…from TPA’s desk…08

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Writer: BAKRI BAHAROM

www.polimas.edu.my / [email protected] 019-488-1430

1 October 2013

D E S I G N E D & EDITE D B Y : A Z L I D A A H M A D (PTSS )

My hometown is which is in KubangPasu district, in the state of . Sometimes I wonder where the word JITRA is derived from. According to a friend, it came from two words; Jit and Ra. Of course, someone might have guessed that RA is the name of God in ancient Egypt. I don’t think my local town has anything to do with that God of the Sun. It is said that JIT, a male while RA, a female, were of Thai descend. However, my friend never mentioned whether they were husband and wife. Were they like Romeo and Juliet, or Samson and Delilah, or the local lovers, Laila and Majnun? Then, my town is really romantic, like Shakespeare literature. There are some other small towns in the area like Changloon, and Napo that definitely sound Thai. Incidentally, when I was in STAR Ipoh in the 70’s, any student fromKodiang would be nicknamed after the town. What a great respect!

KubangPasu is special in many ways. In modern times, it produced the longest reign Prime Minister of Malaysia, TunDr Mahathir Mohamad (1981 – 2003). The constituency has the widest range of education institutions: Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM), Politeknik Sultan Abdul HalimMu’adzam Shah (POLIMAS), Institut Perguruan Darulaman (IPDA), Institut Aminuddin Baki (IAB), Institut Latihan Perindustrian (ILP), Institut Kemahiran Belia Negara (IKBN), Institut Kemahiran MARA (IKM), Kolej Komuniti Bandar Darulaman (KKBD), Maktab Rendah Sains Mara (MRSM), Akademi Binaan Malaysia (ABM), Kolej Matrikulasi, Sekolah Menengah Sains and Sekolah Menengah Integrasi. There is also one established school, Sekolah Menengah Sultan Abdul Halim, Jenan of which the present Agong/Sultan is the alumni patron. Welcome to Kubang Pasu, the valley of education, unchallenged by any other district in Malaysia.

Jitra is 22 km away from , a gateway to Thailand. It is connected to the North-South highway and considered as a dual-carriage way, hence there is no toll. But, if you come from Thailand or the duty-free shop on Malaysia side, our highway concessionary, PLUS will welcome you with a ticket for RM3.50. Food items like rice, vegetables, fruits, snacks, clothes etc. are brought in abundance from our neighbour around the year. The four provinces close to Malaysia are Narathiwat, Pattani, Satun and Phattalong. The border town like Dannok or a little bit more to the north like Sadao, Hat Yai, Songkhla and Yala are always frequented by Malaysians for both business and pleasure. In fact, the journey to Kelantan is nearer if you travel via Thailand than taking the East-West highway. Once, in the 70’s, I took Tunjang Express bus service from AlorSetar via Thailand to Golok,

and proceeded to Kota Bharu, Kelantan.

Thailand is also known as a “White Elephant” country. It is probably the only country in Asia not occupied by any foreign powers. It shares border with Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia. From Bukit Kayu Hitam to Chiang Rai is about 1700 km by road. Even though the country is famous for tourism and agriculture, it produces the biggest number of 4X4 truck in the world. It has no national car, but a huge parts-supplier to Honda, Toyota and many other car brands. In 2008, we made a trip to Bangkok in a double- decker bus which was not yet available in Malaysia. The journey took 18 hours including numerous stops for meals and rest rooms. Bangkok is a big city, some say it is four times bigger than Kuala Lumpur (KL). The city is infamous for traffic jam of which no time is the right time to avoid it. Surprisingly, the Thais are so used to it that they keep calm when caught in one. I am told some lady-drivers would bring along thread and needle to knit table cloths. Now, Bangkok has been declared the number one tourist-arrival-by-flight destination in the world. How? They work for it!

