BANTERING WITH SQUAD JAMIL

2009/11/24 hamzah hassan

It sort of started by me sending a response to Jamil’s earlier mail. My mail sent on 24th
Nov 2009 goes thus:





Dear Squad Jamil,
Thank you for the response and the advice. You sure would make a good diplomat. Our
Presidente gave the same advice, but, there were others who were just as fiery as I was. You
know who they are.
They say war is an extension or failure of diplomacy. In this case if there is a war involving our Squads, you know who to pick. Before that we have to send you and the Presidente. You fail you send us.
For the rest,
I would cease creating any more hostility. Unless he replied in the same manner. I would advise the others to do the same. I am not sure who gained here. Let us now prepare for 2010.

For Everybody
Listen to Taps that I forwarded to you.

Club 12/68 Forever. ( Sung to the tune of 'I will Wait Forever' by Air Supply).

Hamzah Hassan

On 24th Nov 09, Squad Jamil wrote thus:

dear squad hamzah,

enough have been said by our golfers themselves, your good self and by other (non-golfing) squad members on the subject of how we have been "cheated" of a place (4th placing) in the recent RAFOR golf. you have also, as the golf convenor, for the intake, rightly made your observations known to the organisers and MG (B) Dato Hashim has replied albeit a little too late with some lame excuses and a touch of sarcasm to boot!!! i suppose it just goes to show how immature (dah tua-tua macam ini pun masih belum wisen up!!!) they can be when dealing with complaints. your counter-reply has further fortified our observation of the lackadaisical attitude of the committee. and now that everyone who wants to be heard has made his point, i suggest we close the subject lest it gets carried away and gets mired with other issues and leaves a bad taste in the mouth in our relations with RAFOR who are, after all, our brother officers, too. i suggest we close this chapter, KIV the lessons learnt and move on.

something that really caught my attention out of this tiff is the hidden and hitherto unknown talents of our squadmates. i was amazed that you had articulated your observations and arguements so well.

the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dogthe

speaking of moving on, what i had in mind is


The following mail from Squad Jamil was sent on 25th Nov 09. It was a follow up from the previous one.

Somehow he started with a giggle ehehehehehe. Macam pempuan pulak. Kita punya should be

HaHaHaHaHa! Anyway, here goes,

dear squad hamzah and all mates !!!!!

