1 October 2013

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D E S I G N E D & E D I T E D B Y : A Z L I D A A H M A D ( P T S S )

Writer: BAKRI BAHAROM

www.polimas.edu.my/ bkiub@yahoo.com.my 019-488-1430

…from TPA’s desk…08

Jitra is 22 km away from Bukit Kayu Hitam, a gateway to Thailand. It is connected to the North-South highway

and considered as a dual-carriage way, hence there is no toll. But, if you come from Thailand or the duty-free

shop on Malaysia side, our highway concessionary, PLUS will welcome you with a ticket for RM3.50. Food items

like rice, vegetables, fruits, snacks, clothes etc. are brought in abundance from our neighbour around the year.

The four provinces close to Malaysia are Narathiwat, Pattani, Satun and Phattalong. The border town like Dannok

or a little bit more to the north like Sadao, Hat Yai, Songkhla and Yala are always frequented by Malaysians for

both business and pleasure. In fact, the journey to Kelantan is nearer if you travel via Thailand than taking the

East-West highway. Once, in the 70’s, I took Tunjang Express bus service from AlorSetar via Thailand to Golok,

and proceeded to Kota Bharu, Kelantan.

My hometown is Jitra which is in KubangPasu district, in the state of Kedah. Sometimes I wonder where the

word JITRA is derived from. According to a friend, it came from two words; Jit and Ra. Of course, someone might

have guessed that RA is the name of God in ancient Egypt. I don’t think my local town has anything to do with that

God of the Sun. It is said that JIT, a male while RA, a female, were of Thai descend. However, my friend never

mentioned whether they were husband and wife. Were they like Romeo and Juliet, or Samson and Delilah, or the

local lovers, Laila and Majnun? Then, my town is really romantic, like Shakespeare literature. There are some

other small towns in the area like Changloon, Kodiang and Napo that definitely sound Thai. Incidentally, when I

was in STAR Ipoh in the 70’s, any student fromKodiang would be nicknamed after the town. What a great respect!

KubangPasu is special in many ways. In modern times, it produced the longest reign Prime Minister of

Malaysia, TunDr Mahathir Mohamad (1981 – 2003). The constituency has the widest range of education

institutions: Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM), Politeknik Sultan Abdul HalimMu’adzam Shah (POLIMAS), Institut

Perguruan Darulaman (IPDA), Institut Aminuddin Baki (IAB), Institut Latihan Perindustrian (ILP), Institut

Kemahiran Belia Negara (IKBN), Institut Kemahiran MARA (IKM), Kolej Komuniti Bandar Darulaman (KKBD),

Maktab Rendah Sains Mara (MRSM), Akademi Binaan Malaysia (ABM), Kolej Matrikulasi, Sekolah Menengah Sains

and Sekolah Menengah Integrasi. There is also one established school, Sekolah Menengah Sultan Abdul Halim,

Jenan of which the present Agong/Sultan is the alumni patron. Welcome to Kubang Pasu, the valley of education,

unchallenged by any other district in Malaysia.

Thailand is also known as a “White Elephant” country. It is probably the

only country in Asia not occupied by any foreign powers. It shares border

with Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia. From Bukit Kayu Hitam to

Chiang Rai is about 1700 km by road. Even though the country is famous for

tourism and agriculture, it produces the biggest number of 4X4 truck in the

world. It has no national car, but a huge parts-supplier to Honda, Toyota and

many other car brands. In 2008, we made a trip to Bangkok in a double-

decker bus which was not yet available in Malaysia. The journey took 18

hours including numerous stops for meals and rest rooms. Bangkok is a big

city, some say it is four times bigger than Kuala Lumpur (KL). The city is infamous for traffic jam of which no

time is the right time to avoid it. Surprisingly, the Thais are so used to it that they keep calm when caught in

one. I am told some lady-drivers would bring along thread and needle to knit table cloths. Now, Bangkok has

been declared the number one tourist-arrival-by-flight destination in the world. How? They work for it!

