I just found out from Lisa that Acong’s son, Muhammad Naufal Hakim passed away due to brain cancer which was discovered on 27 July 2006. He was only 18 months if I’m not mistaken.

These are arwah Hakim’s pics. 
He was such a beauutiful boy. May Allah bless his soul. Al-Fatihah.

You know how songs can remind us of the things that we’ve been through
in our lives? Some songs made us happy while others made us cry.

I’m listening to my dad’s collection of CDs now. Lagu2 Melayu lama. Bestnya sebab at last jumpa lagu Endang S. Taurina and Tetty Kadi yang aku dok cari2. Masa kecik dulu2, mak aku suka pasang lagu Indonesia and Oldies selain lagu Melayu, sebab tu aku suka dengar lagu2 lama. Lagu budak2 pun aku suka (ever heard of a very fast children song called "Cok Cok Kendong"?)
Among lagu oldies yang aku suka dengar masa kecik dulu :

• Itsy Bitsy Polka Dots Bikini
• A Little Bit of Soap
• Sukiyaki original Japanese version
• Sad Movies
• Pretty Little Baby - yang ni sampai sekarang try cari, tapi tak jumpa la.

Sekarang ni tengah dengar lagu Aishah - Janji Manismu. Suddenly I feel sooo happy. Yes, I know it’s a sad song, but it’s not about the lyrics of the song. It’s about the existence of the song itself, about the memory it brings.

Masa lagu Aishah kuar ni, aku darjah 4. Masa tu I felt like I was on top of the world, I can achieve anything. And aku selalu nyanyi kat sekolah. Why Aishah’s song made me happy? Because masa tu aku boleh nyanyi the song pretty well - I had no problem reaching the high notes masa chorus lagu tu. (Sekarang mintak ampun la…) Standard Four was so beautiful…except that I had to deal with the death of my beloved grandmother. I really miss her.

I remembered Cikgu Ubaidillah taught us to sing lagu "Que Sera Sera", tapi budak2 semua pronounced ‘que’ as ‘kiyu’, hahaha!
(Masa darjah 5 ke 6, Mamat and Along from Exist was considered a ‘hot stuff’.)
Masa kelas BI, ada budak pronounce ‘cousin’ as, well, ‘cau-sin’ insted of ‘kezen’.
Masa kelas BM, cikgu aku lukis gambar jongkang-jongkit and bila dia tanya kelas apa gambar yang dia lukis, a boy proudly stood up and said "chongek-cakdong" (Kelantanese word for it). Hahhahahahaahhaahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahhahhhahaahahahahhahaha!!!!

I was so active at school and I enjoyed every moment of those years…including the time cikgu kelas aku (Cikgu Minah Zainab namanya, dia bawak keta macam keta Mr. Bean) hentam kepala aku dgn buku2 teks masa darjah Tiga sebab aku tak balut buku2 teks tu. Dia dulu mimpi ngeri aku. Aku takut nak gi sekolah disebabkan dia. Tapi lepas2 tu dia baik dgn aku and aku dapat nombor satu dalam kelas, Aku ingat lagi dia bagi hadiah pen corak macam baju askar kat aku. Ntah kat mana dia sekarang?

Paling tak suka kalau aku nampak van Klinik Kesihatan datang, maknanya datang nak cabut/’simen’ (’tampal’ for you guys) gigi la tuh! Pastu mak aku tak kasi diorang usik gigi aku and insist of taking me to our own dentist. One day, diorang bagi slip suruh parents aku tandatangan, tapi aku hilangkan. Bila aku citer kat attendant clinic tu, dia kata "kecik2 dah pandai menipu..etc" kat dalam kelas! Aku rasa nak cekik2 orang tua tu! Berlagak gila! Dulu2 aku ingat dia tu doktor, rupa2nya attendant aje.

Lagi satu phobia masa darjah 6.  Bukan takut sebab UPSR tapi takut BCG injection!! The myth yang aku dok dengar pasal BCG injection since darjah Satu was "misi (nurse) rendam jarum dalam air panas untuk matikan kuman, lepas tu diorang ‘colek’ (cungkil) daging kat bahu kita. Sebab tu budak2 lepas BCG ada benjol kat bahu! Sakit gila!"

Tak guna betul sapa yang mula2 sebarkan citer tak betul tuh… 5 tahun aku hidup dalam ketakutan utk menghadapi darjah 6. Rupa2nya dia injek biasa aje. Tapi sakit jugak.

I think our innocence as children ends after the school bell rang on that last day of primary school. After that, hidup kita tak sama lagi. Budak lelaki dan perempuan tak boleh nak main lompat tali sama-sama lagi. Tak boleh nak main ‘berambat duduk’/kejar-kejar sama-sama lagi. Tak leh nak makan masa waktu rehat sama-sama lagi. Dah jadi remaja, kena control. Masing2 pergi ke sekolah berbeza - ada yang masuk SBP, masuk MRSM, masuk sekolah harian…

But I had the best experience of my life masa belajar di Sekolah Rendah Dato’ Hashim, Pengkalan Chepa. I would like to thank my parents for sending me there, my friends for being themselves, and teachers who taught me the valuable things in life despite I was just ‘a kid’ at that time.

Dulu every year masa Hari Guru stesen TV akan mainkan lagu tema Hari Guru untuk tahun tu, and I would like to dedicate this Hari Guru 1990 song to all the teachers out there:

Hari pertama ke sekolah
Pelbagai peraturannya
Engkaulah yang membimbing diriku
Agar hidupku tidak terkeliru

Ingin ku kembali ke zaman keindahan itu
Kejayaanku keranamu
Cikgu tersayaaaaang…
Dalam ingatan

(How did I remember this song? Because I was the solo, and was chosen because I was the only one who can ‘tarik’ suara tinggi masa rangkap akhir tu).