Songkhla , which is about 150 km from Bukit Kayu Hitam is somewhat bigger than Jitra. If you travel by car, it will take about 2 hours from the border. Generally, the buildings in Songkhla look aged. At the moment in Jitra, there are only 4 rows of pre-war shop-houses remaining; three of them are along Ibrahim Road and the other one is along Jitra- Tunjang Road. Jitra has expanded in terms of residential houses and commercial buildings. Unofficially, the locals identify the different locations in Jitra as Jitra1, Jitra2 and Jitra3. Almost all banks open their branches there; Maybank, Bumiputra Commerce Bank (BCB), Bank Islam, Public Bank, Bank Rakyat, Agro Bank, Affin Bank and AmBank. There are as many as 20 private clinics to take care of the residents in the area because the people’s favourite pastime is eating. Anytime is a right time to eat. That is why we have so many 24-hour restaurants. Last Monday, 16 September, I was at the annual Sultanah Bahiyah Foundation (YSB) Exhibition. There was one booth offering free blood and urine tests. I passed both with flying colours but failed miserably in Body Mass Index (BMI). Imagine the doctor recommended me to reduce my waist-line by 17 inches. That is only 8 inches short of Miss World perfect figure. In the afternoon Latif and I were invited by Datuk Zaini Japar, the local politician to attend Malaysia Day celebration at his residence. Again, food was aplenty. So, it is not totally my fault, is it?

In early August 2013, Songkhla Vocational College (SVC) contacted us. They would like to have a seminar cum meeting at our place in September. They would bear all the costs. That coincided with our schedule to prepare for SIRIM MS-ISO 9001:2008 re-certification from 2-4 September. Apart from that, our 27th convocation was to be from 11- 12 September. As usual, we have 6000 plus students to cater to, endless meetings, programmes, activities at federal, state, community and institutional level. But, how could we say NO to our friend, Sakol Satchanarat who has bee n our Thailand consultant for many years? How could we say NO to SVC director, Dr Rujira who facilitated our trip of 30 students and 10 lecturers from 4 polytechnics to Asean Vocational Camp in Bangkok from 16-24 August 2013? How could we say NO to a college which financed our trip to Bangkok on behalf of their government? So, there was only one option; YES.

We invited SVC director to POLIMAS th 27 convocation. It was held at Dewan Originally SVC wanted to come on 18-20 September. However, Wawasan Jitra which is located by the Pauh Inn Training Centre at PTSS was fully booked on the last day. highway. The four guests were Dr Rujira We had to shift by one day earlier. It was no problem with SVC. We Klaewtanong, Mr Sumpan Tipapong, Ms booked the whole hotel which can take the maximum of 98 pax at Wipawan Saengkhao and Mr Sakol the cost of RM8,640, without discount. Our committee members Satchanarat. POLIMAS convocation is were kept at minimum. On 17 September, 10.00am, 3 POLIMAS always special. The Sultan of Kedah, His buses left for Bukit Kayu Hitam. The temporary tourist guides were Royal Highness Sultan Abdul Halim Dr Abdul Rahman, Mr Helan Noor and myself. Majdah was assigned Mu’adzam Shah would never miss to look after the place for Opening Ceremony. We brought along our gracing the occasion. He would always photographers, Basyar. By 12.00 noon, we passed through the inspect the Guard of Honour mounted by Immigration and Custom Malaysia with ease. We headed to Shahril our Territorial Army Reserve Unit Low Grand Restaurant for lunch. The restaurant is at Jitra3 which (PSTD). The brass band would come is next to the Aneka Supermarket main entrance. The two shop-lots from different army bases. Since His belong to our alumni member, Azmi who doubles-up as the Royal Highness became the Head King manager. The operation is headed by Abu who is my classmate as (Agong) of Malaysia, his place is taken well as our alumni member. The third lot is his office, which has over by his daughter; Tunku Intan also become our alumni meeting place. The top floors are used as Safinaz. We sought Her Royal Highness motels. The restaurant is actually a franchise owned by a Malaysian pleasure to receive a gift from SVC Muslim Chinese, Shahrin Low. He would provide all the chefs and College director, Dr Rujira. She was menus. There are about 10 such restaurants in Malaysia now. The escorted by the ever willing Sakol lunch was great. Satchanarat. The gift was a model of 60- year-old still-living elephant at His Majesty King Bhumipol Adulyadej palace in Bangkok. Tunku Intan Safinaz seemed to be very pleased with the presentation. Then, all our guests settled down for a sumptuous lunch with Her Royal Highness.

