PLKN : The People

Ok, we had commandant, vice commandant, nurses and doctor and part-time-pain-on-the-ass trainers (some of them, luckily!).

My company trainers were Cikgu Nora, Cikgu Awie, and Cikgu Cilabai Laut (I forgot this man name already)

Cikgu Nora was a sweet one ~ because she didn't yell and she was like a sister.

I can even laugh out when doing out my punishment (10 times star jump) for leaving my laundry more than a day out under the sun.

Cikgu Awie was a man with few words and thick moustache.

Why Awie? because he was always on the Harley Davidson like bike.

Cikgu Cilabai Laut, because he used this phrase a lot, there another Cilabai phrase of which the next word I already forgot.

edit another cilabai is cilabai ma'arib (read with idgham sil-vous-plait)

This one is a funny one.

He was strict but the Alpha company just couldn't put straight faces when he was in charge.

He would ask the whole company to lie down on the tarmac at the break of dawn and stare at the beautiful morning sky and cycle you legs off.

He makes us do things that we wouldn't do.

Before obstacles competition, we were made to drink some water, that he poured it down our throat himself, each one of us but we pulled the mark so that we were placed bottom in obstacles competition.

It was not us, it was the water!

Really.hehehehe.

Ya, and the chief trainer of Alpha company, already forgot his name but he was close to Jalaludin Hassan, a father figure himself.

I remember his last words to a fellow trainer on my final bus ride home from camp.

He told the teacher to get married early and get babies because when u will be 40, late night with babies crying is not that nice.

There are some trainers that trained my batch in this video.

So about the trainees.

We had Malays, Indians, Chinese and even Siamese.

PLKN is supposed to be an integration platform but throughout the 3 months, the divisions are clear.

Chinese would hang out and sit with their fellow Chinese friends, same goes for Malay and Indians.

Our company was somewhat special, the girls, regardless races blend together.

Seeing how we embrace each other differences was awesome.

And seeing our similarities is more than awesome.

There's an Indian girl who was sent to dancing classes.

She had these ankle band made off bells and they ring with every step she took and she danced very beautifully that tells me, there are some people who still embrace their culture and it makes me feel at ease.

There were Chinese girls who wore some sort of amulet to ward the evil off. You could see they were really terrified about these unseen things.

And I thought Chinese don't believe in Malay gory beings. Wrong!

They were dead scared of it.

The Kelantaneses were the one who introduced me to radio IKIM and budu.

I was excited to try budu, and I brought a spoon to have it.

"Mu ingak budu ni madu ko?" (do u think budu is honey?)

And the epic sentence when I was trying to pull off Kelantan dialect

"Mu kecek mace sie" (to my understanding ~ U speak like %#%^#%&. The real deal was ~ U speak like a Siamese)

Sie is sial in Northern dialect and it was very inappropriate word to say that someone is sial and I was furious to receive such remark and next second I realised she meant Siam not sial.

Talking about language diversity.

Chillies are cabai for us and are lada for Kelantanese.

One day, a Kelantanese for the umpteenth time ask, what is chilli called again in Northern dialect and she got a spectacular answer, cibai, and not knowing the vulgarity of the word, she innocently used it around.

One thing that boys like to teach their fellow friends that speak different language or dialect is vulgar words.

One day, in character building class, the teacher asked for a list of bad deed.

A Kelantan boy casually shout out "pelaq cikgu, pelaq".

It means penis and the teacher played deaf and the boy then found out about the truth of the word.

A boy from Bravo was keen on learning Northern dialect and went around for a few days saying "Ulaq melingkaq ataih pagaq.Ulaq melingkaq ataih pagaq."

The whole camp loved to sing, and they sang the 90s ~ rock kapak.

Whenever there's free time, someone would go out to the front, took the mike and sang.

There were four things that we can do when we were called onto the stage (they picked out randomly every evening) ~ crying, talking, dancing or singing.

I mean, my circles from high school do love music but this new society that I was in after high school don't love music, they are obsessed with music.

After 3 months, I don't fancy rock kapak anymore. I had had enough.

There were cheeky and hurtful remarks from boys too.

