Thoughts from Tongod

Clue-less

2011-06-18T22:18:00.005+08:00

First, I got it from the way she smiled at me. That diabetic-inducing smile. I just couldn't get it of my mind. You see, you wouldn't get to see her smile that often, which made it even more sweeter.

Then, I got it again. This time, in a form of a lovely birthday gift. A token of friendship, she said.

They say, third time's the charm. That's when she asked me to help her with her English. I blushed. She smiled. I said yes. She smiled. I thought I'd die of pure bliss.

So, the next day, I mustered all my courage. I gathered all my might. I wore my lucky shirt. I asked her, "Would you be my girlfriend?" She smiled and said "But I already have a boyfriend.I thought you knew that".

Yeah... so much of me reading into 'clues'.

Moral of the story: Boys just don't get girls... Maybe we've got to man up first :)

Hehehe... my first attempt at writing short story. I got introduced to this blog: oneminutewriter.blogspot.com and I found it very helpful in pushing me to write something. This time, the prompt word is CLUE. So, please comment on it,and help me become a better writer. Thank heaps for reading :)

By the way, if you got some free time, please do click on the advertisement on my sidebar. Do you know that I'll get 0.07 cents from each click? That's what I heard and that's what I'm trying out now. So, help me with the 'experiment' if you can. Will let you know if it really is true

Elephant's Memory

2011-01-18T17:41:00.002+08:00

Once there was a little baby elephant,

sad and alone, just like an orphan.

He was trapped, in one big circus.

He was weak and really helpless.

His four legs, tied thoroughly tight,

couldn't escape, even with all his might.

Four ropes tied to four stakes so firmly,

hammered to the ground, really sturdy.

But he didn't give up he kept on struggling,

till after a year, he finally stopped trying.

Years passed by, he's no longer a baby,

He grew up big, so strong and healthy.

The ropes were now tied just loose, really!

And the stakes were no longer, planted firmly.

But because he has elephant's memory,

his mind tells him he couldn't break free.

If only he would try, and move forward a bit,

He'll realise he's wrong, then he can succeed.

Faisal Abdullah(c)

Note: This would be my first time sharing my own poem with the readers of my blogs. Some of you might have realise that I have another blog, FirusAzali purely just as an archive for all my written works, including the silly ones. I am sharing this poem because I felt that it is like my first real piece and I want to share it with people who would appreciate it. So, I hope you like it, ... or not. Comments and criticisms are really welcomed. Thank heaps for reading.

About Tongod

2011-01-16T02:18:00.004+08:00

The place,

One and only,

Nestled amidst wilderness,

Green and panoramic,

Of natural beauty,

Delightful.

That is to sum up Tongod in just few words. But in all honesty, I’m still discovering Tongod and things that it offers, day by day. Thus, don’t rest solely on my version of Tongod. Because it’s my personal view. It’s just that I think that it would be fair for me to include my brief personal outtake on Tongod as many of those who googled the word ‘Tongod’ would stumble across my blog. So here it is;

LOCATION:

Tongod is a district smack in the middle of Sabah. So if you point your finger at the middle of Sabah’s map, you got yourself the location of Tongod. Tongod consist of numerous small villages; Purutawai, Kiandongo, Sogo-Sogo, Tongodon, Talibu, Lilingkuon and so many other small villages. Most of the villages are located by the river banks, true to the nature of the native people, the Sungai (river).

POPULATION:

I would not even try to estimate the population in Tongod in term of numbers as I am not well informed regarding that point. However, based on my personal observation, I would say that the majority of the population here are of the Sungai people. Besides that, there is also quite a number of people from the Mangkaak tribe and also the Dusun people. In addition to that, due to the current trend of huge companies ravishing the forest in pursuit of lands for oil palm plantation, don’t be surprised if you occasionally found yourself surrounded by illegal immigrants from East Timor, Philippines and Indonesia. In a way, Tongod can be considered as a melting pot of some sort.

CLIMATE:

If you are a Malaysian, chances are, you would be used to the kind of weather that we have in Tongod. Thus, I want to take this chance to inform you that despite being located right smack in the centre of Sabah, the climate are rather quite disappointing. The weather can be terribly hot during the midday and foggy cold hours before dawn. It was not really the kind of weather that you would first expect when you found yourself surrounded by hills and greeneries. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that a lot of the greens of the forest has been replaced by the greens of palm trees.

AMENITIES:

Within the last couple of years, a lot has improved in Tongod. The most apparent and prominently important improvement is the road. The road condition has changed so much that the journey that took almost three hours in the past has already been cut short to less than one hour. Besides that, we also have a fully functioning government health clinic (Klinik Kesihatan) with one dedicated doctor and a number of MA’s, nurses and staffs. As Tongod is a full district, it also has a District Office led by its very own District Officer. A Mini Post Office has also been built and is due to open soon. In addition to that, Tongod also has several Celcom Broadband Centres (Pusat Jalur Lebar) which provide a very good wireless internet connection to the people. Last but not least, for the past 3 months, Tongod has been blessed with the 24/ 7 electricity. Gone are the days of the generators.

ALAS…

I’d want to say that, alas, Tongod is not for the faint-hearted. That may be very true in the past, but those are histories. Tongod is a beautiful place to live for everyone. For so many reasons; the place, the people, the surroundings, and Me!

Tongod River: it's really beautiful during dry season

School canteen on the left, hostel on the right

My beloved SMK Tongod

Sorry, I forgot to rotate this pic before uploading, but it still shows how beautiful Tongod is, rite?

Breaking Fast @ Buka Puasa @ Iftar @ Sungkai 2010

2010-08-29T12:26:00.002+08:00

Here in Tongod, good food doesnt come easy. If you wanna cook elaborate meals, it usually requires weeks of planning, and that's why most of the time we choose to have only simple meal. But last week, I was lucky as I got to go to town to buy some ingredients for our special day of breakfasting. Here's some pics of them dishes:


Our breaking fast menu, more description below

My first attempt on Dried Squid in Spicy Peanut Gravy, tastes a lot better than it looks!

Nasi Lemak with Sambal Bilis, Sambal Kacang Sotong Kering, Hardboiled Egg, Cucumber and Papadom


Our desert for the day, my modified version of Creme Caramel: I put a slice of canned peach inside, and trust me it's really yummy!

That's all for now, sorry for disappearing for quite some time. Cheers!

The Recent Flood in Tongod

2010-04-10T00:11:00.005+08:00

"Even the dogs need savin' when the flood comes"

I've been writing just literature for quite a while and I guess to be true to the purpose of this blog, I should share with my fellow readers the happening in Tongod. Last January, we were hit by the worst flood incident in 19 years... So, here's some pics for you guys to see...

This is the picture before it all went bad... at this time it has been alternately raining and drizzling non-stop for 3 days

Early in the morning, the house on the background were submerged at the end of the day.

The light blue house on the other end of the bridge is my house. Lucky we got to this side earlier, or else, we could've stranded for few days.

Students were evacuated from the hostel to the higher ground

"The river's a monster...."

