The Return: to UM & RPKJ

Last weekend, I was at my alma mater - the prestigious University of Malaya.

It was not actually my event. It was MM's niece's graduation. She was in the Rancangan Persediaan Khas ke Jepun, or RPKJ, a term we, the UM people often use to refer to them, the students of the programme. It was just a small scale event but being there, in UM to witness the graduation, brought a lot of memories back to me. And thus the time spent there became such as nostalgic experience for me.

The graduation ceremony was held at the Dewan Tunku Canselor, or the DTC, as it was fondly known by all of us. A long time ago, one of my lecturers called it the Dewan Tak Cat [the Unpainted Hall], at which we hilariously laughed. Yeah, it was "tak cat" [not painted] for a while until it caught fire on one unfortunate day. After that, it was nicely refurbished till you couldn't help feeling proud of it.

The feeling of nostalgia was nowhere near me when I entered the hall, for it was not my first time there after leaving the UM. I was back in UM in 2003 after obtaining my first degree and was in the DTC four years later for my own graduation. So entering and being in the DTC that day had not so much effect.

And then they had this slide show of the RPKJ students' activities. And I saw, after leaving them many years ago - the tutorial rooms (where I had my classes once in a while), the lecture halls (which I entered at times, including when they had the same graduation ceremony for my RPKJ friends at that time), the staircases and the small mounds by the classes (on which we also stood many, many years ago to have our pictures taken), the Varsity Green. My heart fluttered with pride (for I had been there) for a while, then it choked with sadness, a sense of longing and nostalgia.

Yes,those were the good old days. The happy times. The times that I miss - the times when all that we really did was attending classes, going to Pekan Buku, walking under the hot sun by the DTC before class or after class or to go for  games at Varsity Green, having meals -breakfast, brunch, lunch, tea - at Pekan Siswa or Plaza Siswa... this space might not be enough to mention all that we did... Then there were the RPKJ people. My RPKJ friends - Irwan, Mat Pui, and there was one girl whose name I forgot, and there was this boy I know by the nickname Awel. There were others too, actually, but unfortunately due to time and memory lapses, their names have somehow faded away..

It was those times, the times that I could never return to. The times that only remain in memory and would always be treasured and cherished as among those things that made me who I am today. I'm sad for not being able to go back and enjoy all those days again, but I'm also thankful for having been given such times to forever remember with happiness.

I will let the pictures I took on that day tell you about the rest of the RPKJ 30th batch's graduation ceremony.

The DTC, where it all happened..

 Mind you, DTC is Dewan Tunku Canselor; not Dewan Tak Cat!

 

 Before the ceremony started

The DTC has been nicely and beautifully refurbished.

 

Now it even has a multimedia screen! Check it out...

 

The Powerpoint slide show that triggered past memories.

Among those who turned up for the ceremony were 

the students,the RPKJ juniors.

 

 The simple yet nice programme book

The speech by the Japanese ambassador. His was the 3rd speech 

after those by the Head Japanese teacher & a JPA representative.

The speech by the UM Pro Chancellor, Toh Puan Aishah Ong

The certificate presentation

 

The best students had a chat with the Japanese ambassador 

after the ceremony .

 

 A beautiful family potrait on such a memorable day.

 Another favourite UM "port" for memorable photo snapping.

 

Aah, the UM. The ever-in-memory alma mater.

And remember ...

And remember that Allah s.w.t has said in the Quran that:

"Dan boleh jadi kamu benci kepada sesuatu padahal ia baik bagi kamu, dan boleh jadi kamu suka kepada sesuatu padahal ia buruk bagi kamu. Dan (ingatlah), Allah jualah Yang mengetahui (semuanya itu), sedang kamu tidak mengetahuinya." (Al-Baqarah, 2:216)

Translation: But it is possible that you dislike a thing which is good for you, and that you love a thing which bad for you. But Allah knoweth, and you know not.

And He also says:

"Dan tidak (dinamakan) kehidupan dunia melainkan permainan yang sia-sia dan hiburan yang melalaikan: dan demi sesungguhnya negeri akhirat itu lebih baik bagi orang-orang yang bertaqwa. Oleh itu, tidakkah kamu mahu berfikir?" (Al-An'aam, 6:32)

Translation: What is the life of this world but play and amusement? But best is the home in the hereafter, for those who are righteous. Will you not then understand?

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year 2012, everyone!

2011 has passed and in retrospect, it has been a good year for me. Some new lessons were learnt, some problems got solved, some new friendships and relationships were formed while some old ones were restored, reinforced and solidified. Some new understandings of matters, issues and life gained. Some levels of maturity achieved. In short, on 31st December 2011, I was happy of what I have done and went through in the past year and thus welcome 2012 with a smile.

Therefore, as a symbol of gratitude and thankfulness to everyone -family, friends, colleagues, students- and everything that have made my life in 2011 happy, fun, educational, worth living; I dedicate this New Year wish to all of you. It's actually a song by Rascal Flatts but I really love the beautiful lyrics (To some of my students and colleagues, you might have already heard this song, but who cares...!)

So here it is, my New Year wish for you:

"My Wish"

by Rascall Flatts

I hope that the days come easy and the moments pass slow,
And each road leads you where you want to go,
And if you're faced with a choice, and you have to choose,
I hope you choose the one that means the most to you.
And if one door opens to another door closed,
I hope you keep on walking till you find the window,
If it's cold outside, show the world the warmth of your smile,

But more than anything, more than anything,
My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,
Your dreams stay big, and your worries stay small,
You never need to carry more than you can hold,
And while you're out there getting where you're getting to,
I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,
Yeah, this, is my wish.

I hope you never look back, but you never forget,
All the ones who love you, in the place you left,
I hope you always forgive, and you never regret,
And you help somebody every chance you get,
Oh, you find God's grace, in every mistake,
And you always give more than you take.

But more than anything, yeah, and more than anything,
My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,
Your dreams stay big, and your worries stay small,
You never need to carry more than you can hold,
And while you're out there getting where you're getting to,
I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,
Yeah, this, is my wish.

My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,
Your dreams stay big, and your worries stay small,
You never need to carry more than you can hold,
And while you're out there getting where you're getting to,
I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,
Yeah, this, is my wish.

This is my wish
I hope you know somebody loves you
May all your dreams stay big  

Here's a beautiful video of the song from YouTube made by Libbyerality for you to enjoy the song whether or not you have heard it before:

May you have a wonderful, prosperous, happy, educational, full of fun and experience, worth-living and worth-remembering 2012!