When I was 12 years old, I went to a boarding school (TKC) where I was put together with 113 others from the same batch, I made the 114th person. We were divided into four different houses, Siti Zawiah (Yellow house), Selendang Delima (Green house), Tun Fatimah (Blue house) and Mashuri (Red house), so approximately 28-30 girls in a dormitory. Except for Mashuri, am not sure who the rest of the historical figures named after in that school really were. Am not going to write about the school but we came out on 'Majalah 3' one hour special, and even that was enough to make some people give negative comments, saying what is so special about that school? If I write about it, some reading it will balk at the things that I may write, so I won't.
What's special about the school is really the people that make the 5 and the half years stay there amazingly beautiful. The group was divided into three classes in school, so we mix with different groups of people during lessons and go home to a different group in the dorm but of course among them there would be an intersect or subset in the group e.g. I may have like 10 of my dormmates in my class throughout my stay there.
I can't remember how long was it before, I remembered everybody's name in the group and believe me I did know all by names and even after 40 years on I still remember them though some or most do not have the same shape as before so you really had to remember their faces from before. Most remain the same except for maybe a few 'unseen' wrinkles around the eyes.
When elected as a prefect, I wasn't staying in the dorm anymore and had to bunk in a room for four, where 3 prefects and the house captain lived. The house captain was a sixth former, one senior prefect a fifth former and the other prefect from my batch, now a psychiatrist. So I missed a lot of happenings in the dorm for the last two years in College and probably missed the fun too. But the ghosts wearing japanese slippers had no room to roam in our four bedded room compared to the space to roam in the dorms. So there I was saved. Ha ha...
Anyway, I was with some of the friends this week. The magical thing is after 30 years of going our separate ways we meet on the same level. Some of the friends turned out to be engineers, lawyer, banker, dentist, pharmacists, doctors, school owner, administrators, lecturers, business entrepreneurs, some are partners to husbands in various businesses and some are homemakers, but when we're together we put aside career, wealth and everything else at bay. We are all the same at heart. Updating ourselves on our families, food, health and general infos are the talk of the town when we meet. I can rest assure none of us feel envious at each other's success and riches though we know some live in big houses with swimming pool and some in humble abode but all with roofs over our heads, Alhamdulillah. Some made a name for themselves in different areas, some are awarded Dato'-ship, some Datin, some Toh Puan and for the rest of us simply without any titles to call. Nobody cares really, we're just friends the way we are and will be for as long as Allah allows us to remember.
What's special about the school is really the people that make the 5 and the half years stay there amazingly beautiful. The group was divided into three classes in school, so we mix with different groups of people during lessons and go home to a different group in the dorm but of course among them there would be an intersect or subset in the group e.g. I may have like 10 of my dormmates in my class throughout my stay there.
I can't remember how long was it before, I remembered everybody's name in the group and believe me I did know all by names and even after 40 years on I still remember them though some or most do not have the same shape as before so you really had to remember their faces from before. Most remain the same except for maybe a few 'unseen' wrinkles around the eyes.
When elected as a prefect, I wasn't staying in the dorm anymore and had to bunk in a room for four, where 3 prefects and the house captain lived. The house captain was a sixth former, one senior prefect a fifth former and the other prefect from my batch, now a psychiatrist. So I missed a lot of happenings in the dorm for the last two years in College and probably missed the fun too. But the ghosts wearing japanese slippers had no room to roam in our four bedded room compared to the space to roam in the dorms. So there I was saved. Ha ha...
Anyway, I was with some of the friends this week. The magical thing is after 30 years of going our separate ways we meet on the same level. Some of the friends turned out to be engineers, lawyer, banker, dentist, pharmacists, doctors, school owner, administrators, lecturers, business entrepreneurs, some are partners to husbands in various businesses and some are homemakers, but when we're together we put aside career, wealth and everything else at bay. We are all the same at heart. Updating ourselves on our families, food, health and general infos are the talk of the town when we meet. I can rest assure none of us feel envious at each other's success and riches though we know some live in big houses with swimming pool and some in humble abode but all with roofs over our heads, Alhamdulillah. Some made a name for themselves in different areas, some are awarded Dato'-ship, some Datin, some Toh Puan and for the rest of us simply without any titles to call. Nobody cares really, we're just friends the way we are and will be for as long as Allah allows us to remember.
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