I AM BACK!!

Syukur Alhamdulillah akhirnya dapat saya kembali mengemaskini blok ini setelah lebih 7 bulan tidak dikemaskini langsung. Ternyata masa berlalu begitu pantas.

Dalam masa 7 bulan ini, banyak perkara telah berlaku antaranya saya telahpun berpindah dari Pandan Indah ke Puncak Alam. Isteri dan anak-anak pun dah settledown kat sini. Saya amat bersyukur kerana di Puncak Alam ni saya dikelilingi oleh jiran-jiran yang menyenangkan dan banyak membantu.

Kami sekeluarga juga sedang menantikan kelahiran baby baru yang dijangkakan kelahirannya pada pertengahan Julai ini. Semoga rezeki kami akan bertambah dengan kehadiran baby ini.

BACK ON TRACK

A convincing 3-0 win over WBA last night gave Liverpool's title hope back on track. It was a good result after the midweek draw against Atletico Madrid.

Robbie Keane finally breaks the duck and scored his first and second league goals. Hardworking fullback, Arbeloa also scored a stunner in the dying minutes. The team in general also performed well.

And the best thing is that FERNANDO TORRES is back. Let's get the goal scoring machine running!!!

UNBEATEN NO MORE.

Spurs, the rejuvenated team under Harry Redknapp's management has done it. Liverpool are finally beaten for the first time this season.

What I saw during the game was actually a lost caused by failure to take advantage of goal scoring opportunities. Kuyt, Gerrard and Alonso had their chances but fail to get the better of it. It should have been a 3 or 4 goal lead. The Skipper himself had 3 shots hitting the goal post.

Robbie Keane again failed to live up the expectations. Surely he is no way near to be a replacement for the inured Torres. It looks certain by now that Rafa would be bringing in another striker to ensure goals won't run dry in the absence of the prolific goal scoring Torres.

IMPRESSIVE WIN AT THE BRIDGE

After yesterday's win at the Bridge, surely no one can write 0ff The Reds title credential this season. That was not the best performance from The Reds. However, just quoting what Scolari said a week earlier, " It is not how we play matters, but the final score...a win." I would agree with him on this one..Hahaha!!!

Stamford Bridge was a fortress for Chelsea. They were unbeaten in 86 games at home..That was a long long time man..Xabi Alonso was the assassin this time. He hit a shot that was then deflected from Calvalho's body thus sending Cech to the wrong way.

Hope that Liverpool could maintain their good results and go closer towards claiming the long lost premiership title.

The pictures below summarized yesterday's joy...

ANOTHER DRAMATIC COMEBACK WIN.

Yesterday Anfield witnessed another dramatic win for Liverpool. This was the fifth time this season Liverpool came from behind to win a game. And of course they maintained their unbeaten run in Premiership.

It was a game that saw Agger and Pennant found themselves in the starting lineup. Dirk Kuyt took over top striker's role from the injured Torres.

A defensive error caused by poor communication from both Reina and Agger was punished by Amr Zaki who was always very lethal inside the box. The match opener came on the 29th minute. Liverpool however fought back 9 minutes after from a Kuyt's goal. It was created by Agger. He took the ball from his own half, exchanging passes with Dossena, cool dribbling and a short low cross for Kuyt inside the 6 yard box.

Just before halftime, Zaki scored his second and it was a very good one also. A scissors-kick from a Valencia cross.

Reira opened his scoring account for Liverpool on the 80th minute. Good run from Nabil El Zhar on the left flank. He then pass the ball to Gerrard who dummied it for the opened Reira. Cool finish from the left winger. At that point of time surely, the fans are confident and could already felt that this could be a repeat to the Man City's game.

Yes..Yes..Yes..It did happen. Another late goal that sealed the game for the home team. Kuyt scored on the 85th minute from a Pennant cross. Flying Dutchman Kuyt is the hero of the night.

At some point in second half, Benitez pulled out both full backs (Dosenna and Arbeloa). He then occupied Reira and Benayoun as wing backs. Liverpool played the game with only 2 central defenders and was on gung-ho mode.

I am happy with Agger. He did a mistake but quickly made amendments to it. Reira as always was very very good. Kuyt has sharpen his predatory skills. Overall I would say it was a well done job, but it should have been a better and much cleaner game. They should have killed the game earlier and something has to be done defensively.