Songkhla, which is about 150 km from Bukit Kayu Hitam is somewhat bigger than Jitra. If you travel by car, it will

take about 2 hours from the border. Generally, the buildings in Songkhla look aged. At the moment in Jitra, there are

only 4 rows of pre-war shop-houses remaining; three of them are along Ibrahim Road and the other one is along Jitra-

Tunjang Road. Jitra has expanded in terms of residential houses and commercial buildings. Unofficially, the locals

identify the different locations in Jitra as Jitra1, Jitra2 and Jitra3. Almost all banks open their branches there; Maybank,

Bumiputra Commerce Bank (BCB), Bank Islam, Public Bank, Bank Rakyat, Agro Bank, Affin Bank and AmBank. There are

as many as 20 private clinics to take care of the residents in the area because the people’s favourite pastime is eating.

Anytime is a right time to eat. That is why we have so many 24-hour restaurants. Last Monday, 16 September, I was at

the annual Sultanah Bahiyah Foundation (YSB) Exhibition. There was one booth offering free blood and urine tests. I

passed both with flying colours but failed miserably in Body Mass Index (BMI). Imagine the doctor recommended me to

reduce my waist-line by 17 inches. That is only 8 inches short of Miss World perfect figure. In the afternoon Latif and I

were invited by Datuk Zaini Japar, the local politician to attend Malaysia Day celebration at his residence. Again, food

was aplenty. So, it is not totally my fault, is it?

In early August 2013, Songkhla Vocational College (SVC) contacted us. They would like to have a seminar cum

meeting at our place in September. They would bear all the costs. That coincided with our schedule to prepare for

SIRIM MS-ISO 9001:2008 re-certification from 2-4 September. Apart from that, our 27th convocation was to be from

11-12 September. As usual, we have 6000 plus students to cater to, endless meetings, programmes, activities at

federal, state, community and institutional level. But, how could we say NO to our friend, Sakol Satchanarat who has

been our Thailand consultant for many years? How could we say NO to SVC director, Dr Rujira who facilitated our trip

of 30 students and 10 lecturers from 4 polytechnics to Asean Vocational Camp in Bangkok from 16-24 August 2013?

How could we say NO to a college which financed our trip to Bangkok on behalf of their government? So, there was

only one option; YES.

We invited SVC director to POLIMAS

27th convocation. It was held at Dewan

Wawasan Jitra which is located by the

highway. The four guests were Dr Rujira

Klaewtanong, Mr Sumpan Tipapong, Ms

Wipawan Saengkhao and Mr Sakol

Satchanarat. POLIMAS convocation is

always special. The Sultan of Kedah, His

Royal Highness Sultan Abdul Halim

Mu’adzam Shah would never miss

gracing the occasion. He would always

inspect the Guard of Honour mounted by

our Territorial Army Reserve Unit

(PSTD). The brass band would come

from different army bases. Since His

Royal Highness became the Head King

(Agong) of Malaysia, his place is taken

over by his daughter; Tunku Intan

Safinaz. We sought Her Royal Highness

pleasure to receive a gift from SVC

College director, Dr Rujira. She was

escorted by the ever willing Sakol

Satchanarat. The gift was a model of 60-

year-old still-living elephant at His

Majesty King Bhumipol Adulyadej palace

in Bangkok. Tunku Intan Safinaz seemed

to be very pleased with the presentation.

Then, all our guests settled down for a

sumptuous lunch with Her Royal

Highness.

Originally SVC wanted to come on 18-20 September. However,

Pauh Inn Training Centre at PTSS was fully booked on the last day.

We had to shift by one day earlier. It was no problem with SVC. We

booked the whole hotel which can take the maximum of 98 pax at

the cost of RM8,640, without discount. Our committee members

were kept at minimum. On 17 September, 10.00am, 3 POLIMAS

buses left for Bukit Kayu Hitam. The temporary tourist guides were

Dr Abdul Rahman, Mr Helan Noor and myself. Majdah was assigned

to look after the place for Opening Ceremony. We brought along our

photographers, Basyar. By 12.00 noon, we passed through the

Immigration and Custom Malaysia with ease. We headed to Shahril

Low Grand Restaurant for lunch. The restaurant is at Jitra3 which

is next to the Aneka Supermarket main entrance. The two shop-lots

belong to our alumni member, Azmi who doubles-up as the

manager. The operation is headed by Abu who is my classmate as

well as our alumni member. The third lot is his office, which has

also become our alumni meeting place. The top floors are used as

motels. The restaurant is actually a franchise owned by a Malaysian

Muslim Chinese, Shahrin Low. He would provide all the chefs and

menus. There are about 10 such restaurants in Malaysia now. The

lunch was great.

