CONGRATULATIONS!!

My heartiest Congratulations to Haakem's school, for achieving a good result in the UPSR. 5 (out of 40) candidates obtained 5As and the school achieved the best overall performance for the zone.

Haakem... Oh Haakem.....

Yesterday, I got up @ 6.20am to fry the chicken for Haakem's class farewell party. I also packed some brownies for him to bring. Papa walked him to school and later at 8.40am I pushed off for work (for the uninitiated, my home is about 15 minutes drive from work on a normal day and 7 minutes on a clear day and 20 minutes on heavy traffic day). At 9.20am I received a call from Hubby telling me that Haakem's class teacher just informed him that Haakem had a cut on his head after fooling around with his classmates and knocked his head against a chair. He was bleeding but his teacher told Hubby not to worry and that they have attend to the wound but if the anything happens, he would bring Haakem to the clinic and llet us know. Of course I was worried. I called his Guru Penolong Kanan and she confirmed that all is okay and she has lent Haakem her daughter (Haakem's classmate)'s school blouse and Haakem has started to eat.... alot!!

I called to inform Atuk, else she would start panicking seeing the bandaged head when she picked Haakem from school. In the afternoon, when I called home to check on Haakem's condition, she told me Haakem was fine and is not vomitting or having any difficulty.

I arrived home late last night, 10.10pm to be exact and Haakem showed me his Surat Lantikan (Letter of Appointment) as the school prefect for 2008. Light blue shirt, dark blue pants and black shoes. And we have to contibute RM30.00 for other essentials... I guess for his vest/blazer and tie. My son, the school prefect in his Year 3..... amusing!

Insert: A semi-focused pic of Haakem receiving one of his awards during Hari Anugerah Cemerlang. Almost as tall as his HM!!

Hari Anugerah Cemerlang - Haakem

Insert: the decorated stage with no people on it is 2007's while the one next to it is last year's.
________________________________________
As members of the school PTA, hubby and I are really concerned about the kids' activities and welfare. It is such a small school (believe it, a really small number of school children at a government school in the middle of KL city!!) with a total of 130 pupils and 15 teachers. There are only one class for each year except for year 6 with 2 classes. The classes averaged at 18 kids per class with a teacher pupil ratio of 1:8. It is one of the top schools in the zone though. But some 10 to 20 years ago, it had records of 1500 pupils in a given year. Discipline is not one of its problems. Literacy rate is also high with 90% of the students who had to undergo the KIA 2M Programme passing after the first month. We chose the school for Haakem because of these facts and that it is only 5 minutes walk from our doorstep. The school gate is merely 5 metres from our condo gate!!


Enough said about the school, yesterday 12th November 2007 was its Hari Anugerah Cemerlang. Hubby and I helped (literally) alot with the preparation. The PTA Chairman has been unavailable for days and with his mandate, Hubby as the Deputy and me as the Head of Academic Development Bureau felt obliged to see that the event is a success. We took charge of the stage deco, from purchasing, designing and actually undertaking the whole decorating works!! On Saturday hubby went to Sg Buluh to purchase the poly bagged plants and together with his cousin, arranged the plants on and in front of the stage. They put up the banner as the backdrop and pasted on some flower arrangements. They started at 4 and finished by Maghrib. The next day hubby bought 30 meters (too much, of course, but just in case!!) of plain cloth to cover up the poly bags. We went to the school at 9.30pm and did the finishing touch in less than an hour.


The teachers arrived in the morning, pretty impressed with our job! The ceremony started at 8.30 am. Hubby arrived since 7.10am together with haakem who was really excited about changing into his smart attire for his class' performance. I had to settle a few things at home before speeding off to the school at 8.00am. My aunt, Millie and Bibik were also coming to see Haakem in action. They arrived later at 8.25am, Millie clad in pink cotton dress, so excited to see Mama after being grumpy for having woken up from her slumber at such early time.


The event started at 8.30 with the arrival of VIPs, singing of the National Anthem and Wilayah Persekutuan Anthem followed by the Doa recital. The Headmistress gave her opening speech, informing about the kids' achievement in sports and extra-curricular activities at zone, state and national levels. The Ceremony was officially opened by none other that the Deputy Chairman of the PTA.... aka Hubby!! It was done after his very short speech. After that, Year 1 kids started off the performance with their 60's Dance which was hilarious. One of the kids of the 14 member class decided not to turn up leaving one of the boys having to dance alone! That poor fellow.


After the dance, the price giving ceremony started with year 1 and year 2 children by the Headmistress. Haakem received 2 awards, one for second place in class (and aliran whatever that means in his school!!) and another one for best in Agama. His best friend (who is also our neighbours' daughter) Athena received the awards for first place in class and best in Maths, Science and Moral Education. Masyita (the school Guru Penolong Kanan's only child) received one for the third place and Siti Nadihah received the awards for best in BM.


