Thought 30APR2008

A CHRISTMAS STORY
During the Roosevelt era, times were tough. The President was promising a brighter moon, but the Beasley hadn't seen it rise over their small town in Texas panhandle. So when he got the call that his son was ill in California and not expected to live, Bill Beasley didn't know how he was going to scrape together the money for his wife and himself to make the trip. Bill had worked as a trucker his entire life, but he never managed to accumulate any savings. Swallowing his pride, he phoned a few close relatives for help, but they were no better off. So it was with embarrassment and dejection that Bill Beasley walked the mile from his house to the filling station and told the owner, "The son is really sick," he said, "and I've got no cash. Can you trust me for the phone call to California?"

"Pick up the phone and talk as long as you need to," was the reply. As he started to dial, he was interrupted by a voice asking, "Aren't you Bill Beasley?" It was a stranger, jumping down from the cab of a truck with out-of-state plates. The young man didn't look familiar and Bill could only stare at him with a puzzled look and say, "That's right, I am." "Your son was one of my best pals when we were growing up together. When I went off to college, I lost all track of him." He paused for a moment and then continued. "Heard you say he's sick?" "Real bad, from what we hear. I'm gonna call and try to make some arrangements for the wife to get out there with him." Then, as a matter of courtesy, he added, "Have yourself a Merry Christmas. Wish your daddy was still with us."

Old man Beasley walked into the office of the station and placed his call to the cousin on the West coast, informing him that he or his wife hoped to be out as soon as possible. There was an obvious look of sorrow on the elder citizen's face as he assured the owner that he would pay for the call as soon as he could. "The call has been paid for. That trucker - the one your son used to pal around with - left me a 20 and said to give you the change when the phone bill comes in. He also left you this envelope."

The old man fumbled open the envelope and pulled out two sheets of paper. One read, "You were the first trucker I ever traveled with, the first my dad trusted enough to let me go along with when I was barely five years old. I remember you bought me a Snickers bar." The second sheet, much smaller in size, was a signed cheque with an attached message: "Fill out the amount needed for you and your wife to make the trip ... and give your son, my pal, a Snickers bar. Merry Christmas!"
Author Unknown - extracted from "A 4th course of Chicken Soup for the Soul", Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Hanoch McCarty and Meladee McCarty; Health Communications, Inc., 1997
It is less of a problem to be poor, than to be dishonest - Anishinabe (Native American)

Gambar Nostalgia - Release 7

This is Gambar Nostalgia Release 7
Dr Mala is in all the photos, cos' these are from her albums
Scavenging and Scanning More! - Reminisce!

Pot, Tak Kenal, Arwah, Dr Mala
Still in their Pyjamas
Dr Mala, Che Ah, Lelawati, Arwah, Pot
Feezah Kapcai, Zaini, Haji Syed J
Belakang - Dr Mala, Tak Kenal, Tak Kenal, Noor Azimah
Depan - Kama, Mummy, Tak Kenal, Che Ah
Che Ah, Faeek, Kama, Tak Kenal, Anuar, Dr Mala, Tak Kenal, Usop, Tak Ingat
Open House di Hostel 1
Adi, Haji Raja Hisham, Hassan Gagak, Lan, Fadzlan, Tak Ingat
Black Dog Bone - Part II
Md Khir, Atok Isa, Saya, Jamal, Anuar, Aziz Mat Jan, Tak Ingat, Kobau Balau

Di Terrace House - Dengan Budak-Budak Jual Kueh
Usop, Saya, Rosly, Ariff, Arwah Zahdi, Taha, Tak Ingat, Lloyd, Tak Ingat

Di Hostel 1
Tak Ingat, Tak Ingat, Kama, Che Ah, Dr Mala, Faeek

Dengan Cikgu Apek Diorang
Faeek, Che Ah, Dr Mala, Cikgu Apek

Chun, Pot, Maya, Midah, Arwah

Convo September 1980
Kama, Faeek, Che Ah

Thought 29APR2008

ON EDUCATION
The most important function of education at any level is to develop the personality of the individual and the significance of his life to himself and to others. This is the basic architecture of a life; the rest is ornamentation and decoration of the structure.
Grayson Kirk - Extracted from 'Speaker's Sourcebook II', Glen Van Ekeren, Prentice Hall, 1994.
Most of us do not look as handsome to others as we do to ourselves - Assiniboine (Native American)

Thought 28APR2008

WHAT'S WRONG?
A newly trained teacher named Mary went to teach at a Navajo Indian reservation. Every day, she would ask five of the young Navajo students to go to the chalkboard and complete a simple math problem from their homework. They would stand there, silently, unwillingly to complete the task. Mary couldn't figure it out. Nothing she had studied in her educational curriculum helped and she certainly hadn't seen anything like it in her student-teaching days back in Phoenix. What am I doing wrong? Could I have chosen five students who can't do the problem? Mary would wonder. No, it couldn't be that. Finally she asked the students what was wrong. And in their answer, she learned a surprising lesson from her young Indian pupils about self-image and a sense of self-worth.