At 2.30pm, 17 September, we were at Lecture Theatre 6 for the

opening ceremony. To start with, we had a group of Semester 3

Diploma in Marketing students to sing our official Polytechnic song. I

was honoured to deliver a welcoming speech as our director was out of

station. Our special guest was Mr Marzuki Kemi from Technical and

Vocational Education Division, Ministry of Education (BPTV). He

represented the director, Mr Ahmad Tajuddin Jab, who could not make

it because his wife was undergoing a surgery. The other special guest

from Thailand was Mr Prasert Keawpet, the President of the Institute

of Vocational Education Council. He is in charge of the vocational

education in the Southern Region 3. Mr Prasert Keawphet also

delivered a speech. Ahmad Tajuddin Jab used to work in POLIMAS as

Head of Civil Engineering Department. He opted out of the polytechnic

system some years ago. The recently launched Vocational College

offering diploma programmes is his baby. Marzuki who was tasked to

give a keynote address knew his stuff very well. He detailed the

mapping of Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET)

between some countries including Germany, Indonesia, Thailand and

Malaysia. He readily agreed that Thailand is doing great. What about

Malaysia? We are second when compared with each of the countries in

turn! Even with the transformation plan in place, there is no way we

can close the gap within the next 5 years. It looks like my classmate,

Ahmad Tajuddin Jab needs to run faster and take no break at all. Good

luck. After some handing of souvenirs, we adjourned for tea at our

newly opened canteen.

By 5.00pm everyone was on the field. It was telematch time. The programme was taken care of by

Azimah Ismail, our young Head of Programme from Mechanical Engineering Department. Her team

comprised of 28 Semester 3 and 5 Diploma in Plastic students. They put up some tents, set up the sound

system, music and equipment for the games. All the students wore similar green T-Shirts. It was a well-

organised team. There were 5 games involving 10 teams with 10 members each. The 5 games were Ring

Dance, Water Sponge Bob, Beautiful Face, Mummy Return and Musical Chair. In the first game, participants

had to run in a track to the other end and come back to the starting position with loop-a-loop around their

waist. In order for the loop-a-loop not to drop, you have to continuously “twist” your body. Then, the

second member will repeat the process until the last one. It was really hilarious. The second game was like

the first one but the task was to transfer water from point A to B using a sponge. Again, laughter was on

everyone’s face. To cut the long story short, the last game was musical chair. I have seen it played many

times but none was as dramatic as on the day. The final tussle was between two ladies. When the music

suddenly stopped, lady A was certainly looked to be the winner. As she was about 5 cm to land her butt on

the chair, the other lady B, managed to twist or ‘steal’ the chair. She received an all-around applause with

her quicker-than-the-eye action. Really, it was the time that the teachers became children once again. We

wrapped up with the most enjoyable photo session.

TELEMATCH AT POLITEKNIK SULTAN ABDUL HALIM MU’ADZAM SHAH

MR MARZUKI & MR PRASERT

After the game, we left for Anjung Kuala,

Kuala Kedah for dinner. We reached there

around 8.00pm. The restaurant is huge. We

chose Kuala Kedah because it is by the seaside.

The dinner was great. The only complain is

about the abundant of small mosquitoes. Even

though it is not of dengue type but something

must be done about it, please. We then

proceeded to check-in at Pauh Inn, at about

10.00pm. The two volunteers, Azlida bt Ahmad

and Anis Nadya bt Che Ahmad were there to

help out with a group of students. Thank you

very much.