"Extreme water polo. Anyone?" Yes, you got it right, that's the top of the goal post

"Not my kind of car wash"

Two days after the flood...

Are You Still Playing Your Flute

2010-04-07T17:12:00.002+08:00

ARE YOU STILL PLAYING YOUR FLUTE?

Are you still playing your flute?
When there is hardly time for our love
I am feeling guilty
To be longing for your song
The melody concealed in the slim hollow of the bamboo
Uncovered by the breath of an artist
Composed by his fingers
Blown by the wind
To the depth of my heart

Are you still playing your flute?
In the village so quiet and deserted
Amidst the sick rice field
While here it has become a luxury
To spend time watching the rain
Gazing at the evening rays
Collecting dew drops
Or enjoying the fragrance of flowers

Are you still playing your flute?
The more it disturbs my conscience
to be thinking of you
in the hazard of you
my younger brothers unemployed and desperate
my people disunited by politics
my friend slaughtered mercilessly
this world is too old and bleeding

Is this the end of our love
time is forcing us, as artists
to live outside ourselves

translated by Zurinah Hassan

SUMMARY:
The way I read it, this is a love poem, or at least a 'semi-romantic' poem. It's told from a first person POV, where the persona, a grown up 'girl', finding herself reminiscing bout her 'old-flame' or rather a long-lost lover. She recounted the way her lover played flute in their village. However, she's not merely recounting the romance in the past but actually wondering whether her love are still playing flute, now that they're all grown up. She mentioned her feeling of guilt for missing the beautiful melody of his bamboo flute. She later questioned or rather keep on wondering he's still playing the flute now, since the village is now underpopulated and the paddy field is in very poor condition. She mentioned that nowadays, it is a luxury to be able to spend time relaxing and savouring the beauty of the nature. In the final stanza, she repeats the same question, and this time around she admits that she couldnt help but feel that it is wrong for her to be thinking of their love at this time of hardship. The hardship is portrayed here as young men are now jobless, people are fighting over politics and countries are facing wars.

THEMES & MESSAGES:

Okay, let's face it, I'm still a novice in decripting themes and messages out of a poem. In doing so, I refuse to depend on any of the literature revision books that are widely avaiable nowadays. Thus, mine would be vastly different that what you have read elsewhere. The first theme for me here is LOVE HURTS or maybe we can put it as LOVE IS COMPLICATED. Hahaha... I'm laughing at myself as I'm writing this because it's getting quite personal. Frankly speaking, this might not be the most apparent theme, but I still can't help but to highlight it here. Let me justify. Firstly, eventhough the tone and mood of the poem is not really romantic, part of the wordings suggest otherwise;

"longing for your song"
"depth of my heart"
"fragrance of flowers"
"thinking of you"

... these are the phrases that no matter how you read them, would still ooze of love and strongly signify romance. But as I say, it's not just simply about LOVE, but the suffering that one has to endure because of love. To say it in brief... if the persona, did not fell in love with the flute-player during her younger days, she would not have suffered the dilemma and guilt that she's facing right now. Does it make sense?

Another theme that I can see here is a little bit more serious. This poem can actually be related to the rough time that we are facing now. Eventhough I'm quite positive that this poem was written decades ago, the struggling and difficulties are something quite universal. So, it brings up this premise: When we're young and in love, we don't really realize (or we choose not to realize) the realities/hardship that we face. As we got older, all of these difficulties become apparent.

PERSONIFICATION:

'sick' paddy field

IMAGERY:

too old and bleeding
flower
dew
sun setting
flute
melody

For this poem, I managed to find the original version in Malay. I personally felt that the Malay version is more romantic and full of emotion. Okay, I'd like to raise up a question to fellow teachers who are reading this: Would you incorporate the usage of this Malay version into your literature lesson? Why? and if you're gonna use it, how?

I am actually raising this issue because, I did ask the officer during a Lit course: "Can I use the Malay version in my lesson". Briefly, the answer that I got is "You can use them, but you are actually not recommended to do so, and if you still want to use it, please be careful. And remember, we're focusing on the small 'l' not the big 'L'".

I didn't really got the chance to argue my case during that time, so I guess I should do it here. Okay, first let me explain about the big fuss with small and big L. Basically, small 'l' means understanding and enjoying the literature components while Big 'L' would means teaching all the literary elements explicitly and in details. It's kinda ironic for me to hear the speaker says that if I were to use the Malay version, it would've mean that I was focusing more on the Big 'L'. I think maybe he just couldn't put himself in the shoes of us who are teaching in the Rurals. I wasn't trying to use the Malay version to highlight the usage of metaphore or symbolism in the poem. What I really wanted to do is use it as a 'firestarter'. To ignite my students' interest towards the poem. There's a lot of repetition in the poem, thus, if I introduce the first stanza of the poem in Malay and just keep the rest in English (in pre-reading or while reading exercise), I think my students would be more interested rather than me shoving the fully English version. There's a lot other way to use it as well. For example in a while reading or post reading exercise, we can use the Malay version to help our students getting a better understanding of certain mood and tones that certain words give towards the poem. Well, it's just my opinion, what say you? So, here's the Malay version, try to dive into the sea of emotion while you read it....

MASIHKAH KAU BERMAIN SERULING ~ ZURINAH HASSAN

Masihkah kau bermain seruling
walau waktu telah terlewat untuk kita bercinta
aku semakin terasa bersalah
melayani godaan irama
lagu yang tersimpan pada lorong halus buluh
dikeluarkan oleh nafas seniman
diukir oleh bibir
diatur oleh jari
dilayangkan oleh alun angin
menolak ke dasar rasa.

Masihkah kau bermain seruling
ketika kampung semakin sunyi
sawah telah uzur
waktu jadi terlalu mahal
untuk memerhatikan hujan turun
merenung jalur senja
mengutip manik embun
menghidu harum bunga.

Masihkah kau bermain seruling
ketika aku terasa mata bersalah
untuk melayani rasa rindu padamu
di kota yang semakin kusut dan tenat
adik-adikku menganggur dan sakit jiwa
bangsaku dipecahkan oleh politik
saudara diserang bom-bom ganas
dunia sudah terlalu tua dan parah.

Di sinilah berakhirnya percintaan kita
kerana zaman sedang menuntut para seniman
hidup di luar dirinya.

Zurinah Hassan

Spontaneous Review - Nature by, H.D. Carberry

2010-01-10T08:29:00.000+08:00

Okay, so here it goes, the long awaited review for the poem, Nature by H.D. Carberry:

We have neither Summer nor Winter
Neither Autumn nor Spring.
We have instead the days
When the gold sun shines on the lush green canefields-
Magnificently.
The days when the rain beats like bullets on the roofs
And there is no sound but the swish of water in the gullies
And trees struggling in the high Jamaica winds.
Also there are the days when leaves fade from off guango trees
And the reaped canefields lie bare and fallow to the sun.
But best of all there are the days when the mango and the logwood blossom
When the bushes are full of the sound of bees and the scent of honey,
When the tall grass sways and shivers to the slightest breath of air,
When the buttercups have paved the earth with yellow stars
And beauty comes suddenly and the rains have gone.