ehehehehehe!!!!!! i must have tertekan the send button ... my comments were not finished yet .... as i spoke with you over the phone, my letter was in fact already typed and ready to be sent as a reply in the club 1268 blog but somehow i couldn't press the right buttons to have it posted in the blog. and as i was over the phone and speaking to you, experimenting and followig your instructions on how to send .... oooops!!! the whole thing disappeared and i couldnt retrace or bactrack to it. so back to re-drafting the letter and tried as hard as i could to recall what i wrote in the original reply my pc starting giving problems which further exacerbated the recall nerves in my memory and caused a brain jam!!!... what i type in the key pad does not appear to be responsive on the screen .... i was missing letters in between words and spaces are not moving so it was a lot of frustration backtracking and checkng back on the spelling etc so much so that i couldnt concentrate on recallng what i wrote in the original reply to you (hehehehe!!!! you will notice that my letter below is hanging and also i was testing the keypad with "the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" caption!!!!) even as i write now without backtracking and correcting ,this is how it would appear "the quickbwn fox jmps ver the lazydg". so i am having a hard time struggling to finish this letter as best as i could. so if there are minor sd errors please understand. so what i was trying to convey in my original reply in the blog revolved aound 3 points :
a. the first has been said already about the RAFOR golf. (i take note of your ref to clauswitz's philosophical observation that "war is an extension of politics" (after diplomacy fails) and taken note of your observations about the "hawks" and "doves"' among our squad members.
b the second point i made was that i was quite amazed that you have very good writing skills (dah tentulah kan ... u were my instructor for the sd course!!!!) only sikit bawah squad fathol kitalah (out of deferrence to him as our premier writer and owner and editor of a newspaper tau ... nah mamphui bersaing dengan dia!!!!!)
c. more importantly, i wanted to congratulate you for comig up with the club's very own blog and this is what i would like to elaborate further and invite comments from our fellow brothers and members.
the club's blog has been a long time coming and through your sole efforts you have finally made it a reality ...so my heartiest congrats to you again. well, as members of intake 12/68 we are all automaically "accepted" members of this blog ...
its OUR blog. so to all squadmates out there, lets contribute our ideas as to how best we want it to be presented/stuctured, how and who is to manage it, how can we actively contribute to it so that it does not just become a white elephant after the initial enthusiasm wears off.
for starters,i would like to suggest that maybe below the RMC logo, we should have a portrait/group picture of our intake as we were in 1968-1970. i know this can be quite challenging esp to get all of us in the photo as some had left while during training, some went off overseas to sandhurst and portsea, some joined sandhurst without going through RMC and there were yet others like me who joined the intake six months later from ssc 14. maybe one solution could be to post several of these portraits taken at different times during the training period. but that would mean another bigger problem .... have we got, among us, those photos taken at different times? members should come forward if they have those pix in their possesion
my next suggestion is an offshoot of the above, that is, a portrait of those of us who are still alive as we are today - greying hair,white hair, bald or balding, wrinkly and whethered faces, potbelly and all .... for us to compare and contrast and laugh and cry over it.
of course we must also have a picture gallery to archive and display photograhic evidences of all our activities from RMC through our career to the present. and there are the club activities that we have recorded in penang, sarawak, chiengmai, RAFOR etc etc which are presently loosely stored by individuals in their emailboxes or PCs.
squad bakar baba has taken great pains to compile personal, contact and family details of all members since the turn of the last century (my my does that not make it sound like we are THAT old????) in hard copy which could also be downloaded into the blog for easier updating, storage and access.
the blog can also be effectively used as the platform for passing info, call for meetngs, results of acivites, post mortems and anything that need to be conveyed to all under current postings.
in fact, gentlemen, the sky is the limit in terms of its usage. but please remember that it can be as useful only if the members want to make it so.
so on behalf of the president and esp squad hamzah, i would like to invite each and every
squadmate to support this blog and be an active contributor.

regards
jamil rais

MANY HAPPY RETURNS OF THE DAY

Dear Squad,
On the last 22nd Nov, our squad Hashim Yahaya celebrated his 6oth birthday. Yes 60. Sounds old but sounds matured too. I have on your behalf sent him a virtual birthday card. Complete with fireworks and all. He was happy that somebody, besides his family remebered. He has thus replied and his reply is posted below.




Squad Squad Club 12/68 Sekelian

Terima kasih atas ingatan dan ucapan sempena hariulang tahun saya. Saya bersyukor kerana dapat menyambut hari lahir ke 60 tahun pada 22 Nov lepas.Harap harap dapat lagi menyambut hari hari lahir seterusnya ditahun tahun mendatang.Berkat doa doa saudara saudara sekelian INSYAALLAH.

Azam saya selepas berjaya melintasi kehidupan 60 tahun ialah seperti berikut. Tegurlah saya untuk mengekalkan keazaman ini.

TIDAK MAU TINGGAL SOLAT 5 WAKTU SEHARI
BANYAKKAN SEMBAHYANG BERJUMAAH
KERAP MEMBACA ALQURAN
BANYAK BERSABAR
HINDAR MENYAKITI HATI KAWAN
MELIHAT SESUATU KEJADIAN,MAKLUMAT,ISSUE DARI SEGI POSITIF SAJA BERBAKTI KEPADA MASYARAKAT MENGIKUT KEMAMPUAN BILA DIPERLUKAN MENJAGA KESIHATAN DAN KESELAMATAN DIRI MELALUI RIADAH DAN PEMAKANAN BETUL
BAIK DENGAN SEMUA ORANG

Mudah mudahan ianya tercapai.

Salam hormat dari saya HASHIM YAHAYA

RAFOR’S REUNION GOLF

Dear Squad,
I received a reply from Dato Hashim Hj Abu about 3 days ago. It was a reply which I think was evasive and at the same time blamed others. I did not expect such sarcasm too. I have replied it. I hope you would understand the reason I replied in such a manner and in such a tone. You may want to comment in this blog, which, I would most welcome or discuss during our meeting on 3rd Dec.

I stand by what I say.