At 2.30pm, 17 September, we were at Lecture Theatre 6 for the opening ceremony. To start with, we had a group of Semester 3 Diploma in Marketing students to sing our official Polytechnic song. I was honoured to deliver a welcoming speech as our director was out of station. Our special guest was Mr Marzuki Kemi from Technical and Vocational Education Division, Ministry of Education (BPTV). He represented the director, Mr Ahmad Tajuddin Jab, who could not make it because his wife was undergoing a surgery. The other special guest from Thailand was Mr Prasert Keawpet, the President of the Institute of Vocational Education Council. He is in charge of the vocational education in the Southern Region 3. Mr Prasert Keawphet also delivered a speech. Ahmad Tajuddin Jab used to work in POLIMAS as Head of Civil Engineering Department. He opted out of the polytechnic system some years ago. The recently launched Vocational College offering diploma programmes is his baby. Marzuki who was tasked to give a keynote address knew his stuff very well. He detailed the mapping of Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) between some countries including Germany, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia. He readily agreed that Thailand is doing great. What about Malaysia? We are second when compared with each of the countries in turn! Even with the transformation plan in place, there is no way we can close the gap within the next 5 years. It looks like my classmate, Ahmad Tajuddin Jab needs to run faster and take no break at all. Good luck. After some handing of souvenirs, we adjourned for tea at our MR MARZUKI & MR PRASERT newly opened canteen.

By 5.00pm everyone was on the field. It was telematch time. The programme was taken care of by Azimah Ismail, our young Head of Programme from Mechanical Engineering Department. Her team comprised of 28 Semester 3 and 5 Diploma in Plastic students. They put up some tents, set up the sound system, music and equipment for the games. All the students wore similar green T-Shirts. It was a well- organised team. There were 5 games involving 10 teams with 10 members each. The 5 games were Ring Dance, Water Sponge Bob, Beautiful Face, Mummy Return and Musical Chair. In the first game, participants had to run in a track to the other end and come back to the starting position with loop-a-loop around their waist. In order for the loop-a-loop not to drop, you have to continuously “twist” your body. Then, the second member will repeat the process until the last one. It was really hilarious. The second game was like the first one but the task was to transfer water from point A to B using a sponge. Again, laughter was on everyone’s face. To cut the long story short, the last game was musical chair. I have seen it played many times but none was as dramatic as on the day. The final tussle was between two ladies. When the music suddenly stopped, lady A was certainly looked to be the winner. As she was about 5 cm to land her butt on the chair, the other lady B, managed to twist or ‘steal’ the chair. She received an all-around applause with

her quicker-than-the-eye action. Really, it was the time that the teachers became children once again. We wrapped up with the most enjoyable photo session.

TELEMATCH AT POLITEKNIK SULTAN ABDUL HALIM MU’ADZAM SHAH

After the game, we left for Anjung Kuala, for dinner. We reached there around 8.00pm. The restaurant is huge. We ANJUNG KUALA chose Kuala Kedah because it is by the seaside. The dinner was great. The only complain is about the abundant of small mosquitoes. Even though it is not of dengue type but something must be done about it, please. We then proceeded to check-in at Pauh Inn, at about 10.00pm. The two volunteers, Azlida bt Ahmad and Anis Nadya bt Che Ahmad were there to

help out with a group of students. Thank you very much.

