway, naik kereta aku pegi sana. Lepas pusing-pusing takde arah tujuan kat downtown, kitorang gerak nak balik Ampang. Sampai je dekat roundabout dekat Jalan Cheras (kot?) ade road block la pulak. Biasa la weekend.

Sampai je dekat road block tuh abang polis suruh gi tepi. Cool je la kan, memang tak speeding since baru lepas roundabout, seat belt pon pakai. Bukak tingkap, tegur adik polis (baru perasan muda lagi polis tuh, confirm aku lagi tua).

"mintak IC, lesen"

Dia tenung lama, then pandang muka aku plak lama-lama. Aku dah nervous. Takkan muka dah lain sangat dengan gambar kot.

"Lesen latest ade?"
"Yang tu la latest"
"Yang nih dah mati. Sure takde yang lagi baru?"

Sudah! Menggelabah buat-buat bukak wallet belek semua card yang ada padahal hati dah tahu memang takde lain dah.

"Kalau takde cakap takde, tak payah panjang cerita"

Tahu pulak dia aku pura-pura, damn. Dia suluh dalam kereta kat Manao, then kat RS. Manao muka kaki pukul, RS memang tak nampak langsung muka dalam gelap. Kena senyum baru nampak. Kot.

"Lagi dua orang ada IC, lesen tak?"

Gelabah la kawan-kawan aku keluarkan IC semua bagai tunjuk kat adik polis. Dia tgk RS punya kejap,

"Tukar driver, suruh kawan kau yang bawak kereta. Lepas nih pegi buat lesen baru"

Dengan pantas Manao tukar tempat dan kami berlalu pergi. Rasanya kalau bukan pasal kad kuasa TUDM Captain RS, confirm kena saman dah aku. Ye lah, lesen dh mati SETAHUN.

At least jimat RM30 ye tak for one year renewal fee? Hehe

Letter To An Infant

Dearest,

I have written and rewritten this letter so many times I lost count. It took me so long, you are now 6 weeks old. I want this to be perfect, yet I know I will fail.

I will always remember the moments that I held you in my arms. Whenever your eyes looked into mine, I melted like butter in the hot sun. I'll always remember the way your small mouth pouts whenever you're content, and your toothless grins when you're drowsy.

I hope you will love travelling as much as I do. I hope you'll find joy taking long spartan train rides and walking for hours in some foreign cities. I hope you'll soak yourself in the differing cultures and not mind carrying around heavy backpacks and sleeping in some cheap motel. I hope you'll embrace the sands and beaches, and also the streets and fountains of the world. I hope your idea of travelling is not just a quick flight to a fancy hotel and guided tours.

I hope you'll take a shine to photography because I want to spend hours with you on photography trips, and be able to teach you a thing or two about apertures and shutter speeds. I want you to do it because it gives you satisfaction and not because the hipster kid next door is doing it too.

I hope you'll be interested in the outdoors, and we can go on camping trips just the two of us. We'll swim in the icy cold water of the river in the mornings and start a barbecue at night and I will tell you the best horror stories I can come up with so that you'll want to sleep close to me.

I hope you'll enjoy football so we can go to matches together. I hope you wouldn't mind the crowd and the deafeniing roar, and I hope you'll feel the elation of winning though sometimes you will have to bear the bitterness of defeat.

I hope for so many things but the truth is, I just want you to be your own man. Always remember your roots, and you would not stray far. Be kind always, have patience and have as little regrets in life as possible. You will have heartbreaks and you will break hearts. Cherish your family, especially mama. You will understand why when you have your own child later, trust me. Treasure your good friends because some do stick around for life. Love and be loved in return, and the world is a much better place for it.

I love you.

Yours truly,
Abah.

Bulan Malu

Two weeks ago:
I went down to SDMC's parking to move my car nearer to the lifts in case the wife can be discharged the next day. Since I was already down, I thought why not get a quick drink at mamak across the road. Just a quick limau ais would be just fine.

So I walked over and sat down and ordered. Soon my drink came, and I was sipping it happily when I realized, mana aku bawak wallet turun tadi!

I mulled asking the brader at the next table for a RM2 quick loan, but muka tak cukup tebal pulak. So finally I got up and walked to the counter when no one else was paying.

"Boss, I tertinggal duit lah. Kejap lagi I datang balik bayar OK, amek duit kejap dekat hospital"

Nasib baik anney tuh OK, tapi memang laju ah aku pergi ambil duit and datang balik bayar, Sumpah malu.

