Orange Farm in Chittering

On our driving tour to the north of Perth, we made a detour to Golden Grove Citrus Orchard Farm in Chittering, an orange farm earlier introduced by my daughter.

This is quite a large orange farm with a few rows planted with lemon trees. Due to time factor, we decided against plucking the oranges but buy directly from the counter. We thought that buying directly from the farm could be cheaper. In the end, we discovered that this is not the case. Oranges sold in places like Spudshed is even cheaper.

But people who is keen to experience plucking oranges, this is a probably a good place to spend some time with friends and family.

Tokoh Guru

18 August 2016 was a significant date in our calender. Beside it was when my "purple ninja" was sold off (Read here), it was my wife's birthday and also the day she was made a Tokoh Guru of Papar District.

What exactly is Tokoh Guru? I tried Google Translate but found the translation unhelpful. Then, from the Ministry of Education Malaysia, I get a glimpse of what it means to be awarded the title of Tokoh Guru:

"The award is a symbol of the government's recognition of the sacrifice, integrity and contribution throughout their service. Among the criteria is that the candidate has a track record of excellence in the classroom, outstanding contribution to the teaching profession and education, active involvement in activities outside the classroom and community service, in addition to excellence in other fields. They must be a Malaysian citizen who was born in this country; as far as possible be chosen from among prominent personalities who have been awarded the title of Master at the state level; aged 50 years or over, whether serving or retired; are or have served as teachers, principals, teachers, lecturers or administrators in education services".

With this criteria, the closest translation I can think of is "Exemplary Teacher or Excellent Teacher".

With the criteria, it is understandable why the awards are given either to retirees or posthumously to the deceased. One's legacy cannot be safely defined only until after leaving active teaching service.

Award presented by the Deputy Minister of Works, Malaysia,

Datuk Rosnah Abdul Rashid Shirlin who is also

the Member of Parliament for Papar.

The two Tokoh Guru

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Our house has a big collection of gifts and souvenirs given just before her retirement on 18 August 2011. I think this is now the right time to share some of them.

The parting words of the Department of Visual Arts & Department of Indigenous Pedagogy of Keningau Teachers Training Institute on the eve of her retirement sum up her legacy in her teaching career.

"Thank you for being such a wonderful leader, an exemplary model and caring. Thank you for sharing your knowledge. Thank you for not being afraid to trust the citizens of IPG Keningau Campus like real people. Thank you for showing acceptance, approval and appreciation. These are all gifts that are so important for our development and we will remember you well. Words of encouragement, a little respect and simple gesture of kindness promote the perfect climate for working, learning and growing. Your attitude translates into a spirit of friendliness and good will towards other. Progress is easier in an atmosphere of creative freedom, joy and ease and we will remember you well. We salute the good work you have done, we appreciate the person you are and we thank you for your positive influence. You have passed on invaluable instruction and wisdom and created pleasurable moments associated with learning that will always be sweet memories and we will remember you well. Thank you for ensuring impression you have made in the lives you have touched. You are a great leader, teacher and great friend and we will remember you always. 

Retirement may be an ending, a closing, but it is also a new beginning. 

Happy Birthday & Happy Retirement!
17 August 2011 

From Jabatan Seni Visual & Jabatan Pedagogi Perimubi."

A portrait painting by a Lecturer.

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This year, her birthday was celebrated not solely with her other half. This August, Paul and Jun Shi came back for a short holidays. The night before they left for Singapore on 8 August, they sprang a surprise by pulling out a birthday cake from the fridge. A secret well kept from us until the very last minute!

We also spent an evening at Kokol Haven to enjoy the awesome sunset view of Kota Kinaballu.

Letting Go

My work horse, a land cruiser which has been with the family for over 20 years was finally gone on 18 August 2016, the same day my wife celebrated her birthday. It had been a faithful coach ferrying the children to and from schools in the late 90's and early 2000's. It had traversed across various parts of Sabah during the family outings. It had even gone as far as Brunei when we took a drive to see the newly opened Jurudong Theme Park. But the most unique description came from my grandson. He didn't see it as being painted purple. He called it "Gung gung's big red car."! He will miss it when he visits KK the next time.