Immediately after that was Haakem's year 2 combined with year 3 choir performance. There were 15 out of 18 (Year 2) and 14 out of 14 (Year 3) of them. The boys are smartly dressed in their white shirts, grey pants and grey vests with white & peach ribbons. The girls are dressed in white blouses and turquoise skirts with beautiful flowers worn on the heads. They sang "Perwira" and "Malaysia Berjaya". They did well and received a loud round of applause. Such cute kids!!


My aunt, Millie and Bibik left after that performance for Millie has become restless. I was later called on stage to give away the awards for years 3 and 4. Later, there were story telling by Year 3 pupil who was the second prize winner at the state level competition. Another PTA member who is the Head of Sports & Extra Curricular Bureau gave away the awards for years 5 and 6. After the impressive Choral Speaking performance of Year 5 and year 6 Nasyid performance (which won the competition at zone level), Hubby was called on stage to give away the Special Achievement Awards of Cleanest Classes (Levels 1 and 2), Nilam (Reading) Programme (Levels 1 and 2), Special Achievement in Agama, Special Achievement in Extra Curricular Activities (male and female) and finally the Special Achievement in Academic.


After the photography session Hubby was presented with a basket of fruits!! And later the ceremony ended with the kids and parents given packed lunch and the VIPs and teachers enjoying served lunch (at 11.00 am!!). After Haakem has changed into his normal uniform, still with blushers on, we left for home. It was a simple but successful event. And today, as I compared the pictures of this year's event with last year's event which was mostly organised by professionals, I'd vote for this year's work of amateurs and we will strive to do better next year!

It's Official!!! Millie Is Walking!!

She chose to officially start walking on Deepavali, at approximately 6.00pm under the watchful eyes of her Papa.

Still a little bit shaky and confused but she's showing it off! Bibik can finally breathe in relief as she no longer has to carry Millie around but watch out as Millie's level of eye view has increased... table tops.... cupboards... stove..... drawers.... here I come!!!

Muar 04/11/2007

Millie turned 14 months last weekend. We were in Muar, berhariraya with relatives there. Food was in abundance and delicious!!!

HAPPY 8TH BIRTHDAY MY DARLING HAAKEM!!

Haakem turns 8 today. I haven't got the time to prepare anything for him to celebrate with his friends at school. Weekend was really full and yesterday I was on outstation duty in Lumut (yet again!). So, tonight we are going to get his birthday present and will celebrate at home tomorrow.

He did quite well in his final exam except for Science. I have to coach him alot on this subject. No excuse. I think it is mainly due to passive voice questions which made him confused. Other than that, he did fine. His school's Hari Anugerah Cemerlang is on 12th November 2007, Monday. He'll be receiving 2 awards. One for second place in year 2 and another one for highest score in Agama subject. His class will also be performing 2 patriotic songs, Perwiraku and Malaysia Berjaya. This he practised alot, much to his baby sister's delight!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AND CONGRATULATIONS HAAKEM!! MAMA LOVES YOU VERY MUCH!

Haakem's Activities After the Final Exam

It was the Final Exam immediately after Eid Holidays. He had his last minute crash studying from 18th to 21st October 2007. I kept my fingers crossed. It has been a while since I last coach his studying/revision. I prayed really hard for him. The Exam lasted 3 days and I guessed he was confident enough, a bit anxious though. 2 papers came back this week and he scored 96% for both (Mathematics and Agama), Alhamdulillah. I was glad that they were not silly/careless mistakes.

Today, he is at school for camping activities organised for the school's uniformed groups (Year 4, 5 and 6). He was so excited about it. It is actually a 2 day programme with a visit to Malacca on Saturday but I told him that since it is only for the uniformed groups, it is not advisable for him to go. He was only included because both hubby and I are PTA Committee members and hubby is always involved in the kids' extra-curricular activities. After all, he's been to Malacca and has visited all the historical sites....

Earlier today, Haakem's school celebrated Children's Day and he was to sing Seloka Hari Raya. Last night I had to iron his second raya clothes, green baju Melayu with sampin. Nicely folded and placed in a box so that it won't crease.....

I'll only see him tonight, if I manage to go to his school or tomorrow morning, to catch up on his days's actitivities. Hari Anugerah Cemerlang is scheduled on 12th November but I hope it will be postponed or held earlier as I have to be on outstation duty that particular day.

Raya Di Muar - Insya Allah

Insya Allah, this Sunday we will be going back on a day trip to Muar, my hometown... the place I grew up in. We'll be visiting Mak Yah's late husband's families in Bukit Treh, my uncle's family in Bukit Gambir and possibly my old neighbours behind St. Andrews School and/or Mak Yah's old friends around Parit Tiram. If time permits I will ask hubby to drive us around my alma mater(s) SRKSAB at Jalan Junid and SM(P)SAB at Jalan Abdul Rahman.
I missed Muar so much. I hope we can push off early in the morning so that we can cover as many places as we could possibly cram in the 12 hours.