The Old Girl

At 57
Thank you dear God for this day.
I am a simple one made happy this day because I have many loving family members, friends and students.

A lovely bouquet of flowers to colour my day.

A lovely place to celebrate.

So much food to fill my tummy.

An i pad to fulfill my social networking ties and so that I would not be so forlorn looking for one when I am not home; so says my dear husband.

A thoughtful daughter by my side.

A husband who prays with me.

So dear God, what more can I ask for?

That I may learn to treasure precious moments of life with loved ones and friends and that I may enjoy the teaching of the Good Book...

...when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work - this is a gift of God... Ecclesiastes 5:19

Amen.

The Platanus Exchange

Another Linkage.

The Platanus School is a private institution in Berlin which emphasizes on the use of English and German as the main mediums of instruction in teaching. The Malaysian Embassy deemed it fit that the choir team made a debut there with the Malaysian touch.

Located about half an hour away from the city of Berlin, the Platanus private school is relatively new and its director, Doctor Karen; once working for the famous Mercedes Benz conglomerate, decides that the fees of students be paid according to the economic background of the students. That is a commendable effort to help the needy and the committee. The student population is still small and it ranges from primary to lower secondary years.

We were greeted by the lady in black ( forgot her name) who once worked in Malaysia where she taught German to interested parties. She is now attached to the school and she spoke to us with much ease as we look familiar to her !

As you enter the premise, you cannot but notice the expressive works of the creative children.

This is the popular History master who was well loved by the students; judging from the applause of approval during a quiz session.

The crowd waited patiently in anticipation of a good show piece.

On arrival, we asked for a room to prepare the team's vocals. Suzanna Saw, the music teacher was as bubbly as ever bringing the team's spirit to its height.

The boys; Zuhri, Shakir, Imran and Soo Yee; though the minority, belted out remarkably well and remained as the anchor points of the singing consignment.

They took the audience's hearts when they performed and acted in a song.

In traditional attire, the choir reflected the Malaysian mood and style singing patriotic and jazzy Malay hits. Music is universal; you may not understand the lyrics but you can surely enjoy the beat and tempo. When it is a good piece; it always remains as one; in whatever lingo. When they sang a German tune, they caught the Germans in a pleasant surprise.

The Platanus team also gave a contemporary piece with their musical instruments; quite different from ours but nevertheless still a good one.

The choir later were given an opportunity to play around with the instruments and it was a combination of east and west.

Dr. Karen thanked the ambassador for his kind visit and making it possible for the team to grace the occasion. She was overwhelmed at the outstanding performance of the Asian team.

The Principal expressed her heartfelt thanks to the director of Platanus School and hope for another exchange; perhaps this time they should visit the Malaysian counterpart.

A pact on another milestone; a new linkage for both schools ; all thanks to the timely intervention of the Malaysian Embassy at Berlin.

The students mingled among themselves before the final goodbye.

Yes, the Berlin linkage.

We were treated to lunch before we left.

But almost all of us rushed for this; the Malaysian Mee siam prepared by the team from the Malaysian embassy. Oh how we miss home.

The principal had a heart to heart talk with some of the students on their tastes and outlook of certain matters. We are not very different from them.

The Platanus Exchange.

The Wall

First Hand Information

Who has not heard of the Berlin Wall? Many have heard but the versions may differ or the facts revealed inconsistently. Then one may ask "what' s with the wall?" Why the fuss? Marchita was a good narrator.

The choir team together with some mothers were excited at the prospect of seeing the wall; whatever that is left of it. After all, people made purposeful trips to have a real feel of history. These students are indeed very fortunate to have supportive parents who will go the extra mile to provide the opportunity for them to travel and learn about the world through exploration. Esther asked me over lunch today why I did not send her to art classes when she was younger; that a contemporary of hers was given special coaching under a renown artist and was extra expressive in his architectural drawings; that she envied him. I told her I did not know that she was going to do architecture to which she replied that it was a lame excuse. Finally I told her it was too expensive to maintain tuition classes for so many of them; the real fact.

The Brandenburg Gate is one of the main symbols in Berlin. Located at the intersection of Unter den Linden and Ebertstrasse, west of the Pariser Platz. It is a gate where one formerly entered Berlin before the wall collapsed. The gate symbolises freedom and the desire to unify the City of Berlin.

This is the West side of the wall; it is the seat of capitalism then.

This is the East side of the wall; it embraced communism.

Marchita related that the cold war between East and West Berlin came about when East Berlin witnessed an exodus of her people into the West. In 1961 it lost 2.5 million people as more wanted to be in the capitalistic capital. Desperate to keep the outflow, East Berlin built the wall and divided Berlin into two. The wall was built in haste and it seemed overnight the nightmare began. People form the East could not move to the West and it must have created broken homes and family ties. Much sadness resulted and people were displaced. Marchita also said that people from the East who tried crossing in most cases failed and were killed at the the span of land ...no man's land... and many died under arms while trying the escape. Sad.


After 'civilization' surfaced with protests and world pressures crushing in and realizing the futility of such inhumane acts, the wall came down in 1989. So today, part of the torn-down wall is maintained as a reminder of the past and hopefully history of this nature will not happen again.

This is indeed a chance I am appreciative of; an opportunity to see and feel this part of Europe.

Remnants of this famous wall are grim reminders of separation, deaths, pains and heartaches.

The children too had a chance of their life time touching and feeling the wall; to be part of history. Let's hope the memories are to keep for them .

Apparently, the span of land between the 2 walls are no man's land but most of the time death occurred when people tried to move from the East to the West. Marchita did not relate of anyone escaping from the West to the East.

We also saw Charlie's Checkpoint. This was the check point where diplomatic corps and Allied forces moved in and out and foreigners visiting Berlin could cross from West to East and back again.

Marchita later related that though the wall has been torn down people of East Berlin have not quite got used to the capitalistic economy. Somehow they still seem to be poorer and many approach us for monetary help when we were there. So much for the history of the wall; a wall erected to separate 2 different economies for 2 different worlds of people; though blood ties were not easily torn apart.

Surrounding the wall we also saw the museum. Marchita proudly led us to the rest rooms; no payment was required. Rare.

The teacher, mother and students all want to be seen in front of the building; keep the memories intact.

On the eastern side of the wall, figurines of the German force were erected; but one is a real person. So you pay as you pose with him. Part of the tourism package.

Pretty Iman posing with the German soldier ; a penny for you.

Dressed as a commoner or maybe a peasant of the day, the very tall figure drew a lot of attention too. The principal cheekily remarked; "you are very special" and he gave us a big hug .

Encik Rahim and the boys were mesmerized with the bikes; it is a rare sight here. People do not seem to travel on bikes. Or did we miss them?

Of course, common to most European tourist spots; the horse ride is a main tourist attraction.

Berlin; the city that has seen tremendous development after 1989 when the wall came down.

Just outside the Berlin wall, we again were told about this massive graveyard, memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe. Constructed not too long ago, it was opened to the public on May 12 2005 where 2700 concrete slabs placed in a grid pattern. We were informed that the common people were allowed to walk in between the slabs to feel the impact of the aftermath of such ruthless acts. That it will never happen again in this era; life is precious and not to be taken away in this manner.

The Berlin Experience.