This poem is simply about nature. It talks about the condition, climate and atmosphere in Jamaica. Surprisingly, even figuratively, this poem is actually talking about the natural cycle of nature - the cycle of life. In my opinion, in this poem, the poet is trying to convey the message that in life, there will definitely be bad times and good times no matter where you are. And it can comes in every different forms.

Let us note here that the poem starts with the line, "we have neither Summer nor Winter, Neither Autum nor Spring", initially, it gave us the sense of absence, as if something is lacking in the persona's life. And as we continue to the third line " we have instead the days", I sense certain compensation from the persona. I felt like the persona is trying to tell us that they have something else other than the four seasons.

Beginning from line three till the end, the poem elaborates more on the different types of 'days' that they have in Jamaica. Just like how our life is, some days are portrayed as being better than the other, plus, there is also the 'best of all' days - not unlike the best moments we experience in our life.

To be honest, one of the reason why it took me so long to write this review is that in the beginning, I didnt 'get' this poem. I'm not sure why, but only after about a month 'off' this blog, I try to 'read' this poem again and I'm quite annoyed at myself for not noticing that this poem is indeed about nature - the nature of life.

I stated earlier about how good times and bad times come in differrent forms. I think we can definitely say that for those living in the places with the four seasons, the best seasons are usually spring and summer, and most of the time, people dread the Autumn and Winter's climate. As for Jamaican, and may I say, Malaysian, we have our preference to and in the poem, the best days are the days when the mango and the logwood blossom, bushes full with the sound of bee with the scent of honey, with slight wind, and the buttercup blooms all over the plains. Do also note that the poem ends with the line " and beauty comes suddenly and the rains have gone". This is also another big resemblance to our life, as it has been our experience that after bad times, good times will follow and sometimes ever so abrubtly. This reminds me to a piece of a lyrics that can roughly be translated as below:

"Adversity is a gift,
So, brave through it with patience,
Soon the light will come,
As the cloud will not be there forever,
But the light will be brighter than ever."

Somehow, it's not really related to the poem but I'm just feeling like I wanna share :) In short, what I want to say here is the fact that sometimes in life, the best moments or events happen right after a series of really terrible periods in life. In term of the message of the poem, I think that is all I get from this poem. Please, do share your thoughts and opinions. Hmm.. bout the elements, here's what I found:

Onomatopoiea (finally... thanks situapui)
"swish" ; line 7

Simile
"rain beats like bullet"

Personification
-sway
-lie
-struggling
-shivers

Metaphor
"breath of air" (maybe?)

I might miss some others, sorry, it's 3.00 am, if you find any... do share, do comment, all are welcome... Thanks for reading

Nature, by H.D. Carberry

2009-10-02T11:22:00.001+08:00

We have neither Summer nor Winter
Neither Autumn nor Spring.
We have instead the days
When the gold sun shines on the lush green canefields-
Magnificently.
The days when the rain beats like bullets on the roofs
And there is no sound but the swish of water in the gullies
And trees struggling in the high Jamaica winds.
Also there are the days when leaves fade from off guango trees
And the reaped canefields lie bare and fallow to the sun.
But best of all there are the days when the mango and the logwood blossom
When the bushes are full of the sound of bees and the scent of honey,
When the tall grass sways and shivers to the slightest breath of air,
When the buttercups have paved the earth with yellow stars
And beauty comes suddenly and the rains have gone.

I am not really in a mood of reviewing, especially this poem... have some thoughts bout this poem that I wanna share, maybe in few days time... ok? Thanks for visiting.

He Had Such Quiet Eyes - Review Part II

2009-10-02T11:01:00.002+08:00

Okay, I know it’s been quite some time since I wrote the first part of the review. Truth is am not sure what to write really. Hahaha… let’s give it a try. Hurmmm, I think it’d be good to talk bout the message rite? The message in my opinion is very clear and apparent. Just like “If” by Kipling, this poem is similar in the sense that it’s trying to give you an advice, but the similarities stop there. The message here is actually an advice especially for young girls. “Don’t be fooled by appearance”, and “Looks can be deceiving” might be the suitable phrase here. What do you think?

Since we’re still with this poem, I’d like to share some part of the poem that I found really interesting. Take a look at this;

To her, those quiet eyes
Were breathing desolate sighs
Imploring her to be nice
And to render him paradise

In literal meaning, this is my version: She was hypnotized by the emptiness look in his eyes, because of that she feels obligated to be nice to him, exactly the effect that he intended. In being nice to him, obviously, she’ll do anything that he asked, in order to make him happy.

This poem brings out the concept of the power of the eyes and how, since ages and ages ago (this poem is written in 1968) up till today, Casanovas all around the world are still using the same old trick and women, all over the world still fall for it. Thus, I am really hoping that by teaching this poem to our students, we could teach them and prepare them to face the ugliness of the real world. However, based on my experience, it would be a lil bit difficult for them to digest and most of the time they will not see the sense in the advice until it’s too late. Regardless, let’s try our best, and make the lesson as interesting as it can be.Okay, that's all for now. Thank you for reading.

Happy Birthday Madam Z

2009-09-28T23:03:00.001+08:00

I'm glad that I have this blogsite because tonight I want to share with all the readers that tomorrow is the birthday of my favouritest lecturer, Madam Zamrudah Haji Ahmad Rashidi. And just like other students, I wanna show that a student will always be willing to go the extra mile for their favourite teacher/lecturer. Therefore, here I am writing a post especially for my beloved lecturer. This is for you, Mdm Z,...

I wish, I am ridiculously rich; then, I can repay your kindness with wealth and everything beautiful,

I wish, I am extremely famous; then, I can let the world know that you're so great and so very cool,

I wish, I am extraordinarily gifted; then, I'll be able to solve ur probs, no matter how miniscule,

and sometimes I wish, I could turnback time: then I can be ur student again, yet not b d 'ol fool,

But wishes are all that I have, and 'cos you've taught me well, I now realised and I'm grateful,

That the measure of a wish, is never skin's deep, Thus, from the bottom of my 'hati'

I am wishing you; Happy Birthday Mdm. Z. May you forever be Happy.

You're the best, Madam Z.....

p/s: click on the picture for larger view of it.... taken from a camping site in Tongod.

Selamat Hari Raya

2009-09-26T11:34:00.000+08:00

Hadirmu sahabat menyulam indah,

Pahit dan manis bersama diredah,

Walau kini jauh terpisah,

Memori lalu tergubah indah,

Namun,

Terkadang kataku ada yang salah,

Mengguris hati mengundang gundah,

Terkadang lakuku tidak semenggah,

Membikin pusing mengundang amarah,

Justeru,

Sepuluh jari kususun pasrah,

Memohon ampunan silap dah salah,

Semoga kita kembali fitrah,

Tatkala Syawal datang menjengah.

p/s: Click on the picture to view it in the original size.

