Building Asrama Donni in Sabah- For unity is the most powerful and above all others.

This piece is written from The Heart of a great teacher in our school, Cikgu Teh on our charity project in Kiulu , Sabah.

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I apologise for not having written in some time to the group.

I need to update all of you about what I am up to these days. Well, presently for those of you who do not know, I have retired but then again a teacher never retires in the true sense of the word. I am now lecturing. I have been there now for two years and have just recently extended my contract for another two years. Just to let you know also, I have been teaching now for 33 years and I count many distinguished people among my students. I have always been proud of all my students whereever they may be or whatever position they hold in life. On this Hari Guru I want to thank you again as I did last year for teaching me to be a better teacher and therefore to be a better person. I would like to think that my lessons go beyond the classroom, a fact that is even more evident these days as I track my students in their journey through life. I am so proud that so many of you regard me as a friend, a brother, a confidante besides being a teacher. I stand proud that so many of you are giving back to society through your various activities. I know of students who have established funds to help out families of friends who have passed on, students who have built madrasahs in faraway places like Cambodia and Jakarta, students who are taking care of orphans in rural and remote areas, and visiting sick friends and remembering teachers.

This year, on Hari Guru I was at a remote school in Sabah, witnessing something that was close to a miracle. In all my years of teaching and celebrating Teachers Day, this one had to be the best one yet. I wish that all of you were there as well. I was there with a group of ex MRSM Kulim students to reach out to 1300 students of a school that lacks practically everything on a project yang bagi saya begitu mulia sekali. The Killerbatch were there to tell these students that there is hope and there are people out here who care. And alhamdullillah, I was a part of this. May Allah bless your kind gesture. Killers, you may not realise this, but in your determination to help these children, you have made this teacher’s dreams come true and touched his very soul. Every teacher dreams that one day their students will
turn out to be like you guys. You can never know the pride that flowed through this humble soul when Raja Ali delivered his speech, albeit fulll of emotional stops. At that moment I really felt I was a teacher. Congratulations and thanks.

For those who were not there to see this, let me tell you a little bit about this project. It started with an 11 year old boy named Donni, who was one of five siblings in a famlily in Sabah. What religion he professed is not importrtant. What is important is the sacrifice this boy did for his family. You know, everyday he had to walk, like many other students in rural Sabah, for hours to reach school. But he did so because of his desire to get knowledge and for his single mother who had a weak heart. One day the whole of Sabah was shocked that this young boy had taken his own life. His reason for doing so was as simple as life in Sabah. He wanted to ease the suffering of his mother and he wanted to give his heart to his mother. Such sacrifice must not go unnoticed and it was out of this selfless act that Raja Ali decided to gather his friends together to help as many of this kind of students as they can. And if that is not Islamic, then what is? The Killers have committed themselves to help raise RM250,000 for a hostel and is working in tandem with Sabah Credit Corporation. The asrama is due to be ready in 5 months time.

And for the rest of you, it is fine to say well done and
congratulations but it is also time to stand and be counted. Do your bit to help these kids. I remember telling Raja Ali as I watched them performing their welcoming dance for us, that they reminded me so much of all of you when you were in Kulim. I could see the same determination and hope in their faces. Nobody denied you your dreams, so you shouldnt deny these kids theirs. When I saw a video show on the conditions in their asrama, I was moved to tears. You guys definitely had it better. You had six meals a day and these kids are allocated around RM5 a day for meals, for example.

I know some of you may say/think that somebody has to be responsible in looking after these kids and may even get angry but should we wait for someone to do something when we ourselves can start helping out. LIke I have said many times before, the world consists of finger pointers and problem solvers. I am appealing to you to be the latter.

You know something, when the Killers went white water rafting later that day, I stayed back and spent some time in the school talking to the principal, teachers and students and I can tell you something that I am amazed about. Not even once did they blame anyone for their predicament. They were only interested in finding solutions. Noone can break their spirit just noone could break yours when you were in Kulim. How can you help? You know how. And in any case, support the Killers when they organise fund raisers like the dinner / play that they are organising in December, or just contribute whatever you can afford in terms of money and effort. In the same breath if any other batch thinks of doing some charity work, the rest must help. That is the spirit of Kulim.

Oh yes, Islam beckons us to be generous and charitable, not just to other muslims but also to all His creations. After all we are all God’s creations, especially the children. By doing so we will teach them to be charitable and be kind to others. Maybe the world would be a better place for our children in the future.

So on this Teachers Day this year, I want to thank all of you for
making this teacher so happy and realise that he has carried out his duty as best he can. May Allah bless all of you and always watch over you and yours.

I end this message with my present war cry

Kiulu! Kiulu! Kiulu!

Have a great life. My love goes out to you.

Teh Sharifuddin Abdullah

More details at : www.killerbatch.org

The Fake Phone Industry in China has reached puberty

I was reading an article from a Malaysian mobile phone portal, advising public to be more cautious of the fake mobile phones from China.

One paragraph that really got me chuckles is about the” wanted: 12 types of fakes mobile phones – The 12 types of mobile phones are the SnogErisscon W958c, SunyElicssonCECTi658, SunyElicssomP999, SunyElicssonW810i, ScnyEriossonZTC5680, NOKIA6030, NOKIA6630, NOKIA6681, NOKIA8800, NOKIAN70, NOKIAN-Gage, and NOKIAVERTU“

You can see how hard they try to run around the copyright laws .

The article also stated that about a quarter or 23 million set on sales in China are fake. That is about the size of Malaysian population (if everybody owns a mobile) .

More about rock climbing at Bukit Keteri, Perlis, Malaysia

I noticed a sudden surge in a visitor hit to my quiet blog, I thought maybe there are some rock climbing enthusiasts out there who might be interested on this fresh new rock. And also giving me a warm fuzzy feeling of doing my bit in promoting my hometown to the world. So heres some map for a direction to get there..

And heres a nolstalgic view which i can still vividly remember during my childhood days, when I was in that same cave after a short climb. Today, access roads and amenities are all in place, unlike before, but neverteheless thanks a bunch guys for the great pix.

That rock has been climbed..

After doing some googling, to my surprise some climbers have done some neat scaling of the Keteri Hills – the twin hills that stood at 400m .

Can this be a rock climbing heaven?

Two limestone hills , 5 km aparts. Can this be scaled? the taller one is about 600 meters and 400 metres for the lower one. Accessible from Thailand and Malaysia ( 15km from Thai-Malaysia border). This is one tall order..

Unpredictable thunderstorm in Malaysia

I can still remember during my younger days , there’s a monsoon (rain and thunderstorm) season between October and January, followed by a dry season ( southwest monsoon). It has all changed now.We still have thunderstorm in March , April and counting, normal pattern would be, dry, hot and humid in the morning and heavy rain in the late afternoon. But I have to admit, I like thunderstorm , Malaysian version .