But time is catching up and keeping it in serviceable condition is likely to become more costly. Rather than keeping it idly, it was time to let go. It was put on sale in Mudah.com.

After meeting with numerous potential buyers, one chap was genuinely interested with an acceptable offer. A handshake formalized the deal. The new owner, Ramli Mohamad however was worried that I would change my mind when I was away for two days in West Malaysia. He called me the minute I arrived home from the airport on 16 August and was keen to have all the paper work done.

In the morning of 18 August, Ramli was a happy man. His immediate plan - a drive to Kota Marudu with his wife! I am happy it is in good hand.

Reunion of Fifians

David Tow remains as the undisputed individual who could motivate the fifians to meet and be connected over and over again.

David Tow, a lecturer of the Faculty of Education of the University of Malaya was a Fellow of MU 5th Residential College in the 70's. When we first entered the university as freshies in 1973 and stayed at the 5th College, David opened his living quarter in the College to allow us to meet and fellowship. We called ourselves the 5th College Christian Fellowship and now the Fifians in short.

At around the mid 2000's, David and his wife Rosalina decided to relocate and return to his original country, Australia for good. Since then, they have come back occasionally to Malaysia. Reunions were always organised for the Fifians to meet up with him and for fellowship. The last gathering I attended was in August 2009 (Read here).  He came back twice after that. I being in Sabah did not attend any of them.

A few years ago, his health deteriorated significantly after two strokes. Currently, he is wheel chair-bound and he can no longer talk. A procedure was done to insert a tube through the neck to his stomach for feeding because he is unable to swallow due to weakened muscle. Nephrostomy tube insertion was also done to drain the urine via a catheter.

Despite of his condition, he and Rosalina made another trip back to Malaysia in July. All of us knew that this would be probably his last trip back to Malaysia.

I and my wife, also a fifian flew to KL to attend a reunion with him and other fifians in one of the home of the fifians on 15 August. Two smaller gatherings were held earlier in David's house on 23 July and 4 August. The one I attended was the largest with fifians coming from Singapore, Sarawak and Sabah. We had great time reminiscing old time, catching up on news about children and grandchildren.

More than 43 years have passed since we got to know each other. Most are now retirees and grandparents. Deep down, we knew that such occasions would become more difficult to organize because time is catching up fast.

Still, we had surprises. We discovered that one among us who had no culinary skill during our university student days is now a "chef extraordinaire" - cooking skill that he picks up as a hobby. KC Ho single-handedly cooked all the dishes we had that evening.

How the ladies looked in August 2016 as against in August 2009

With KC Ho in August 2016 as against in August 2009

My wife with Guek Yean, (right) a fellow 

Batu Pahatian and also ex Convent girl

We sang, just like old time! KC Ho, our guitarist during university days is still equally good with the guitar!

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When the rest were busy cooking in Lar Har's house, a few of us had private moments with David at his home.

Encounter Least Expected

There are people that you cross path with for a period of your life and then part way and never to meet again. But by divine intervention or whatever you may call it, there are incidences that parted individuals may cross path again in a totally different environment.

I met EP Tay, a Sarawakian in 1973 when we both stayed in the Fifth Residential College, University of Malaya. He was studying for his Science degree in MU while I was studying for a Civil Engineering degree. In fact we were staying in the same block, Block D. He is one of those individuals that you find it difficult to forget because of certain unique ability in him. He has this exceptional ability in picking up foreign languages. Barely a year in the university, his Japanese language skill which he learnt in the university for interest was so good that he was one of the five selected for students exchange to Japan. Since I left the 5th College in 1974, I had not seen or heard from him.

When I was in Perth recently, a uni-course mate also from Sarawak asked me whether I knew one Tay fellow who did his study in MU but has migrated and now works in the Kings Park Botanical Garden as a Botanist. I just could not recall someone by the name of EP Tay whom I knew in MU. He then added that EP Tay was from Sarawak and had stayed in the 5th College. Only then, the surname Tay clicked and this language specialist re-surfaced in my memory.