He Had Such Quiet Eyes - Review Part 1

2009-09-14T02:02:00.001+08:00

He Had Such Quiet Eyes
Bibsy Soenharjo

He had such quiet eyes
She did not realise
They were two pools of lies
Layered with thinnest ice
To her, those quiet eyes
Were breathing desolate sighs
Imploring her to be nice
And to render him paradise

If only she'd been wise
And had listened to the advice
Never to compromise
With pleasure-seeking guys
She'd be free from "the hows and whys"

Now here's a bit of advice
Be sure that nice really means nice
Then you'll never be losing at dice
Though you may lose your heart once or twice

1968

Before I begin, thanks heaps for kind words and supports from friends and readers. Due to good response, I am now even more motivated to write another review. So, Let's not waste time and have a look on my take on the poem.

Just like the first poem, I have never heard of the poem nor the poet. You can try googling but I think there's nothing much there, so don't bother. She is an Indonesian writer and looking at it positively, I think that this is a good idea. But I really hope that MoE has asked for permission to use her poem because we don't want another conflict to arise (got my point?). Okay, enough rambling, let's start...

Dealing with the obvious first, let's look at the RHYMING SCHEME: a,a,a,a... yes, the rhyming scheme is uniformed throughout the whole poem. This is IMHO the strong point of this poem. This would be an x-factor that could attract students to this poem. Especially, in my case where nurturing the love towards the beauty of literature is quite challenging with poems with the like of Monsoon History (no offence, it's a good poem... but you got my point right?). For beginner-intermediate students who are still struggling with simple vocabularies, asking them to love such poems is almost like forcing a 0.7mm pencil lead into the 0.5 mechanical pencil :) This poem is different though. It's meaning is not entirely simple. Yet, it is verbally beautiful. The uniformed rhymes gives life to the poem. A lot of while reading activities can be crafted into interesting lesson when teaching this poem. Just by reading aloud, even without instruction, the poem would still sound interesting. And this is very important for beginner students. This poem is not unlike song lyrics, thus, I think you got my idea.

Okay, let's settle the LITERARY ELEMENTS first before we go into the Themes and Messages. Let's do it in a checklist form:

metaphore;
"two pools of lies" should be the metaphore for the eyes (rite?)

symbolism;

I'm not sure but there's something about the phrase "thinnest ice". I personally view it as a symbolism of a heartless man or a cold-blooded "hunter", who would harbor no feelings at all towards his victims.

simile;
nope.

personification;

The way I learn it, personification is giving human quality to inanimate object. However, in this case, the eyes are'nt really inanimate object, furthermore, it's also part of the human itself. So, where does this one falls into? :

-quiet eyes: the eyes are given the quality 'quiet'

-breathing desolate sighs: the eyes are portrayed here as 'breathing',

onomatopoeia; again, even in this poem, the word 'sigh' reappear. So, can anyone tell me whether ‘sigh’ can be counted as one?

assonance;
nope,

alliteration;
nope.

Okay, other elements like plot, setting and characters are not really apparent eventhough we could still debate that these elements exist in the poem. As for POV, it is written in a 3rd person POV. Finally, in term of tone and mood, I think that this poem sets a very mellow tone and it alludes the mood of regret and sadness.

Okay, I'd love to continue, but it's already 2.00 am, and I'm all alone in the office. Getting real sleepy now, so... I'll continue this ASAP ok? Thanks for reading, take care and bye!

Part 2

Since we’re still with this poem, I’d like to share some part of the poem that I found really interesting. Take a look at this;

To her, those quiet eyes
Were breathing desolate sighs
Imploring her to be nice
And to render him paradise

In literal meaning, this is my version: She was hypnotized by the emptiness look in his eyes, because of that she feels obligated to be nice to him, exactly the effect that he intended. In being nice to him, obviously, she’ll do anything that he asked, in order to make him happy.

This poem brings out the concept of the power of the eyes and how, since ages and ages ago (this poem is written in 1968) up till today, Casanovas all around the world are still using the same old trick and women, all over the world still fall for it. Thus, I am really hoping that by teaching this poem to our students, we could teach them and prepare them to face the ugliness of the real world. However, based on my experience, it would be a lil bit difficult for them to digest and most of the time they will not see the sense in the advice until it’s too late. Regardless, let’s try our best, and make the lesson as interesting as it can be.Okay, that's all for now.

UPDATE:

"...losing at dice" may symbolise that life is a gamble?

"ice" can be a metaphor (Does this word have an "e"?) reflecting the coldness in the eyes...and "thinnest" may be an indication that one can see through it...perhaps, if one looks hard enough.

"the thinnest ice" also symbolises the danger - walking on thin ice. Once it cracks, she will drown in the pool. I think there is imagery here..."

- comment from my blog reader; suituapui

Thanks all.

My First Attempt

2009-09-10T16:34:00.009+08:00

IN THE MIDST OF HARDSHIP

By Latiff Mohidin

At dawn they returned home
their soaky clothes torn
and approached the stove
their limbs marked by scratches
their legs full of wounds
but on their brows
there was not a sign of despair

The whole day and night just passed
they had to brave the horrendous flood
in the water all the time
between bloated carcasses
and tiny chips of tree barks
desperately looking for their son’s
albino buffalo that was never found

There were born amidst hardship
and grew up without a sigh or a complaint
now they are in the kitchen, making
jokes while rolling their cigarette leaves

Translated by
Salleh Ben Joned

Okay... where do I begin... Hmmm... first of all this is just my humble take on this poem and bear in mind that I don’t have a clue of neither the poem nor the poet. The main thing to notice here is the fact that it is translated thus, telling us that the poem was originally written in Malay. I like the idea behind it that could make the students realise that literature is universal and that a good piece of art can be appreciated in any language without losing its strength, beauty and aestheticism. I’ve tried googling “Sajak Latiff Mohidin”, in hope of finding the original version... which could be manipulated into lesson to make it more interesting... but I could not find it (please send it to me if you found it). I guess I might be visiting bookstores as soon as I reach civilisation soon.

I personally felt that the new collection of poems hold more values and in-depth lesson that students nowadays really seem to need insurmountably. As the title suggest, this poem is obviously trying to convey the hardship that a family in a village is facing after a big flood. “Smart-a**” students might be asking; “How do you know that they live in a village, sir?” The answer lies within the albino buffalo (kerbau balau), a complete giveaway of the setting of the poem, as city people are not known to be rearing buffalos (IMHO). However, the big theme or message in the poem as I see it is not the hardship itself but how the family handle it. In other words, it can be said that the theme might be “the optimism of the unfortunates”. I can’t help but to state again here that this is 100% my own words so, feel free to share yours (the upside to the fact that no ‘baby-step’ is written yet). Back to the theme of my choice, I said so based on the lines 6-7 and also the last 2 lines:

but on their brows

there was not a sign of despair

It was stated before lines 6-7 that the returned home at dawn in a soaking-wet clothes that is all torn-up and with bruises and cuts all over... but, their face did not show any sign of hopelessness and despair that would normally be expected.

