…from TPA’s desk…08 mmm 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 Jitra which is in KubangPasu district, in the state of Kedah. 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, Kodiang 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 Bukit Kayu Hitam, 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).