The anti smoking camping that was going on in Malaysia during that time adopted a picture of broke-into-two unused cigaretta.

And what did a boy say?

"Ala cikgu, boleh hisap separuh-separuh tu"

Being teenagers, it's unavoidable that teenagers send hormones flying around.

Cinta PLKN or as I prefer to call it, 3 months contract love was a nauseated sight to behold.

The girls were dumb and the boys were too disrespectful.

On the second last day of camp, I was talking around with a trainer and a famous couple was having their emotional goodbye.

The girl left with her parents sporting teary eyes and after sending the girl off, the boy came and join us.

The trainer asked how long would he keep the girl.

"It would be over when camp is over, it's a 3 month contract anyway teacher"

I restrained my hand from slapping him.

And the last group that I remember was latah group.

When I came into camp, there were only less than 5 girls who had this peculiar behaviour.

When I left there would be quadruple number of girls with latah.

The latah that was going around camp was the extreme one.

Girls like to poke these kind of girls all the time it's not funny anymore.

They sent book flying round and smashed on other full on the face, they spat dirty words and the most extreme one, when we were out for Eksesais Wira Jaya (survival camp), a girl went out of the tent to a baby cobra, and was shocked (latah) and cut the snake into 5 pieces.

And yes, I spent almost 3 months with these people.

My first step into the real world.

PLKN : The First Day

We were to report at camp on New Year 2007.

Parents were to drop their kids at pick up center where buses are provided to bring the trainees to their respective camps.

My pick up center was PISA. 10 minutes away.

I met a friend from high school, all excited to leave for camp and the picture of his girlfriend, another fellow classmate, safe in his wallet (he showed it off to me and my mom, such cheeky boy ~ maybe he was not aware that his precious hair will be trimmed off at camp to show the scalp)

Also, met another fellow elementary schoolmate and his father.

Both of the boys are going to different camps from mine.

The pick up center swelled with parents and kids in no time and what's supposed to be an emotional departure went topsy turvy when buses were suspended by the Jabatan Pengangkutan Jalan (I hope I got it right) and parents and kids were not told about it.

We were going in different directions and I knew no one who's going to the same camp as mine.

Mom had to leave for work and abah stayed on until I got on the bus, at 12 pm.

The bus was supposed to go for another camp but had to make a turn to pick us up.

By the time we reached camp, we had to register and I was assigned to Alpha company and the friend that I just made during the trip was put into Bravo company and what did that make us?

It makes us rival of course.

The trainees from the other camp had lunch with us and left afterwards.

And us, we were given tray, cutleries and cup to take care off.

We had to wash them after the very first lunch. It was very yuckish since the other who came early already done theirs so u can imagine the situation.

Right after that, was the most painful journey.

Everybody had a bag weighing a boulder and our accommodation is up the hill.

I transited 4 times before I was finally at the top.

I took in the surrounding.

There is another hill on top of accommodation hill, which where is the helipad.

The accommodation hill has boys and girls dormitory, surau and class blocks.

Downhill are office, integrated hall (dining+convenience store+sickbay+clinic) and pond.

Climb another small hill and you are on the flat tarred square.

Indeed the camp lives up to its name ~ Kem PLKN Bukit Besar.

It is, HILLY and HUGE.

I got into my dorm where most girls are lazing around.

I picked the bed in front of the door and man, they gave us the locker that we had when we were in form 1 in high school.

It was small.

Anyway, I said hi and sorted my stuff and whats not and were observing with my ears.

There was English being spoken.

There were a group of girls, already broke the ice to my left.

Whom, later, would be my gang throughout the service.

I went downhill alone and, presenting to yours truly, the outside world.

I have been walled off with somewhat good students. The worst the boys did were chasing the mosquitoes (smoking), ransacked the canteen at night and whats not.

And PLKN is nothing close to that.

It walled off seventeens from across the country regardless social and education status.

PLKN is, the real melting pot to the extent it was scary rather than exciting.

There were boys who served in jail, boys who snatched motorcycles and during the camp itself a girl took some recreational pill.

I found out when we were heading to the surau that my companion is the cousin of my friend who slept next to me for 3 years.

We spoke English the whole day and yes, you should boo me for that.

