National Day
As we are celebrating Malaysia’s Day today, and I'm having plenty of time to waste, I’ll
share an amusing anecdote about an actual event happening in one secondary
school in Penang, two weeks ago.
It was slightly a rainy day that morning. I was in
the vicinity of the school’s canteen. Crowd of students gathered at the
school's assembly area, which was just next to the canteen, where they were
scheduled to have their school's level National Day celebration.
As students started filling the assembly compound,
my interest grew. I couldn’t remember ever celebrating Independence Day during
my secondary school days, as we were too busy focussing on academics (aha).
We did celebrate it during Matriculation; I still
remember our principal (I was formerly from Mara Kulim Matriculation, the head
of our matriculation was known as principal
instead of director) wore a full army
suit when delivering his wind-up speech on top of our assembly hall.
I was aghast and confused simultaneously upon seeing
him in action; was he about to declare a state of emergency? It was amusing because
all the other teachers wore the usual casual attire. He delivered his speech in
a strong, fiery manner...army style. I was seriously thinking that he was about
to declare a war. A friend of mine, sitting next to me, bewildered as I was, quipped,
“dia ni dah buang tebiat ke apa?”
I was jolted
back into reality by an announcement. A teacher announced that a special
student was going to perform. I knew that student personally...as his father
always came to me early morning every day to book for his lunch. He has a 'disability' with his vision...he couldn’t see properly. He wore a very thick
spectacle. He is practically blind.
His disability didn’t deter his special talent. With
a violin placed on his left shoulder, he started playing KeranaMu Malaysia almost to perfection. Heavy noise that was prevalent early on dissipated
abruptly...as every students and teachers paid close attention to his tune. Every
breath we took in synchronized with his violin’s stick movement...as he
mesmerized us with the captivating sound of his music. He may not see properly
but his talent was there for all to see.
After he received a rapturous applause upon the
completion of his performance, a new segment started.
A quiz.
I loved quiz.
The quiz was about our nation’s forefathers.
"Tunku Abdul Rahman dikenali sebagai bapa apa?" came
the first question.
A student raised her hand, and answered
enthusiastically,
"Bapa Kemerdekaan!!!"
“Well done! Come on up here to pick your prize” was
the teacher’s reply.
Second question was a bit tricky.
“Tun Abdul Razak...bapa apa?"
There was a wee bit of a silence among students.
They looked on each others' face, discussing among themselves.
Then came a murmur from someone next to me...she was one of the
kitchen's helpers.
"Bapa Najib..."
So I'll leave it at that (sadly). Next time I'll try to figure it out.
*Update 12/10/2016
Problem solved :)
