*- from the latin alma mater meaning nourishing mother (epithet of certain goddesses)

thanks, idlan, for tagging me. if you did some blog-hopping, you’d realise that this meme is doing the rounds at the mo’. big time. time for me to jump on the band wagon again!

How many schools did I go to?

THREE.

SEKOLAH SRI PETALING
section 12, petaling jaya
motto: Hidup Berjasa

thanks to my late mother’s request, i got to go here instead of some school in brickfields (bangsar didn’t have a school then). i think i was in the year when the school had a record of having more than a 100 pupils getting 5A’s for the penilaian exams (with the current exam-oriented mindset, not a tall order in this day and age, sadly, especially at such a tender age!). didn’t do too well in sports, but thoroughly enjoyed galah panjang (bizarrely, we called it taichi here), the 40 cent nasi lemak and being around some of the hottest girls in town. woo hoo.

SEKOLAH DATUK ABDUL RAZAK
lembah sikamat, seremban
motto: Ilmu Untuk Berjasa

well, it was either this or sekolah sultan abdul samad, PJ. i was right cheesed off that i didn’t get into MCKK (being the grandson of the first koleq headboy didn’t exactly do wonders). looking back, not being in koleq probably was a good idea. hahaha. didn’t quite like it at first, but when i got a little older, it was ok. in my days, we were good at a lot of stuff, like footie and cricket, but we kept losing to STJ in the MSSNS rugby finals. me? i was an english debater (a rubbish one at that, too) during the 1987 PPM where i got to check out some of the hottest girls in town from STF, TKC and SSP (have to, lah – to maintain my sanity, being in an all-boys school). woo hoo. again.

PORTORA ROYAL SCHOOL
enniskillen, county fermanagh, northern ireland
motto: Omnes Honorate (Honour All Men)

this is a public school that was built in the 17th century and lists the likes of oscar wilde (i am aware of his works, but have not read any of his books!), Nobel prize in literature- winner samuel beckett and denis burkitt (for you medics out there: he described lymphoma presenting as a mass in the jaw of african kids) as its alumni. i was here for sixth form and got to be head of the (one and only) boarding house. yup, my first stint as an anjing prefect. it was so far away from the bright lights of london (where most of my mates got to go during half term) that all i did was study, eat and sleep. all for a good cause.

Was I the studious nerd, or the last minute hero?

i have been winning prizes all my school-going life (until i got into medical school). so, what do you think?

Was I the class ‘taiko’ or the teacher’s pet?

the teachers did like me, but i can tell you i didn’t leave them a polished granny smith on the teacher’s desk every single day. i guess, i was the goody two-shoes, the kid who did his homework and gets good marks. not exactly a colourful life, eh?

What was the biggest rule I broke in school?

i didn’t until SPM week, when the wardens turned half a blind eye to smoking. so, i don’t know if that counts. piak-ed in the school corridor for 10 seconds. my pathetic moment of glory. not exactly my proudest. oh ya, masa aku kat tingkatan enam jadi prefek, aku jual rokok marlboro yang aku beli pakai karton kat subang airport kat budak2 house aku. untung baeekk punya!

Three subjects I enjoyed

1. additional mathematics: the ever-elusive A1 grade (you need 94% and above to get that in SPM). piss-easy, if we were allowed to use calculators!
2. chemistry: KNaCaMgAlZnFeSnPbHCuHgAgAu. ’nuff said.
3. physics: the crazy (“hantu adalah gelombang elektromagnetik”, “saya tak suka taugeh kerana ia menyebabkan migraine”) form teacher we had in fifth form finally piqued my interest in the subject.

Three teachers that inspired me

1. GC Teo: the aforementioned physics/form teacher in SDAR with his hare-brained theories. cool as hell.
2. WM Gilfillan, PhD: my chemistry teacher at portora. has a laid-back attitude but knows his stuff really well. rides a big bike and looks like someone from hell’s angels sans leathers.
3. YT Thoo: form teacher for two years at SSP. we were really scared of her (she was discipline master of sorts at school), but she was really okay. taught us maths and science, and we loved her to bits. and she still remembers me 22 years after leaving school, bless her.

now, who shall i tag? i wanna tag delirium, but his recent entry would’ve covered a lot of the meme questions.

oh well, here’s a random list that should cover a wide age range:
1. fadh
2. jimbo
3. serih
4. adrie
5. atok