*drum roll.....* THE GRAND FINALE!

Well, this is it I guess...

33 years and 4 months of service to the education sector, culminating in what I would regard as one of the best farewells that any pengetua could ever wish for, courtesy of the dear administrators, teachers, students and staff of SMK Munshi Sulaiman, Batu Pahat.

My "Road to Final Farewell" began with a Majlis Perpisahan Pengawas, which was held at the Landmark Hotel on 25th July 2009. They had intended for the function to be held earlier so that I could join in the celebrations. During this function, I was given my first 56th birthday cake.

The second farewell function was held on 30th July 2009, where principals from all secondary schools of Batu Pahat came to our school, to bid me adios. We had lunch, the usual speeches and the entire event ended with the giving out of souveneirs to all the pengetuas who came.

On 31st July 2009, Tuan PPD, Timbalan PPD and two other officers from the Pejabat Pelajaran Daerah came over to wish me a happy retirement as well. On that night, the staff of SMK Munshi Sulaiman threw a big dinner for me at Landmark Hotel (oh yes, I was chauffered there). This night, I was presented with my second birthday cake and some presents.

7th August 2009 - I had two farewells at school, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. MORE BIRTHDAY CAKES! And a lot of presents, cards, artwork and flowers from teachers, students and staff (I'm really so touched... I really am...). I couldn't help but tear up a little there (so much for my "Iron Lady" image) especially when students came round and asked me for hugs (girl students, that is). A lot of photograph taking, and the photos are posted on my ALL-NEW Photobucket page, link attached below. After that, in the night, the PIBG and the School's Chinese Language Society held a dinner for me at Futuna Restaurant. It was both a farewell and a parenting talk function by Mr Ma Kim Hua. I was also really touched and glad to see all my teachers from my old school, SMK Yong Peng who turned up for the function as well. The YDP PIBG of SMK Yong Peng showed up with his wife too. And that's not it! The JKD Bahasa Cina teachers and a lot of students also turned up, so happy to see you all too!

There you have it... multiple functions, multiple dinners, multiple cakes... and an entire array of presents, artwork and flowers. I was really happy and touched by the effort put in by the administrators, teachers, students and staff in organising this really beautiful, meaningful and memorable farewell for me. Seriously, if a person can be judged by the type of gift, well wishes and cards that he or she received, I must be the most lucky person in this galaxy.

View My Retirement Photos Here

Before I go, there was this particular farewell card that had a little story in it. I was reading it before going to bed, and it's kinda nice and I'd like to share it with you all:

Two friends were walking through the desert. At some point of the journey, they had an argument and one friend slapped the other in the face.
The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, wrote in the sand "Today my best friend slapped me in the face."
They kept on walking until they arrived at an oasis, where they decided to take a bath. The one who had been slapped got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but the friend saved him. After he recovered, he wrote on a stone "Today my best friend saved my life."
The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him, "After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand, and now you write on a stone. Why?"
The other friend replied, "When someone hurts us we should write it down in the sand where winds of forgiveness can erase it away. But when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone where no wind can erase it."

So, whatever bad memories that I have left you all, please write them on the sand. And whatever good memories that you may have on me, please engrave it in stone.

GOODBYE SMK MUNSHI SULAIMAN. GOD BLESS YOU ALL AND I WISH ALL OF YOU SUCCESS IN EVERYTHING THAT YOU DO, STUDIES AND CAREER ALIKE.

*-- that's all folks, I'm signing off... --*

p.s. my new blog's ready!! View it here.

Speeding at the last lap...

It has been quite some time since I last wrote. After coming back from the 3-day PKPSM seminar in Johor Bahru (6 to 8.07.0909), I attended a 2-day course at Landmark Hotel (14 to 15.07.09). It was all about Data-Driven Decision Making and was conducted by En Abd Razak bin Manaf from IAB. I enjoyed an intellectually-stimulating 2 days in the company of fellow principals - Pn Hjh Noorsiah, Pn Hjh Remi, Tn Hj Tokijan, Tn Hj Daud and En Abd. Rashid.