After a lapse of more than 42 years, we finally met in Lau HW's house on 16 July 2016. There was not a shadow of doubt that my guess was correct because he has hardly changed after all these years. The only obvious difference is that his hair has now turned white, much like all our peers! Incredibly, he remembers my Chinese name but has no re-collection of my English name. This is understandable because I started off with my Chinese name in my initial years in the University before switching to  using the English name later on.

He now even speaks French! After working for a couple of years in Malaysia upon graduation, he then moved to Singapore working as a Botanist in the Singapore Botanical Garden. Later on, he was offered a scholarship to do post-graduate study in France. For the course, he had to learn French which he picked up in 6 months instead of the normal one years! His language skill is truly incredible.

At the Dragon Palace Cockburn Gateway, a kind lady offered to take a photo for us. The chap in the middle is  the classmate of EP Tay in St. Thomas Secondary School, Sarawak, Lau HW. He pursued his civil engineering degree in UWA and after graduation somehow ended in KK, Sabah. He married a Sabahan and worked in the Drainage & Irrigation Department before switching to practice as a consulting engineer. He too migrated to Perth after giving up his consulting practice more than ten years ago (Read here).

Geraldton

Geraldton, a town 425Km north of Perth turned out to be much bigger than we originally imagined. Though with a only population of under 40,000, it has almost all amenities and infrastructure of a big city. 

We spent a night in Geraldton and stayed in a heritage guesthouse called Weelaway on Gregory. As we checked into the Guesthouse, the owner, Jackie was keen to tell us that we have chosen the right place to stay, a place of historical significance. This is the first residential house built in Geraldton town and was at one time occupied by the first mayor of Geraldton.

Weelaway on Gregory

Geraldton has a number of buildings of unique design and architecture. One of the buildings we had planned to visit is St. Francis Xavier Cathedral, a catholic church building completed in 1938. Unlike the old traditional single spire cathedral design that we are used to, this cathedral is built with a twin-tower and finished with a very distinct and striking brown orange mud color. It looks more like a castle than a church building. Before coming to Geraldton, I have read a lot about its stunning interior design. Unfortunately, we were unable to enter the building to see because it was closed for renovation.

St. Francis Xavier Cathedral

St. John Uniting Church

Just like the pioneers in New Zealand, the initial settlers in Geraldton from UK brought along their Christian faith and built churches to keep their faith and to have a center for communal interaction. The St. John Uniting Church built in the late 1800's (Foundation Stone laid on 26 July 1893) is a small church building. Now listed a heritage building, its symmetric, simple yet imposing design must have been a pride of the locals during the early 1900's. Christian influence clearly has declined over the years!

Regional Art Gallery and some of the paintings on display.

Queens Park Theatre

HMAS Sydney II Memorial (Day View & Night View)

Geraldton sits on a very flat piece of land. The only high spot in town is a little hill called Mount Scott which is about 35m high. On top of the hill is the HMAS Sydney II Memorial. This memorial is built to commemorate a naval cruiser, HMAS Sydney II which was sunk by a German raider HSK Kormoran off the Western Australia coast on 19 November 1941. The wrecks of both ships however are never found. The centre piece of this Memorial is the Dome of Souls. The domed roof is a flock of stainless steel sea gulls, 645 in total to symbolise all the crew of the sunken ship. We were there twice, in the afternoon and at night, to see the Dome of Souls and the sunset of Geraldton.

The Pinnacles

The Pinnacles is not one of my bucket list. Still, a visit to this vast desert dotted with thousands and thousand of natural megaliths is a humbling experience! 

Before the Visitors Centre was put up in 2008, moving around the pinnacles may be like walking in a labyrinth. It may be a daunting task to get out of it! But now, with proper guided tracks put in place, we had a great time driving through this huge desert without any fear of getting lost. The parking spaces allocated throughout the tracks allow visitors to stop any time to explore and take photo. Visiting The Pinnacles now is truly a pleasant and enriching experience.