It seemed that the students respected each other's individuality and knew that not all of them were capable of doing the problems. Even at their early age, they understood the senselessness of the win-lose approach in the classroom. They believed no one would win if any students shown up or embarrassed at the chalkboard. So they refused to compete with each other in public. Once she understood, Mary changed the system so that she could check each child's math problem individually, but not at any child's expense in front of his classmates. They all wanted to learn - but not at someone else's expense.
The Speaker's Sourcebook - extracted from 'Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul', Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen and Kimberly Kirberger, Health Communications, Inc., 1997
What the people believe is true - Anishinabe (Native American)

Gambar Nostalgia - Release 6

Gambar Release 6

UiTM - DBS/DIB (Batch 1977-1980)
Everyone look so cute and innocent

Function Apa Ntah?
Kama, Che Ah, Dr Mala, Lelawati, Datin Zahidah Team Bola Banking
Belakang - Tak Ingat, Suhaimee, Ghafar, Roslan, Halim, Alias, Ali Yon, Jamal, Usop, Azhar, Faeek
Depan - Kem, Saya, Ramli, Tengku Aziz, Kobau Balau, Abang Deen, Kamal Fikri kot?
Open House lah kot?
Usop, Che Ah, Dr Mala, Kama, Anuar, Fazmin, Zahir, Tak Ingat, Tak Ingat. Depan - Ariff
Bell Bottom was 'the' in-thingy
Haji Syed J, Yahya, Norazmi, Dr Mala, Jem, Pot, Halilah, Che Ah
Kat Mana Entah?
Belakang - Pau, Mazlan, Alim, Tak Ingat, Mohd Nor Saham, Mummy, Arwah, Haji Syed J, Halilah. Depan - Noor Azimah, Dr Mala, Alias, Yahya, Tak Ingat, Aziz Mat Jan
Dalam Kelas (macam 626/636)
Jem, Pot, Yahya, Che Ah, Datin Raihela, Haji Syed J, Dr Mala
Sapa lah punya birthday???
Shima, Rodiah, Rohani, Chom, Dr Mala, Badariah, Fauziah Kassim?, Zaini
Kat Mana - Tak Tahu
Belakang - Noor Azimah, Tak Ingat, Jem, Munirah, Dr Mala, Arwah, Halilah. Depan - Tak Ingat, Pot, Kama, Lelawati, Tak Ingat
Tak Tahu Di Mana
Tak Ingat, Dr Mala, Kama, Mahani Open House Kot
Che Ah, Dr Mala, Kama, Usop, Norazmi, Fazmin, Tak Ingat, Tak Ingat, Ariff Anak-Anak Dara Sederet
Noor Azimah, Lelawati, Kama, Dr Mala, Che Ah, Mummy In their pyjamas
Dr Mala, Pot, Lelawati, Che Ah, Arwah

Thought 25APR2008

ON CREATIVITY
Be brave enough to live creatively. The creative is the place where no one else has ever been. You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. You can't get there by bus, only by hard work, risking, and by not quite knowing what you're doing. What you'll discover will be wonderful : yourself.
Alan Alda, Actor - Cited in More of ... The Best of BITS & PIECES
Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all - Dale Carnegie

Thought 24APR2008

BE GOOD, ANYWAY
People are unreasonable, illogical and self-centred, love then anyway.
If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives, do good anyway.
If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies, succeed anyway.
The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow, do good anyway.
Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable, be honest and frank anyway.
Source Unknown
Life is not separate from death. It only looks that way - Blackfoot (Native American)

Thought 23APR2008

BELIEVE - A SURVEY
World wide survey was conducted by the UN. The only question asked was : "Would you please give your honest opinion about solutions to the food shortage in the rest of the world?"
The survey was a huge failure : In Africa they didn't know what 'food' meant, in India they didn't know what 'honest' meant, in Europe they didn't know what 'shortage' meant, in China they didn't know what 'opinion' meant, in the Middle East they didn't know what 'solution' meant, in South America they didn't know what 'please' meant, and, in the USA they didn't know what 'the rest of the world' meant!
Source unknown - received from Jeff Teo - TMS Class of 1963-1973
Beware of the man who does not talk, and the dog that does not bark - Cheyenne (Native American)