100 YEARS OF EXCELLENCE, KOLEJ SULTAN ABDUL HAMID.

The Sultan Abdul Hamid College (SAHC, now Kolej Sultan Abdul Hamid) is a premier school in Alor Star. Formerly known as the Government English School, it is one of the oldest English schools to be established in the country. It boasts of an illustrious alumni roster that includes Prime Ministers Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al Haj, former Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Abdul Halim Ali, former Education Minister Tan Sri Mohamad Khir Johari, former Permanent Representative to the United Nations Tan Sri Razali Ismail and the present Sultan of Kedah, His Highness Sultan Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah ibni al marhum Sultan Badlishah A former student and teacher, Daim Zainuddin, later went on to become the Finance Minister of Malaysia. Five former Chief Justices – Tun Syed Sheh Hassan Barakbah, Tun Mohamed Azmi Mohamed, Tun Abdul Hamid Omar, Tun Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah and Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim – also attended the college. Currently headed by principal Morazuki Hashim, SAHC has also educated five Kedah Mentris Besar and three governors.

The Sultan Abdul Hamid College is also known as SAHC (English), KSAH (Malay) or just simply and fondly "College" to the students and teachers of the school. Its yearly magazine or schoolbook is named "Darulaman" (the abode of peace), referring to the Arabic title for the state of Kedah.

Primarily a boy's school, it's students comprise of boys of Form 1s to Form 5s and mixed sexes of Lower and Upper 6s. The student population had increased tremendously from the date of the school's early inception: from less than 50 in 1908 to more than 1,200 in 2007. The school recently celebrated its 100 years of existence(1908 - 2008).

With the motto “Scholar, Sportsman, Gentleman”, SAHC remained an English school until 1978. Up until the 1970s, the school reigned as a premier school in the nation, especially since there was a limited choice of schools and there were no fully residential schools. However, from the 1980s, the school began to lose some of its prestigious lustre, with the rise in fully residential schools and the birth of Mara Junior Science Colleges. Tunku Intan Tunku Kasim says these days, many parents focus purely on academic excellence, which is something residential schools are well-known for. “In terms of that, SAHC may not be looked upon as a premier school anymore,” says the assistant secretary of Sultan Abdul Hamid Old Collegians’ Association Kuala Lumpur and Selangor. In an effort to preserve the school’s standing, the state Education Department labelled it a “state premier school” in 1999. Since then, student intake has been controlled by the department, which requires that only students with a minimum of 4As and 1B in the UPSR can enrol in Form One.

During my schooling days (back in years 1990 - 1994) our school was the best sports school in Kedah. Football, rugby, hockey, tennis and even athlethics were our games. Some of them then became national players/athlets. One of them, my ex-classmate, proud of the state, is the current Captain of Kedah football team, Victor Andrag. Others seniors and juniors that have done the state and country proud includes Radhi Mat Din, Azmi Mahmud, Akmal Rizal, Romzi Bakar.

The school song made me feel proud being a Collegians:

Strong loyalty we give our king

Firm friendship we would like to bring

We march along with strength and will

To help our country win

We aim for truth and courage

For virtues and for values

We're girls and boys of College

Good Collegians are we

K.S.A.H Alma mater

K.S.A.H young Collegians all

The problems of the world we face

Seem very small like earth in space

The rainbow of the sky we chase

A great and worthy race

We pupils here are happy

We're cheerful with no worries

For aren't we young Collegians

We are and proud to be

K.S.A.H Alma mater

K.S.A.H young Collegians all

Above is a picture of Tun Dr Mahathir(sitting, right) and his Kolej schoolmates, taken in year 1940.

This was posted by my super senior himself, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in his blog on Aug 5, 2008:

1. I came back from a holiday in Croatia to attend the centenary celebration of my alma mater, Kolej Sultan Abdul Hamid or Sultan Abdul Hamid College recently.

2. It was a sentimental occasion. Seeing the old school, quite unchanged since I was admitted into Primary I way back in 1932 brought back many sweet/sad memories.

3. The centenary was more meaningful to me because the school was founded by my father who was also its first headmaster. He used to tell me of his experiences when he was headmaster there.
4. It was not in the present building of course. It was housed in a wooden Malay house in the middle of the town of Alor Star. Called the GES or Government English School, he had Malaysia's first Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman as one of his students.

