OFF TOPIC: My SSP Years
August 03, 2012
Warning : This may or may not be a super long post
If you don't already know by now, I went to a full boarding school for 5 years which was......Sekolah Seri Puteri!!! And mind you, this is the one in Cyberjaya. It is NOT the same with Sek SAINS Seri Puteri. That's the new school that took over the old SSP building in Jln Kolam Ayer. So don't even think to go like,"Bukan sama je ke?". ITS NOT. We hate it when people say that. Say that to us, we will punch your face. I kid. I kid you not.
So anyways, in the beginning I had a choice between SSP and TKC since I got in via cable. Which does not mean that I didn't deserve it. And at 12 and a half, I chose SSP because I wanted the one closest to home. I do remember my dad trying to pay me a few hundred bucks to keep me at home which I declined and I never regretted it. Packed my bags and so it began........
Form 1 (2003)
Dorm : Angsana 2 Bedmate : Atiqah
Class : 1 Intelek Deskmate : Ieka Azan
I arrived at the school on 31st March 2003, greeted by my then CS (college sister) K.Anis Solehah. She was a Topaz senior so I got into Topaz too. The first day went alright, my mum sort of cried, I didn't though. But I think I did shed some tears bila nak tidur malam tu. Haha. Then the next day I didn't know what to do with my dirty laundry, so I called my mum and she was like, "Xpe la, Alyaa xyah basuh, nnt mama dtg weekend mama amek". Ever since then, all through UiTM, never really did my own laundry. Semua hantar balik. Masa sekolah I had 10 pairs of school uniform every year. Pakai 5, hantar balik, get another 5 clean ones. We live in Kajang so its like 25 mins tops to get from there to SSP. My mum came everyweek and brought me food :)
Became friends with Myla, Merr, Asiah, Sufie, Amin, Syiqin and my other dorm mates. In class became friends with Amal, Merr too and Ieka. Lets just skip to the most memorable incident of the year. So this one morning, I woke up late. You see, in a boarding school where seniority is something big, juniors bgn lambat mmg nak kena la. So I thought my dorm leader at that time who was a form 4 senior was giving me the eye and that kinda pissed me off. Guess what I did, I rubbed some chocolate on her tudung that she laid out on her bed. And macam mana ntah, somebody told her, I willingly admitted ke, she found out. And I kena lecture for like 4 hours sampai pukul 3 pagi. She was actually really nice, to just forget about it. Not so for the other Topaz seniors. They kinda banned me after that? Hahaha. Well whatever, it was a really stupid thing to do. But it blew over and things went normal after that.
We also learned a new thing. General Inspections, or better known as GI. So every Sunday after prep we would all have our lockers, toiletries and dorms checked by the prefects. Usually the night before, we would clean and arrange our locker really nice, put all the food away in the pantry and made sure to hide all the teeny tiny tshirts in a pail stowed away in the laundry room. In the morning before prep we'd then lay out our toiletries on our beds with the bucket on the floor. The point was to make sure we all had the necessary items for basic hygiene care. If anything weren't up to par, the house would get a demerit. And let me tell u, that was some serious shiz back then. Lagi2 kalau dorm junior yg kena demerit, mesti kena panggil dgn seniors. And kalau dah nak dekat Sports Day tu mmg cari pasal la. Bc everybody went cut-throat competitive during that season. Mati wey.
We also learned a new thing. General Inspections, or better known as GI. So every Sunday after prep we would all have our lockers, toiletries and dorms checked by the prefects. Usually the night before, we would clean and arrange our locker really nice, put all the food away in the pantry and made sure to hide all the teeny tiny tshirts in a pail stowed away in the laundry room. In the morning before prep we'd then lay out our toiletries on our beds with the bucket on the floor. The point was to make sure we all had the necessary items for basic hygiene care. If anything weren't up to par, the house would get a demerit. And let me tell u, that was some serious shiz back then. Lagi2 kalau dorm junior yg kena demerit, mesti kena panggil dgn seniors. And kalau dah nak dekat Sports Day tu mmg cari pasal la. Bc everybody went cut-throat competitive during that season. Mati wey.
Then I started bringing my handphone illegally in mid year because it was allowed before that since it was a new facility and there were no pay phones yet. Learned tonnes of tricks of where to hide the phone. In my undie la, bra la, a hole in the tilam or pillow la, simpan dalam pocket seluar then hang it kat ampaian la. Hahaha. And my partner in crime was always Amal. :D
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| Amal and Merr |
Form 2 (2004)
Dorm : Daffodil 2 Bedmate : Merr
Class : 2 Tekun Deskmate : Faus
This year me, Amal, Myl, Merr, Asiah, Ieka and Teyra became super close. We had this book we called 'Buku Kita'. The way it worked was we would each have our turns to hold the book and we could write anything we wanted. I bet my writings were filled with things about this boy named Ridt. We went to the same primary school and mcm mana ntah boleh contact and became really close via texts and calls during '04. And now he's like an accomplished guitarist for The Padangs and probably have forgotten about what happened that year.