now they are in the kitchen, making

jokes while rolling their cigarette leaves

These last two lines further accentuate my points on the optimism of this family. Imagine yourself hours after a terrible tragedies or disaster. It takes a lot of courage and strength to see the silver lining and to move on after that. Yet, that is exactly what this family is doing. They’re spending time together, enjoying each other’s company and may be gratifying on the fact what they still have instead of what was lost. This is exactly the authentic and profound values that our students need to be taught about. In my students’ case, most of them would be able to relate very well with the family; the fact that they face the same kind of struggles and the fact that they are almost always grateful with what they have (disturbingly, some of them seems to be to optimist that they don’t bother to want to change their fate... but this is out of topic... haha). Back to the point that this is a good value and most students nowadays should realise that they really are becoming ungrateful brats. I’m sorry to go here and there at such a random pace, but this is no assignment rite? So, humour me and please read till the end. The tragedies in the poem actually allow us with a lot of option for pre-reading activities. The suffering of this family can easily be contextualised with a depiction of real occurrence around the world. Floods and tsunamis are obvious choices; you can have it in form of pictures, videos, audios or even articles. But we can go a step further by showing pictures of malnourished families having great times under extremely unfortunate circumstances. I remembered Mdm Z saying something about how her children could not really sympathised with what they saw on their trip to Africa (if i’m not mistaken) because the children there are so happy. Even when they don’t really have a lot to be happy about. There are actually a value that could be learnt here. It’s just a matter of making it obvious to the students and this is where we should facilitate.

Let’s try to look into the other literary elements here. Settings have been discussed though I can’t be sure of the time frame as I could not trace the original poem. Hmm... let’s see... metaphore; nope, simile; nope, personification; nope, onomatopoeia; hehe... is ‘sigh’ counted as one?, assonance; nope, and alliteration; nope. This is my observation, again... feel free to correct me. And another one is rhyming scheme; I think this is a free verse right? With no apparent scheme. So... I think that’s all for now... as I’m typing this my battery is almost dead... I wonder what’s wrong with the generator this time... we’re having power disruption again... at 9 a.m. just like yesterday... Hmm, such a challenging day to keep smiling... But I guess after reviewing this poem, I could brave it through; come the heat, the sun, the hunger and the thirst... I should be grateful that I’m alive and I should “make hay while the sun shines” right? Hahaha, such a very strange idiom to be contextualised here.

p/s: I love the 2nd poem even more... let’s hope that I can write the review soon

-there was no electricity till later at the evening

Update;

Here are some thoughtful comments that surely worth highlighting:

“Latif used to write with lots of colours. he still does. In The Midst of Hardship he uses colours of ‘dawn’, ‘home’, ’stove’, ’scratches’, ‘wounds’, ‘brows’, etc. I would tell my kids that life is full of colours – like those on a pallate of an artist. How’s that?” – Anonymous

“…there are abundant (words referring to hardship) in this poem (in my opinion) … i’m no expert but words such as: “scratches”, “wounds”, and “horrendous”… are really identifiable with “hardship”. Hope this help…” – Cikgu Faisal

“…probably can add here another theme; ‘love’. Mostly of course, about the love within a family. Love is what binds them together. I’m not sure but the line ‘desperately looking for their son’s albino buffalo that was never found‘ really jumps out to me. During the time of hardship, who would care about what their son or daughter lost. But in this poem, they show concern and are desperate. I guess coz they care. parents nowadays kan are too bz and ‘forget’ about the needs of their children. I feel this line really ‘menyindir’ town parents who r senang lenang and dont find time for their children. dorang nih yg in the midst of hardship pun, still show concern for their child. err..do any of get what i mean here?

‘albino’. also jumps out to me. i mean, Salleh could have jz said ‘buffalo’ right? (correct me if im wrong) so why ‘albino’?” – Marinette

In response to Marinette’s question on why does Salleh uses the word albino, that’s because we have that type of buffalo here in Malaysia… if I’m not mistaken, it’s called “kerbau balau” or “kerbau balar”… am not really sure (Cudnt find the original poem but I’m sure that’s what Latif uses in his poem). I can’t read Latiff’s mind but I think by using albino buffalo here, he managed to insert another value here. Nette, brought up the theme of love and I agree with her bout that. Consequently, as we can read in the poem that they returned home without finding the buffalo but they didnt seem to be “really bothered” by it. They accept fate as it is but more importantly, it portrays how “immaterialistic” they are. Albino buffalo is rare and very difficult to get but here we can see that eventhough they are concern with the fact that the precious buffalo is missing, they refuse to let it ruins their day… and their spirit. That is my opinion… thanks for reading!

A class of its own

2009-09-05T00:47:00.002+08:00

I just want to share my experience conducting a lesson out of the classroom. I did it few weeks ago and it was not really planned carefully. It was one of the days when the attendance were just beyond acceptable, only 10 out of my 27 students turned up for class that day. I wasn't really in the mood of giving another lecture on "the importance of going to school"... especially knowing that it was a 'menugal' season (sowing paddy), hence the lousy attendance as most of the students are out in the paddy field helping their family. To add on to my frustration, it was one of the hottest days in Tongod. I knew at that moment that I would not be functioning well if I were to conduct my lesson in the class. Thus, I came up with the idea of conducting a lesson by the river... or what people in Tongod refer to as the 'karangan'. So... of we went to the river....

It was a friday afternoon and the breezy environment under the shades of the trees... in short, it was just nice. A perfect spot to conduct a small class of students.

The students were also definitely enjoying themselves. They had fun conducting their discussion before presenting it in groups. We were not doing any heavy discussion though, it was more of an incentive for the students for being in school.

The scenery was definitely a bonus. And this will definitely not be the last time for me conducting a lesson here.

Breaking Fast in the Dark

2009-09-04T17:09:00.001+08:00

Just a short update. Want to share with you a picture I took on Wednesday when we had to break our fast in the darkness of the night. We had about 24 hours of power disruption thus, we also had our Terawih prayer with only the candles' light glimmering around us. It was pretty romantic and for sure it's a memorable one.

And here's a picture of students having 'moreh' after terawih...

Generator Generating Fire

2009-09-04T16:04:00.001+08:00

Wednesday, 2nd September - Tongod, one of the three generators supplying electricity to the villages around Tongod has burst into flame. At around 1.00 pm, there was a disruption in the power supply all around Tongod. Power shortage is not uncommon incidents, therefore it did not raised any alarm amongst the villagers. However, shortly after that, the disruption was followed by a loud bang, heard as far as 500 metres from the scene. Black clouds of smokes filled the sky. It was chaotic for a while. Motorcycles, cars and pickups all rushed towards the scene for close encounters. One of the Sabah ElectricSdn Bhd's employee , Mr. Rufino, 28, who was currently on duty during the tragedy, suffered from 1st degree burn on his right arm. Apparently, he suffered the injury when he attempted to prevent the other two generators from catching fire as well. A very heroic act indeed. Due to the fire breakout, schooling session for the day was resumed under a very uncomfortable environment; sweltering heat during fasting month. Fortunately, this problem was handled in a very professional and efficient manner by the District Officer, within 24 hours, the temporary mobile generator was brought in from Sandakan City and Tongod came back to life.