Last week:
Went out for lunch with Haz and he specifically wanted to eat 'mat salleh', so we walked over to Nando's. Ordered, ate, chatted, laughed. Then we asked for the bill. We took out our wallets,

"Eh Haz, aku rasa aku short nih. Cover dulu, jap lagi aku bayar"
"Bro, aku pon ada Rm20 je aku rase nih"

Brader waiter dah buat muka ketat.

"OK, jom pool up our money tengok berapa ada"

Nervous giggle, while avoiding brader waiter's steely gaze.

"Takpe lah, abang bayar je berapa yang ade"
"Eh cukup nih kot, bro aku ade RM24 je. Kau ade berape?"
"Jap - RM25. Alamak sen tak cukup!"
"Takpe la bang, nih pon dah OK.."
"Hah ade sen dalam poket!"

Muka tebal macam tayar dah rasa.

Masterchef

Last week, on a whim I decided to cook for berbuka. I checked the pantry and saw that I have enough to cook up some spaghetti aglio olio, so I boiled some water for the spaghetti, chopped up garlic and some herbs, heated some olive oil in the pan, put the spaghetti in the boiling water with some olive oil and salt, then put the chopped up garlic and herbs in the pan, along with some chili flakes. For flavour, I threw in some coarse salt too. When the spaghetti's nicely al dente, I drained most of the water, put the spaghetti in the pan, added some of the spaghetti water, and after a while it's done!

Transferred the whole thing to a bowl, with a thong I nicely picked up the spaghetti and put it on the plates like I learned on Masterchef :D. Pretty soon, it's time to berbuka already so we tucked in heartily.

Then suddenly a silence and we looked at each other.

"I rasa kalau letak salt and pepper OK sikit kot?"

Susah betul masak time puasa nih when you can't tell sugar from salt.

Thank You

Last week I was in Phnom Penh for work. The trip reminded me of the first time I was there in 2008. There were 6 of us, and we were having some drinks and snacks at a nice french-style cafe somewhere in the city. As we were about to leave, I decided to ask the waitress who was standing nearby:

"How do you say 'thank you' in Cambodia?"
"Thank you" she replied with a smile.

Confused silence, then slowly apprehension came over me.

"I mean, how do say 'thank you' in Khmer?"
"Aw khun" she replied with a bigger smile.

Siot, aku kena bahan dengan awek Cambodia!

Guna

Kat Kuala Kangsar dulu-dulu ada dua kedai gunting mamak yang kitorang selalu pergi. Satu nama Romeo, satu lagi Guna. Satu sama row dengan tailor Side Two dengan kedai Seri Menanti (cuba la makan sini, memang sumpah korang kena tunggu lama nak dapat food), lagi satu dekat lembah dekat-dekat Cyber Valley cybercafe port budak-budak fly lepak main game dan hisap rokok. Tak tahu la ada lagi ke tak semua kedai-kedai aku sebut, nih zaman 90s dulu punya cerita.

Anyway, Guna nih memang suka buat lawak ganas-ganas. Sikit-sikit cakap nak potong telinga lah apa lah, memang cuak. Tapi dia potong ok, tak macam Romeo yang potong semua pesen sama je. Pastuh taruk bedak Holiday On Ice plak tuh, baunya ya rabbi. Sideburn confirm pedih kena tarah dengan blade dia, aduhh...

Ok berbalik kepada Guna, one day aku pergi la nak potong rambut. Kalau tak potong karang kena pelempang dengan Cikgu Yop lagi lepas inspection, pekak jugak telinga kejap. Sambil Guna potong rambut aku, ade sorang lagi brader india dok sebelah. Brader tuh dok baca paper Tamil, tak sure la plak Tamil Nesan ke ape. Aku tengok cover depan, sama gambar macam cover Utusan yang aku baru baca tadi, gambar rompakan bank kot. Selamba la gua refer kat gambar tuh sambil buat small talk dengan Guna:

"Rompakan bank kat Kuantan, satu juta hilang kan?" sambil mata jeling ke paper tuh and angkat kening sikit.

Tiba-tiba Guna berhenti potong rambut aku and tengok muka aku ikut cermin tak berkelip.

"You reti baca Tamil ka?!!"

Menyumpah Guna bila aku explain hal sebenar. Nasib baik tak tobek rambut aku dia bantai.

Off The Pitch

I was there along with perhaps 85,000 more people (I can't say Malaysians since mat salleh pon ramai je tengok, siap pakai jersi Malaysia lagi) to watch our boys take on Singa Import. Gedebak gedebuk, we drew the match and lost 4-6 on aggregate. They even took the best acting award too, oh well.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure the game itself has been blogged to death already by now so you can Google your way to it. I'm gonna write about everything else instead.

