Selamat Hari Raya

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri saya sampaikan kepada semua kawan -kawan, kawan sejawat dan anak-anak murid sekalian.

Semoga semua yang menyambut hari yang mulia ini sentiasa gembira, selamat dan sihat.

Ketupat yang merupakan simbol kekeluargaan dan satu padu hati sentiasa dipegang sebagai satu tanda hormat menghormati diantara kaum-kaum di Malaysia pada hari yang mulai ini.

Semoga hadiah-hadiah yang indah seperti ini mencerminkan keindahan di setiap rumah tangga.

Saya bersyukur kerana mempunyai sekumpulan guru, kakitangan dan anak murid yang sentiasa mengamalkan kasih sayang, kesederhanaan dan saling hormat-menghormati di antara semua di SMK Seafield. Semoga kita akan amalkan nilai sayang-menyayangi selalu dan menjadikan negara ini disegani orang ramai.

Sekali lagi diucapkan Selamat Hari Raya kepada semua warga SMK Seafield yang meraikan hari yang mulia.

Working Hands

September 2010

She was too terrified of not getting the British Visa for her studies in the UK.
She diverted from her love for making that special recipe.
But last night she asked me for some money to buy ingredients again.

This afternoon after coming back from a meeting, I saw her kneading the dough with her small deft fingers.

She took great care in measuring the weight of each portion; cannot risk a mistake.

Finally, the dough was divided into 18 portions.

When she wants to get things authentically right, she took pains to soak the beans and in 3 gruesome hours made the paste.

Then the bean paste was proportionately weighed and divided into 18 parts.

They look amazingly large but she told me that they were the right proportions; I learn to listen and not question.

Each portion of the dough then was rolled to a flat paste for the next move.

She wrapped the bean paste into the dough.

The dough wraps up the paste well.

The mould is out for use now.

She placed the bean paste dough into the special mould for the wanted shape.

She cleverly removes the dough from the mould.

Here doesn't it look right? At least home-made ones are clean, ingredients are genuine and no preservatives applied.

She separates the yolk from the white.

She happily applies the beaten-up yolk on the cakes for colour and taste.

They are now ready to be baked.

In not many minutes, the cakes are ready ; not for consumption yet. She says they are ready for taste only after 3 days for the perfect setting.

Yes Sara did it again. She baked moon cakes for the grandparents when we go visit them next week. She says to give Grace when we see her in Singapore too. Home-made moon cakes are not fakes and we can eat without qualms about the type of ingredients used.

We are glad we have working hands all ready to delight our hearts and taste buds.

One By One

The school is losing them; one by one.
Do you remember?

The ever pretty, petite Puan Nagesvari?

Her last birthday in school was celebrated on 5th August 2011.

It was also her day of retirement; on her 55th birthday.

We had a short celebration for her.

The Indian dance was gracefully delivered to her delight !

Puan Nagesvari has served the school for 17 long years. Many have passed through her hands as she taught Mathematics and ICT subjects. Though quiet and demure, she is mother to two adult children and she is ever ready to see to their needs as I remembered her flying in to Perth last year for her daughter's wedding. In school, she is the ICT chief and handles computer matters in school. Her petite disposition doesn't make her any less eloquent in her dispense of duties . She can be witty and getting the better side of her side will mean a well job well done.

Yes, look at her. She can be fun too as she played fist with her students and friends.
Good bye Puan Nages... happy retirement.

Do you also remember this pioneer of the school?

Yes today we lose another great teacher as she retires on request at 48.

They have been thick friends. Puan Chan was a great help to Encik Musawir as she helped him in administrative duties for a couple of years in the afternoon until health challenges confronted her.


Together with Mr. Gan, Madam Aw, Puan Sharizad and Puan Azizah, Puan Chan Yook Peng saw SMK Seafield's maiden debut in a shared premise with a primary school in a nearby location in 1993. The school later shifted to its present site in September 1994.
Puan Chan related that the school started with 22 teachers, 5 Form 1 classes and 2 Form 1 classes. She is proud to see the school grow in leaps and bounds and today is the envy of many. She confirmed that the teachers work very hard for the children quoting that when the teachers chided the students, it was for their good...ta tzi th'ng ni, mah tzi ai ni...

Next she surprised us with a song ;

I love you
You love me
We're a happy family
With a great big hug and a kiss from me to you
Won't you say you love me too...

Barney's love song to you and me !

Good bye for now Puan Chan. Have fun in your retirement days.
Coyly she added that she hopes to open tuition classes; 20% discount for Seafieldians and 50% off for all teachers' children. How about it?

At the end of the semester, we see 2 veterans leaving the service.
Sad to see them go but life goes on.

Happy retirement, teachers.

The Tube

A City in size and population, you will be surprised that the traffic in London is not that congested as compared to Kuala Lumpur . Why? The London Tube , of course.

