Which is me?

I remember some of the faces above but not all. We were small boys then, in primary school. Those days are gone. Only the memories are left. It puts a lump in my throat, my heart feels with emotion, my mind thinking about those days. That's life. You move on, like it or not.

The changing days

The sun comes in earlier these days. At seven in the morning, the sun is already up. Unlike earlier in the year, in January for instance, at seven in the morning, it is still dark. So, in a way, Malaysia has weather changes, or rather, not weather but darkness and brightness. The evening prayer is a bit earlier now, so are the other prayer times. In a few months, the time for the morning prayer will be about five thirty. At seven, the sun will be bright and sunny. Every year, we go through these changes. I noticed them because I go to work at seven in the morning, every time. At the beginning of the year, it is still dark. As the years moves on, at seven in the morning, it is brighter and brighter. It peak towards the middle of the year. Then it moves back till the end of the year when it gets dark again at seven. 

Old Classmates

I don't know where most of my friends from my primary school days are but the picture below was made possible through the Whatsup application. Only a few of us are in the group at the moment. The rest are still at large, their whereabouts unknown. From the few in the group, all of them are living away from Selama. Would be great if we can meet again someday. Most if not all are grandfathers and grandmothers already. Most are retired. We have all come a long way. I guess among us, I am the only one still bringing up children. Like I said, I am starting all over again. 

Primary school days

Standard 4 and 5 I think. My primary school in Selama Perak. Most of those in the pictures are not living in Selama anymore. Somehow that's how it is in this world. I for one have left Selama a long time ago. As soon as I finished primary school, my parents sent me to a secondary school in Taiping, about 45km away from Selama. Five years after that on completing secondary school, I left for England to further my studies. Again five years later, on coming back from England, my first posting as a salaried man was in Grik Perak. So, I effectively left Selama in 1969, almost fifty years ago.

No turning back

Most of my friends are retired. Their children are all grown up, married and living on their own. For them, the future is secured. There's no more mountains to climb. Its only living whatever is left of the life, perhaps travel every now and then, have lunch or dinner with friends, frequent the mosques, look after their grandchildren and maybe catch up on the reading until the inevitable day comes. I am at the same stage as well but for me, life has taken on a different turned. I am still working. I am still bringing up children. I still have mountains to climb. I am still thinking and plotting for the future. In other words, I am starting all over again. Its tough sometime but then life has to go on. There's no turning back. Yes, there's no turning back.

The heat is unbearable

The El Nino phenomena is still going strong. I felt it on Friday when going for Friday prayer. I felt it yesterday while in the house. Fortunately, when I'm in the office, the air condition is so strong that the El Nino is forgotten. Lunch places are all walking distance from my office so I don't feel it so much. On Friday, I venture out a bit further to go for Friday prayer. That's why I felt it. During weekends like today, I'm at home. That's also when I feel it. During prayers at the surau, I sweat. Even when its night time. This El Nino is really strong. Its unbearable at times. I read that air condition units are being sold like hotcakes. The shops are making a killing. At least some people are benefiting from it!

How to keep fit?

I felt really tired jogging yesterday. Its been months since I last jog due to various reasons. There's no excuse really if you want to be fit and healthy. Come what may, the exercise must continue but for me, a little discourse will keep me away from the jogging track. That's how it has been for so many years. There was a time when I jog thrice weekly. That was when I had enough time after work to go jogging. Nowadays, I go home after work a bit late in the day so there's no way I can go jogging. Its only on weekends but on weekends, I usually have so many things to do that I skip the jogging part. I ended up some time months without jogging. How to keep fit?