today we had cross-country race at school. i was one of the pencatat masa (the task given from day 1 i'm in SS until the day i m transferred... like all SS teachers wrily put it, to quote SS's song, "tradisi kekal abadi"). some students, esp. the athletes, who r mostly the big boys in form 5, were still strong after the 5km run... some just collapsed at the lanes provided. most decided to do some sight seeing, and arrived much much later. we the teachers had jamuan (the first for 2006, to be followed by another jamuan on 1st Feb in my staffroom) of nasi minyak n sate, n i told myself i have to walk for at least 1 hour today...
sazi's email (sazi, i dont know if i can reveal ur new show, so to be on the safe side, i'm not going to reveal anything) made me think of my late eldest bro, of everything he presented, n the life he led. this again, makes me think of wat life means to each of us.
life is short n precious, we heard this often enough, but do we know wat it really entails? we go thru life like zombies, waking up, going to work, beat the rush hour, eat, coming back fr work, rush hour again, spending a few hours with loved ones, then sleep. n we go thru this again n again...until we ask ourselves "is this all there is to life???".
Life is how we make it. it is we who shape our lives. that means we have the power to choose to be who we r. to be the best that we can be, to be a human with good conscience n a good heart - which is the very basis of our National Education Philosophy (hey, give me a break, i'm a teacher after all).
My eldest brother was the product of Malaysian Dream, of a newly-independent nation struggling to find its own niche n identity, still in its infancy. he was the proof that we could achieve greatness. he was born during Japanese Occupation n spent his infant years during the British bombing n was already in MCKK when Tunku Abdul Rahman uttered the famous cry. my late father was very very young when he had my brother, still in his teens. he was a man with visions, he knew that my late brother could succeed, n so he tutored my brother mathematics at home after work, often with a cane in hand. at 10 years old, my brother sat for a special exam that would enable him to enter MCKK, n he passed. thus, the boy who would later change a lot of doctors' lives went to malaysia's oldest n prestigious boarding school.
my brother loved to read. even when he became the senior physician, he still read medical journals, n kept abreast with the latest medical breakthroughs. this scholarly habit of his helped him through his studies n career.
after becoming a medical specialist, he lectured at UKM, n one of his students now is a successful n rich doctor here in KTrg. as a lecturer, he's torn between upholding the high standard of medicine in tertiary level n passing the students. his insistence in maintaining the highest standard could be seen throughout his career. he then moved to Klang hospital... n later to Kelantan, where he was affectionately known to all doctors n nurses alike as "Bos Aziz". when i asked my nephew yaya y is it that my late bro never turned to private sectors where he could become very rich, yaya answered that my brother felt it's his duty to stay in government hospital to educate the young doctors on wat he knows.
my late brother, datuk dr sidek@ abdul aziz b muhammad, was laid to rest on 30th april 2000. he died in his office after a heart failure, with his close medical attendant beside him, who later met me during the funeral n said "he's a good man".
my brother lived his life according to wat he believed in. he could have chosen fame n glory, but he chose the less glamourous life, to render his service to the society.
initially, i said that life is abt making choices. some may choose to have a life of luxury, some strive to have such a life, but to wat ends? it's not fulfilling just to have all those BMWs n Mercedes or that penthouse...wat will be more satisfying is when u've done something out of your own good heart, for the benefit of the mankind, without dreaming of fortune, fame n glory. wat is important is that inner peace inside u. that is wat u called a rich n meaningful life.