Regards


Kol Hamzah bin Hassan (B)









REUNION GOLF RESULTS



Ref:

A. Email from RAFOR (ajsb@tm.net.my) dated Fri 13 Nov 09 11:47am (Not to all).



1. I did not receive anything from you complaining about the results of the Reunion Golf until I received Ref A which I only read on 16 Nov 09. However, I did hear some murmuring / whispering at Masjid Kem Wardieburn during the Majlis Tahlil and Doa Selamat, just prior to the Maghrib prayer on 10 Nov 09. Without details being presented, I just could not comprehend what the fuss was all about.



2. Based on your complaint, the Reunion Golf Sub-Committee had a re-look at the results of the competing teams. We now acknowledge that your team, Reg 12, had a score of 107 stableford points. However, it must be pointed out that Laksamana Pertama Marzuki Andong (B) only had 33 stableford points instead of 35 as claimed. This, however, does not alter your total score as it is based on the best 3 scores.



3. At the time of announcing the results, your team was recorded to have scored 105 points. This came about as Mej Ismail Ahmad’s score of 36 was inadvertently transferred to the Team List as only 34.



4. The results of the top 5 teams are as follows:

a. Reg 9.
Brig Jen Dato’ Hussein Kamal (B) - 38
Brig Jen Dato’ Abd Rahman Ismail (B) - 35
Brig Jen Kamarudin Mattan (B) - 36
Kapt Hasbi Yusoff (B) - 36


TOTAL 110 Champion


b. Reg 10.
Jen Tan Sri Mohd Shahrom (B) - 36
Jen Tan Sri Mohd Zahidi (B) - 36
Brig Jen Dato’ Mohd Yusof Said (B) - 36
Lt Kol Mohd Nor Ismail (B) - 36


TOTAL 108 OCB Runner Up

c. RAMD.
Brig Jen Dato’ Mustapha Khalil (B) - 34
Lt Kol Rosli Marzuki (B) - 37
Brig Jen Dato’ Abd Hamid Mohd Zain (B) - 37
Brig Jen Dato’ Anuar Amin (B) - 27


TOTAL 108 Third


d. Reg 12.
Brig Jen Dato’ Mohd Isa Hassan (B) - 36
Mej Jen Dato’ Khalid Saad (B) - 35
Laksma Marzuki Andong (B) - 33
Mej Ismail Ahmad (B) - 36

TOTAL 107 OCB 4th


e. SSC 35.
Lt Kol Abd Aziz TUDM (B) - 37
Lt Kol Naikin Chong (B) - 35
Mej Wan Rusdi (B) - 35
Lt Selamat (B) - 26

TOTAL 107 5th



5. The Reunion Golf Sub-Committee would like to apologise for missing out your team when the results were announced. As I said in my speech prior to the prize giving, if there were any shortcomings, as Chairman, I take full responsibility. This oversight was not intentional. We feel sorry if this error on our part had caused great disappointment to your team to the extent that you may have lost some sleep over the last few nights, lost your appetite and suffered undue stress.


6. Lt Kol Dato’ Nawawi (B) would be giving / sending to you the prize that is due to your team.




7. Thank you.








BRIG JEN DATO’ MOHD HASHIM BIN HJ ABU (B)

Chairman

Reunion Golf Sub-Committee



MY REPLY


Dear Dato’
Your reply is noted though its been ages since we sent it. I sent it on the evening of the 10th Nov. Immediately after the Reunion Golf, to the Honourary Secretary and a copy to you. Funny how in this age of super cyber highway, it still take 4 days to reach. I guess we can still blame the postman for taking so long to deliver.

Your final sentence was ‘apt’ to say the least. Quote ‘ Lt Kol Dato’ Nawawi (B) would be giving / sending to you the prize that is due to your team.’

Its not the prize that we crave for, no matter how much it costs.

That is not why people compete. Its in the winning and in our case its being identified as having achieve something for our Intake.

Don’t you too feel the same when you compete?

And how convenient it is to quote what you said in the prize presentation of ‘As I said in my speech prior to the prize giving, if there were any shortcomings, as Chairman, I take full responsibility. This oversight was not intentional. We feel sorry if this error on our part had caused great disappointment to your team to the extent that you may have lost some sleep over the last few nights, lost your appetite and suffered undue stress.’

