TWILIGHT YEARS 1 : LIFE FULLFILLED

I joined the Persatuan Pesara-Pesara Kerajaan Malaysia Kedah when I retired in 2001. I even became its Chairman for two terms. I am still an active member of the society and the society never fails to inform me about their activities. Last week, the Chairman Dato' Haji Harun Hashim who was also my former teacher invited me to chair or facilitate on one of their Chatting series. This annual 'chatting' program was a hit among the members.

This year's chatting program was held at the INSPIN Lecture Hall at Sultanah Bahiyah Mosque on Wednesday, 29 April 2009. The topic of discussion for the day was "Everywhere a lot of people like to chat aimlessly i.e empty talks that do not benefit anybody or the society as a whole. What are the steps that should be taken to turn our empty chats beneficial to the society."

The topic of the of the discussion was very vague and yet it was a very interesting one. I let the flood gate open widely so that the participants could air their views without any restriction or hindrance. I did not have any problem in stimulating the participants to talk. There were like ducks being thrown into the water when the floor were opened to them. Being the chairman up on the stage,it was an enjoyment to watch them giving their views.

There were a very disciplined seniors who were respectful to each other. A junior senior would always give way to a super senior to talk ahead him. As the chairman, I do not need to use the chairman's whip as they took their turns to talk in a very orderly manner. The junior senior would always give respect and preference to their super seniors. Apart from showing off their oratory skills and also brandishing their egos, there were a few very high quality intellectual views that were brought up by the participants.

Mr. Gurdial Singh was honoured to be associated with the awarding of Kings Scout by Sir Gerald Templer to 13 scouts from Kedah 55 years ago. Mr. Gurdial was very proud to say that sense of unity among the 13 scouts was the main factor that contributed to the success of the 13 scouts from Kedah. There were a lot tough obstacles for them to go through as a team. One of the toughest obstacles was the event of climbing of a 15 feet concrete wall. Only five of the toughest thirteen managed to climb over the wall. In the spirit of unity and comradeship, without a second thought, Mr. Gurdial took off his sixteen feet long turban and they used it effectively in hauling up the remaining of the eight scouts. As a result of their sense of unity and comradeship, all the thirteen were awarded the Kings Scout (the highest honour in scouting movement) by Sir Gerald Templer on 27 May 1954. Mr. Gurdial hoped the spirit and sense of unity that was showed by the thirteen scouts should prevail in the chatting series.

Sekim Khariat Kematian of Takaful Ikhlas at Pusat Dakwah on 23 April 2009

Standing from left: Pak Mid Bomoh, Gurdial Singh, Dato' Haji Harun Hashim, Pak Din, Haji Badlishah and Rahim Susu

Pak Haji Din satisfied with his fullfilled life

Pak Din, the former Chief of the Navy's father related to us a very poignant episode when he was performing his subuh prayer at one the Kuala Lumpur's mosque. He went to perform his subuh prayer at the mosque accompanied by his grand son. After performing sunat prayer, he was approaced by a learned man who enquired about his background and the person who accompanied him to the mosque.

After the obligotary subuh prayer, Pak Din was suprise when the learned man that has befriended him was invited to the front of the congregation to give his 'kuliah subuh'. He was in fact a Religious Professor from one of the local universities. He started his lecture by giving accolade to Pak Din for being able to persuade his grand son to accompany him to perform the subuh prayer in the mosque. The professor confessed that he could bring his disciples to the mosque but he failed in his duty in dragging his son or worst still his grand son to perform the subuh prayer at the mosque. He saluted Pak Din for being an examplary father who could perform diligently this simple yet a very daunting task for any father.

Retiree teacher, Dato' Halim R giving his opinion on empty talks

Full concentration given to the speaker

The raintree and ara trees beside the INSPIN Lecture Hall

From his observation of the Siamese twin tree, Police retiree, Haji Mansor Din holistic advice is not to be power grabber like the parasite ara tree which always overstayed its welcome. In the same breath, do not be soft like the principal raintree which in no time it would be squeezed to its demise by the parasite tree. Both trees by then would have met their death and so retirees must be always be vigilant and fully aware of the danger of any parasite that befriend them.

I ended my chairmainship of the sembang session by giving this pantun:

Pokok dedap pulau Bumbun,

Pokok setoi pulau Pandan,

Kalau silap pohon ampun,

Kalau betul buatlah tauladan.