Just some interesting photos from Tongod

2009-05-25T23:48:00.003+08:00

"Crystal-clear"

Me having a wonderful swim

Tongod's own Playground

Tongod's River

My natural Spa

Okay... if you study the picture carefully, you'd be able to see that one of the house on top of the hill has lost its roof - Due to the wind.

Road trip to Telupid Town

A 52 km journey on bumpy bike

That's all for now, enjoy

Another Adventurous Journey to Sandakan City

2009-02-05T21:04:00.003+08:00

Remember my exciting journey to Sandakan last year where I have to ride in the bucket of a 4WD cabs? This year, I have just enjoyed another journey of a lifetime. As usual we depart early in the morning from Tongod... at about 5 a.m. The journey was smooth as expected during the first couple of hours. Suddenly, about 20 miles away from Sandakan town, traffic got very slow and we were curious. Because of the rainy season, we thought that there's a flood ahead because we heard people saying "jalan putus", so we just continued our journey to find out what had really happened. To our amazement, this is what we saw:

The road was literally "putus", splitted into two and was connected only by what was remained of a fetilizer lorry. We have only one choice to get to the city. We have to walk across the back of the lorry to get to the other side of the road. So that was exactly what we did. And funny thing bout it was the fact that two of my colleagues we wearing high heels yet they braved it out and walked on "the thin ice". It was also eerily funny when I climbed onto the lorry and suddenly the lorry moved downward and make a small thumping sound. At that moment, I was scared, embarrassed and also laughing at my "prosperous" physics. I managed to walked through the crowd nonchalantly and made it to the other side of the world.

The journey has not ended. We then have to walk on foot for about half a mile, under the drizzling rain, to find a bus to Sandakan. We were about to gave up when a good samaritan offered us a lift to the city. We made it in the end. But the end is just the beginning of another story. My briefing was postponed during the last minute. I'll write bout it soon! That's all for now, Thank you for reading.

Good News, not great... but a good kickstart.

2009-01-02T11:42:00.002+08:00

So, what's the good news? Hehehe, just talked to the Secretary of PMR '08 for my school. The percentage has risen for about 9 percent compared to previous year. It gets better; English is also one of the subjects that shows improvement. This is more like a big relief for me. Honestly, as I mentioned before in my previous journal, I think I did badly but I am thankful that my students didn't have to pay for it. I am taking this as a second chance for me to improve myself and my teaching. I want to be able to feel proud of my students' achievements, this is my mission this year.

As the title said, it's not great news. There are still majority of students who failed their English paper, and here I felt that I have failed them. But I hope most will still continue to Form Four, then we'll start anew. This might be the last entries for a while as I'm goin back into the wilderness today, in a couple of hours. Can't promise any more entries for a while as I don't know how's the school's net is behaving right now. Thanks for all the support though. Will miss the internet. Workloads and responsibilities, here I come!

p/s: one of the earlier task for '09. Learning CS Photoshop and design the cover for Buku Tugasan Sekolah.

Nine Months and Nine Days Later

2008-12-31T01:47:00.003+08:00

Has it really been exactly that long? It's been almost a year but I like the title that way, it's more catchy. Putting that aside it has been a long time since I have last logged in much else wrote any entry to my blog. I bet a lot of people who knew me will be thinking and saying that "that is just typical of Faisal", you're partly correct in thinking so because I do blame myself for the happenings in my life lately. Before you jump into conclusion, let me just state here that nothing real bad has happened, it's just life as we know it (or should I say, life as most of us are learning to understand). For those who expect to skim and scan I'm sorry… my promise is that this will be a lengthy one. I haven't been writing for quite some time and would have problem in deciding what to write first.

To be true to the noble purpose of this blog, let's talk about my life as a teacher in SMK Tongod. If I have to be honest, I would say that in the sense of being a nine-month-old teacher, I have failed myself. Not miserably, but I'd say, I have failed and I'm not proud of it. To those who've been waiting for this moment of my downfall, savour it while you can because I'm telling you, I'm not going to quit. This is what frustrates me even more. The fact that I know (deep inside and all over the outside) that I want to be a teacher. Ever since I entered the twinning programme, I was convinced that this is what I want to do. But only after nine months of being in put into the reality, I'd be lying if I say that it didn't occur to me that maybe, just maybe, I should have a peek at other alternatives. I know, I haven't gone into the detail of why I felt that I am a failure as a teacher, don't worry we're almost there. As a teacher in general, I felt that I am just a decent teacher. On a scale to ten, I'll put myself at 4and a half and this is in a school where most of the teachers are 6's and 7's with some 9's. How do I rate myself in the general category? : Ability to finish tasks and complete paperwork on time, ability to be punctual and remember specific duties and the ability to converse and deal with parents.

As an English teacher, I'm a '3'. Huhu, tears in my eyes (typical me aye?). I give myself 3 out of ten and do not try to console me by saying that I'm being harsh on myself because I wish that I had done that a long time ago. Long before the life and future of real human being are put at risk on my undeserving shoulder. I know that I have failed to be the English teacher that I was supposed to be for the last nine month. What do I expect? The people and government invested soo much money, giving me the education that I was supposed to make full use of in equipping the future generation with knowledge that they really need (easily put into words aren't they?). Frankly speaking, I would say that I am facing problems, not merely a problems but several ranging from the ones that I know exactly the solution, to the one that I'm clueless about.

Let's get to the obvious, I PROCRASTINATE! That would have to be a big No No as a teacher… in fact as a human being. I'm working on it now, so please help me… tease me, text me or email me when you see that I'm slowing down. I realize that a lot of inefficiencies in my work are usually caused by the fact that I end up doing them hastily… for the sake of just doing it. Plus, I'm lazy. It's a bonus and I don't see that it need any elaboration.

Secondly, and the most important thing is that I personally felt that I have been experimenting too much. There's just so many things that I try but usually it was not planned properly resulting into poor implementation. I have to start being objective and selective with what I want and have to do next year. I have to learn to be selective and also not to try to teach too much at a time cos no one win if I do. Next, I was thinking of getting rid of the idea of using L1 in class (I was a strong believer before… huhu), personally I felt that my students are getting more harm than benefits from it. My justification is simple; I used to tell everyone that the problem with my students is that they are not exposed to the learning environment and more importantly they are not exposed to the language. And there I go contradicting my own opinion by using about 50 percent of Malay in the class. I amazed with my own ignorance. I plan to bring the environment to them next year. Please help me with ideas if you guys got any. It's going to be hard work, seeing that I'm going to teach form 1,2,3,4,and 5 next year. Fuh! Wish me luck! I promise that I won't make it any easier for my students either, coz it's definitely gonna be hard for them to master English, but I'm gonna make it fun. Hope that I'll succeed.

For the sanity of my vanity, let me boast a lil bit with what's in store for me this coming year. I think that it would look more impressive if I put it in bullet form rite? So here it goes:

Class teacher for Form 5 Beta
English Teacher Form 5 Beta
Moral Edu. Teacher Form 5 Beta
English Teacher Form 4 Alpha
English Teacher Form 3 Beta
English Teacher Form 2 Alpha
English Teacher Form 1 Beta
Coordinator for Illiterate Programme (60% of form one students couldn't read in Malay)
Scholarship Teacher
Secretary for PISMP (Math Science in English)
Co- coordinator (Library)

Fuh! I'm exhausted even just typing them. Will I survive? I don't know for sure. I really hope to shine this year, so wish me all the best that you guys can. K, that's all for now. Cheers mate!