After tea-break we moved to another room at Multimedia Unit. They needed a different set up to discuss their 2014 budget. I learned that the annual financial year in Thailand actually ends by On Wednesday we started off with breakfast at Serai 30th September. We left them alone to work out the Café. The word means lemon grass, used in typical Malay details until lunch time at 12.30pm. Again, we dish. Its aroma is very distinctive. There is hardly any walked up and down more steps to end up at the household in my village not growing lemon grass for main office. We took a group photo and had lunch own consumption. It is one of the most important at the Exhibition Room next to the hall. Everything ingredients in the famous Thai dish like Tom Yam. We went great. However; SVC advisor, Mrs. Usa A. then proceeded to Lecture Theatre 3. As we were Punt received an unfortunate phone call. Her son walking, I pointed out to them the different was involved in an accident in Bangkok. Dr Abdul departments, staff apartments, students’ hostels, Rahman sent her to catch a taxi at the main gate. mosque, cafeterias, library, sport facilities, offices, etc. as She said she would fly from Hat Yai airport. We we passed by. They then realised that Politeknik Tuanku pray for her son’s immediate recovery. The SVC Syed Sirajuddin (PTSS) is full of steps. I told them the teachers continued their work immediately after other acronym for PTSS is PoliteknikTangga Sana Sini lunch. I stayed back to savour the delicious African (literally; Polytechnic with steps here and there). Finally, Sea Coconut concoction drink with Dr Abdul everyone made it to the room, sweating. That should Rahman, Helan Noor and Sakol. take care of the morning exercise. I started off with a short introduction to our polytechnic system Phase 1 and 2 transformation initiatives commencing 2010 and how it is related to the Government Transformation Plan (GTP). I showed them a pie-chart as to what happened to our 2012 graduates in terms of employment. The question was raised during Q&A the day before. We were fortunate to have two keen young lecturers from the hospitality department to talk about the newly introduced diploma programme; Halal Food Service and Event Management. The Thais were certainly interested because the majority of their southern provinces populations are Muslims. We had our tea break at what is known as Mountain View canteen.

POLITEKNIK TUANKU SYED SIRAJUDDIN At 3.30pm, they wrapped up their budget meeting. The teachers were divided into two groups; A and B. We marched them up and down more steps to end up at the junction between Commerce, Information Technology (IT), Hospitality and Digital Art & Film departments. Group A was welcomed by JRKV staff headed by Anis Safinaz bt Ramliand Shamzuri b. Yaakob, while Group B was taken care of by Zaharizuan b. Azharand Faizal b. Abd Razak. They spent an hour touring the two departments, listening to briefings, watching students’ animation and final film projects. Finally, everyone settled for tea by the poolside of the hotel. The next agenda was Aerobic Dance at 5.15pm organised by Rozalita bt Saupi from General Studies Department PTSS. Every one of them was such a sport and enjoyed the dance cum exercise routine. The music was great. The instructor was fantastic. My instinct told me I have seen the instructor before but I could not recall where. Joining the instructor on “stage” were Rozalita and the hotel janitor. They looked like seasoned aerobic dancers. A few times the instructor gyrated her body in the dance routine to the amusement and approval of the participants. It was great, really great. After an hour, all were exhausted but thrilled. Thank you Rozalita. We can always count on you. POLITEKNIK TUANKU SYED SIRAJUDDIN

At 7.00pm we left for . Initially, we planned to have dinner at Alor Setar Tower. Due to scheduled lift maintenance, we were advised to postpone to lunch on Thursday. Thus, we had dinner at the Old Village, off Teluk Kumbar road. The restaurant is situated by a river. A boat ride is also available during daytime. Our director, Asmara Sulong; deputy director (non-academic), Abdul Latif Halim; Anis Nadya bt Che Ahmad and Nur Hartini bt Harun from PTSS joined the dinner. In her speech, our director welcomed the cooperation between the two

institutions and gave the green light for further collaboration. When dinner was over, Dr Rujira asked for permission to carry out the next programme in Thai language. It turned out that they were honouring three retiring

teachers; Mrs. Suwaleeporn Wannasut, Mr Chumnong Koysattaya and Mrs. Dang Maksakha. Each of them delivered his/her speech and received retirement memento. Happy retirement. Thank you for choosing Alor Setar to celebrate the important occasion. My friend used to say that there are three things you cannot avoid in life. The first two are taxes and death. In between, is retirement. In not too distant future I will join your group too. We drove back to the hotel, tired but happy. I reached home at 11.00pm.