After work, I rushed to the toilet and changed quickly into my blue Malaysian jersey, blue jeans and trusted Jack Purcells and took a train to Bukit Jalil. After a long cramped ride, I arrived to a festive atmosphere. A sea of blues and yellows and the odd Man Utd jersey here and there (tak reti bahasa bebudak MU nih, pakai jersi merah time Malaysia lawan Singa Import), I found Zad near the station and went looking for Vijay. After prolonged looking (the phone line was jammed up), and walking to find a less crowded gate, we finally entered Green Gate and walked all the way to the end of the terrace. We found a place on the third tier and sat and waited for the game to start.

The stadium filled up rather quickly and the noise was deafening. We can see the Ultras Malaya set who took up one section on the first tier already getting into the groove with their chants and drumming. I am guessing their most popular chant that day was "Loser, loser" directed at Shahril Ishak, which was quickly picked up by the rest of the stadium. Nice.

I've not sang Negaraku in about 11 years, and that was an excellent moment to do it again. The stadium sang in unison and the way the crowd erupted after the anthem was tremendous. Shame that a lot of fans booed Singapore's anthem, but then their players weren't sporting (or even Singaporeans in the first place, heh) during the game anyway, so lantak pi lah.

Of course there are still some idiots who lit and threw firecrackers (which blinded one poor chap, I read in today's paper) but generally it was a footballing crowd. I can still recall the elation when Safee scored the first goal, and the utter disappointment when Singa Import China scored the equalizer. It was an immediate hush around the stadium, and we can actually hear the 300 odd supporters in red cheering.

But Ultras Malaya soldiered on and soon the rest of the stadium joined in to lend our vocal support as the 12th player. But it soon dawned that it's not going anywhere and by the time the referee blew, sections of the stadium were already emptying.

It was a good atmosphere, and Zad said it best with "thanks for introducing me to the joys of a full 90,000 capacity stadium". You won't find that experience in front of the telly albeit much more comfortable and with the advantage of instant replay, trust me the real deal is worth the hassle. That said, I have a few comments to make:

1. Why can't we have numbered seats on the tickets? That will ensure everyone who bought it WILL get a seat. Twice before I've been to a football match and did not get a seat despite paying good money for it. People had to sit on the stairways and every nook and cranny they can find. Imagine if there's an emergency, what then?

2. They need to dedicate a section for families. I watched a game in White Hart Lane a while back, and I bought a Family section ticket. That section had more stewards and enforced a strict no swearing policy (a shirtless bloke was told firmly to "shut your trap, put your shirt on, or I'll kick you out!" when he swore a few times). Little kids need not be exposed to that side of the game really.

3. There was no control upon exiting (and entering too actually) the stadium, everyone just rushed to exit through the awfully small exit points. Some idiots kept pushing and that caused a little commotion. Pity the ladies and again small children who had to brave through that as well.

4. Same thing at the LRT station, people were crowded near the entrance because they won't let more people in the station. IMHO, let the people in but control entrance to the platforms instead. Small space, too many people - someone can easily faint or have difficulty breathing. Referring to my experience watching the game in London, the tube station was manned by policemen and they ensured that people line up orderly (even when the line was so long I can't see the start of it). Why can't we be doing this?

5. The management need to get a hold of the stalls, there were too many of them. The reason why people had to crowd the LRT entrance was because there was no other space to wait once you're near the station. Otherwise you have to walk back to the stairs, and turning around in that stampede was not an option really. Same goes for vendors inside and outside the stadium, people were rushing to get out and they stood right in front of the exit hawking their stuff. Good idea in normal circumstances, but terrible idea with this kind of crowd.

6. Indiscriminate parking, especially by motorcycles and vendors' vans. It blocks pedestrian traffic flow A LOT.

So, will we see any changes after this (after a barrage of criticisms, especially after the 3 EPL matches which saw many SNBJ virgins attend for the first time)? Let's hope someone does something before we see a Heysel in our own back yard.

Porridge

Heard on the LRT.

Girl 1: Eh how do you spell porridge?
Girl 2: P-O-R-I..
Girl 3: No laaa, P-O-L-I-S-H porish loh!

Sweet.

Brazil

"Hey, you are going to the UK for training soon right, any plans to travel after that?"
"Yeah, I'm going to Brazil."
"Whoah, why so far one?"
"No lah, where got far. I'm going by train there."