What about a pictorial entry?

2008-12-31T00:17:00.004+08:00

I love writing entries but I think it would be nice to let you guys have a taste of my life in Tongod so far through pictures. So, keep scrolling and I hope you guys will be entertained.

"A little bit about the scene, we are on a mid-size suspended bridge (jambatan gantung, am I right?). This bridge connects the Lilingkuon Village (where the school buildings are) and the Purutawoi Village (where I am currently residing). The murky river is the result of heavy rain upstream but the water got clearer quite fast. Usually, after a day without rain, you'll be able to see children diving with small spears to catch fish and prawns. It's a pretty exciting sight!"

Three teachers posing on a bridge

"This is one of the early pictures taken of me and my colleagues. To the left is Cikgu Ahmad from Sandakan, a Geography major and currently teaching Geo, History and Malay Literature. He's also a new teacher. To the right in Man U jersey is Cikgu Nasron, Kelantanese, a Bio-Math major,currently teaching Science and P.E and have been serving for more than 2 years in Tongod"

Leisure fishing at weekends

"Can you see how clear the water is in the picture? This side of the river is just next to my house, about 40 metres away. What are we doing? Fishing for udang galah (freshwater prawns). I was the one taking the picture though. On a good day, we can catch up to three prawns per individu in a couple of hours. This is not really a fishing spot as all the fishermen in the village went downstream to the larger river in their boats."

Work Hazard!

This is one of the few extraordinary experience of working amidst the nature. Yeah! this is not a camera trick, I did look a lil bit like Angelina Jolie rite? The tips; go and get yourself bitten by wasp. It hurts like hell! Embarrassing, and real funny at the same time. The story, I was in school ground at that time, a wasp (didnt know it was a wasp at that time) suddenly flew onto my not so luscious lips, I acted on reflect and shoo it away with my hand and this is what I got. So much for livin in the wilderness! Haha... laugh at me!

Okay, here I go… again…

2008-12-30T23:59:00.002+08:00

I am green with envy. Hehe… to be frank, I'm not sure whether I have the right to feel jealous about this. Okay, let me tell you what is this all about. I'm talking about few of my friends becoming successful bloggers and writing brilliant entries that became the talk of the crowds. The reason why I felt that I don't have the right yet as to be jealous is due to the fact that I haven't even been able to surf the net and go read the stuffs. Nevertheless, I'd like to congratulate all of you my friends (anyone who'd think that their blog entries have been the talk of the town), for stealing the limelight from me. Hehe… just kidding, I'm sure your entries are brilliant and can't wait to sample them.

For this entry, I want to share with you the pictures of my '08 students. FYI, I am the class teacher of Form 4 Beta and I'm going to be their teacher for the coming year as well (school policy), which reminds me that I have yet another topic to write in mind.

Let's get back to the topic today; my form four class. As with all of the other classes in my school, the students consist of mostly Sungai people. Attitude wise, they are as good as any typical 16 years old boys and girls can get. Of course there are few 'major' ones but take my word for it, these bunch of students are angels compared to the form 4 students that I have had during my practicum days in SMK ... . This class is one of the two form 4 classes and this one being a Geography elective class is unofficially the second class as the students are streamed according to their PMR results.

Next year, I'm still gonna be their class teacher and I hope with a year of experience I've had with them, the road will be a lot 'smoother'. There's a story behind every faces, there's even a twin brothers in my class, not identical though... can you guys identify them. I think I'll save the anecdotes on few stories I knew bout these kids for later... I'll be bloggin again soon. Till then, Cheers!

Me and procrastination

2008-12-30T23:48:00.004+08:00

I am a procrastinator and as hard as it is to admit it, I'll have to say that there's nothing good about it. I have known this for many years yet I have repeatedly failed from liberating myself out of it. It is frustrating, to know one of your biggest weaknesses yet not managing to push yourself hard enough to overcome it. I'm not going to list down excuses and reasons on why I haven't been updating my blog because the truth is that it all goes back to whether I am willing enough to find the way.

I'm not giving up though. This is yet another comeback after yet another 'realisation phase'. I have to push myself and make things work. And one thing that I'm really sure of is the fact that I want to make this blog works and all of you reading this are part of the most important driving force in making me a better person. God bless and keep the comments coming.

p/s: Just another scenery in Tongod that I have managed to capture on my way to the weekly market a.k.a. 'tamu'. There's so many more scenic views that I wanted to share and I'm thinking of getting myself a D-SLR. Guess I'll have to start saving from now then.

Go Figure!

2008-01-22T11:18:00.000+08:00

I asked my Form 4 students to write three sentences, and they present me with few mind-boggling coded language:

1. I like caretaker child

Most likely to be deciphered as: I like to take care of children or I love to babysit

2. What you look2X my paper? Ha…

Most likely to be deciphered as: Why are you looking at my paper? Ha!

3. Frind2 I intesiy like felying gitar

Most likely to be deciphered as: My friends love it when I play guitar

4. U hive a missig call

Most likely to be deciphered as: You have 1 missed call (Yeah! My ‘interior’ students have their own handphone!)

5. Colour fivaret I is blue

Most likely to be deciphered as: My favourite colour is blue.

I asked my Form 1 students to fill in the blanks and add as many extra info as they want;

My name is ___________. I live in _______________. I am ____________ years old. I have a friend. __________ name is __________. ________ lives in __________.

Note: This is a streamed class where the better students are put together. Still the range of difference is quite far apart. Here the example of my students’ work.

My name is … I live in Kampung Tongod. I am thirteen year years old. I have a friend. Girl name is …. She lives in Kampung Bulot. She not kind my friends that other. I hope want to be an teacher. My hobbies are playing ball trellis, volleyball and leap tall.

My name is Aslelye. I am thirteen years old. I study in Sekolah Menengah Kebangaan Tongod, Sandakan. I like reading and sleeping. I come from a family of five. I’m the eldest child. I have two younger sisters. My father is a driver and my mother is a housewife.

My favourite subjects are English and Mathematics. My ambition is to become either a doctor or teacher. My father’s name is …. and my mother’s name is … . My father’s age is thirty-six and my mother is thirty five.

I have four best friends. My best friends’ names are Kartini, Marviana, Kaslinah and Welta. They live in Kampung Kiandongo and Kampung Malagatan Kecil. Kartini, Kaslina and Marviana are fourteen years old but Welta is only thirteen years old.

Kaslinah’s favourite subject is History, Marviana and Kartini’s favourite subjects are Mathematics and History while Welta’s favourite subjects are Malay Language, Science and English. I’m very happy because I have best friends. I think not having any best friend will make us feel like we are alone. So, if you have best friends, rejoice them, don’t make them sad…

I'll write more about my approach towards handling these students. Maybe you'd care to share some thoughts?

