I think the ultimate school reunion would be if you got together with people in the same class as you during Primary / Standard I. A second best would be revisiting the place where you spent your earliest years at school.

I went to primary school at SRK Rangalau Baru (established 1959) which is in Tuaran district and nearer to Tamparuli than Kiulu. During those days I walked about 2 miles daily to and from school. The world seemed so big then: Kg Malangang Baru, a mere few kilometres away, where we had our annual inter-school sports meet felt a world apart.

I left the school at the end of 1981.

During the afternoon of 7th November 2009 I managed to spend about 20 minutes visiting it. It was eerily quiet – it was just me and the school. This was not my first visit in 28 years, but it truly felt like it.

The building where I went to for Primary I classes was still there:

So was the other building where I had my primary 3 (or was it 4?) to 6 education. The corridor’s view as I came out of the primary 6 classroom was still very much the same:

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Since last year I suspected that there’s something wrong my car’s fuel intake pipe. I first noticed it at one particular pump at the Shell station near Donggongon – its behaviour is rather peculiar – you’d have to keep it horizontal, otherwise it’ll just stop operating.

Everytime I use this pump fuel could be seen spilling out onto the ground next to the inside of the back left tyre. But if I use other pumps where you can keep the pump vertical, there’s no spillage.

However, peering into the fuel intake pipe, I could not see any holes. Nor did I notice any degradation of mileage, or any petrol smell when sitting inside the car.

On the 7th of January 2010 I decided to really check it out, and true enough, the pipe’s severely corroded and there’s not one but several holes near the top.

Got an RM35 replacment from the 76 at Kolombong. Would this be covered by any mechanical breakdown insurance?

Epilogue: after replacement, I didn’t notice any improvement in mileage!

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Nowadays my head is full of matters related to my ongoing house project. It has reached the stage where I’m looking for doors and related accessories, amongst many other things. I have visited many hardware stores in and around Kota Kinabalu, but have not seen any that sells Baldwin hardware.

Anyway one weekend I needed a break after scouring Kolombong, and dropped by Inanam to visit Kedai Kopi Jeong Hin which can be found opposite Milimewa Supermarket.

[photo source]

The coffee shop is well-known for its super-delicious home-made, fresh-off-the-oven buns.

You can choose from several fillings – tausa (red bean), pineapple, peanuts, kaya & butter.

All tastes good – guaranteed.

It’s no surprise that everytime I go there the place is almost always full.

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Back in November 2009 I wrote about some interesting creatures that lurk just outside and quite often INSIDE my house in my village.

On the 2nd of January 2010 I brought the whole family to “balik kampung” and what a new year greeting we got: a cobra was just outside and was trying to enter the house when the dog alerted everybody. It was killed by my brother’s deft blow to the head with a hoe.

The hero and the villain:

If we thought everything’s over and it was going to be a relaxing night, we were wrong: it was one of those nights where flying insects were everywhere, attracted to the lights.

We had to switch off the light in the living room. Luckily they did not come back the next night.

After considering all 3 parts of this blog post I think my Kota Kinabalu-raised kids could be forgiven for not wanting to go back there again; when the time comes, philly jobs .com could be one of the places they visit, with the intention of getting as far away from the village as possible?!

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On Christmas day of 2009 we gave out Christmas presents to the children of our workers. Here in tropical Sabah, it’s typically warm, and add to the relaxed attitude of the kids, we have the following, the most casual way to receive a Christmas present.

The receiver’s about 8, and at the rate he’s going, he might be needing hydroxycut in the not-so-distant future.

Afterwards it’s going round to see Christmas decorations at shopping malls. Again, I found the best ones are at 1Borneo, but not that I went round all of the malls

Merry Christmas!

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There’s a proliferation of pirated goods presumably from China everywhere, including Sabah. Everybody buys them, including yours truly.

At one time or another we must have bought one of those Ben 10 imitation slippers.

I never bothered to check the logo until very recently:

If ever this reaches the UK, it will surely invite guffaws, and might prompt people to tell you to give your son a testosterone booster shot.

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On a recent working visit to Sandakan we went to the Rainforest Discovery Centre (RDC) and Forest Research Centre (FRC) located near Sepilok (yes, near the Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre). Probably most visitors to Sepilok would bypass the first 2 places I mentioned and straight away go see the cute primates, but actually they are well worth the visit, at least to see for themselves the following.

At the RDC:

The Highways of the Forest – these crawling plant are as big as trees!

Click here to see more photos

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A few nights ago I joined in a family get-together. I was rather late, and the party was already in full swing. As I looked around, I saw a group of kids sitting around a barbecue pit and expertly handling the job.

Perhaps the only thing missing are outdoor cushions, to make sitting down on those hard plastic chairs more bearable.

Taken 21st November 2009 around 7.30pm, Telibong, Tamparuli

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Back in May 2009 I wrote about some creepy crawlies that can be found around and INSIDE the house in my village.

Now back on 7th November we had a family event and I resolved to take note of any encounters and wherever possible, take photos.

I was not disappointed. There were enough incidents which would cause overweight city slickers to make sudden defensive movements so frequently they supplant the need to consume weight loss product.

Around 1pm, right outside the main door, resting on a stone was this beauty:

Click here to see the photos

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The Malaysian Prime Minister first announced the 1Malaysia concept “People First, Performance Now” in April 2009.

Inevitably, people started greeting each other with “Salam 1Malaysia”, and a typical speech or greeting could now start with “Salam sejahtera, salam mesra, salam ceria dan salam 1Malaysia.”

Then other huge things followed:

1Malaysia-Lotus F1 Team (1MF1), the national Formula 1 team announced in September and will start competing next year.

Amanah Saham 1Malaysia (AS1M), a RM10 billion fund announced in July and opened for subscription on 5th August, the largest fund offering ever by Perbadanan Nasional Berhad (PNB).

1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), a Government-owned sovereign wealth fund announced in July.

1Malaysia in Business Council, to integrate the concept of 1Malaysia into business, announced in July.

Things went into overdrive during the 2010 budget speech on 23rd October, whose theme even had the moniker on it, thus “1Malaysia, Together We Prosper”:

1Malaysia Student Discount Card: for 50% off travelling on Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB).

1Malaysia Clinic: community clinics in urban areas similar to clinics in rural areas.

1Malaysia Sukuk: Islamic Bond

1Malaysia Retirement Scheme: for the self-employed and those without fixed income, to be EPF-administered.

… and the upcoming national-level 2009 Deepavali celebrations will be named… yes, you guessed right: 1Malaysia Deepavali Open House 2009 which will be held near Port Dickson on 1st November.

Now it’s just a matter of time before a newborn is given the name “1Malaysia”. Perhaps if you google it right now via one of your laptop computers, someone’s baby might already have been named one!

But I think so far the most unbelieveable is 1Toilet in schools policy by the state government of Terengganu where “teachers – and even principals – will share toilets with their students” so that “teachers and students could have a feeling of oneness” because “when students share the toilets with the teacher, they (students) will believe that they are on par with academicians and this automatically invokes a sense of being important to an organisation, which, in this case, is the school.”

But things with names beginning with the number one has been around for longer, examples that come to mind include shopping malls 1Utama and 1Borneo. Perhaps the PM got his inspiration from there?

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