We started day three, early. By 8.30 am everyone was ready to check out. Our first visit was to the Rice Museum at Gunung Keriang, Alor Setar. The journey took an hour. The museum opens at 9.00 am. The ticket is RM5.00 each. There are only two such museums in the world. The other one is in North Korea. The building is three- storey high. The basement and the first floor showcase equipment and products related to rice. However, the top floor is super-special. Even though I have been there before, it never fails to mesmerise me. The first time I saw the projected image, I thought this could be the image in heaven. One teacher in the group of Thais we took some time ago said he did not mind not going anywhere else in the

trip after seeing the beauty of this painting. The Philippine contract teacher attached to SVC said he had no word to describe the great work. I noticed astonishment and disbelieve in every face that all these are

available in AlorSetar. Their cameras never stop flashing.

Actually , the third floor consists of a rotating circular Our next destination was the house in which platform with comfortable chairs. The centre part remains Tun Mahathir was born. It is located at Jalan stationary. The painting is 360 degree around, fully- Kilang Ais, Seberang Perak. I found out the Thais coloured and of 3 dimensional. It depicts the different actually know so much about our previous seasons of paddy planting, from seedling to harvesting. It Prime Minister. Their tourist guide @ teacher, catches the activities of rural folks in their day-to-day life; Ms Wipawan Saengkhao @ Nim briefed the attending wedding receptions, spending their pastimes and passengers in Thai language in the bus about shopping at the day market, their live-stocks and working him. I only managed to catch two words: in the field. It shows the village houses, schools, trees and Mahathir and Malaysia Boleh. I remember hills around. Part of the scenery shows a heavy seeing and snapping a picture of a billboard of thunderstorm on its way. The rainbow looks real. The Tun Mahathir and presumably a Thai leader whole thing catches on to my own life experiencing all somewhere between Songkhla and Yala last these. Even though my late father was a teacher, he was month. The writing was all in Thai, of course. On also a farmer. Everyone else in the family is a farmer. the way back to the border we stopped for a while to show the Thais the current Tun

Mahathir’s house at Titi Gajah.

RICE MUSEUM

RICE MUSEUM

It was past 11.00 am. It was time to proceed to Alor Setar Tower. The lunch appointment is at 12.00 noon. This was going to be our final meal in Malaysia. It was the most memorable one indeed since there is no revolving restaurant in Songkhla or anywhere else in south Thailand. Everyone was looking forward to see Alor Setar from the sky-high view. I have not been there since the last few years. It was 11.45 am when we reached the parking area. Our timing in the last few days was perfect. We were never late. I thought the 15 minutes spare time would be the time it takes to haul everyone up. As I approached the basement, I saw some tables laid out. My instinct told me that lunch would not be served high above the ground. They have failed to restore the lift. My heart sank. I hope they would pull up their socks for the Visit Malaysia Year 2014. We presented a special group photo of Dr Rujira and Sakol with Her ALOR SETAR TOWER Royal Highness, Tunku Intan Safinaz when they had an audience with her during our 27th convocation on 12 September 2013. Helan Noor tried his best to repair the damage by throwing some questions and rewarded the teachers with small tokens for the right answers. Thank you Helan. You did a great job.

As planned, we ended up at the Pacific Shopping Complex. It is one of the best shopping arcades in town. After an hour, we headed back to the border. Again we stopped at the Free Duty Shop. The teachers bought a lot of chocolates, biscuits and premixed coffee packets. I wonder why. We proceeded at 5.00 pm to the parking area on the Thai side. Their double-decker buses were waiting at the very same spot where we welcomed them three days ago. Everyone was safe and accounted for. I offered Dr Rujira no apologies for I promised her we would put up no show. We wanted them to see our real conduct; be it good or bad. Please take home whatever is good and leave the rest for us to sort out. We bade goodbye and promised to meet again. We waited until their buses moved and headed home. Our job is done. Thank you everyone.