The Elusive City of Sandakan

2008-01-22T10:41:00.001+08:00

Just another interesting episode (I think….) in my life that I felt worth written down, at least as a story to remember once I grew up to be someone later in life.

He already planned on not sleeping at all that night. It was 11.20 pm and he is right there in the school building filling in the forms he need to submit on Friday. It won’t be for another two days but he doesn’t have that. The plan was for him to leave in the next few hours and he will not be back until Saturday. Finishing up everything that needed to be, he signalled Wan indicating that he’s ready to leave. Wan told him to wait for a bit as he’s transferring soft copies of students passport photos that will need to be processed in the city. The photos are needed for students’ registration form for the Zone Level’s athletic tournament that is taking place next week in SMK Entilibon, 30 kilometres away from Tongod. As everything is all set and done, they switched of all the lights and fans and locked the door to the staff room.

It was quite dark that night, the first night of Muharram; the first month in the Islamic lunar calendar. Young crescent light could barely be seen amongst thousands of stars scattered around it. He trotted slowly behind Wan, letting the experienced one to lead the way. Wan has been teaching for almost a year and is a heck of an excellent teacher. From his limited observation for the last four days, Wan was always there at the staff room every single night, glued to his desk with numerous tasks and various ordeals that never seem to end. Admiration and envy. That’s what he felt about Wan. Just yesterday he was talking to the clerk when Wan’s name surfaced into discussion and she mentioned that he was the excellent teacher for last year. Not even a year in school and he is already the head of the Geography Subject. It was apparent so far that there’s no easy way to the top.

They reached the school quarters at around 11.40. It was unusually quiet. As they walked through the front door, the reason was clear. Karta, Mat and Seli were peacefully posing in their sleep. They were also planning to leave at 3 am that morning. Thus explaining why they get to sleep real early. He had a different plan though. He went to the kitchen and made himself a mug of thick hot Nescafe, just how he like it best and lay down in front of the television. He muted the audio of and watch the HBO channel. The movie was not the interesting but he watched it anyway. He’s not going to sleep. He will not risk missing the ride to the city. He realised though that the generator will be shut down in just a few minutes and he will be lying there in the dark with nothing to do. But he prayed that tonight will be just like the previous two nights. Somehow, the electricity was on for extra few hours in the morning. His prayer was answered and up until the movie finished and after few more channel switching, the electricity was still on.
Karta’s phone was the first one to ring. The next few minutes so was Seli’s followed by Mat. Evidently, those were their alarms but of all three, only Karta seem to respond towards his. He woke up slowly and headed to the bathroom….

Okay…. I think I’ll quit for now. Writing from 3rd POV is sooo difficult and confusing. Allow me to continue the story in my normal journal entry mode.

Haha… to cut the story short, we finally got ready and wait for the transportation that will take us to the Sandakan city which as I had previously mentioned, is about 200 km away. Here in Tongod, the transport come in the form of either 4-wheels drive pajero or pick-up and the local term for it is “Pirate”. Hehehe… nice uh? They charge RM 25 one way, which is not really piratey, considering the route that we’ve got to go through. On that particular morning, our pirate was Abang Din, a Tongodian who drives Nissan Frontier for a living. Due to the nature of my ‘greater size than others, I was the ‘lucky’ one sitting in front while the other 3 new teachers; Mat, Li and Aishah sat together at the back.

The journey started smoothly until we got into Tong Hup road aka Maxwell road; a jalan balak (timber woods lorries’ route). That’s where all the fun begins. We started to enjoy the rollercoaster ride up and down the muddy red-soiled road. And then…

....I can see that we are heading towards the steepy hill in front of us. It is clear that it is a well-trodden steepy route visited by lots of huge vehicles before. Abang Din shift the gear and start driving up the hill, everything seems okay in the beginning but halfway up the hill, the car stop moving upwards, but I can still feel and hear the tires spinning. Abang Din pushed the pedal to the max, but to no avail, we’re stuck! … Shifting the gear to reverse, we slowly move backwards – down the not-so-straight and all-over ‘holey’ hilly road. Thank god that we can still do that. I thought that Abg Din has given up and we’re going to have to go through other route. Shockingly, as we reach at the bottom of the hill, the car sped back up the hill! We did it! only mere metres more than we managed before and down we go again. At that point, I felt that I was the one to be blame. I am a freaking-heavy-almost-0.1-tonne-living-monster sitting quietly next to the driver unable to assist in any form. I was just about to courteously offer to excuse myself from the ride with hope of making the ride up the hill possible when I sense that we have been moving backward longer than before. “Maybe we’re really going for another route this time!” that was my thinking at that time. Poor me, I was wrong again, what abg din was doing is taking more distances from the hill to build enough speed getting up the hill. This time around, a lot of things crossed my mind, heck! I might die! I even promise to do lots of good deeds if we were to make it up the hill. Finally, after what I feel like the longest 60 seconds of my life, we made it up the hill. I was ecstatic. We continue our journey after a long grateful sigh by all.

The best is just yet to begin. To those who know me well, you’ll also aware that I’m the kind of person who can sleep anywhere in any condition, through any condition. So, I sleep. About an hour later, I woke up realising that we have stop in a middle of a Palm Estate. Apparently, the car was having a breakdown. We got down and check the condition of the car just to find that it was a major breakdown. It was around 6.00 am and the sun is slowly rising up. We waited. ‘Luckily’, another 4-WD passes by and stops. They got down and also try to help with the car. Nothing could be done about it. We were left with no other choice than to ask for a lift from the Good Samaritan. As generous as he was to give us a ride though, his car was full. Being adventurous (and desperate) we jumped on to the back section of the Hilux; the roofless section. So there we go again for an even more exciting rollercoaster ride at the back of a pick up.

It was a darn cold dawn. plus, we we’re moving quite fast. We have to either squat or sit in between petrol barrel and farming equipment. Not to mention, the floor was all muddy. I just don’t care; I positioned myself on the floor and rejoiced the fresh new scenery along the road for a while. I was quite worried about Aishah though; a lady teacher having to go through this adventurous orientation experience. I fell asleep… again, seriously!

We were up at the back of the Hilux for more than half an hour and we said our thanks and goodbye at the intersection of a main road. Apparently, according to Din (a Sandakan local), we have to wait for a bus to Checkpoint (another transit location in order to reach Sandakan – appropriately named so as it is a T-junction with each junction heading towards three different cities; Sandakan, Kota Kinabalu and Tawau). So, we waited. For almost an hour.

The bus arrived (despite the fact that it is not a bus at all, it’s just a renovated van with bells to ring). We paid RM 10 ringgit for another two hours trip. As we reach Checkpoint we board another bus (this time being a real bus-looking bus, despite the fact that it was made during the parameswaran era). We received a call from a friend while we’re on the bus, saying that he’s at Checkpoint and he’s going to give us a ride to the city. Down we go - off the bus and we hop on our friend’s van. From there onwards, we enjoyed a smooth journey to the elusive city of Sandakan arriving at 10.00 am, after an almost 7 hours of an understatedly amazing journey.