Anwar's New Year Outing

I know it has been late for a new year story. But I havent blog about our activity on 1st January.

My sister Adibah came to spend the break at our place. We were going to take Anwar for an outing. My husband came up with an idea to visit the National Museum. He wanted to take some photos, he said.

So the three of us went to Klang to pick Anwar at his school. When we arrived, the kids were doing the gotong-royong. There were no other visitors in the schoolyard except for us. This means that the pupils were not allowed to be taken out for outing. But since we had already travelled all the way to Klang, my husband decided to talk to the warden in charge. So he went in, leaving me and Adibah in the car.

Ron : Assalamualaikum Ustaz!

Ustaz: Wa'alaikumussalam

Ron : Nama saya Nasron. Saya datang nak mintak izin bawak adik saya keluar.

Ustaz: Ye ke? Tunggu sini sekejap ye.

Ron : Eh..Ustaz nak gi mana tu?

Ustaz: Nak pergi panggil adik kamu laa.

Ron: Adik saya siapa? Saya belum bagitahu nama dia pun lagi.

Ustaz : Kan tadi tu kamu dah sebut...

Ron : Huh? Itu nama saya lah!

Ustaz : Oh..itu nama kamu. Maaf lah ye.Tersalah dengar tadi. Apa nama adik kamu?

Ron : Anwar Mohd. Saya nak bawak dia keluar.

Ustaz : Mereka sedang bergotong-royong ni encik...

Ron : Ye, saya tahu. Tapi saya nak bawak adik saya keluar.

Ustaz : Kalau ikut peraturan, sekarang tak boleh bawak keluar. Lepas Zuhur baru boleh.

Ron : Saya bukan suruh Ustaz ikut peraturan. Saya mintak Ustaz guna budi bicara Ustaz untuk izinkan adik saya keluar.

Ustaz : Oh..ye ke?

Ron : Ye la. Petang nanti kami hantar laa dia balik.

Ustaz : Tapi kalau budak² lain tengok, mesti diorang akan telefon ibu bapa diorang mintak dibawak keluar jugak. Susah saya nanti.

Ron : Tu tak jadi masalah bagi Ustaz. Kan lepas Zuhur boleh keluar. Mesti ibu bapa akan datang jugak nanti.

Ustaz : Ye tak ye jugak. Baik lah. Tapi jangan kecoh². Nanti budak lain nampak.

Ron : Terima kasih Ustaz.

The whole conversation was told by my husband immediately when he got back into the car. We laughed at the part when the Ustaz mistakenly thought Nasron was the brother's name. And I personally think this statement is smooth, "Saya bukan suruh Ustaz ikut peraturan. Saya mintak Ustaz guna budi bicara Ustaz..." .

So we managed to take Anwar out. We went straight to the National Museum.

We had lunch at home later that afternoon. Around 4 pm, it was time to send Anwar back. At this point, Anwar became very upset. He started to 'buat hal' and didn't want to go back to school. This kind of drama had happened before. Previously when we took him out for the first time, a few minutes before sending him back, he became ill. And we had to buy him Panadols.

I think it's normal for a young kid like him, being away from family, to react that way. It's normal to feel homesick.

My husband became emotional seeing Anwar like that. He didnt even try to convince Anwar to stay. He didnt give any mental support. He didnt say anything good. Instead, he impliedly critisized Abah's decision to send Anwar away to a boarding school. He said Anwar is not ready. He said Anwar, being the youngest in the family, should stay home. He said Azri has changed a lot since entering that school, and didn't wish Anwar to turn into a quiet loner like Azri.

He claimed that he can always relate to any young kids who feel homesick because he has been away from his family to attend a boarding school at the early age of 13 ( I went to boarding school at 16). As a young boy, he was so emotionally attached to his family, and he struggled so hard to get rid of the homesickness that he felt. And as a result of trying so hard to be mentally tough, temporarily at one point, he no longer became a family-oriented person. This is what he claimed. And he does not want that to happen to Anwar. He vehemently opposed the idea of sending Anwar away. But then again, the decision is in Abah's hand. There's nothing much we can do on that. Whatever it is, we do hope that Anwar can survive this stage. He should be ok.

*The words "he was so emotionally attached to his family" stated above originally came from Ayah.