Being in the Company of the Likes of Nelson Mandala

Being the other half of the new Pengarah, I had the honour of being invited to join the farewell dinner hosted by 30+ lecturers of IPG last night.

The food was good but the most memorable and touching moments were when each lecturer shared each of his/her feeling and perception about this outgoing Timbalan from the bottom of their hearts.

 

" She was fair in the dealing of all"
"She is always approachable. I feel like I am dealing with a friend rather then my superior"
"She is humble"
"She was always willing to listen to what we have to say and tried her best to solve our problem"
"The two years she was with us is too short and I wish she could stay longer"
and the list goes on.

 

I was almost moved to tears in discovering the impact she has made on so many people in a span of two years.

In my heart, I felt bless to be in the company of the likes of Nelson Mandela or Mother Theresa if I may put it like this :)

Pengarah's Residence

The single storey building is an L-shaped structure with one side housing the master bedroom with attached bathroom/toilet and adjoining with 2 more bedrooms plus another bathroom/toilet. The other wing houses the kitchen plus 2 more rooms, a kitchen, a bathroom and toilet for the maid. The living room is where the two wings meet.
The compound is huge. Being on top of a hill, it has a good bird's eye view of part of Keningau town and distant nice landscape.

The spacious compound is ideal for kids to run around and for barbeque :).

Front view

Huge compound to the left

Another huge compound to the right. The tree is perfect to be decorated and lighted up as Christmas tree during Christmas!

The New Pengarah's Office

The office is cosy, nice and self-contained. At one corner, there are table and chairs for discussion. Another corner is reserved for sofa and a TV set. I counted there are two PC's and a laptop inside this room. There is an attached toilet/bathroom complete with wardrobe and water filter. If a bed and kitchenette are added, it will then be perfect as an office cum living quarter! :)

The chap in black jacket is the Timbalan Pengarah.

Introducing the New Pengarah

As our car was about to enter the main entrance to the compound of Keningau Teachers Training Institute, I drew the attention of the "Pengarah" to a huge banner erected by the road side with the new Pengarah's picture printed on it. May be it is too large for the Pengarah to focus and she yielded, " Where! Where!". I had to literally point to the direction to get her focus.

The guard seemed to have done their homework by studying the Pengarah's portrait well in advance. So, when we drove pass, they stood attention, smiled and saluted and pointed to the direction toward the Administration Building.

As we reached the Admin. Building, another same huge banner hung right in front of the building greeted us. In my mind, it wouldn't be long when she can consider putting up herself as a candidate for the local election:).

The New Pengarah on the Way to Report for Duty

The day for the new Pengarah to report for duty at the Keningau Teachers Training Institute finally came on 12 September 2008. I volunteered to act as her driver cum escort :).

Instead of using the old KK-Penampang-Tambunan-Keningau Highway that most of us are used to, we decided to try the new KK-Papar-Kimanis-Keningau Highway. This new road however is considered controversial due to its steep slope design. Some stretches are as steep as 18% when the recommended limit is only 12%. But after using it, I come to accept it as there seems to be not much of an alternative as the road needs to cross the mountainous Crocker Range. Of course, it could have been better if tunneling or more massive hill cutting or elevated highway was adopted. I guess, cost consideration overrode consideration for a more driver-friendly design! But then, this is still one fantastic road because of the spectacular views especially on the way back to KK - view of the Kimanis Bay, to name one! Driving along this road did evoke a lot of memories. Certain stretch reminded me of the Sydney-Newcastle drive, other stretch reminded me of the Great Ocean Drive and some landscape even reminded me of the driving to Agusta, Southwestern Australia.