Gambar Nostalgia - Release 5

Here are more photos

Nikmatilah gambar "masa kurus" anda
Nanti Hari Isnin kita release lagi

Dalam Keretapi - Pee Dee trip
Anuar, Jamal, Kobau Balau, Aziz Mat Jan, Md Khir, Zaini
Di Pee Dee
Gayah, Anuar, Kama, Dr Mala, Usop
Dr Mala tak ingat kat mana
Arwah Hindon, Dr Mala, Che Ah, Mummy, Noor Azimah
Open House - di Terrace House
Kama, Dr Mala, Mazlan Rushdi
Open House - Di Terrace House
Che Ah, Pot. Kama, Dr Mala, Usop
Pee Dee Trip
Midah, Adi, Datin Raihela, Siti Rowhoney
Masih di Pee Dee
Kobau Balau, Jamal, Usop, Mala, Kama, Anuar
Dalam Keretapi - Pee Dee Trip
Dr Mala, Kama, Gayah, Kobau Balau
Kat Stesen Keretapi Kot?
Kama, Che Ah, Dr Mala, Anuar, Alias, Atok Isa

Business Seminar
Rahmah, An, Wan Asmah, Zaini, Dr Mala, Hainn, Rosnah, Midah

Yahya Asri AJK
(The photo has fallen into the wrong hands!)

Di Hostel 4D (now Hostel Perindu 4)
Taha, Hamid Pontian, Hamid, Mahmook, Alim Yaakob

Nanti hari Isnin, kita release lagi
Sikir-sikit laah ...

Thought 22APR2008

TIME
is too slow for those who wait ...
is too swift for those who fear
is too long for those who grieve ...
is too short for those who rejoice
but for those who love ...
time is eternity
source unknown - received from Tuan Haji Jasni Jaafar, SCB

CARRY
Carry A Heart that Never Hates ...
Carry a Smile that Never Fades ...
Carry a Touch that never Hurts ...
Carry a Friendship that Never Fails ...
source unknown - received from Tuan Haji Jasni Jaafar, SCB
The weakness of the enemy makes our strength - Cherokee (American Native)

Thought 21APR2008

FOCUSING ON PROBLEMS or SOLUTIONS
One of the most memorable case studies on Japanese management was the case of the empty soapbox, which happened in one of Japan's biggest cosmetics companies. The company received a complaint that a consumer had bought a soapbox that was empty. Immediately the authorities isolated the problem to the assembly line, which transported all the packaged boxes of soap to the delivery department. For some reason, one soapbox went through the assembly line empty. Management asked its engineers to solve the problem. Post-haste, the engineers worked hard to devise an X-ray machine with high-resolution monitors manned by two people to watch all the soapboxes that passed through the line to make sure they were not empty. No doubt, they worked hard and they worked fast but they spent a large amount to do so.

But when a rank-and-file employee in a small company was posed with the same problem, he did not get into complications of X-rays, etc., but instead came out with another solution. He bought a strong industrial electric fan and pointed it at the assembly line. He switched the fan on, and as each soapbox passed the fan, it simply blew the empty boxes out of the line.

Moral : Always look for simple solutions. Devise the simplest possible solution that solves the problems. Always Focus on solutions & not on problems. So at the end of the day the thing that really matters is HOW ONE LOOK INTO THE PROBLEM, mere perceptions can solve the tough problems...
Source Unknown - received from Prof Madya Yon Bahiyah - FFP UiTM Shah Alam
Don't let yesterday use up too much of today - Cherokee (American Native)

Gambar Nostalgia - Release 4

Ada lagi gambar
Gambar kita dulu-dulu
Nanti Hari Rabu - Tambah Gambar Lagi

Munirah, Pot, Dr Mala, Zaini
Masih di Pee Dee
Mummy, Lelawati, Dr Mala, Noor Azimah, Kama
Di Lecture Theatre II
Pot, Munirah, Dr Mala, Arwah, Wan Asmah, Zurida

Di Hostel Perempuan - Open House
Raja Hisham, Hassan, Amin, Pak Itam, Fadzlan, Tak Ingat