Tick. Tock.

"Ohh you mean Brussels?!"
"Ya loh, that's what I told you what."

True story.

Angker

I am a sucker for good horror stories, and I found a good one recently. It's reputedly a famous urban legend among UiTM Shah Alam students, but heck it's a good one! I copied it from Obe's Blog Serius, and he said he found it in Lowyat.net's forum so I have no idea who to credit for the story (nama pon urban legend kan?).

I thought the story worked well since the characters sounds like real life folks (come on, who doesn't know a real life Bob, Wak, Sam or Lan?), it would make a nice movie no?

Well, here goes (in BM since I'm too lazy to translate):

9 tahun lepas aku dapat sambung belajar di UiTM Shah Alam. Jadi perkara pertama yang perlu difikirkan adalah tempat tinggal sebab aku tidak dapat hostel. Oleh sebab kerajinan & keprihatinan aku dan kawan-kawan,maka dapatlah kami rumah sewa, berdekatan seksyen 2. Berhampiran dengan Wet World [kalau korang tahu la].

Rumah tu banglo 2 tingkat 4 bilik. 3 bilik dekat atas dan 1 bilik dekat bawah. Kami semua berlapan,kiranya 2 orang untuk 1 bilik lah. Aku ringkaskan sajalah, kami masuk rumah tu dengan perasaan berbelah bahagi; gembira, suka, pelik, rimas, takut semua ada.

Pertama,tuan umah hanya kutip rm50 saja sebagai deposit dan sewa pertama hanya bayar bila masuk bulan kedua kami duduk rumah tu. Kiranya bulan pertama percuma lah....[?]Kedua,tuan rumah tak bagi kami bawa barang banyak-banyak sebab nanti penat nak angkat balik, terangnya...Ketiga,pokok ara tepi umah tu sangat besar sampai dahannya boleh masuk tingkap bilik atas.Malam pertama duduk rumah tu kami tidak tidur sebab sibuk punggah dan kemas barang serta layan serta layan dvd korea. Cerita seramnya berlaku semasa hari kedua. Tak payah nak tunggu malam, siang-siang pun kami dah kena kacau. Azmi "dagu" orang pertama kena.

Masa tu baru pukul 10.30 pagi [anggaran aku la], si Azmi ni bangun nak buang air besar. Jadi dia pergilah bilik air di bawah tu tapi ada orang di dalam [sebab pintu tertutup]. Bilik air atas rosak, tuan umah kata nanti dia akan betulkan. Tunggu punya tunggu, tak keluar-keluar orang dalam tandas tu. Jadi Azmi ni memekik la suruh cepat sikit keluar sebab dia tak tahan. Akibat jeritan si Azmi ni, habis satu rumah bangun pergi tengok apa hal. Yang peliknya, kami berlapan semua ada, habis siapa dlm tandas ni? Pintu tandas berkunci siap ada bunyi orang flush jamban lagi. Dalam ramai-ramai ni,Lan seorang saja yg berani sikit [mungkin fasal dia ni keturunan bugis], dia rentap pintu tandas tu sampai terbuka. Tak ada orang tapi daripada kesan yang ada,pintu tu memang dikunci daripada dalam. Akhirnya Azmi tak jadi berak, mungkin sebab takut.

Malam tu kami kena lagi teruk.

Masa aku nyenyak tidur malam tu tiba-tiba ada orang tarik kedua-dua belah kaki aku sampai aku terjatuh katil. Kepala aku terhentak dulu di lantai! Apa lagi,angin la aku sebab ingat budak-budak nak main-mainkan aku tapi bila bangun tak nampak orang pulak. Yang ada cuma Lan yang tengah membuta dekat katil atas. Aku tak rasa Lan yang buat sebab mesti dia tidur mati. Bila aku keluar bilik, aku dengar budak-budak tengah ketawa. Rupanya diaorang tengah layan DVD dekat hall bawah. Aku pun masuk bilik balik sebab masih bingung tapi baru ak perasan masa aku tengah jengah ke bawah tadi aku perasan Lan ada!! Bukan ke tadi aku nampak dia tengah membuta dalam bilik? Ahh sudah. Dengan perasaan berani-berani takut aku tengok atas katil Lan ada bonjol bawah selimut,kiranya macam ada orang lah. Aku tarik kain selimut tu and guess what? Ada batu nisan yang dah retak dan secara automatik bilik aku diselubungi bau hapak dan hanyir yang menusuk.

