THE SHORT MEETING WITH TWO OTHER REUNION COMMITTEE MEMBERS AT RAMADA HOTEL

  13th FEBRUARY 2026   ~ This was a short meeting with two other committee members of the Hi-Tea Reunion Gathering of SMK Taman Universiti. The main agenda: to hand over the deposit of the event to the hotel finance department.

We would be back at Ramada Meridin Hotel on the 2nd May 2026 for the real event.

THE FIRST JKM ACTIVITY FOR THE YEAR 2026

The very first activity with Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat [JKM] (Welfare Department) was a meeting for Pasukan Kebajikan Kanak-kanak [Children's Welfare Team]. The venue was at JKM Office in Wisma Persekutuan Johor Bahru.

The meeting was set to start at 9:30 a.m. and was adjourned at 12:00 noon. Hopefully we could carry out the activities that had been planned.

THE MEETING THAT TOOK PLACE AT KFC

The regular teacher friends who are involved in school chess activities had a meeting in Kentucky Fried Chicken Restaurant tonight at Taman Perling. This place is also our regular annual meeting place, especially before the district level competitions start.

The serious discussion was on to revive the Tanjung Puteri Chess Club for 2026, by planning some activities for the members, both teachers and students. Hope we could make people become more interested to play chess, either for fun or competitions.

ALL IN A DAY'S WORK - PART 2

FAQ:

Now that you have already retired, what do you do at home?

ANSWER:

I join some activities with Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat [Welfare Department] such as Children Protection Group, Children Welfare Group and Children Activity Centre.

One of the regular and frequent activities is attending meetings. Most of the time, the venue is at the at the state office in Kompleks Penyayang Kempas.

The agenda of today's meeting was to discuss upcoming activities for the Children Welfare Group. Most of the group members are working people so not many could attend the session today. The show must go on and by the end of the day, we agreed to carry out a few activities for the group. Hopefully the plans could be executed as they are actually quite interesting and beneficial for the underage group. 

ATTENDING A HALF DAY MEETING AT JOHOR STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

Today was historical as it was my first time sitting in a meeting chaired by the the Director of Johor State Education Department, with other high ranked Education Officers of the Johor state. The most difficult thing was to keep myself awake throughout the session so I had to make myself busy typing some notes. Luckily, my seat was stationed right at the back of the room so not many would notice if I dozed off.

It was such a big relief to be seated next to a colleague so there was someone to talk to.

I was earlier greeted my ex-student of SMK Taman Universiti (SPM 2013), Siti Nurhanisah Mohd. Said, who is now doing her internship there. My day was hence started with a positive vibe when I saw someone who smiling brightly and waving at me from afar.

Then there was a reunion session when I met an ex-classmate of Sekolah Temenggong Abdul Rahman (2), Mr. Mujahid Ahmad, who is now attached with Johor Religious Department. We have not met since we left primary school 37 years ago.

It was a half day session so I guess it was not that bad at all. This was just the beginning which means there will be more meetings to attend next year.

THE FIRST MEETING OUTSIDE SCHOOL FOR 2018

The first meeting involving the Senior Assistants were held today at SMK Mohd. Khalid. It was initially done in the seminar room.

We however had to move to another room because the LCD projector could not be used.

The meeting ended at 1:00 p.m. which should be good news. The bad news was that there would be a similar meeting again next week. *sigh*

This was just the beginning to a string of endless meetings throughout the year. *double sigh*

THE ACTIVITY AFTER ATTENDING A LONG MEETING

I had to attend a meeting at SMK Gelang Patah (again) so this should be the best chance to get Pn. Rokiah Junoh a.k.a Kak Kiah, an ex-colleague who is more like a sister to me, for a gossiping session. The last time I met her was on the 12th day of Eid about two months ago. [Read about it HERE]. So we went to this place called Anjung in Nusajaya and had lunch at the food court there.

Sitting in a meeting for long hours is definitely not good but there should always be a way to make it some sort of a blessing in disguise.

Thanks Kak Kiah for the time gossip over lunch. Too bad we couldn't stay long as she had to get back to the office. Hopefully there will be other meeting which will be held at Gelang Patah after this.

OF MEETINGS AND 40-DAY MUTTON CURRY

Finally, I managed to set foot into this famous restaurant: Kari Kambing 40 Hari [translate: 40-day mutton curry]. It is located at Yong Peng, Batu Pahat and I was having a meeting at a school nearby. A few friends decided to skip lunch provided after the meeting and came here instead. Luckily there were not many people so we did not have to queue for seats.

Here, people could also choose the rice to be served in trays and they could even sit on the floor while enjoying the food - the traditional way.

MY VERDICT: The rice was super light and soft and the mutton was very tender and very delicious. But that mutton did not have any curry taste at all so that could not be mutton curry. It was "nasi arab" [translate: Arab Rice?] with mutton briyani,I think. Or perhaps I did not actually order the mutton curry but decided to have the same food my other friends were eating. However, the food was DELICIOUS and I would highly recommend this place. Do not come on weekends unless you want to wait in queue for your food.

Anyway, I find the reviews written by some people in Tripadvisor were not justified. I think those people were either too fussy or having very high expectation.

I must say everybody went back home with a happy tummy. I am already thinking of making a comeback for its "roti canai".

I sound more excited of the gastronomic discovery rather than the meeting, so here is the report in brief:

The meeting was held at SMK Dato Seth, Yong Peng, Batu Pahat. Believe it or not, this was our seventh meeting and we got tired of them already. People did not take many photos anymore. And there is one more coming on Thursday.

This time I met an old friend from 4th College UPM who used to be my senior, Mr. Kamaruzali Warman. He is now holding the post of the Senior Assistant of that school. Too bad we cannot sit too long to chit chat but I really hope to be able to meet him again some other time. I just cannot believe the fact that I am so much bigger than him now. *sigh*

THE PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITY HAS GATHERED WITH A NEW MEMBER

I think I have sinned as this was my second visit to a McD Restaurant (in Mutiara Rini) in less than 3 days. But who could be resisting the temptation of meeting a few friends for an academic discussion session? [READ: PLC - Professional Learning Community] We did talk about school and (our miserable) lives as teachers so that would count as a PLC session, in a a way. Except this time, it involved participants of multi-schools and school from another district. 

Of course I only posted these pictures as people would easily believe that we only had cakes and coffee.

The meeting was adjourned at about 5:00 p.m.

We have recruited a new member and we shall then look for more. The more the merrier.