Because I had been away from school for so many days, I am now having a very busy time in school - bills to be paid, Kew 8s to be signed, etc.....And I expect an even busier time the following two weeks because our GPK1 Pn Mahani will be attending a course at INTAN.

Something our ex-GPK 1 En Nazim said came to my mind. In his Teachers' Day sms to me this year, he said, " Kebanyakan orang hampir pencen umpama mendaki gunung semakin ke puncak semakin perlahan tetapi Cikgu umpama orang menuruni bukit semakin hampir semakin laju." Thanks Nazim. :)

Only 2 more weeks before I take one week's cuti rehat prior to retirement. Would you believe it? I applied for 2 days cuti rehat earlier this month - to finish up my leave - but I ended up working on those two days.....He...he...

Yup, retirement will be good for me....and will be especially good for my knees. Only then will my orthopaedic surgeon smile. Ciao !!

The Annual PKPSM Convention

I won't be in school from Monday, 6 July till Wednesday, 8 July as I will be attending the annual State PKPSM Convention. This year, it will be held at the Paragon Hotel, Johor Bahru.

Ever wondered what we principals do during the annual convention? Well, this year, there will be a working visit to the much-talked-about Iskandar Development Region (IDR). Then there will be the usual presentation of working papers, and for this year, the topics will cover the aspects of "Strategic Transformation" and "Unconventional Wisdom For A Changing World".

There'll also be the usual keynote address by our Pengarah Pelajaran Johor. And, of course, the formal dinner would follow. The theme for this year's dinner is "Semurni Usaha, Seharum Jasa".

On the last day, the usual Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held, followed by the closing ceremony by YB Dr Hj Mohd Puad bin Zarkashi, Deputy Minister of Education.

Come to think about it, this will be the last time I shall be attending the convention. As I shall be retiring next month (I know I've said this time and again, hahaha), I will be taking this opportunity to bid farewell to all my Pengetua friends.

Yup, life as a Pengetua has been eventful... we do get to go to a lot of places, and stay at a lot of hotels too. But no, I still want to retire early. 10 years as a Principal is GOOD ENUFF...

All Kinds Of People

In my 33 years and 4 months of work, I have come into contact with all kinds of co-workers. Some are hard to work with, needs a lot of tact:

• The armoured car (Kereta kebal - mahu cara sendiri, bising, mendesak)
• The sniper (Penembak hendap - tidak bermoral, sabotaj, gosip)
• The hand grenade (Bom tangan - senang meradang)
• The Knows All (Serba Tahu - mengetahui segala-gala, tak mahu dengar cakap-cakap 'orang yang serba kekurangan')
• He thinks he knows all (Ingat dia serba tahu - ingat aje)

When it comes to working as a team, it's a torture working with the following kind of people.

• Mr Yes (Orang Ya - cepat setuju, lambat habis tugasan)
• Mr Maybe (Orang Mungkin - suka tangguh)
• Mr Disappearing Act (Orang Tiada - tiada maklumbalas langsung)
• Mr Cannot (Orang Tidak - Saya tidak bersikap negatif, saya cuma bersikap realistik)
• Whiner (Perungut - merungut tidak henti-henti)

But of course, not everyone I met over my entire career are like that. I've also met those who have been a real pleasure to work with.