Masa ni jangan tanya aku lah apa aku buat sebab kalau benda ni jadi dekat korang pun takkan nak tinggal dalam bilik tu lagi betul tak? Aku rasa kaki aku dah tak jejak tanah sebab lari laju sangat. Aku lari keluar bilik tu dan pergi ke hall sebab nak beritahu kawan-kawan aku tapi yang macam haram jadahnya tak ada seorang pun ada dekat hall. Nak tahu man diorang pergi? Semua dah duduk dekat luar rumah! Rupanya awal-awal lagi diorang dah kena kacau. Yang laknatnya, tak ada seorang pun nak kejutkan aku....taik betul diorang ni.

Lepas diorang tenangkan aku, kami berbincang nak buat apa sebab sekarang sudah pukul 3 pagi. Nak minta tolong tok imam,rumah tok imam pun kami tak tahu. Nak minta tolong jiran, kiri kanan rumah kami cina. Akhirnya Salleh ajak lepak restoran Hakim sampai pagi. Bunyinya macam senang tapi masing-masing semua tak pakai baju dan pakai boxer dengan kain pelekat saja. Mahu tak mahu terpaksalah kami masuk rumah tu balik sebab nak ambil seluar, dompet dan kunci motor.

Oleh sebab bilik Bob dan Naim saja yang ada di bawah, maka kami ambil keputusan nak pinjam baju n seluar mereka. Masing-masing takut nak naik tingkat atas. Dompet pun aku tinggal. Masing-masing berpakat guna duit Naim dahulu. Nasib baik kunci motor kami sangkut dekat dinding [tempat penyangkut]. Masa nak keluar dari rumah tu, Wak perasan ada budak perempuan dekat pintu dapur tengah senyum sambil lambai tangan dekat dia. Aku pun terperasan budak tu juga lepas aku tengok muka Wak bertukar pucat lesi. Senyuman budak tu buat aku rasa macam nak terkincit dalam seluar. Kepala lutut aku menggigil sampailah dekat restoran Hakim!

Lepas sampai restoran Hakim, masing-masing sibuk buka cerita termasuk aku sekali lah. Mula-mula Wak cerita, malam tu lebih kurang pukul 12 lebih,dia sibuk download lagu tiba-tiba ada bunyi macam orang baling batu dekat tingkap bilik dia. Bila dia jengah,dia nampak ada seorang perempuan duduk dekat atas pokok kayu ara sebelah rumah tu, pakai baju putih kekuningan dan koyak-koyak dengan rambut panjang. Yang sadisnya,perempuan hodoh tu boleh senyum dekat dia pulak. Wak ni apa lagi terus tutup tingkap dan keluar pergi bilik dia n terus pergi bilik aku lah kononnya. Malangnya, lagi seekor hantu pulak duduk dekat depan pintu bilik dia tapi kali ni hantu budak. Jadi dia ambil keputusan terjun tingkap bilik dia ke bawah. Akibatnya, kaki dia terkehel. Nasib baik tak patah.

Azmi "dagu" pula cerita dia nampak ada budak perempuan lambai tangan dekat dia [yang ini, aku pun kena juga ok]. Aku pasti budak itu bukan manusia sebab dia tak ada kaki! Sam pula cerita dia nampak hantu tu dekat siling umah! Bila buka saja mata, hantu itu betul-betul "eye to eye" dengan dia. Kiranya semua kena kacau lah ni. Dan aku orang akhir sekali cerita. Aku cakap lah dua-dua kaki aku kena tarik masa tidur sampai kepala aku terhentak dekat lantai. Lepas itu aku cakap lah yang aku nampak diorang tengah layan dvd dekat Hall tapi Azmi tiba-tiba menyampuk "Bila masa pulak kami tengok dvd ?". Rupa-rupanya tiada seorang pun yang tengok dvd pagi tersebut! Jadi, siapa yang aku nampak?! Haru betul.....kaki aku yang dari tadi menggigil makin bertambah kuat gigilnya.

Tengah sibuk berborak,aku terbau sesuatu yang kurang enak. Kawan-kawan aku yang lain pun terbau juga. Rupanya Azmi ni tadi dah terkencing dalam seluar sebab takut sangat. Nasib baik malam tu tak ramai sangat orang dekat Restoran Hakim tu. Malu betul! Aku pulak ternampak Sam pakai selipar sebelah lain. Daripada sibuk-sibuk bercerita seram terus jadi cerita kelakar pulak.

