MEETING FOR SENIOR ASSISTANT OF THE AFTERNOON SESSION

The last time I attended a meeting like this was like two years ago. We don't have meetings like we used to do which should be a blessing in disguise. Nevertheless, it will always be a pleasure to see other senior assistants from other schools to exchange latest updates and gossips. Finally, a meeting was called today at SMK Sri Rahmat. There were quite a number of new faces but we didn't have much time to mingle around. The whole thing ended after lunch and there will be another discussion for this group next week.

FAREWELL DINNER FOR OUR RETIRING PRINCIPAL

people started arriving and posing

1st July - The farewell dinner held at Pulai Spring Resort should be the grand finale of the retirement celebration for our Principal, Puan Nilam Othman. People started arriving before 8:00 p.m. and they were dressed to kill. The "classic" theme was chosen and a few colleagues had gone the extra mile to make the evening an exciting and colourful event.

dance performance from primary school students

angklung perfromance

singing duet

birthday celebration

with colleagues

As I was with the Angklung group, so I was not seated at the table all the time. And my biggest regret was not being able to be photographed with all my friends who looked stunningly beautiful. I even had to leave earlier as the students involved in the performance needed to be ferried home before midnight. Nevertheless, it was an unforgettable evening for everyone and I would suggest our annual lunch/dinner to be organized in this manner. Any seconder?

"MY HEART WILL GO ON' IN ANGKLUNG MODE

Angklung performance during the farewell dinner held for the retirement of the Principal of SMK Taman Universiti, Johor Bahru at Pulai Spring Resort on the 1st of July 2011.

[video recorded by Mr. Mustafa Kamal Md. Yusof]

RUNNING FOR "1MURID 1SUKAN 1MALAYSIA"

the Olympic runners on the road

2nd July - A running event similar to a cross country event was held in conjunction with the Minister of Education's policy of "1Murid 1Sukan 1Malaysia" [translate: 1student 1sports 1Malaysia]. Attendance was good maybe because the students were promised certificates of participation at the national level. Among the objectives: to encourage students' participation in sports and to instill the spirit of unity among students of different races.

gathering the afternoon students at the basketball court

at the starting line

you can run but you cannot hide

cooling down

putting all the students at the school field under the hot sun

students having a bit of fun

the winners

If I am not mistaken, our ex-principal was kind enough to sponsor the medals to the winners of the six different categories. Everybody looked happy and thank God for the good weather. There is still one big event that we are looking forward to. Our Sports Day will be held this Saturday and hopefully will be the last (major) sporting event in school so we can start focusing on other matters.

ATTENDING A "DOA SELAMAT" FOR HABIBAH SABRI

Mr. Mohd. Sabri Mohd. Salleh, a colleague of mine, was holding a "doa selamat" for her daughter, Habibah Sabri. Our male colleagues were invited to his house in the evening. This was done for her daughter's success for being selected to do two years foundation course in Seremban and after that she will be going off to Australia to pursue her studies in accounting. I taught Habibah English when she was in form one and two and look how she has grown up to be a beautiful young lady.









I wish Habibah the very best of luck in her future undertakings and don't forget to invite to see my friends, the kangaroos and koalas, once you are there. :)

MOVIE REVIEW 28 - "TRANSFORMERS 3"

Suddenly I have too many stories to tell but let me just start with the one which I have the strongest urge to write about: "Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon." This is the sequel to its first two earlier movies and surprisingly, people were flocking the cinema to watch the war of the robots yet again. I do not know how to go about telling you the storyline but if I am to use one English proverb to describe it all, it will definitely be "actions are louder than words." Another fight was taking place between the Autobots and Decepticons [are they proper or common nouns?] and in the end, the good overcame the evil. And then, everybody was happy and went back home, and hoping for more robot violence coming soon to the cinema near them. It was amazing how we enjoyed watching destruction and people [and robots too] getting killed. There were many parents bringing really young children to watch this movie which I think would do more harm than good. Next time bring your kids for shows like "The Smurfs" or "Winnie the Pooh".

This time, it was really a hassle to get tickets for this movie. The 9:30 p.m. tickets were sold out and the only seats available for the 11:30 p.m. show were seats at the most front row. So Najmi went to find out if there were tickets available from a movie theatre at another shopping complex, but his effort was in vain. The only option left was to watch the 12:30 a.m. and we got seats in row "T", which was five rows away from the screen. It was a full house midnight show, I could not remember the last time experiencing the same thing. [Was it "Avatar"?] But all the hassle was worth it and we enjoyed the film right till the end. We did not sleep a wink for 2 and a half hours, with all the loud explosions and terrible catastrophe throughout and we were only inches away from the big screen.

Thanks again to Mr. Najmi for the company. So far, there is no movie that has caught our attention in the near future. What about "Captain America"?

A SPECIAL RETIREMENT EVENT DONE AT THE SURAU

3oth JULY - This event was carried out the "surau". We were having "doa selamat" - a special prayer for the principal, praying for her well-being for the future to come. The session started at about 6:00 p.m. and finished after the Isya' prayer. As usual we had the recitation of the Yasin verse from the Qur'an and performing the Maghrib and Isya' prayer together. At the end of it all, the Principal was invited to give her speech, followed by present-giving ceremony.









The last event would be the farewell dinner held at Pulai Spring Resort, just now. Will update later.