Home away from home

Abang Idin asked me not so long ago, "Are you trying to send me away?".

This question was in response to my never ending propaganda (who, what, where, when, why & how) to encourage him to go to boarding school for his secondary level education. Suffice to say, both Ayah & I are convinced boarding school is a good option, if given the opportunity.

My answer, or defense really, was quite simple & straight forward.

"I am not TRYING to send you away Abang. I AM SENDING YOU AWAY!!! "

Hahahaha.... how cruel.

Unfortunately, as expected, he has not been accepted in the first round of placement. My friends have already alerted me on some of the key criteria for first priority of selection. While he qualifies as from sekolah luar bandar ( RAWANG kan???!!!), somehow he falls just outside the category of "kurang mampu" from household income perspective. If only we can attach records of all the loans payable to the payslips as well. Aiya....

There was another way I was told. Alumni quota for parents for entrance into former schools subject to certain requirements. I swear I could easily fulfill all the criteria (being kaki menyebok from time to time in the alumni committees & various alumni activities). Unfortunately, I hailed from ALL-GIRLS boarding school. And sex-change is out of the question!

Ayah .... he was from sekolah tembak menembak yg berpagar duri tapi tidak berasrama. PULAK!!! So no alumni quota from Ayah's alma mater.

Another way, they say, is to appeal.

And so we wrote an appeal letter - addressed to a nearby school jer lah..... hehehe.... one new sekolah berasrama penuh kat Rawang ni hah.

He was indeed called for an interview. And he did go for the interview albeit like dalam keterpaksaan. Kesian anak ibu....

Results were supposed to be sent via post by end of January. As I am typing this, we haven't received it in the mail yet. And so the waiting game continues....

But before I pen off, let me share with you one of the interview questions and how Abang Idin said he answered it.

Cikgu asked: "Kalau awak kena buli, apa awak akan buat?"

(He's considered small size for his age, so I suppose the question reflected a valid concern)

Idin answered: "Saya buli dia balik!"

Cikgu: "Eh! Tak boleh.... kalau buli-buli, nanti kena buang sekolah!"

*************************

Idin's justification later to Ayah was: "Sapa suruh dia start buli dulu?!!"

I bet you the cikgu must have been shell-shocked with such gutsy answer coming from such a small size boy! I hope he noticed Idin's red belt taekwondo certificate and that response was supposed to be translated as "I will retaliate for self defense purpose only, cikgu" instead of "Saya tak takut dan boleh buli orang jugak cikgu!!"

Alahai.... what do you think? Will he get the placement?


Salam
E-boo

p/s I have yet to pull any cable. Sebab tak de cable pun! hahaha. Anyone with strong enough cable to help me out?

p/s I do think Abang Idin's answer was honest & quite original though. Very unpretentious. Reminds me of my answer during the interview for scholarship last time, why do you want to go US and not UK? I said because I wanted so much to go to Disneyland! hehehe.... I got the scholarship. But that was yearsssss ago. Maybe creativity & innocence in responses was much more appreciated then. We'll just have to wait & see if history will repeat itself. If not repeating, pls see previous p/s above. LOL !!!!