I like speaking in English but I forgot that it was PLKN, u might repel many people by doing that.

During dinner, I went with my new gang and everybody was jumbled in the dining hall.

The next day, we were segregated into company.

I sat for a brief period with the friend I met on the way to camp with her new friend.

The new friend is a daughter to some army official and her father knows the commandant and she was talking about all sort of things PLKN.

I say, get a life! I don't even bother to catch attention of any higher ranks official.

hahaha.

Up there, walled by the colorful fence are girls dormitories.

Anyway, later in the evening in our night attire, we were put into lines and was given the taste of camp ~ shouting trainers. Really sometime you wish they have pertussis, that would serve them well =p

I put the mosquitoe net for the first time in my life and dozed off on my new bed, wondering what did they have in store for us tomorrow.

Credits : Photos are from this site

another photo dated 2008 was scavenged from the internet.

PLKN : Paging

We got the call for National Service when we were in final year of high school.

Since Malaysian National Service includes girls as well, you can see anxious girls worrying if their names would be down in the list.

You get to check if you are going to National service by sms or through the web.

My dorm was on the same floor with warden room and prefects dorm.

Imagine that!

But it didn't stop Afiqah from jumping excitedly on the single bed past midnight (which means lights off=silence hour) and yelling that she got off. She need not to go for National service.

Luckily the bed didn't give way, else she would be staying in sickbay next morning.

Ili was in KL for National Kuiz Perdana, and when I rechecked the status via the internet the next day, I found out that I am not going and she is going.

She was saying that she would pay the fine and she's not going but man, she did go for it at last.

I was ok.

I mean, I used to dream to go on campings and hikings but none came my way and at 16, I simply gave it a rest.

I am just not destined to be joining such activities.

So I didn't really look forward to National Service, and the first call, my name was not there.

Second call came when I was having games hour at canteen (yes, u heard it right. Nobody bothered to stretch out at the field and I was not going to go alone)

I think someone said that there are 2 additional names.

Everybody was sent in to panick, what if it's their names?

I simply waved it off. The probability for it to be my names is very unlikely.

The next day, 2 forms came flying into our class.

I for me and another for Badang.

The 2 names were us and we were to fill in some details and food preferences.

So there it goes, my plan to laze around home after high school.

My mom was not that happy about it.

She thought her daughter would be home after 5 years at boarding school.

The daughter on the other hand, was all excited an looking forward to wear combat boots and combat blue suit.

National Service has so much in store. Mostly things I like and enjoy.

The only dissappointment is that I can still see Bukit Mertajam from our hill.

The call has been received and of course I need to learn the official song that was in the commercial. =p

'97

Teluk Bahang, Penang - Confoederatio Helvetica

1997

Kde jste?

I like you...a lot

I grew up during that time

By liking someone,

I realized that even though I don't end up with that person, it's all right.

But it was still hard making a decision to leave.

-High Kick Through the Roof-

Like they say, it's such a sad and mystifying ending.

Determination

There are times, when u want something so badly.

Say, like you really, really want to win a quiz.

And then you would gather everything necessary and put your all into it.

Like if you really, really want to win a quiz, you would gather all the team members and scan on the materials, read them and do as much practice as it takes.

Again, and again and again.

The excitement rushing through you, and you are working like mad, yet, enjoying every part of it and wanting to work somemore.

When the quiz competition is going on, you answer each question satisfiedly, when it's bonus time, the adrenaline flushes througout the system, you frantically hold up the board, or push on the buzzer.

The result does count but anything, above anything, when it comes to a much deserved end, it all went out of you, like confetti out of the tube.

The sense of accomplishment.

Sometime, I wish I would make time for events organized by our student union.

We don't have much, but to be in such self and interperson competition is really quite a pleasure.

Tersadung, Tersembam dan Perkara yang Sewaktu Dengannya

Growing up in seaside settlement in the era where no one would want to kidnap us, we kids were scattered everywhere in Teluk Bahang.

And to make things easier, my parents got me a bike.

Since I am the firstborn and my brother is just 1 year my junior, sometimes it means having him tailing me, when he's not at the beach rolling his tongue and hands against the splashing waves.

