OBW'09 - What Others Say (part 2)

Here's another commentary on the OBW'09 found on www.staroba.org

written by the STAROBA Editor, Malek Zakaria.

Oh, and I took the liberty to highlight significant parts.

OBW2009: Been There, Done That
Wednesday, 01 July 2009 11:10


I've been to a few Old Boys Weekends before. Unfortunately none was as interesting as this year's. And I never did this before, I chose to stay at the school hostel instead of Casuarina and boy, it was an experience of a lifetime.

There was not much to complain about the OBW 2009. The organization was flawless, the support was good and the show was AWESOME. Not just great but awesome. The MC, Bob Daniel was superb and the presentation from the students MAGNIFICENT, nothing less than that. Great organization, great food and great show.

Even the AGM was different. Normally, it took just 45 minutes to conclude an AGM and maybe shorter when there was no election. This time, it took slightly more than two hours and members took turn to voice up their views - it would end up longer if the President didn't put a stop to the number of people wanted to speak. They even approved two emergency resolutions, something unheard of before. For those absent from the AGM, there were two emergency resolutions: the financial year now ends on the 31st of December instead of 30th June and secondly, life membership has been abolished.

In my not so humble opinion, Dato' Hamzah has managed to put some new life into the organization. We, STAROBA members, were actually zombies walking in the dark - not knowing our direction, not seeing anything good. No wonder members didn't bother to update their profiles, to pay their fees or to participate in anything (if there's anything worthwhile to participate). Now the committee members need to show more professionalism - we need to meet members' expectations. OBW 2009 has started a new era for STAROBA. Besides the grand dinner there was a special dinner for the teachers. For the first time, teachers were accorded recognition for their contributions. And according to Dato' Hamzah, this will become a permanent feature of any future OBW.

I stayed at White House. It was a wise decision. Of course, there was no air-conditioner but there were lots of fans and mosquitoes too. And a lot of late night talks - actually for the two days I was in STAR I slept for a few hours only. How could you fall asleep when you have people like Haji Amin Jidon, Sukhini Hamid, Mokhtar Hamid, Chot Padzin and Zulkifli Ishak sharing the same room. Even Khalid Siran was there. Naturally, leadership of the pack fell to Amin Jidon. He made sure the place was actually free of mosquitoes by spraying the whole room and took time to light up mosquito coils at every corner of the room. In my not so humble opinion again, the hostel looked much better compared to 40 years ago. The only problem was the bathroom - by the look of it repair works were shabby and low quality with gallons of water leaking everywhere, broken doors and slimy floor.

I arrived in Ipoh on the 26th, at about 7:30 pm. So I drove straight to Casuarina. STAROBA was hosting a dinner for the teachers. It was supposed to honour the teachers but unfortunately not all the teachers turned up. Perhaps, they had an excuse - Saturday and Sunday were registration days for new students for most IPTAs - so we expected some absentees. But there were some who simply chose not to turn up. And Adnan, the new PK1, was there. He was from Batch 77. The only odd moment was when the headmaster pled with STAROBA not to blog on divisive issues. I can't remember exactly whether he was referring to actual articles or to comments within the articles. And when Tamunif, who was MC for the night, introduced me as the guy who wrote all those damning pieces all eyes were on me. I guess Tamunif was right to do that. For me, it is simple - I stand for what I wrote. The only setback for the occasion was the low turnout. The event was prepared in a short notice - so we could not prepare it in a grand scale and the prizes were bought in the last minute too. But expect something bigger next year.

I spent the next morning peddling books. STAROBA has published two books - one about ten years ago and one during the Golden Jubilee. Lots are still unsold. And there was even a question about the book during the AGM. Sukhini Hamid, the great salesman, sold out the book STAR Through The Years within an hour. But we had problem selling the coffee table book - I managed to sell less than 20. The book is not well-designed and over-printed. I decided to sell the books as part of my contribution to STAROBA - to pay for the web site hosting. STAROBA wanted to pay for it but I chose to do it my way, I decided to use proceeds from the sale to finance our web site. And I can tell you, I collected more than enough - a total of RM1,200.00. All thanks to Sukhini Hamid, the great sportsman turned salesman.

There was a rugger match that afternoon. STAR U-15 v MCKK U-15. For those who missed it, they should search for it on the net. I'm sure parts of the game would be published on YouTube. STAR U-15 rugby team started only 3 months ago compared to MCKK who has been practicing for almost a year. There were many reasons why we started late but the most obvious was a silent campaign by some people to ostracize rugby - it was called un-Islamic, bad for academic and many other things. But they persevered. I was surprised when they managed to kick MCKK asses 9-5. It shows the desire is still there.

But the greatest show was the concert. It was a great show in every way. Have you seen a GELI dance? It is not GELI as we know what GELI is - it is a Tamil word and from a Tamil movie. I don't have enough words to say about the show, especially the performances by the students. They were just beyond words - awesome, grand, breathtaking, splendid, remarkable, amazing and astounding. That explains everything. It was the best show ever - and a few weeks earlier I had watched Black Dog Bone at Istana Budaya and I thought the show was great but the one put up by Batch 89 was ten times better.

After taking over as President, Dato' Hamzah asked Tamunif and me to take a closer look at the state of preparation by Batch 89. He was really frustrated with last year's show. The first time I attended their meeting I knew they could do it. Almost the whole batch was there - and they had prepared everything from A to Z. They spent time selling their ideas to STAROBA, they went everywhere to sell that RM50 ticket, to Sungai Petani, to Seremban and even put up an online registration. I guess Dato' Hamzah was very pleased with their commitment when he asked his Ministry to sponsor the whole dinner. We should credit Batch 89 for putting up the grandest show ever.

See you next year, guys - STAROBA Editor


PS: The guy next to me at the registration booth was selling nice t-shirt with the words BEEN THERE, DONE THAT with a nice STAR logo embroidered at the back. That's how I got the title of this article. In case any of you wonder, the quotation BEEN THERE, DONE THAT started in Australia in early 80s. It spread out like wildfire when Pink Floyd sold t-shirts with the same quote not many years later.

* Bob's Note:

The guys selling the t-shirts by the way, are Rimie Blues and Mamah Juwie of the eightyniners. They still have some BEEN THERE DONE THAT t-shirts available ~ any one interested can check out the eightyniners' website at www.starian89.com They told me you can purchase online too!


In case you noticed, there was also a mention of my gig as the MC. Alhamdulillah, that night I managed to do what I'm best at, that is making people laugh.

All the elements were right ~ Awet Kobeq as partner in crime ("sorry bro, I had to think fast. People weren't laughing. But it was a good one, won't you say? Hehehehe), the performers simply blew every one's mind away ("the geli performance is unforgettable!"), the sound system was outstanding, we had good food, and a great crowd.

Yet that Saturday night, it was know to my buddies that my legs were in excruciating pain. Bastard gout! By the way, kudos Dr Bad Muda for the jab!("It's good to have doctor friends") I slept all afternoon, but when I woke up, my legs still had slight pains.

On stage that night, with my legs still shitting on me, before the show started, it all came down to just one simple point for me: I CANNOT let my batch down! We are talking about batch reputation here. Do it, or do it!!

And Alhamdulillah, it turned out better than alright, eay, guys? I'm glad people don't care so much that I forgot to call Hakimi to read the doa makan, but rather choose to remember my jokes instead. And it matters very little to the fact that I am confined to only walking around my room with the aid of a walker eversince returning from the OBW because of chronic gout attack. Hell, it's worth it!