It is an expensive affair to drive in London and worst still is when you have to engage a cab. But the Londoners are lucky to have such an efficient tube connection and the Oyster Card is the saving star. Get it if you are in London for at least a week and enjoy the benefits of limitless times of the use of the tube to get you from one end to the other. Sara got the sisters and her parents a card each and it was a good plan.

Arriving at a date earlier than the parents, the girls commuted between Reading and London via the tube which saved them quite a bit.

But if you are in with the mad morning rush, be prepared for quite a nightmare. People trudged around like robots and all they wanted was to get to their destination as charted by the system. Step to your right on the escalator if you are not in a rush to allow others who have more urgent appointments. The tube during the mad rush is not meant for the weak in physique and spirit.

On one occasion I saw a young lad having to put up with pain when the door slammed at his head; poor thing.

You are lucky to get a seat during the peak hours; sardine-packed.

The oyster card also allows you to pop into any coach along the routes of your choice. So while in Oxford Street, Sara and us hopped in and out of the coaches...it was fun; especially so when all you have to do is to swipe the card and not 'pay'. Otherwise if without the card, it will be quite a hefty sum.




Many things are nice in London; the food, shopping, buildings. friends and universities. There is one thing however that is not so nice here. If Malaysia has been frowned because of snatch-theft; guess what London is guilty of? What were we looking for?



Yes the direction that would lead us to the nearest police station. Our trip was marred by a little incident; pick pocketed ! Grace after meeting a Singapore friend walked back to the apartment not realizing that the wallet had left the handbag. It was a subtle move and quite professionally handled.




It was mandatory that a police report be made because all her essential cards went missing too ! So you can imagine the amount of trouble she had to go through to get the cards back. Strange that there was a huge urgency before the trip within me to get some insurance policies for the family. So we managed to file some claims and though it did not cover the total loss, the insurance company made a payment worth claiming.

The Tube
The Oyster Card
Pick Pockets

Remember them when in London.

Dad To The Rescue

Tradition

It has become sort of a family tradition.
Each time the girls go away for studies dad will be the one to settle them there.
Every time they complete a course, dad will be there to bring them home.
They went with minimum, but they come back with baggage you cannot imagine. So we will have to buy extra luggage space to cater to such needs.

This rented vehicle was a gem. It brought us comfortably all round the countryside and its last role was to transport Sara's belongings from Reading to London.

The University of Reading is not far from London but it is still a challenge to lug Sara's belongings across.

The sisters are good for one another. They helped in carrying the extra luggage by taking the tube instead of going along in the car. Though we purposely rented a four wheel drive there was still insufficient space to carry all the bags; including some of Nicholas' and Justin's belongings. But dad is kind and resilient. He put up with 2 trips to make sure Sara and friends' things were safely transported across. The Friday jam in London is no joke. Instead of taking about 40 minutes' drive, dad had to plough through the jam for 2 hours. Poor fella.

The chore was tiring; but reached we did at her apartment with the greatest challenge before us.
Slapped right in the middle of zone one of the city, you either hear the noises made by cars, buses or the train. Lodgings in London is not cheap. Sara and friends opted for a cheaper alternative and the location though very convenient meant them having to put up not with the best. But nevertheless, dear dad who has gone through very much worst in life said that the apartment is good enough. We shall trust dad and his judgement.



But what does one do with a room that is small and has limited space? What can you do with storage space under the stairs? Sara still insisted on a room that will give her comfort and poor dad had to crack his head to think. The doting father went round town looking for right equipment and shelves to add comfort to the room. After many hours in Argos; the local equivalent of Ikea, dad still could not get the shelf he wanted as it was out of stock.
But when lady luck is with you; believe it or not as we arrived at the apartment after a day of trudging, we saw the shelf we were looking for outside the apartment ! Someone threw it away...

Dad picked it up and the rest is magic !

He fixed up the gaps, sawed some parts and patched the rest...

When someone thought it has no more use, someone else saw the opportunity in it. The result is for you to conclude. Dad turned his little girl's wish into a reality. So the space under the stairs has become a favourite spot for the daughter.

After sizing up the room for a day, dad concluded that the writing table provided was far too small; he needed to extend it but at the same time he was not allowed to drive any nail into the walls... he just had to think of another alternative. He went to a DIY shop nearby and carefully chose a few articles which cost him a bomb and which kept him lamenting that back home these articles were all over his workshop ... for free ! The workman left no stone unturned.



From a simple top, he turned it into one which had a bigger work top and some open shelves! Dad is always to the rescue of his girls! You can have a boyfriend but never a dad like this dad ! This dad loves his girls dearly. He will go to great lengths to please his girls.

After all, this is the youngest and his protective instincts over her is strong.

Now this little girl whom he had dotingly sent to the Kindergarten during her growing years has done him proud and he is surely pleased to see her grow up and finished with her studies.

Yes, Sara is finished with her first degree.

But she still wants to do her bar...

... at the City Law School...

... and learn more from a school where Tun Abdul Razak, Tunku Abdul Rahman and the legendary Sun Yat Sen grappled with the basics of law .

May she continue to enjoy her calling and passion when she goes back next month.
Back to London soon.