Yes you admit that you were responsible. Then what? Put you on the Firing Squad? And for sure your insinuation of ‘losing sleep, losing appetite and suffered undue stress’ was definitely not a reply expected from a Chairman. Its so full of sarcasm.

My mail wasn’t even a ‘Complaint’. It was an ‘Observation’.
Can you not differentiate the two?

Furthermore in this age of IT, to quote you ‘This came about as Mej Ismail Ahmad’s score of 36 was inadvertently transferred to the Team List as only 34.’

Again excuses all over.

The 'inadvertent' insertion of 34 instead of 36 caused us a place. I sometimes think whether it was intentional considering the tools and ‘experts’ you have in your committee. What a letdown.



I hereby acknowledge your clarification with no further comments.



Kol Hamzah Hassan (B)


for President Club 12/68

SWIMMING TRAINING AT THE MINDEF SWIMMING POOL

See whether you can recgnise yourself as well as others.

THE OBSERVATIONS ON THE REUNION GOLF

Squads,
If you have read the earlier postings, you possibly would notice of our unhappiness on the golf outcome. After the Reunion Golf, I sent the mail below to both Dato Nawawi Mat Desa as the Hon Secretary and Dato Hashim Hj Abu as the Chairman of the Organising Committee.

‘Dear Dato,
Regular Intake 12 put up 2 teams for RAFOR’s Reunion Golf. The team composition was conveyed ealier to you as well as the Chairman of the Golf Committee. We are therefore fixed in who represent us in both the teams. A check on the Board prior to the game also listed the team members.
Our 12/68 Team Raptor posted scores of:
a. Dato Mohd Isa Hassan – 36
b. Dato Khalid Saad – 35.
c. Dato Marzuki Andong – 35 and
d. Mej Ismail Ahmad – 36.
On a basis of 3 best scores, our team accumulated a score of 107 (36+36+35). Surprisingly the top 5 teams that were announced included those with scores of 106. Yet we were not mentioned at all. It definitely could not be on an OCB default.
I have to raise this observation as it seems that an error occurred and was not noticed. I therefore, on behalf of my intake mates would like to raise this matter for your attention. An explaination is appreciated. If there was an error, we would like it to be corrected.
We are proud of our intake and felt slighted if such an error is just left as a‘ so be it’.
It was a good outing for us and we commended its smooth conduct, but we still feel deprived.
Thank You.
Kol Hamzah Hassan
For President Club 12/68’

Earlier on the night of the 9th, the eve of the Reunion Golf, I sent this out:

‘As agreed I have bought T Shirts for our team. It’s a Greg Norman brand – Made in I. It’s a stripe bronze/gold coloured shirt. Nice. Its bought at RM 29.90. Kalau dapat pakai 2 kali pun cukup lah. I will issue it to you at the clubhouse during registration/breakfast. I have named the teams 12/68 Team Raptor and 12/68 Team Gator. Dua dua hujung TOR. Sounds nice.
Team Raptor comprise of Mr President, Isa, Marzuki Apai and Khalid Saad whilst Team Gator comprise of Ramli Harun, Hadi Razak, Hashim Yahaya and me. As you are aware one of Gator’s team member, Hashim Yahaya, had a domestic accident and is now warded in Terendak Hospital Therefore Gator’s team members must all perform as the 3 best scores will count. Billy Gooi had to pull out as he had to go to China. As for Raptor, you may be our best hope. Go for the trophy. The presentation will be on 11th Dinner. Bagus juga kalau nama Club 12/68 diumumkan pemenang.
I hope to see all of you at Tropicana Golf & Country Club on 10 Nov 09.
Salam
Koljohn’

I need to mention that Intake 10 Regular also took this competition seriously. They had Tan Sris Zahidi and Shahrum, Mohd Noh darus, Dato Yusof ( S ) and Dato Mohd Said Harun. They had blue caps with an encryption R10, blue shirt, white belts, blue pants and white shoes. Belts , pants and shoes are individually owned whilst the others are ‘issued’. They were serious alright.