I was an adventurous and a difficult kid, and exercised no safety measure when on the bicycle.

One unfortunate day, I was speeding along a bumpy lane, with my brother on tow and I hit a bump pretty hard that we were thrown off the bicycle, exactly in front of the wooden stairs of whoever house it is.

I bet we crashed so loudly for the lady inside the house to dart out.

As my brother and I blew on our scratches and try to got back on our feet, the lady stayed still at the top of the stairs, horrified, yet still managed to analyse our genealogy (it was a tight knit community, where people know each other way too deeply)

Help didn't come as it should, instead a stupid question came our way.

"Hampa ni cucu Mat Bodo ka?"

(Tok appa was known as Mat Bodo and I embraced the nickname cooly. Mainly because the name is not vulgar, I knew of some uncle who carried penis as their second nickname)

We were both scratched and bled.They were not that bad, still, the small me was hoping that the aunty would do something like coming down to us and offer at least some comforting words and picked my bicycle up for us.

But no. After conforming her that we are indeed Mat Bodo grandchildren, I gathered my bicycle and my brother and start cycling home again and that lady went back into the house.

Such a courteous gesture to kids who were thrown off their bicycle.

When in Standard 2, I got a grandeur bicycle, a blue one, as a present for excellent report card.

The bicycle change but the owner's habit of speeding stayed the same.

One day, I was in school uniform and tailing behind my friend to another friend's house.

The plan was to cycle to the school together.

It was a scorching afternoon and the main road was pretty deserted.

My friend already zoomed across the mini bridge spanning a deep drain, very assured that I'll be behind her still.

Unfortunately, the front rim took a wrong turn and I ended up upside down in the deep drain along with the heavy school bag and the bicycle.

I was trapped and sweating in my kurung inside a deep drain and I had no way of getting out by myself.

I was whispering in pain and my jutting legs didn't even pass out of the drain.

So, help took some time to come to my rescue.

All I remember is few people getting the bicycle off me and extracted me from the drain.

I don't remember whoever they were but I still remember the saving hands.

I had some dab of minyak gamat and some fresh damp towel at my friend's house and next thing I know is, we 3 were cycling for school, and were worrying if the usual mad old man would walk a road that we will be passing and spitting vulgar words at us.

Those are about the bicycles. There were times when discovering the village and nearby hotel nooks was preferable by foot.

It was a quiet afternoon and I had a small group with me, one of them is a cousin from the city visiting.

We wandered up to the tennis court and since it was a hot afternoon and the usual way back would take longer, I decided that we should cross the partly smashed railings.

As the leader, it's obvious that I should be the first to cross.

And as I lifted my leg, my hand caught on stray wires from the railings and I fall on my chin exactly on the edge of someone front door made of crude grey brick and my head hit hard on the small cabinet that they put in front of their house, sending a carpet, luckily not that thick or larger, on top of my head.

It's no more sudah jatuh ditimpa tangga, it's sudah jatuh tersembam ditimpa permaidani atas kepala.

Poor those small ones behind me, they must be shocked to witness such a drama.

I vaguely remember it but I think the lady of the house came out and got the carpet off me and those small ones across the cursed railings.

My mom the tiger never let me off, and imagine what would happen when I came home bleeding from long scratches with obvious bump on my wide forehead, and behind me, trembling small kids had it not been my aunt visiting.

To cap the falling incidents off, I had the last major one at school.

In Kemahiran Hidup workshop to be exact.

It was the day where we were supposed to wear those fussy co-curriculum uniform.

I had the habit of stuffing my legs (they began to shoot scarily when I hit 2nd year of high school) inside the modified cupboard under our table.

Thing is, I had the fan-cut style skirt and the cupboard had a hook to keep the door shut properly.

As we stood up to say our thank you and recite a short verse from al-quran, my skirt caught the hook and I lost balance.

It happened for a worst 2 minutes, the classmates were between shocked and reciting the verses as I assume the movement of jellyfish.

At last, the balance was completely lost and I hit the floor as they said amen.

In the skirt that's responsible for the fall.

Siti Kalut Binti Mat Gelabah

Something a friend gave to a junior when we were in form 2.

Jotting it down here to remind me how naughty we were back then.