Yes, yes, this is only a 'copy paste' job, and all credit must go to 'chedet.co.cc' for this story. This story was posted by dear Tun, on 5th August 2008, a few days after attending Kolej's 100 Years Carnival, which was on 26th July 2008. I just had to post it here, because I thought some of you might miss the story, as August was quite a busy month last year, what with exams looming and all. I must say it is quite an honour and privilege for me to read Tun's side of the story of his day and experience at the 100 Years Carnival. Tun's experiences while studying at Kolej is told by the man himself, so this story is a treasure, and should be cherished by us Collegians.
I was one of the guys in charge of managing the 'F1 in Schools' Technology Showcase on the Carnival Day. The showcase was in 4 Alfa. I remembered, when the teacher gave the signal that the Sultan of Kedah and Tun Mahathir was minutes from touring our F1 exhibit, the room was suddenly packed full of spectators, waiting to greet the Sultan and Tun. It became very hard to breathe in there. The noise of all the people chit-chatting in the room cancelled all outside noise, the flashing of cameras was just downright confusing and disorientating, and the activity of a few bodyguards trying to control the crowd and make way for the Sultan and Tun looked chaotic. My friend standing beside me couldn't clearly hear me shout. That was how noisy the room was at that time.
Yet, somehow, as if by magic, the Sultan and Tun's tour of our exhibit turned out pretty smoothly.
When Tun was ready to leave the room, the crowd also followed, leaving the room, to line outside at the corridors of the classes, just to get a glimpse of Tun Dr. Mahathir. Just before Tun was about to tour another showcase, I managed to greet Tun face to face, and ask for his autograph in the exhibit's official guestbook, to mark his visit on that historical day.
I feel so lucky to be a Collegian.
Enough about that . I give you, 'A Century Old School', by Tun Dr. Mahathir. Enjoy...
A CENTURY OLD SCHOOLBy Dr. Mahathir Mohamad 1. I came back from a holiday in Croatia to attend the centenary celebration of my alma mater, Kolej Sultan Abdul Hamid or Sultan Abdul Hamid College recently.
2. It was a sentimental occasion. Seeing the old school, quite unchanged since I was admitted into Primary I way back in 1932 brought back many sweet/sad memories.
3. The centenary was more meaningful to me because the school was founded by my father who was also its first headmaster. He used to tell me of his experiences when he was headmaster there.
4. It was not in the present building of course. It was housed in a wooden Malay house in the middle of the town of Alor Star. Called the GES or Government English School, he had Malaysia's first Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman as one of his students. 5. My father died in 1962. I thought he would like me to attend the centenary. I felt very nostalgic of the good old days when he used to teach me and my brother mathematics. 6. Before I was born he was sent to Pahang to teach at a school in Raub. Then he was sent to Johore to teach at an English school there. 7. Those were very distant places and he had to travel by boat with my mother and my eldest sister. My mother's second child, also a girl was born in Pahang. Mahadi my mother's eldest son was born in Johor Bahru. 8. Father got tired of shifting house and traveling to strange places. He came back to Alor Star and applied for an auditor's job with the Kedah Government. 9. Although his name is Mohamad bin Iskandar, people generally call him "Master" or Mohamad Iskandar. To honour him the primary school attached to Sultan Abdul Hamid College was named "Sekolah Iskandar" inadvertently honouring my grandfather instead. I have never complained. 10. At the main ceremony on the morning of Saturday 26th July the College named three ex-collegiate as the Collegiate of the Centenary. HRH the Sultan was the first, second came Tunku Abdul Rahman and I felt greatly honoured to be named as the third Collegiate of the Centenary. It would be another century before anyone will get this award. 11. To be able to study at the GES was a great privilege in those days. This was the first and only Government English School in Kedah. There were only 30 boys from the whole of Kedah admitted each year. I was one of the lucky ones. 12. Going to school was thrilling to me and I couldn't wait for school holidays to end. 13. I did fairly well and my Senior Cambridge Examinations result was good enough for me to be admitted into the medical faculty of the King Edward VII College of Medicine. I was given financial aid which was not a scholarship. The British Colonial Government apparently practised affirmative action because all my Chinese and Indian classmates had far better results than me. The examination results of the other six Malay students were even worse than mine. There were 70 plus students in all. 14. I owed my teachers in school a great deal. Only one of them, Mr. Zain, is alive today. He was a great teacher and spoke grammatically correct English all the time. 15. Schooling was such a great experience and I recall with fondness many rewarding events that I went through. 16. I hope and pray that all Malaysians remember their school days and the part that school plays in their lives. Getting an education right up to University level is easy now. But we must nevertheless feel grateful for there are more than one billion illiterate people in the world. For them the future promises very little. To see this story in its original context, click the link:
http://chedet.co.cc/chedetblog/2008/08/a-century-old-school.html
The Alfa Romeo 159, putting the 3-series to shame by its looks alone...