From Jamil on 09 Nov 09

dear mates !!!!

please be reminded that those of you who will be attending the dinner on 11 nov 2009 at the dewan perdana FELDA, entry is by presentation of invitation cards issued. this is required as the invitation card will have your table number and also a serial number that qualifies you to the lottery draw. i have requested marzuki andong to collect ALL the invitations from the secretariat and distribute it at the entrance of the dewan from 1915 hrs. so please look out for squad marzuki and collect your invitation cards. in case you missed him, please call his hp no... 0193822640 or call me at 0122100915 for assistance.
do not forget the dress for the dinner is batik long sleeve and as appropriate for the ladies.
for squad marzuki - please do not forget to collect the invitation cards from dato nawawi mat desa. i have informed him about this arrangement. the total intake diners are 31 (19 officers and 12 spouses).

regards
jamil rais

The responses from Squad Members have been tremendous and are downloaded here and I supposed you know our feelings.

From the Presidente on 12 Nov 09

Squad Members
The reunion was very well organised. Our intake played a big part. For those of you who were involved in the committee , you have my greatest compliments.
I really enjoyed the golf and the dinner. Just splendid.
For those of you who did not make for the occassion, should make an effort to attend thenextone.
Under Nawawi Desa and his team , we are in good hands.
Gday Gentlemen

By the way, the golf result is still hanging over my head.
Lets set our target to WIN next year. InsyaALLAH


From Khalid on 12/11/09

Dear John,

What more can you do? As far as I am concerned, you have done your best to get some sort of explanation from the parties involved with organizing the RAFOR golf. I hope they will not sweep this matter under the carpet. I am sure you will raise the issue at the post mortem.
That aside, we must admit that we all did extremely well to at least show the other intakes how united we were. What with the uniform and putting 2 teams for the tournament. And we performed very well indeed. If my score were correctly computed and our team score were not "overlooked", we would have been 2nd. Well done all
Next year cuba lagi. Aku confident kita boleh jadi johan.

Cheers

From Isa on 12 Nov 09

DearJohn&Jamil,
My greatest appreciation to both of you for the job well-done in coordinating the golf and the overall activities by Jamil for the squad.
I am glad that John will be raising the issue on the team result again and I have 2 observations for us to raise with regards to the overall running of the competition.
1. The longest drive line should be extended to cater for both low and high handicapper or young and old participants. Most or us overshort the line with our driver thus disqualifying us auomatically!!
2. They should now go away with so call hidden -holes prize concept to awards or rewards certain personalities!! Every one should be treated at par...and not forgetting respects that can be portrays in other forms, .but not in that manner .
Well done Jamil and John..and sallam.

From Jamil Rais on 13 Nov 09

dear mr. president and all squadmates!!!!!
Despite the fact that we had nothing to show after partaking in the RAFOR golf in terms of the placing or carrying home the trophy, i am proud of the fact that our intake was recognied as the most cohesive and well organised intake from the conversations that i have had with a lot of other intake retired officers and the organizing committee members both before and during the RAFOR activities. that in itself more than made up to showcase our intake than a golf trophy could.
and i also take this opportunity to thank everyone for galvanising your support to me when i volunteered to coord our participation n the various RAFOR activities. apart from each and every squad members who participated, i would like to single out squad hamzah and marzuki not mike for helping me out and making it easier for me to coord our participation.
there have been some hiccups here and there and the job has not been enirely pleasant but be assured that with the kind of support that everyone has given to me, i would not hesitate to do a similar job like this for our mates and intake :) .

regards
jamil rais

From the Presidente on 14 Nov 09.

DearAll,
Whatever the case, next year its A MUST WIN, both for the team and individuals
Losing is not in my vocabulary.
He he. The light of our lives.
Take goood care mates

End of Story

So Squad that is the story pertaining to RAFOR. As stated I would raise the matter on golf in the postmortem. Its been interesting and invigorating. I am proud our squads responded well.

The response so far from RAFOR is:

YBhg Dato’ Mohd Hashim bin Hj Abu,
Over to you,
Thank you.
Nawawi
This from the Hon Sec to the Chairman Organising Committee of Reunion Golf on 13 Nov 09.

Will keep all informed on the progress.

Regards
Koljohn

GOLF OUTINGS IN CHIENGMAI

Introduction
This was a writeup done immediately after the Chiengmai trip. It also is our first posting on Club 12/68 Blog. Hope there'll be comments and also postings. Postings should be sent to club1268@gmail.com
Happy Blogging Squads.