On Wednesday we started off with breakfast at Serai

Café. The word means lemon grass, used in typical Malay

dish. Its aroma is very distinctive. There is hardly any

household in my village not growing lemon grass for

own consumption. It is one of the most important

ingredients in the famous Thai dish like Tom Yam. We

then proceeded to Lecture Theatre 3. As we were

walking, I pointed out to them the different

departments, staff apartments, students’ hostels,

mosque, cafeterias, library, sport facilities, offices, etc. as

we passed by. They then realised that Politeknik Tuanku

Syed Sirajuddin (PTSS) is full of steps. I told them the

other acronym for PTSS is PoliteknikTangga Sana Sini

(literally; Polytechnic with steps here and there). Finally,

everyone made it to the room, sweating. That should

take care of the morning exercise. I started off with a

short introduction to our polytechnic system Phase 1

and 2 transformation initiatives commencing 2010 and

how it is related to the Government Transformation Plan

(GTP). I showed them a pie-chart as to what happened

to our 2012 graduates in terms of employment. The

question was raised during Q&A the day before. We

were fortunate to have two keen young lecturers from

the hospitality department to talk about the newly

introduced diploma programme; Halal Food Service and

Event Management. The Thais were certainly interested

because the majority of their southern provinces

populations are Muslims. We had our tea break at what

is known as Mountain View canteen.

After tea-break we moved to another room at

Multimedia Unit. They needed a different set up to

discuss their 2014 budget. I learned that the

annual financial year in Thailand actually ends by

30th September. We left them alone to work out the

details until lunch time at 12.30pm. Again, we

walked up and down more steps to end up at the

main office. We took a group photo and had lunch

at the Exhibition Room next to the hall. Everything

went great. However; SVC advisor, Mrs. Usa A.

Punt received an unfortunate phone call. Her son

was involved in an accident in Bangkok. Dr Abdul

Rahman sent her to catch a taxi at the main gate.

She said she would fly from Hat Yai airport. We

pray for her son’s immediate recovery. The SVC

teachers continued their work immediately after

lunch. I stayed back to savour the delicious African

Sea Coconut concoction drink with Dr Abdul

Rahman, Helan Noor and Sakol.

POLITEKNIK TUANKU SYED SIRAJUDDIN

ANJUNG KUALA

At 3.30pm, they wrapped up their budget meeting. The teachers were

divided into two groups; A and B. We marched them up and down more

steps to end up at the junction between Commerce, Information

Technology (IT), Hospitality and Digital Art & Film departments. Group A

was welcomed by JRKV staff headed by Anis Safinaz bt

RamliandShamzuri b. Yaakob, while Group B was taken care of by

Zaharizuan b. Azharand Faizal b. Abd Razak. They spent an hour touring

the two departments, listening to briefings, watching students’ animation

and final film projects. Finally, everyone settled for tea by the poolside of

the hotel. The next agenda was Aerobic Dance at 5.15pm organised by

Rozalita bt Saupi from General Studies Department PTSS. Every one of

them was such a sport and enjoyed the dance cum exercise routine. The

music was great. The instructor was fantastic. My instinct told me I have

seen the instructor before but I could not recall where. Joining the

instructor on “stage” were Rozalita and the hotel janitor. They looked like

seasoned aerobic dancers. A few times the instructor gyrated her body in

the dance routine to the amusement and approval of the participants. It

was great, really great. After an hour, all were exhausted but thrilled.

Thank you Rozalita. We can always count on you.

At 7.00pm we left for Alor Setar. Initially, we planned to have dinner at Alor Setar Tower. Due to scheduled lift

maintenance, we were advised to postpone to lunch on Thursday. Thus, we had dinner at the Old Village, off Teluk

Kumbar road. The restaurant is situated by a river. A boat ride is also available during daytime. Our director,

Asmara Sulong; deputy director (non-academic), Abdul Latif Halim; Anis Nadya bt Che Ahmad and Nur Hartini bt

Harun from PTSS joined the dinner. In her speech, our director welcomed the cooperation between the two

institutions and gave the green light for further collaboration. When dinner was over, Dr Rujira asked for

permission to carry out the next programme in Thai language. It turned out that they were honouring three retiring

teachers; Mrs. Suwaleeporn Wannasut, Mr Chumnong Koysattaya and Mrs. Dang Maksakha. Each of them delivered

his/her speech and received retirement memento. Happy retirement. Thank you for choosing Alor Setar to

celebrate the important occasion. My friend used to say that there are three things you cannot avoid in life. The first

two are taxes and death. In between, is retirement. In not too distant future I will join your group too. We drove

back to the hotel, tired but happy. I reached home at 11.00pm.

