1992. Jan and Feb were long months because we were actually waiting for the arrival of our sixth baby. I was like in confinement for the first half of the year; fortunately with many "homeworks" executable at home till whatever hours and the disappearing students at the session ending from late Feb, they were actually very much of blessings.


April 1989
Feb 1992
Azizah delivered our sixth baby on Feb 27 Thu, ca. 3.00 am, in Kajang Maternity Specialist: a contending boy - Ahmad Syarbini; and thus we spent the Eid 1412 on April 5 Sun in Bangi. For a few months my routine was highly cross-linked. Chitin Grp put me in charge of infostock, which I put up in my 286AT, assisted by an RA. Ventura was around, so I slowly formatted them into DTP files. The 5.5" floppy was very sloppy indeed; they get media error reading very quickly; the HD was still very low volume to accomodate all the infostock. Nonetheless, this job prevailed perpetually throughout the year. Apr 21 Tue, Shamsinar Wales of DBP came to the Dept to ask me to undertake a mammoth translation of the Vogel's Practical Organic Chemistry. As she insisted, it was a team work which I included Dr Pauzi, Dr Harun and Dr Rohana (Chem Engineering). The job went well throughout the year. I did not worry very much about the team-mates phase and pace for I could tow them at any place where they take the exit. Obviously it dimmed the marching chitin infostock. New session 1992/93 started on Jul 6 Mon with my full-time involvement with the new Material Science Programme; at least I was given a paper to handle: SB 2022 (Intro to Mat Sci II), but this paper was in 2000 level and in semester II, meaning to start Nov 1993.

I poked in Trg as early as Jan 17 Fri (with Zidni and Muzani), driven by the anticipation that our Eid in Apr would be in Bangi, to see how my sister Rubaiah was doing since her unwell four months ago. The 'traditional' break in Trg was during the Eid Adha on Jun 11 Thu break. Even before the Eid I had had a go to the sea. But this time the catch was not so encouraging, we docked at about mid-night on the same day Jun 9 Tue. I took along Rubaiah and all in her family when we returned to Bangi for them to have a different air for quite many days. During the stay, my maternal cousin Abang Awang paid a visit and out of all imprompto turnups, all of us, packed in Pajero, and Awang Johor's family, were in Kuala Sungai Baru beach, Melaka on Jun 21 Sun. The beach were so narrow, and the dwellers homes were separated from the waves only by a narrow and windy road (lowly tarmac); but on that day, beneath the wet sand, there were a lot of 'remis', we collected in pails. I wondered why the locals did not bother to collect them; they simply ignored what the nature gave them. The day before we were on the beach of Bagan Lalang. There were just too many people to have any sense of de jevu of Trg beach. The year end break was reserved for Malini's UPSR and SDE and her next phase of schooling.


Academic Writer Award 1992 from the Educational Book Division, Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.
Zidni and Muzani being 'conforted' by Rubaini.
KBSM dwindled to only being invited to become an in-house reader of Sains Tambahan 5 (another was Rashidi, one of the author was Safian from DBP) for Pantas Set; a sitting was on July 22 Wed in NPC Hotel, P.J., the editor was Amran. I did not know how it did after the submission. But DBP paid me a rare tribute for what I had contributed: the Academic Writer Award 1992, from the Educational Book Division. The ceremony was on Jul 30 Thu in Crown Prince Hotel, Ampang, and Datuk Abu Hassan Omar, the Minister of Domestic and Consumer Affairs was the GoH. Amran read my CV.

Rubaini presumably got along well in SMAS in Form 2 that at the end of the year she became interested in staying in the hostel. We took her to the hostel (a bungalow house for form 1 and 2, a walking distance from the school; form 3 girls stayed in proper hostel beside the school; all-boys hostel was further up walking distance) on Aug 23 Sun to the end of the school session on Oct 24 Sat; and into Form 3 in Dec. While in collecting her needs, I saw Azizah (and I too) began to feel the sense of beginning to loose our children, like our parents did, and like my mother did in early Jan 1964 when she packed for my hostel needs. We were on the next milestone of repeating "the great circle of life". Malini in Year 6, her final year in SRK BBB for six full enjoyble years. Although we had every confidence in her, she still wanted to go to tuition in Teras Jernang (the house of Ustz Idris Omar, the place Rubaini went to in 1989), perhaps for psychological security. The UPSR began on Jul 21 Tue, and the results were announced on Oct 16 Fri. In between, the SDE of SRA was on Sep 1 Tue. The results were her results, the results none of her teachers did not have in mind. She had herself set for SBP. Azizah and I could not resist to have the feeling of loosing our children, the feeling like we had when Rubaini packed for hostel in Aug (alas, ten minutes drive), that we put to her (in fact long before her UPSR) that we hope she would be selected to TKC Seremban or SSP Kolam Air like many of her seniors rather than STF Johor Bahru like a few of her seniors. In the end all of us were blessed; she received the offer from TKC on Oct 31 Sat. The school preopened for 1993 on Dec 1 Tue with Zidni in Year 4. Muzani inched on to Year 2. They both were "teened" on Nov 10 Tue in Dr Karim's Clinic, Kajang (Metro Inn just completed).

We took Malini to TKC on Dec 14 Mon to begin her Form 1. It was my third "arrival" in TKC; the very first one was in 1970 Jul 5 Sun (then TKC was an English School) in SAS70 Prefect return trip from PD, then in 1986XXXXXXXX helping CheGu Harun's son Nazri (a UKM first year FSFG) to fetch his sister for emergency trip back to Trg via Subang for their mother's funeral. As after then, I would be in TKC many hundreds times more. Syarbini was then about to become an 'erectus'.