it is here again, the annual event tagged as ‘the old boys weekend’ or OBW where ex-students of the malay college kuala kangsar converge in their school to basically hang out and have fun.
whether you’re fresh out of school, doing *time* in any college or uni, just opened your own business, a corporate climber or an old retiree with greying hair – all are invited to share one common thing – they have all been a student at MCKK – malay college kuala kangsar.
there was one year where mr. khairul joined the old boys weekend sports event in the water polo team of seniors against the junior players. it was disastrous, haha (wadaya expect – out-of-shape seniors battling it out with V-shaped-broad-shouldered juniors!) but they had great fun!
hassanal ‘90, faisal shon ‘84, and organizer kay ‘96
..and for the 3rd consecutive year, in this small corner of the arab world, the old boys of mckk who are working and living in the uae (united arab emirates) had their own teeny tiny OBW.
there are over 10 mcobs (malay college old boys) living in the uae, but only three were available this time around. organizer mr. khairul nearly cancelled the 'OBW dubai 2011', but i told him, even if it’s just us and abang faisal shon with wife kak muna, it’s just as good. they’re like family anyway!
kak muna, mrs. khairul & hazleen ~ we’re NOT mcobanita ok. we’re mcobachicas haha
no sports event here, nor any mckk merchandise sold – these boys just lepak at one makan place to have good laughs and share stories.
where else? nowhere else but tawasol to have mandi rice lah! this is just a homely place to be. and it’s SO malaysian – when we arrived, the tent next to us were harboring a noisy group of malaysians (and when i say ‘noisy’, i don’t mean it as a complain. it’s great to have malaysian ‘sounds’ reverberating through arab air!), and while we’re eating, another group of our malaysian friends arrived.
memang port malaysians!
plates of delicious mandi rice, followed by hot arab tea with mint leaves, and in between – echos of friendship united by one simple fact – that they once donned the maroon tie that binds.
until the next OBW ‘12!
(i just received a shockingly sad news that mr. khairul’s mckk batchmate nurdin hanafi aka badaque had just passed away this morning of heart attack. he was 32. al-Fatihah)
4 comments:
sayang, got the message. alfatihah.
Dear Syigim..
Send regards to Khairul for the his undying effort for arranging the mirror OBW in Dubai. At the REAL OBW, to me its Coming back from an OBW is a reflection on life. Why, how or what happened juxtaposed past and present realities into a kaleidoscope of feelings transcending needs and wants. So, grown men slept in school dormitories and small town hotels room away from their wives and kids just for that. But only the out-of-jobbers, in-between-jobbers and part-time-jobbers came; the rest were busy minding their jobs, i guess. To each, their life.
BTW, Happy mother's day to you especially for your care to 3 wonderful small boys and ONE Big Boy with a Man's toy
>> thanks uncle spice for dropping a comment :) we sure miss your presence everytime the mcobs get together!
khairul really value your words of encouragement, esp in arranging meetings that only a few mcobs would want to join. we slowly learn to appreciate the QUALITY rather than QUANTITY of attendee! ;)
i like how you put it - "..a kaleidoscope of feelings.." at the end of the day, how you *feel* about the school & ur schoolmates is the reason why ur there at the OBW. ;)
thanks for the wish. the boys are teaching me how to be a better mom each day. :)
like to meet my old friend. faisal shon 84, can ask him to contact my emal zaidimuhammad@gmail.com
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