5. My father died in 1962. I thought he would like me to attend the centenary. I felt very nostalgic of the good old days when he used to teach me and my brother mathematics.

6. Before I was born he was sent to Pahang to teach at a school in Raub. Then he was sent to Johore to teach at an English school there.

7. Those were very distant places and he had to travel by boat with my mother and my eldest sister. My mother's second child, also a girl was born in Pahang. Mahadi my mother's eldest son was born in Johor Bahru.

8. Father got tired of shifting house and traveling to strange places. He came back to Alor Star and applied for an auditor's job with the Kedah Government.

9. Although his name is Mohamad bin Iskandar, people generally call him "Master" or Mohamad Iskandar. To honour him the primary school attached to Sultan Abdul Hamid College was named "Sekolah Iskandar" inadvertently honouring my grandfather instead. I have never complained.

10. At the main ceremony on the morning of Saturday 26th July the College named three ex-collegiate as the Collegiate of the Centenary. HRH the Sultan was the first, second came Tunku Abdul Rahman and I felt greatly honoured to be named as the third Collegiate of the Centenary. It would be another century before anyone will get this award.

11. To be able to study at the GES was a great privilege in those days. This was the first and only Government English School in Kedah. There were only 30 boys from the whole of Kedah admitted each year. I was one of the lucky ones.

12. Going to school was thrilling to me and I couldn't wait for school holidays to end.

13. I did fairly well and my Senior Cambridge Examinations result was good enough for me to be admitted into the medical faculty of the King Edward VII College of Medicine. I was given financial aid which was not a scholarship. The British Colonial Government apparently practised affirmative action because all my Chinese and Indian classmates had far better results than me. The examination results of the other six Malay students were even worse than mine. There were 70 plus students in all.

14. I owed my teachers in school a great deal. Only one of them, Mr. Zain, is alive today. He was a great teacher and spoke grammatically correct English all the time.

15. Schooling was such a great experience and I recall with fondness many rewarding events that I went through.

16. I hope and pray that all Malaysians remember their school days and the part that school plays in their lives. Getting an education right up to University level is easy now. But we must nevertheless feel grateful for there are more than one billion illiterate people in the world. For them the future promises very little.

HMMM..WHAT DID I MISS OUT?

Dah lama pulak rasanya tak menghantar sebarang Post ke Blog saya ni. Selepas pulang dari Kedah pada 4hb Oktober memang masa terluang agak terhad. Jadi saya nak 'flash back' semua yang saya tertinggal.

Pertamanya, keindahan Hari Raya tahun ni. Rasanya Raya tahun ada impak spiritual tersendiri kepada saya. Kepulangan beraya bersama Ibunda tercinta amat saya hargai. Let, Teh, Kakak, Abg Nuar dan Qayyum pun dah lama tak saya temui.

Raya tahun ni jugak lebih menarik sebab cahaya mata bongsu saya, Aaeesya dah petah berkata-kata. Comelnya dia...

Hari Raya adalah masa paling sesuai untuk saya berjumpa dengan semua saudara mara. Apa taknya kebanyakan mereka tinggal di Kedah. Kalaupun ada yang tinggal di KL, jarang sangat dapat peluang bersua.

Syukur Alhamdulliah perjalanan kami sekeluarga pergi dan balik beraya selamat dan tidak terperangkap dalam sebarang kesesakan di lebuhraya.

Setelah pulang dari Kedah, pada 5hb Oktober saya dan keluarga beraya di rumah mentua di Port Klang.

Pada hari yang sama juga menyaksikan semangat juang tinggi menjulang nama Liverpool sebagai salah sebuah pasukan yang patut digeruni mana-mana pasukan Eropah musim ini.

Walaupun bermain hambar pada separuh masa pertama dan ketinggalan 2-0, semangat juang yang jitu telah berjaya memberikan keceriaan kepada peminat-peminat Liverpool. Bermula dengan 2 jaringan Fernando Torres dan disudahkan dengan gol Dirk Kuyt di penghujung permainan. Kemenangan paling dramatik bagi Liverpool tahun ini!! Tiada siapa dapat mengetepikan cabaran Liverpool walaupun ketinggalan. Satu ayat sebagai saksi.."Istanbul".