Tengah ketawa, baru kami perasan Salleh dengan Naim tak ada bersama kami. Yang ada cuma kami berenam. Aku, Azmi Dagu, Sam banjar,Wak, Bob dengan Lan. Dalam ramai-ramai tu cuma Bob seorang yang bawa HP, jadi kami cuba telefon Naim tapi tak ada orang angkat. Telefon Salleh pula, sama juga tak ada orang angkat. Kemudian Lan ambil HP Bob tu, dia baca apa entah agaknya lepas tu tahu apa jadi? Dengar suara perempuan menggilai! Gila-gila punya ngilai sampai meremang bulu roma aku. Kami berenam terus terdiam. Akhirnya kami sepakat akan tunggu sampai pagi esok baru balik rumah itu semula dan cari Naim dengan Salleh. Lepas dengar suara perempuan menggilai dalam HP tu, tiada seorang pun yang buka mulut sehinggalah subuh!

Pukul 7.30 pagi baru kami blah dari Hakim. Hati aku masih lagi kuat berdebar-debar. Yang lain-lain aku tahulah. Sampai dekat depan rumah, aku tengok pintu rumah dengan pagar terbuka seluas-luasnya. Kalau pencuri masuk ni, memang dia akan kaya sebab laptop, wallet dengan HP kami semua dibiarkan macam itu saja. Bulu tengkuk aku masih lagi meremang. Tak ada seorang pun berani masuk rumah itu dahulu Aku ingat, ada lah 20-30 minit kami duduk tercangak-cangak dekat depan rumah sebab tak berani masuk. Entah macam mana agaknya HP Bob berbunyi.Hati aku da x sedap. Jangan la kata hantu tu yang telefon masuk umah. Lan angkat. Sebenarnya dalam ramai-ramai, Lan lah yang paling berani tapi kadang-kadang penakut juga lah. Pihak hospital telefon, katanya Naim ada di wad kecemasan hospital Klang. Kemalangan katanya. Pihak hospital kata, ada miss call dari nombor hp Bob, sebab itu dia telefon nombor Bob. Oooo baru aku faham. Yang peliknya Naim kemalangan?

Masing-masing serba salah jadinya. Bingung pun ya juga. Tak tahu sama ada nak melawat Naim di hospital Klang atau cari Salleh yang hilang. Akhirnya kami telefon tuan rumah untuk tengok apa yg patut. Aku dengan Sam pulak pergi hospital Klang tengok keadaan Naim. Kalau memang tenat sangat, aku akan beritahu yang lain suruh datang. Yang lain aku suruh cari Salleh keliling umah, takut-takut dia kena sorok. Kami masing-masing hanya bertawakal. Masa dalam perjalanan ke hospital Klang, aku pun tak tahu Sam pecut sampai berapa tapi hati aku masih lagi kuat mengatakan bahawa perkara ini belum habis lagi.

Sampai hospital,aku terus cari Naim. Sebak sungguh hati aku tengok keadaan Naim yang parah. Kaki dia teruk. Doktor kata kena lenyek dengan kereta atau sesuatu. Kes langgar lari. Naluri aku kuat mengatakan bahawa umur Naim ni tak panjang sebab darah keluar membuak-membuak. Sam tak sanggup tengok, air mata dia berjurai-jurai keluar. Doktor pun cakap Naim ni sudah nyawa-nyawa ikan, tak dapat nak tolong banyak. Aku duduk tepi Naim, dia boleh bercakap lagi tapi sangkut-sangkut. Dia mintak maaf sebab menyusahkan kami. Berulang-ulang kali dia minta maaf tapi aku masih lagi tak dapat tangkap apa yang dia cakap. Akhirnya dia meninggal juga. Aku gagahkan hati aku telefon kawan-kawan yang lain beritahu kematian Naim. Aku tengok Sam terduduk tepi balkoni dengan mata merah sebab nangis banyak sangat. Tak lama lepas itu keluarga Naim datang. Aku tak anggup nak tunggu lagi dan ajak Sam balik Shah Alam.

Sampai dekat rumah, aku tengok ramai gila orang tengah cari Salleh tapi tak jumpa-jumpa. Habis satu umah digeledah. Akhirnya ada orang tua dekat situ minta tolong dengan seorang ustaz. Aku tak ingat apa nama ustaz itu tapi lepas Asar baru kami jumpa Saleeh duduk dekat atas busut belakang rumah. Yang hairannya, sudah 5,6 kali orang cari tapi tak ada pula jumpa dia dekat situ. Tak kisahlah janji dapat jumpa balik Salleh. Kami semua ambil keputusan pindah dari rumah hari itu juga. Kebetulan dekat seksyen 7 [pintu belakang UITM] ada satu rumah untuk disewa, jadi kami pindah situ lah. Barang-barang Naim kami angkut sekali. Terus terang aku cakap, memang aku angin gila tengok muka tuan rumah sebab tak beritahu yang rumah ini "keras".patut lah dia suruh bayar rm50 saja dulu dan tak bagi bawa barang banyak-banyak. Chisss......