The just concluded golf outing in The Alpines and the Highlands of Chiengmai resulted in Rahman Jabir carrying the day on 1st Jun and Isa on 4th June. They were the champions and received the highest prize money on offer.I am not sure what the eventual standings were but for sure at least 6 others were able to recoup some of the pool money collected. Besides that, there were also winnings amongst us, supposedly friends. My partnership with Hashim on the 1st was a lost to Khalid and Isa whilst the outing on the 4th was a Sixes fixed by Apai Marzuki. I won RM 10.Any intentions of piling money for the spouses’ shopping spree were just left as ‘dreams’.
It was a good outing, with everybody having their own whine and lamenting the putt that missed. Any hope of cool and breezy weather were replaced instead with a warm and windy conditions. Its still better then KL. At least it was a different venue. After the games there were promises of a ‘return match’. It sounds promising and exciting. I hope it materializes.
Until he is back to his own self, Jamil requested that I convene our golf outings. The first attempt was on 25th May at KGSAAS. Only Hashim and Khalid came. We added a ‘Squad’ who is a friend. Admittedly it was quite at short notice, but then again what is enough notice? In this aspect I have to play it ‘by the ear’, and hope that there will be better response the next time round.
In organizing these outings 3 things came to mind. Costs, courses and the days selected. I am aware that some golf courses offer walk-in opportunities on their off-peak days with a charge for the green fees, buggies, caddies and in some cases insurance. The days are normally weekdays. Senior citizens, normally 55 years and above get discounts. We all qualify. In the case of others who may be charged lesser (having an affiliation as an example) the overall costs could be defrayed on a pro rata basis.
At the moment I know of 2 clubs with this kind of offers and they are:
a. Kelab Golf Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah (KGSAAS) in Shah Alam Details are:
i. RM 85.00 each player for green fees, one buggy for 2 balls, one caddy per buggy and insurance coverage.
ii. Only on Mondays, teeing off between 0730 till 0930 hrs and 1230 till 1430.
iii. No meals included.

b. Kelab Golf Bukit Kemuning in Bukit Kemuning, Selangor. Details are:
i. RM 80.00 for each player for green fees and one buggy for 2 balls. Caddies could be requested for RM 30.00 each. Senior Citizens are only charged RM 65.00.
ii. On Mondays till Thursdays.Tee off from 0800 till 0930 hrs.
iii. No meals included.

Since no meals are included, we can arrange to have ours anywhere. Even at the club. It will incur extra costs though.
There may be other golf courses that you know of. Do tell so that we can explore the possibility of having our golf there.
The whole lot of us meet once a year during our annual reunion. There may be other get together off and on as opportunity arise. These golf outings was proposed, also, as to get in touch with each other. But for sure I insist on a preferred criteria of a buggy course, if possible-buggies on fairways and the availability of caddies. Without all these it would be very trying for us.
I will be planning for an outing soon enough and hopefully there would be many more responses.