POLITEKNIK TUANKU SYED SIRAJUDDIN

We started day three, early. By 8.30 am everyone was ready to check out. Our first visit was to the Rice

Museum at Gunung Keriang, Alor Setar. The journey took an hour. The museum opens at 9.00 am. The

ticket is RM5.00 each. There are only two such museums in the world. The other one is in North Korea. The

building is three- storey high. The basement and the first floor showcase equipment and products related to

rice. However, the top floor is super-special. Even though I have been there before, it never fails to

mesmerise me. The first time I saw the projected image, I thought this could be the image in heaven. One

teacher in the group of Thais we took some time ago said he did not mind not going anywhere else in the

trip after seeing the beauty of this painting. The Philippine contract teacher attached to SVC said he had no

word to describe the great work. I noticed astonishment and disbelieve in every face that all these are

available in AlorSetar. Their cameras never stop flashing.

Actually, the third floor consists of a rotating circular

platform with comfortable chairs. The centre part remains

stationary. The painting is 360 degree around, fully-

coloured and of 3 dimensional. It depicts the different

seasons of paddy planting, from seedling to harvesting. It

catches the activities of rural folks in their day-to-day life;

attending wedding receptions, spending their pastimes and

shopping at the day market, their live-stocks and working

in the field. It shows the village houses, schools, trees and

hills around. Part of the scenery shows a heavy

thunderstorm on its way. The rainbow looks real. The

whole thing catches on to my own life experiencing all

these. Even though my late father was a teacher, he was

also a farmer. Everyone else in the family is a farmer.

Our next destination was the house in which

Tun Mahathir was born. It is located at Jalan

Kilang Ais, Seberang Perak. I found out the Thais

actually know so much about our previous

Prime Minister. Their tourist guide @ teacher,

Ms Wipawan Saengkhao @ Nim briefed the

passengers in Thai language in the bus about

him. I only managed to catch two words:

Mahathir and Malaysia Boleh. I remember

seeing and snapping a picture of a billboard of

Tun Mahathir and presumably a Thai leader

somewhere between Songkhla and Yala last

month. The writing was all in Thai, of course. On

the way back to the border we stopped for a

while to show the Thais the current Tun

Mahathir’s house at Titi Gajah.

RICE MUSEUM

It was past 11.00 am. It was time to proceed to Alor Setar Tower.

The lunch appointment is at 12.00 noon. This was going to be our

final meal in Malaysia. It was the most memorable one indeed since

there is no revolving restaurant in Songkhla or anywhere else in

south Thailand. Everyone was looking forward to see Alor Setar

from the sky-high view. I have not been there since the last few

years. It was 11.45 am when we reached the parking area. Our

timing in the last few days was perfect. We were never late. I

thought the 15 minutes spare time would be the time it takes to haul

everyone up. As I approached the basement, I saw some tables laid

out. My instinct told me that lunch would not be served high above

the ground. They have failed to restore the lift. My heart sank. I hope

they would pull up their socks for the Visit Malaysia Year 2014. We

presented a special group photo of Dr Rujira and Sakol with Her

Royal Highness, Tunku Intan Safinaz when they had an audience

with her during our 27th convocation on 12 September 2013. Helan

Noor tried his best to repair the damage by throwing some

questions and rewarded the teachers with small tokens for the right

answers. Thank you Helan. You did a great job.

As planned, we ended up at the Pacific Shopping Complex. It is one of the best shopping arcades in

town. After an hour, we headed back to the border. Again we stopped at the Free Duty Shop. The

teachers bought a lot of chocolates, biscuits and premixed coffee packets. I wonder why. We proceeded

at 5.00 pm to the parking area on the Thai side. Their double-decker buses were waiting at the very

same spot where we welcomed them three days ago. Everyone was safe and accounted for. I offered Dr

Rujira no apologies for I promised her we would put up no show. We wanted them to see our real

conduct; be it good or bad. Please take home whatever is good and leave the rest for us to sort out. We

bade goodbye and promised to meet again. We waited until their buses moved and headed home. Our

job is done. Thank you everyone.

ALOR SETAR TOWER

RICE MUSEUM