About a Man ... a great friend, a role model! Part II - Secondary School

So, yesterday we stopped at life in a boy school ...

The friendship between the MAN and myself really blossomed at the age of 13.

Both the Man and me, although still in a separate class during our "remove" class, meaning a year of education to prepare ourselves to intergate from a pure Chinese education into the normal Malaysian normal secondary school system, for the pure purpose of enhancing our language capabilties in the main stream Malay and English speaking lingua franca.

Reminiscence of those great days, the Man and me got in touch on a more frequent basis, through common activities such as Scouting. I still recall that each Saturday, morning at 8.30am, we will come back to the School for scouting activities, and will normally continue until the noon time. We learnt a lot of skills, way of life, means of treating others, and always kind and ever ready to help others. Haha ...... thats what being stated in our 10 Scout Rules anyway.
The Man and myself, always pro-active in our activities. Because of our pro-activeness, very soon we were selected as Patrol leaders, him leading a team, and me leading a team of another 8-10 scouts each.

Soon, more and more common activities together, and the togetherness camaraderie was soon fostered. Although I must admit that I am never as closed as to the Man's academic capabilities, or popularity as it may, my admiration for this Man stood as admiration, never jealous, but meaningful things and lessons that I can learn from this Man.

To a great extent, the Man is my inspiration in many aspect. I was never good in my studies, just slightly above average sort of student. However, I know that in order for me not to be "abandaoned", I have to do something to catch up with him. So, I tried, to the best of my capabilities, to study a little harder, and finally, it paid off, and I was 'promoted' to the No. 1 class in Form 1, then known as the "Biru Kelas" = Blue Class.

Ok, this would mean I get the chance to hang out more with the Man. A beautiful thing happened then, very soon, our social circle expanded, with many good buddies having the same common interest and same level of thoughts / frequency in life. We move on to a whole new world.

A little digression and story to share, my grades then, had always stayed at the top 10 category, but my top 10 was counted from the bottom :-)

Apart from the Man, we found new friends, new buddies, which I propose to deal with them individually in the not too distant future. After, blogging is about writing one's life, it is real, for these are the fond memories that nothing could ever replaced nor bought.

Frienship blossomed, through not just scouting, but Swimming (the Man was later promoted as the President of the Swimming Club), Interact Club (I lost my challenge as the President but retained as the Vice President), Prefectorial Board (where the Man is the Vice Head Boy), Scout (both the Man and myself were ent rusted to lead a Troop in our High School days); and many other activities.

One of the biggest highlights, was that the Man, able to retain his popularity throughout his secondary school days, had many things which were worth learning. The Man was not just famous, but popular too, amongst the boys as well as the girls from around Muar. He attracted a lot of girls wanting to get close to him, but had never really wanted to indulge himself into any relationship, albeit so many stories of him. I guess only him, and him alone would be able to tell what's in his mind then ... heee!

We shared a lot of laughters, a lot of joy, a lot of discussion whether intellectual or not, in all areas involving science, politics, race and religion. We discussed about about life, and me being the 'shary' person, would have no doubt sharing with the Man about my goals and ambitions. As a result of that, a lot of arguments too. But those arguments were never ugly, and quite memorable as a matter of fact.

This Man, now a father of a 3 year old most adorable girl on earth, living temporarily in Bangkok due to his work placement. In the next part, I will share about his pursue of his professional career, and most importantly, his story of finally deciding on the ONE, his better-half for life ...

[watch out this space for more juicy story]

About a MAN ... a great friend, and a role model! Part I - Primary School

Happy Birthday to my buddy ... , on his 32nd birthday on March 13.

I have been wanting to write about the good things that my good Lord had given me so far in life, and one of them is about friendships.

Allow me to share my part of the story and how this MAN actually insprired me and a blessing to me in many ways through many form.

It all started when we were about 13 years old (mannn ... that was almost 2 decades ago!). Although we have been acquainted briefly during our primary school days, but we were never in the same class, simply due to the fact this BOY was, and still is, a brilliant guy in so many ways. Obviously, I, not the clever one, can only remain happily in class no. 2, then known as B class :-). Perhaps is a blessing in disguise, so that in my childhood days, study is not really a pressure, but merely a part of my childhood days, i get to study (with no pressure), get to play with friends, get to wander around my lovely town, indulged in all kind of sports, activities, music, Church etc.

Oppss ... sorry for the digression. Today, the topic of discussion would be a MAN, and not so much about me. Pardon!