Regards to All

CLUB 12/68 IN CHIENGMAI

It was worth the money spent, as we got more than what we had bargained for. For a paltry RM1500 a person we got to stay at a five-star hotel, bussed around in two air-cond coaches, one a double-decker with a dedicated tour guide, eat plenty of tom-yam, watch a bevy of Thai beauties in traditional attires prancing on a stage, ride on the backs of elephants with mahouts, sat in rickety bullock carts drawn by horny bulls, watched elephants painting with their trunks, drifted down a slow-flowing river on makeshift bamboo rafts, travelled to Mae Sei, the northernmost point of Thailand,
did a little snooping at
the Golden Triangle,
chomped lychees till we
nauseated, and for the
ladies, shopped till they
CHIANG MAI 2009
AN EVENT WORTH REMEMBERING
literally dropped.
Nani’s Escapade
The fun did not end
there only. Mike’s craving
for pulut mempelam suddenly
manifested forcing
Julie into a corner. Nani’s
shopping escapade left an
anxious Bakar and a busload
of tired wives on the
edge. An unsolicited text
message prompted Yusof
to buy a large stock of
silky materials, for God
knows who. Gooi and
Christine enjoyed the therapeutic
effects of Thai traditional
massage so much
that they kept going for
more. Azmie, Midah and
Hamidah suddenly found
the extra oomph to pocopoco
and dangdut with
gusto when they had struggled
to climb the steps of
their buses.
As with past gatherings
some mishaps will
dog us from the word go.
At the airport on the morning
of June 1, 2009, Gooi
bumped into Hadi and
his family waiting for the
Chiang Mai flight at the
domestic terminal. Mike
carried only Aussie dollars
on him and only after
much pleading did he acquired
some Thai bahts.
The top of the icing was
of course, Jayandran’s absence.
It went unnoticed
until Ramasamy disclosed
that Jaya had only made a
provisional booking and
had left matters at that.
Weather
The flight to Chiang
Mai by Air Asia Airbus
320 took over two hours.
Chang Mai is the second
largest city in Thailand. It
is surrounded by mountains
and enjoys a sub
tropical climate with much
sunshine and rainfall all
year round.
At the time of our sojourn
it was summer in the
Northern Hemisphere so
the sun bore down hard on
us. It was also the beginning
of the rainy season.
The bumpy ride on the approach
to the airport and
the constantly overcast sky
were indicators of the precipitous
conditions at that
point in time.
According to travel
brochures the best time to
visit this region of Thailand
is between November to
February. During this period
the Chiang Mai province
experiences pleasantly
mild sunny weather with
temperatures in the city
area ranging between 15
Celsius at night and around
28 Celsius at daytime.
At higher elevations,
temperatures can sometimes
dip below freezing
point at night. It doesn’t
snow, but sleet does occur
at times. During the hot
season, lasting from March
to May, temperatures in the
city soar into the high 30s.
The rainy season is
between June to October.
Chiang Mai is also home
to Doi Inthanon which, at
8,498 feet, is the highest
mountain in Thailand. A
trip later in the year would
have been the perfect option
but is of little consequence
as of now.
A Spectacle
The two tour guides
were a big help. On my
bus was Bobby (Bob), an
effervescent but effeminate
Thai in his late 40s. Bobby
spoke good English and
knew his stuffs well. He
was well equipped to take
on the task of guiding tourists
through the city and its
region without flattering,
something which our local
guides lack. The tourist industry
in Thailand is a major
revenue earner and thus
is being eagerly courted by
both the public and private
sectors. One extraordinary
spectacle that greets
visitors to Thailand is the
general cleanliness of the
streets, towns, villages and
countryside. A much puzzled
Zed theorised that religion
and culture could be
the reasons why the Thais
are so much different from
Malaysians when it comes
to keeping their backyards
clean. I believe the reason
goes beyond religion and
culture. It has much to do
with the racial makeover.
There was little to
complain as the trip went
on without a hitch from the
beginning till the end. The
numerous tom yam stops
were a bit too much for
our curry-deprived stomachs.
But eat we did and in
such huge quantity. Telor
dadar (omellet) seemed to
be a staple. Only once we
went without it. Members
swore that the best food
was prepared by Bismilah
Restaurant. The worst,
however, was the dinner
during the cultural show.
Some of the dishes were
exotic but tasteful while
some were very bland. It
was a good mix and most
were pleased with what
they ate with the exception
of Mike, of course, who
suffered tummy cramps
after the lunch stop in
Chiang Rai.
The Downside
The downside, however,
was our visit to the
long-neck hill tribe in
Mae Hong Son, north west
of Chiang Mai. Marzuki
(Apai), Ramsamy and