Aku demam 3 hari.

Jenazah Naim selamat dikebumikan di Raub,Pahang.

Seminggu lepas Itu,keadaan sudah ok sikit cuma Salleh saja yang sakit-sakit badan. Akhirnya mulut aku tergerak nak tanya Salleh apa yang berlaku sebenarnya sebab sebelum Naim meninggal dia ada cakap dekat aku suruh tanya Salleh satu rahsia. Rupanya masa hari pertama kami masuk rumah tu, Naim dengan Salleh sudah buat hal. Dia cangkul busut dekat belakang rumah tu. Naim pula kuis-kuis dengan kaki dia. Mungkin sebab itu lah kaki dia parah [dalam hati aku lah]. Kemudian Salleh cerita,kn ada malam yg kitorg satu uma kena kacau tu dia dengan Naim pun kena juga. Tapi hantu tu siap kejar diorang sampai dekat jalan. Diorang punya la cuak sampai lari ke tengah jalan. Entah mana datangnya kereta tiba-tiba hentam mereka. Naim tercampak tengah jalan, dia pulak dekat tepi jalan. Datang kereta lain terus lenyek kaki Naim. Lepas tu, Salleh kata dia terus tak sedar apa-apa sampailah kami jumpa dia atas busut tu. Yang peliknya,macam mana dia boleh duduk atas busut sedangkan dia kata dia lari dekat tengah jalan besar? Kenapa Naim seorang yang kena teruk?

Akhirnya aku dapat jawapan sebenar. Tak lama lepas Salleh cerita dengan aku, dia jatuh sakit. Tak tahulah sakit apa tapi 3 bulan kemudian dia meninggal. Keluarga dia sendiri kebingungan sebab doktor pun tak tahu sakit Saalleh. Tapi aku yakin, kes ni ada kaitan dengan busut yang diorang gali tu. Aku dengan geng-geng aku yang lain sempat ziarah arwah Salleh. Paling tak boleh tahan Bob sebab dia roomate dengan Naim. Memang aku tau dia sedih sangat. Yang tak boleh lupa, kami semua menangis masa angkat jenazah Salleh. Rasa sedih sangat masa tu..

Aku, Azmi Dagu, Sam banjar,Wak, Bob dan Lan, semua sekali selamat habiskan pengajian di UITM. Buat Naim dan Salleh, kami tetap akan ingat korang sampai bila-bila. Al- fatihah
Ops..Rumah banglo dekat seksyen 2 itu sampai sekarang ada lagi [agaknya]. Tiap kali aku lalu kawasan situ mesti aku rasa sedih sangat. Lagi satu,masa hari terakhir kami di rumah tu, Wak tertinggal hp dia dekat bilik atas. Jadi pada siapa-siapa yang berani, boleh lah ambil hp tu tapi itu pun kalau korang berani la...nokia 3310

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So, did you like it? ;)

Jumaatday

True story, mamak dekat sini asked Aishah "baby, nak minum apa?". FTW!

I'm sure it's hardly original but I'm claiming the copyright to Syukur Sudah Jumaat (SSJ). TGIF is so old school yo.

SSJ mateys!

Fresh

There is this standing mindset (especially amongst bankers in foreign banks) that the local banks are a notch below. The Liga Perdana to the Liga Super, where of course the big boys go to play. Oh come on don't deny it, I was one of you.

I recently made the switch to a local bank, despite it being one of the biggest local banks I still had some reservations. The salary offered was good, but the benefits package was very much subpar to what I was used to. But I decided to join anyway because it was for a regional position and the manager was someone I felt I can work with. Well here I am about a month in, and I can already dispel some of the notions I had previously.

My old bank prides itself on being a major global player, and as such kept telling us that we were lucky to be part of the organisation. Well I did felt lucky earlier in my career there. We were paid very well (for a fresh graduate that is), the benefits provided were some of the best in the industry if not the country, and as a management trainee were accorded some extra privileges like rubbing shoulders with the top management (CEO included, mind you) regularly in both formal and social settings, and were also provided the best training one can offer. Four weeks in UK, three in Hong Kong, that's pretty damn good I must say!