• Positive thinking - even the most difficult of all problems seem possible to solve with these people around
  
• Hardworking - willing to go the extra mile in the name of efficiently and effectively completing the task set for them
  
• Co-operative - always willing to lend a helping hand, and cover for you if you land yourself in some sticky situation
• Good and cheerful attitude - they are pleasant, smiling, and (best of all) they don't complain even if the task set ahead of them is probably one of the most difficult in their entire family history
• Realistic - they don't allow themselves to float on air; their feet's always on the ground
  

Bottom-line is we encounter many kinds of people throughout the life of our career. Some are just pleasant to work with, helpful, hardworking etc. It's really a good bonus to be working with people such as these. However, in the real world, more often than not, we face people who are really difficult to work with (people who have the characteristics I described in the first two batches of bullet-points above. No, they are not necessarily bad people, they are good in some ways, and truthfully, many things wouldn't have been done without them. It's just that they have "unique" attitudes and behaviours that need to be managed, that's all). Thus, working with them calls for a positive mental attitude. Accept all of them and do your very best. And no matter what happens, smile!! Don't tear your hair out over them. I quote a speaker in one of the many conventions I have attended:

A little bird in the sky

A man looks up
The bird shits in his eye.

He was not angry
He did not cry
He said, "Thank God, cows don't fly"


Hehe... Ciao! And have a nice weekend! :p

Majlis Jasamu Dikenang 2009

I was at Hotel Katerina on Saturday 27 June 2009 for the above function - meant for retirees and soon-to-be retirees. There were around 250 of us and we received a watch each from the Pengarah Pelajaran Johor. Mine is a Giordano ladies watch. Behind the watch is engraved JPNJ 2009.

41 days more and I shall be a YB (Yang Bersara). 33 years and 4 months of service. I have taught in 7 schools throughout my entire career. Of that, I was a Pengetua for 10 years, spanning over in three schools, i.e. SMK Tenang Stesen (in Segamat), SMK Yong Peng and SMK Munshi Sulaiman. No prize for guessing correctly which school was the hardest to be Pengetua!

Cheers!

Blowing In The Wind....

I was listening to the above song (sung by Bob Dylan). It has a lovely & haunting melody...
The second verse goes like this:

How many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky ?

How many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry ?

How many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died ?

Chorus: The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind
The answer is blowing in the wind....

Then I thought about the Form 1J student who died on Sunday night's motorbike accident, and his brother who is seriously injured. Even though they were in the right of way, they must have gone very fast.

Earlier this year, another Form 1 student (a girl) was involved in a serious motorbike accident. Luckily she is now okay. After her accident, the school warned students to be careful when riding motorbikes, and to always wear crash helmets.

Every year there are lots of accidents involving students on motorbikes. Why do some parents allow their young children to ride motorbikes??? Especially along a dangerous stretch of road like Jalan Kluang ? Traffic is heavy. The students are young, many throw caution to the wind and like to show off, like to speed. A lot of them don't wear crash helmets...

How many accidents must it take till they know.....
That too many schoolchildren have....

The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind
The answer is blowing in the wind....

I CAN'T WALK!!

For the past two weeks I had this pain in my knee, but I couldn't be bothered about it. This kind of pain comes & goes and was most horrible after I climbed up Takah Tujuh in Selai. So I continued my daily walkabouts in school.

On Saturday, I must have stood too long on the stage during the awards presentation. When I woke up after a short afternoon nap, I found that my knee was swollen & I could only hobble around.

On Sunday the swelling grew bigger and hobbling around was a wee bit more difficult. On Monday - wow... to take a single step was torture!!! My orthopedic surgeon said that I am suffering from acute osteoarthritis. He said that that injuries to the knee joint often lead to osteoarthritis in later life.

Well when I was younger, I was very active - and I could not afford shoes like Nike Air, Asics Gel, etc. Badminton Master by Bata was all I could afford myself. Hehe... Another thing, I go for Latin Dancing classes every Tuesday night. Too much of jiving, rock n roll, rhumba and samba wearing high heels must have taken a heavy toll on my knees.

He gave me a jab at the knee and took out 5 ml of yellowish liquid from that spot. Eww... Then he told me to rest my leg for one whole week - no walkabouts, no going to school.

Help!!! Today's only Wednesday & I am starting to feel bored .... oh no!! ;-p