So, this MAN, generally perceived to be quite argumentative, never compromised on alleged facts which had not been proven, perceived to be quite a pain in the ass in many teachers' eyes, talkative (I was told), but above all, he was a brilliant BOY, academically, with many As and always maintaining with high grades in his "A" class as well as the arguably best primary chinese school in town, Chung Hwa Presbyterian School, or better known as JiXiao: 基小。

So, one would question, what were the accomplishments that this BOY had achieved then that warrants such a high praise from author of this posting? Answer is: I don't know. Achievements need not necessary be in the form of tangible manner, at times, it can't be seen, but can only be felt. All I know is that this BOY had a terrible hand-writen notes / chinese characters. I guess there is a reason behind it, a guess would be he is one of a very few people around me that is capable of using both his right and left hands to write. Ain't it amazing? hahahaha ... hence, none of his hands can write perfect hand-writing. (Caveat: my handwriting ain't that great either)

Well, as I have put it earlier, since we were not in the same class during our 6 years of primary school, thus I do not know much about the BOY's other achievements. However, one popular subject of those days, which is still pretty much applicable now, is gossip. So, lets move on to some juicy gossip story :-)

Rumour had it that this BOY once had a crush, or infatuation, with a girl known as Ms. Tay (not real name, to protect her identity), a brilliant girl in all apsect. She was like a goddess, role model of the school, and constantly admired by many BOYS, including the BOY. Almost all the so called Top Scholars (then) were believed in one way or another had some liking or inclination over Ms. Tay. Sadly, Ms. Tay was not so much of a flamboyant person, she is simply kind-hearted, pretty, Godly, devoted, obedient and proper. So any crushes, and infatuations, remained as a myth, and no one actually knew what was in the mind of Ms. Tay then, till today.

I happened to have the privilege to know a little bit more about Ms. Tay in my later days through Church work, but for now, lets return to the main topic of the day.

After we graduated from our primary 6, all the guys and the girls would then move separately to our respective secondary schools. Generally, the guys would proceed to St. Andrew Secondary School, and girls will pursue theirs in the Muar Convent School. These 2 schools were then, arguably, perceived as two of the best schools in Muar (back then). Only probem is, no more co-ed, so, the chances of mixing between guys and girls had been reduced substantially, and the only possible way to get the chance to mix around is through School organised activities, such as the Interact Club, or via Scouting / Girl-Guides activities ......

[watch out this space for Part II - Secondary School life tomorrow]

Muar Story Part II - audio visual

Muar Story Part I - audio visual

A little bit about MUAR

Let's talk about my hometown today, a lovely town known as MUAR, 麻坡。

Although Muar is not a big town, it has very rich history traced back to the 13th Century, way even before the founder of the Sultanate of Malacca, Prince Parameswara (1344-1424), a Malay prince from Srivijaya, first set his foot at the River Mouth of Muar in 1402.

Location

Muar (also referred to as "Bandar Maharani", ) is a town, now a district situated in north-west Johor, Malaysia. Muar district borders Malacca, about 45km up north, on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia.

The district of Muar is approximately 2346.12 km², with a population of 350,000. The name originated from the word "Muara" or estuary in the Malay language. The other possible origin is Indian influence which comes from two words; ‘Muna’ and ‘Ar’. ‘Muna’ means three and ‘Ar’ means river, denoting the Muar River, which flows through Muar.


History

Arguably, Muar is one of the most well known towns in Malaysia. According to history, Muar used to be a small port since the time of Portuguese ruling in Malacca until the time Johore is under the ruling of Sultan Abu Bakar who is also known as Maharaja. The Portuguese knew Muar as Muara, which means port and the small port service is provided at the estuary of the Muar River.

The name Maharani was given when Sultan Abu Bakar ruled Johore after the official opening of City of the Maharani in 1884. He officiated Muar as a state ruled under Johore and to as the same status as a state. City of the Maharani means City of the Queen and he presented this city as a gift to his Queen as accordance to her name, Maharani. Since then, The City of the Maharani becomes the capital of Muar. Muar is now a district of Johor.

The name Muar has been mentioned many times in the history of the Malay government of Malacca, was once a partial focus for the Dutch and Portuguese because of its fertile land. Other than spices, pepper and gambir, gold is one of the valuable minerals available in Muar, mostly at Ledang hill, also known as Mount Ophir, located about 30km south-bound the Muar District.

pic: a view of the majectic waterfall at Mount Ophir, or Gunung Ledang, or "Air Panas" - meaning hot water, although the water is by no means hot :-)

After the fall of old Johore government, Sultan Abu Bakar, popularly known as the Father of Modern Johore, turned the Muar River into a significant transportation system and economic resource to the state. A lot of interesting stories and events, behind the history of Muar happens during the growth of the city now, and a lot of historical facts are being preserved, some road are named after a historical fact. These histories are remembered and referred to by the new generation.

In the 19th Century, a local Chinese tycoon called Lim Tong Lian, who was Leader of Muar Straits called "Kang Chu", developed Muar into a commercial hub with various business activities. During that period, most chinese involved in plantation of "Gambir" which the plant seeds could be used for spices. Prosperity began to follow and the present generation now enjoys the fruits and hardworks of our great-grand fathers. As to who are the descendants of Lim Tong Lian, well, subject to discovering the truth, but one thing for certain is that Muar still has many "rich" families, be it inherited wealth or self-made, and is generally considered as a "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" phenomena.

Well, this is just a beginning to a series of information which I intend to write about Muar, its businesses, places of interest, commerce, links of Muarians to the world at large, and most importantly, its heritage and the people. Watch out this space.

Feel free to render your comments, for "hearing the other sides" is the intention which I started this blog.