After 2 CEO changes later, things were not looking good. The new CEO is a very brash man who doesn't practice any subtleties and niceties that people loved with the previous CEOs. When asked why aren't the bank trying to compete in the market by increasing the salary since many talents leave year after year for the bigger bucks elsewhere, he just responded 'if you want more money, then you can leave too'. Talk about tact. True to fact, a lot of people left and in time I too became part of that movement =P

Anyway enough about the old place, let's talk about the new bank. Honestly I expected the worse. My first day did nought to dispel that. I reported to the HR and was asked to wait in a room full of other first day joiners. Most of them fresh faced and eager to be a banker, some like me looked wary already after a few years on the line. Filling up a stack of forms was next, it wasn't as organised as I would've liked but that's life kan? The we were taken to our respective floors. I was given an archaic old PC (CRT monitor yo!) that takes ages to startup, and soon realised that IE6.0 and Lotus Notes 7.0 is the current system standard. The warning lights in my head all came on, and all the key words people usually associate with local banks come to the front - old school, slow, lazy, bureaucratic, lethargic, etc fills my head. Man I was scared, here I was a pampered foreign banker jumping into this backwater called local banks. Plus my boss was away that day, so I had the whole day to rethink my decision oh the agony.

The next day my boss comes in and things started to change. She asked someone to replace my PC straightaway and I got a spankin' new Lenovo with a 19'' LCD within a few days (unfortunately, IE6.0 and LN7.0 is apparently still the bankwide standard, bummer). She briefed me a bit about the department and the bank, and it was reassuring. She was a former foreign banker as well, and most my department either comes from HSBC/Citi/Stanchart triumvirate or from the Big Four. She explains how things work, and though she laments the pace as being a bit slow, it is improving over when she first joined.

Old school? Some departments maybe, but mine is alright. Especially since more than half of the guys here are mid 30s and youngers. Slow? I agree with this, don't expect a response to your e-mails within a day or two (even with chasers), try a week. If this like what my boss said is 'improving', I pity those who joined way back when. Bureaucratic? Yes. I need to go through twice the number of approvals I need previously for a business case. Lethargic? Not here. Probably because we are of a younger subset, I don't know. The place is definitely more friendlier, I have more space to my cubicle than I know what to do with, I have a pantry that's bigger than my old big boss' office, the lifts faster and most importantly kids, some local banks pay a whole lot more than you think ;)

Name

Quick question, what's up with Malay parents these days naming their kids Isaac and Julian and Adrien? Sebab trend ke sebab malu nak namakan dengan nama melayu/Islam?

Echo

*Flexes fingers*

Now, how do I start again?

New

I don't really feel like doing a lengthy review of 2010, so in short 2010 saw me travelling to Hong Kong, Macau and Bangkok (again, but this time by land yo), but the biggest landmark of last year was that i finally ended my bachelorhood and got married =D

Now that I am married, my plans for 2011 are gonna change a little bit. Can't do crazy backpacking like I used to, gotta take into account that she's not used to travelling let alone backpacking. So our first plan for the year is gonna be Bali sometime soon once we got our life sorted out first. Anyone got experience staying at private villas in Ubud?

We're also planning to head north to Bangkok yet again since she's really enthralled by my stories of the city - that would probably be sometime mid year. If we got some more extra cash stashed away somewhere, perhaps a visit to Jakarta-Bandung is in order to visit some friends and do more shopping.

Apart from travelling, I have a few other things in mind. I finally did upgrade from my Canon 400D to Canon 60D last week, so far it's been a wonderful piece of machinery. Gotta put it to real use soon to see how does it measure up - photography outings anyone?

I also gotta start going back to the driving range, I'm pretty sure whatever form or swing I had is now gone so it's gonna feel like starting over, oh my back.

Besides that, am thinking of buying a bicycle. Haven't rode one since maybe Standard 6, and I'm really hoping that riding a bike is not a skill that you lose over time. Though riding in Ampang would probably be considered an extreme sport, the drivers around there are crazy I tell you. To be fair, that would include me too from time to time hehe.

The more extravagant plan is buying that nice house I've been eyeing which is priced just a wee bit beyond what I can afford (22x75 + freehold + good location = must buy!). A promotion (and the pay rise that comes along with it) would definitely help ;)

Well that's about it I guess. Gonna turn 28(!) in a fortnight's time, inching closer to the big three zero. Just 7 more years for me to meet my deadline of having my own business. But for now, I got a decent car, a cosy home, a good job and the woman of my dreams. Not too shabby I guess, Alhamdulillah.