many more, yours truly
included, were appalled by
the sight.
Contrary to popular
belief these people,
also known as Padaung,
are not refugees but were
brought into Thailand by
Thai entrepreneurs and
are confined to the area for
the tourism market. They
are essentially Karens
from across the border in
Myanmar. They have no
legal status in Thailand
and are exploited as curios
by camera-toting tourists.
Unwittingly, we were
drawn into this deceptive
impression of reality, very
much at our behest.
Ahmad Ismail was
moved to tears by the
pitiful sight of this once
proud indigenous people
that he parted with several
hundreds bahts before
leaving behind the dilapidated
village. One of the
kids, he claimed, looked
so much like his grand
daughter. My heart goes
to these wretched souls
who are being stripped of
their dignity for pecuniary
reasons. Fortunately, our
Orang Aslis are left much
to themselves and have remained
unscathed in spite
of many tempting offers.
Night Bazaar
Although many would
want to dismiss the Night
Bazaar along Changklan
Road in downtown Chiang
Mai as a Mecca for fakes
and the less savoury, a visit
put paid to such notion.
The wives were drawn
to the serpentine bazaar by
the endless supply of cheap
textiles, leather wares,
souvenirs, handicrafts and
knickknacks. Some had
resorted to the tuk-tuks to
make a second and even a
third visit.
Anuar, Norsiah and
Jasmeen were hooked.
They were there almost
every night with a reluctant
Aiman in tow.
What impressed me
most, however, was the
cleanliness of the general
area. The night traders at
Petaling Street in Kuala
Lumpur should learn a
thing or two from their
Thai counterparts.
Haggling over prices
is warranted, said Bobby,
the tour guide. But Mike
took the art a notch higher
by insisting that prices of
all goods on display were
inflated by over three hundred
per cent.
Poor Julie missed a
chance to own a Gucci
look-alike travelling bag
due to her husband’s unwavering
belief.
And all because the
seller refused to reduce the
price of the said bag by a
further 50 bahts.
No-Tipping Policy
And when it came to
parting almost all chipped
in to tip our hard-working
guides from Standard Tours
Thailand and Mayflower
Malaysia for their efforts
in making Chiang Mai
2009 a huge success. Mike
was the odd one in the
crowd. He steadfastly held
on to his no-tipping policy,
which he feels is a subtle
form of bribery. Bakar was
miffed.
For the record, the
President brought Zah
along for the trip. And
what a striking couple they
make.
ion 2010
Marzuki (Apai)
Andong was picked
to chair the organising
committee for our reunion
in 2010. Seaman Marzuki
has tentatively picked
Lumut and Pangkor Island
to be the focal points.
He has something up his
sleeves but is not saying
much until the first meeting
at the Royal Lake Club
in Kuala Lumpur scheduled
for in July.
President’s Plans
The President has
outlined his plans for future
gatherings. They will
alternate between a local
destination and a foreign
one. A trip to China is in
the offing. In the interim
we shall meet at wedding
receptions and at mamak
shops on an opportunity
basis. The golfers have set
their motions adrift. They
intend to play at clubs
which have reciprocal arrangements
with PDGCC
of which many are members.
This, says Rahman
(Jambu), will help reduce
cost, as they have only to
pay for the service of caddies
and the use of buggies.
Hamzah, Isa and
Ismail are in agreement,
at least for the moment.
Meanwhile Hamdan, our
roving imam, has left the
vagaries of golfing behind
for the safety of the pulpit.
It is a revelation he insists.
Mike’s Offer
Incidentally, Mike’s
offer of his palatial house
in Brisbane as a base for
our get-together Down
CLUB UPDATES
Marzuki heads Reunion 2010. Mike mulls over offer Down Under. Bakar’s vanilla dreams.
Recluse Ibrahim resurfaces...
Under remains as elusive
as ever. I, however, feel
optimistic that given time
Mike will relent albeit reluctantly.
He likes to keep
us guessing. If that is his
game plan, so be it. We
will wait patiently.
Bakar’s Dreams
Unbeknown to many
Bakar is busy trying to unravel
the secrets of vanilla
cultivation on a commercial
basis. He has made
several trips to Bandung
to learn the finer points of
growing the plants with the
minimum of fuss. The guy
has invested over RM100k
on his 2-acre dream plot in
Jasin, Malacca. Return on
investment, he insists, will
come in three years time.
Mike seems skeptical.
Wedding Bells
Ibrahim Hj Kassim’s
daughter, Siti Nur Iqmal, is
tying the knot with Mohd
Azizan,. on Sunday, July
12, 2009.
Recluse Ibrahim has
sent out invitation cards
to members and I am
sure most must have received
them by now. The
reception will be held at
Ibrahim’s house at No 5,
Lorong Tanjung 5, Kg Sri
Tanjung, Ampang between
12 noon to 4 pm.
If you don’t know
how to get to Ibrahim’s
house Mike can show the
way.

Fathol Zaman Bukhari