cakap cakap....MCKK.

I am constantly surprised by the ties that binds us Budak Kolet to those with whom we are fortunate enough to have been classmates, dorm mates or even Budak Kolet mates...and with anybody else who are in one way or another intimately or remotely connected with MCKK.

From the time that I wore my school tie to Malaysia Hall in Brynston Square in London in search of a friendly face to the time I went to Putrajaya to plead with one of the KSU's there (a Budak Kolet!) for an long overdue payment for work already done for signage there....always that Budak Kolet link has afforded me all the assist I could possible get if the other party was partial to assisting me with whatever help that I are seeking...and deserved. That Kolet tie got me a free lunch in Malaysia Hall then located at Brynston Square and the Budak Kolet who happens to be the KSU called for an immediate meeting of sorts for his legal and contract people to decide whether payment due to me could be processed forthwith! And processed forthwith it was! 

Last week was another one of those moments. This time in Melbourne.

Joe and Hassan

Hassan and Hussein

Out of the blue I got an sms from Hassan asking if I was still in Melbourne...as he was in Melbourne...and before you can say "Duli Yang Maha Mulia Seri Paduka Baginda Yang Di Pertuan Agong" ...there was I with Hassan (whom I have not met for decades) with Joe Kam (another Budak Kolet who now calls Melbourne home) sitting at a Fish and Chips in St Kilda as if the last time we met was a only week ago in Bangsar! And it was only at the end of an enjoyable coupe of hours of interlude that Hassan told me that that was the first time he has met Joe....and yet from the word "GO" there was no hint of that...you would have thought that they have known each other for ages...hell I did not even introduced them after I saw them greeting each other like long lost friends! 

Why is there that easiness among us all when we have shared experience of school and of life? Maybe it is the tribal instinct within us that wants acceptance by others...maybe we seek comfort and want to bond with others....maybe in this world of many billions it is hard to find solace and comfort or even a friendly face when you need one. And so we seek others with whom we can connect on any level at all. After family we seek friends and among friends none are more eagerly sought after than those we have grown up with, studied and work with. 

And so be it London or St Kilda in Melbourne I must count as one of life's blessing my time spent studying and growing up in that boarding school in Kuala Kangsar we collegians affectionately call Kolet....or, as most of you may know it better, as MCKK.

At sixty seven I am yet to join the super seniors of MCOBA (Malay College Old Boys Association) but within the decade, God willing, I will do so. Until then I want to give thanks to being part, however small, of that legion of budak kolet who are forever linked to that royal town of Kuala Kangsar, the Big Tree, High Table, Rugby, Idris, Sulaimen, Mohd Shah and Ahmad house and all the other things that makes us part and parcel of MCKK.