Masih Di Pee Dee
Dr Mala, Midah, Maya, Zaini, Hj Syed J, Adi

Di Pee Dee
Dr Mala, Midah, Chun, Pot (wherever is she?), Hj Syed J, Arwah

Mazlan, Badariah, Zaiton, Alias

Di Lecture Theatre II
Hj Abang Deen, Rosly, Arwah Zahedi, Usop, Saya

Di Terrace House
Arwah, Pot, Jem, Adi, Dr Mala, Amin

Di Konvo 1977 (INTEKMA 1)
Siti Aishah, Saya, Rushidah, Dr Ahmad Zaki

Masa dia orang dating-dating duly
Faeek, Dr Mala, Che Ah, Usop

Hari Bahasa - INTEKMA 1
Saya, Kem, Normah, Rahmah, Rodiah, Hajah Rubiah

Thought 18APR2008

THE GIFT OF GAB
Although she told me not to talk to strangers, my mother always did. At the checkout line. Browsing through handbags at Marshall Field. During a slow elevator ride, when everyone else was seriously squinting at the buttons. At airports, football games and the beach. Thankfully, I only took her advice when it came to menacing strangers. I believe I'm better for it. My mother's habit of striking up conversations with people next to her may bring a smile to my eyes now, but it proved rather embarrassing during my tender teenage years. "Lynn's getting her first one, too," she confided to a woman also shopping with her adolescent daughter in the bra section of our hometown department store. I contemplated running and hiding under a nearby terry cloth bathrobe, but instead I turned crimson and hissed "Mothhhhhherrrrr" between gritted teeth. I felt only slightly better when the girl's mother said, "We're trying to find one for Sarah, but they're all too big."

Not everyone responded when Mom made an observation and tried to spark a brief discussion. Some people gave her a tight-lipped half-grin, then turned away. A few completely ignored her. Whenever I was with her during those times, I could see that she was a little hurt, but she'd shrug it off and we'd continue on our way. More often than not, however, I would wander off somewhere and come back to find her gabbing away. There were occasions when I was concerned that I'd lost her in the crowd, but then I'd hear her singsong laugh and a comment like, "Yes, yes, me too."

Through these spontaneous chats, my mother taught me that our world is much too large - or too small, take your pick - not to have time to reach out to one another. She reminded me that as women, we enjoy a special kind of kinship, even if we're really not all that alike. In the most mundane things, there are common threads that bind us. It may be the reason we like paper versus plastic, or why a navy sweater is never a bad buy, or why the national anthem still gives us goose bumps. One of the last memories of my mother, when she was in the hospital and a few hours from dying from the breast cancer that had ravaged her down to 85 pounds, is of her smiling weakly and talking to her nurse about how to best plant tulip bulbs. I stood silently in the doorway, wanting to cry but feeling such a surge of love and warmth. She taught me to see spring in others. I'll never forget it, especially now when I turn to someone and say, "Don't you just love it when..."
By Lynn Rogers Petrak - from Chicken Soup for the Woman's Soul, Copyright 1996 by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Jennifer Read Hawthorne and Marci Shimoff
You may possess things, but you must not be possessed by them - Aurobindo

Thought 17APR2008

LET'S GO BUG HUNTING MORE OFTEN
One fall afternoon I rushed home from the university where I taught. I prepared a hasty dinner, threatened my nine-year-old daughter, Christi, to hurry and finish her homework, "or else," and properly reprimanded Del, my husband, for leaving his dusty shoes on the good carpet. I then frantically vacuumed the entryway because a group of prestigious ladies were coming by to pick up some good used clothing for a worthwhile cause; and then later a graduate student would be at our house to work on a very important thesis - one that I was certain would make a sound contribution to research.

As I paused to catch my breath, I heard Christi talking with a friend on the telephone. Her comments went something like this: "Mom is cleaning house - some ladies we don't even know are coming by to pick up some old worn-out clothes ... and a college student is coming out to work on a thesis ... no, I don't know what a thesis is ... I just know Mom isn't doing anything important .... and she won't go bug hunting with me."

Before Christi had hung up the phone, I had put on my jeans and old tennis shoes, persuaded Del to do likewise, pinned a note to the door telling the graduate student I'd be back soon and set the box of used clothing on the front porch with a note on it that Del, Christi and I had gone bug hunting.
Barbara Chesser, Ph.D. - extracted from 'a 5th portion of Chicken Soup for the Soul', Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen, Health Communications, Inc., 1998
A man is not old until his regrets take the place of his dreams - John Barrymore

Gambar Nostalgia - Release 3

Those were the days
We thought they'd never end

Saya dan Kem di Dataran
(The place look so so different now ... so am I!)
Saya dan Pak Itam - dibilek Hostel 4D
(Ebony & Ivory)
Che Ah & Mala di Pee Dee
Pee Dee Trip - naik Keretapi
Mala & Kama
(Secretariate Seminar)
Mala & Hatifah & staff - practical training di Lori Malaysia
Hatifah & Mala
Di Lori Malaysia - practical training
Dimana lah agak nya

Di Kelas - rasa-rasanya Hajah Ruby, Ariff, Mala & Hatifah

Ini mesti 'open house - hostel'
(yang ninjau tu Rosedin ke?)

Sama di ITM - Satu KT naik Haji 2003
Mala & Haji Syed Jalaluddin
Belakang - Mazlan Rushdi

OC-OC tembak gagak
Minggu Orientation July 1979
Lan, Atan, Saad, Arab, Saya, lain tak ingat

Hari Bahasa - ini booth 'Mandarin'

"Sekeping Blues" performing di 'Businessrama 1979'

Chief OC Sukan - jadi sadist to freshies
Orientation Week July 1979

MORE TO COME