The Year 2000. Many interesting things happened; indeed, 2000 is a very special year so for. Some events appeared like repeating themselves, of course in different time frame and thus on different 'objects', and with some plus and minus. First of all, as I contested last year, that 2000 is not the beginning of the third millenium; it was actually the end of the second millenium. All the celebrations last year were merely economic gimmicks, especially relating to the computer things; having a rare opportunity of making a huge sum of money from the misleading so illogical shifting of "99" to "00" in the bios of the timid 'illiterate' consumers' high-tech machine called computer. Ironically, this end year celebrations were very 'mild' although spiritually we are entering the true new millenium, the 3rd millenium. Perhaps the shifting of "00" to "01" in the computer bios is mathematically so unillogical that it did not deserve any celebration.

Event	Year 1968	Year 2000
Eid	Jan 1, Mon (1387H) (With family in Trg)	Jan 8, Sat (1420H) (With family in Trg)
Chinese New Year	Jan 30, Tuesday (in SAS)	Feb 5, Sat (in Sg Merab)
SPM Started (Practical)	Nov 5, Tue (Biology)	NR
School Last Day	Nov 8, Fri	Nov 10, Fri
SPM (Written Papers)	Nov 15, Fri (Malay)	Nov 13, Mon
Ramadan	Nov 21, Mon (1388H)	Nov 27, Mon (1421H)
SPM Ended	Dec 2, Mon	Nov 28, Tue
"Balik Kampung"	Dec 3, Tue	Nov 28, Tue
Eid	Dec 21, Sat (1388H) (With Abg Mat's family in Kuala Sentul)	Dec 27, Wed (1421H) (With family in Sg Merab)
All of the family, once upon a day in SAS 2000;

From "almanac" point of view, year 2000 is the repeat of year 1968. Consequently one can infer that 33 Lunar years is equivalent to exactly 32 years plus a week on the Gregory calender. The Muslims celebrated twice Eids in 2000, as in 1968; once in Jan and another in Dec. And in between, events in 1968 remarkably repeated by my #3son Zidni in 2000, at the same age, 17, in exactly the same place: Alam Shah School; my second year in the school in 1968, his fifth year and final in the school in 2000. He left the school a prefect well acquainted by his teachers and with a promise by a petroleum firm to send him to a USA university in June 2001, if he continues to fullfill the requirement of the University's application procedures; the same way I left the school, a HB, in 1970 though, with a promise by MARA to send me to an Australian university in Feb the following year. The fate did not keep the promise of the latter, later (in 1972) turned out to be for my own good. Zidni and his batch would probably be the group whose tenure in SAS is the longest: 5 years plus a month due to the incidental fact that he began in Dec 1995 instead of Jan 1996 as normally be. With Zidni leaving SAS, I would not be visiting my alma mater again for sometimes. My next potential #6boy is Syarbini, now in Year 3. It would be in 2005, if any retransgression to happen. During the five years revisit, SAS practically had not changed. What had 'changed' was the road address: from "Jalan Tenteram" (which previously was just "Jalan Cheras") to "Jalan Yaacob Latif"; it was rumoured 1998 that SAS would be moved to Ulu Yam in order to vacate the prime land for commercial purposes, and construction had even began, but somehow the decision was reversed; I still believed it was temporarily reversed. Then lately it was talked that a duplicate SAS would be built in Putra Jaya to assume a Smart School. This may be plausible as a step to begin writing the history of the original SAS, the nearby STTI, TTTC, SM Jln Cheras, SM Teknik, and SMS Selangor; then the year 2005 indeed a very remote time distance for another revisit.

This year is also an almost a repeat of 1995, of what I called the "Examination Year". Topping it was Zidni sitting for his SPM (November), then Muzani in his PMR (late October). Alya, had she not reversed the double promotion she earned to Year 5 last year, would have been sitting for UPSR (in mid September); and as in 1995, Azizah's routine examinations since early February in Kajang Specialist Maternity, born yet another contending boy, Asrizalni, on Thursday morning of November 23, our eighth sibling, the fifth boy, four days before Ramadan set in on Nov 27, Monday. We could nick him 'millenium dusk baby', or for the same reason, 'millenium dawn baby', either way 'millenium baby'. Consequently we spent the Eid on Wednesday, Dec 27 in Sg Merab; exactly the same reason we did not spend the Eid in Terengganu in 1983, July 12 in BBB (when Zidni was born), in 1989, May 6 in Sg Merab (when Alya was born), and in 1992, April 5 (when Syarbini was born).

I managed to gather more for the class of 66 "boys" and "girls"; on July 23, Sunday at the usual most convenient place in Dengkil, owned by Abdullah Yusuf and his wife Zaharah. Mohd Embong was a regular, but Omar could not make. Abdullah Embong in Penang came down with all his family. Also Shafie and Raja Daniel. In Ramadan I poked in with cards, Othman in Kelantan and Zawiah in PJ, and both reflected the memory of remnant acquaintance still dimly ticking. I was still unable to get through to Othman Ali in Klang. Wan Muhamad Musa in Shah Alam was more than eager, but always unable to overlap the schedule.

Apr 1989

Feb 1992

Aug 1995

Nov 2000

Ministry of Education renewed its KBSM programme beginning next year, but the proposals were to be submitted late this year. Book 1 and 4 would be composed in 2001 and would be in the shop for use beginning Jan 2002. Anuwar of Aras Mega made a move to have Rashidi and I write for them. I was tempted as much as before, but Rashidi learned a lot the bitter pill posted to us by Pustaka Aman with the non-payment of royalties for Book 2, 3 and 4 of the previous scheme, amounting to more than 100K each, that he damanded more than what Aras Mega can give as valid reason to refuse. I followed his lead.

In the campus, BIRO undergone a few admin personnels, as routinely done. CChem thus had its new chairman, and equally indistinguishble as the previuos two. The operation attained its stability, but the sale was unsatisfactory due to market saturation. In june the company applied for a CRDF in MITI/MTDC; Mr Saw and I presented the case in MTDC Penang on June 22, for about 2.3M proposal. In early November, as expected, we got the good news, but rather bad for the amount was only less than 0.5M; it became too tight to move within the proposal. On machinery-wise, it barely covers my visit to Taiwan late last year. Nonetheless, Biro finally completed in honouring its renovation of Chitin Lab in Chemistry building after chitosan poster had its seat in UKM-MTDC Smart Centre beginning on the PM visit in September 99; initiated by the then director, Dr Marzuki in 1999; and the key was handed over to the steam-depleted researchers.

The faculty was very quiet, it almost seemed staffless. No academic activities took place this year apart from Eid gathering in Jan to mark the 6-month old supported-life, as though the laboratories were without electricity. Every one keep every future to themselves. Apart from the space being swarmed by the excess number of students, there appeared to be responselessness for any stimulus poked into the establishement; even gravity appeared to be absent; even on the demise of Dr Wan Mohamed, one of the UKM first batch and pioneer staff in Chemistry, in early morning of Wednesday, October 11. Everything was left to nature to get its entropy increase by the days. Perhaps every one was braising for the 'mass' retirement of majority of the staff; beginning next year and will severely deswell the faculty in five years time.

Edition dated Jan 2001