Anyhoo, we formed this clique called 'Ochibaba' and the I got called with Merr to Ustzh Eenie's (at that time she was the head warden) house and kena marah, okay la nasihat la, but she was so garang! She was like, "Ada students yang mengadu yg u all ni mcm buat geng dgn anak-anak org kaya je". And why? Bc we all wore TL and WC bags. Are u freaking kidding me??? Hahahaha. But we just went on as usual like it was nobody's business.
At this point we were still considered as juniors so still kena buat benda-benda like, gosok baju, beli food, get food, weeding. But we didn't fret much. Not as much as the juniors we had when were seniors. Kecoh nak mati. Biasa la duduk boarding school kena buat things for seniors. As long as they didn't get physical on us and didn't leave us emotionally scarred, then we're fine.
Once, one of our weeding (basically weeding is when we had to do some chores around the school every Saturday morning) tasks was to clean up the seniors' bathrooms in the hostel. What my group and I did was we looked for the most expensive body wash in the toiletries buckets and we used that to clean the floors. Hahahaha. Jahat gila, I know.
Once, one of our weeding (basically weeding is when we had to do some chores around the school every Saturday morning) tasks was to clean up the seniors' bathrooms in the hostel. What my group and I did was we looked for the most expensive body wash in the toiletries buckets and we used that to clean the floors. Hahahaha. Jahat gila, I know.
Oh and we got involved with a Japanese cultural dance for Bon Odori. Splendid, splendid time :) Annnndddd......got my first sort of boyfriend. Lets just call him A. Met through Friendster (hahahaha) and more to come in the next part. And I still managed to bring my phone unconfiscated :D
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| Saturdays when we were allowed to wear blouses to prep |
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| Bon Odori costumes |
Form 3 (2005)
Dorm : Chrysanthemum 2 Bedmate : Myla
Class: 3 Usaha Deskmate : Myla gak.....
In my opinion, the best year out of the 5. Because we weren't exactly juniors anymore and not yet seniors. Plus it was our PMR year so we kinda got excluded from things in a way that nobody bothered us. No weeding, limited required sports time, no doing things for seniors, bla bla bla. We used to stay up almost every night at the Emerald study room. In the dorm we (me, Myl, Asiah, Syiqin and Amin) we dubbed ourselves as the Puak Taliban/KPC bc Amin liked to make dirty jokes hehehe. We liked to combine our beds at night and eat junkfood and pillow talk. God those were good times :')
So this A guy. My friends said that our 'love' story at that time dah boleh buat novel. On and off, on and off. It finally ended in Dec I think bc he left me for a TKC senior who now, is good friends with Amal. What a small world kan. Haha. And I think this was the year that I started to get to know other boys from other boarding schools. Zaman-zaman baru nak up lah katanya. Omg and I recently found out that the guy I had a crush on this year is now with a girl that was friends with me back in Sri Gombak, we were like deskmates in '98. It is seriously a small world I tell u.
By the end of the year, I got a really depressing news. My dad had to work in Labuan for 2 years so my family had to move there too. I remember reading that text form my mum in my class and went straight next door to Amal's class and cried my eyes out to her. So they moved temporarily to Labuan and I went too for the holidays. Oh and I aced my PMR :)
My phone was still safe
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| The haze was so bad that we were sent home |
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| The Emerald Study Room |
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| Underneath the Astaka |
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| Our outing uniform. Don't we look....happy? |
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| One of the reading sessions |
Form 4 (2006)
Dorm : Daffodil 1 Bed mate : Baz (my then form 2 junior)
Class : 4 Usaha Desk mate: Amal
The first year of our seniority. I became a prefect candidate now that I think of it, what the hell was I thinking. I was the dorm leader for Daff 1. But I didn't make prefect though and that was a good thing. I broke the school rules like, every day. I think this was the year that I my bestfriend and I did something practically illegal which I won't disclose who and what bc my mum reads my blog! Hahaha. Grew even closer with my bestfriends. And started hanging out with Mizah, Hanum, Hanna and Chekin.
In SSP, the form 4s will be responsible to hold every events. So there was this one time, our gang kena berdiri kat depan assembly sebab ponteng qiamulail ke apa ntah. As a punishment our batch leader made us perform on Teacher's Day celebration. Mizah la lead bc dia mmg suka performing. I on the other hand suffered from stage fright. We sang Thank God I Found You by Mariah Carey and my knees menggeletar the whole time okay! Haha.
Probably one of the toughest year for me. My family was in Labuan so I could only see them during the long breaks. Apart form that I stayed with my aunts in KJ. Still tough though bc I had to do my own laundry! Malu la nak hantar kat makcik. :b
Mid year, me, Amal and Nitho went to a UNESCO camp in Pangkor. Nothing much but I was in a group with a SAS guy, Shun. Who wound up being one of my bestfriends after we met again in UiTM. Funny how things work out. This was also the year that I met my first love. Not my first bf but indeed my first love. Lets call him S. He was in RMC so cam agak cool la at that time to have a bf who went to RMC kan. Haha.
My phone was still untouched
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| Class corridors |
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| Cycle n Hunt that we lost bc I got lost. Ha! |
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| BBQ at Sensei Nadimin's house |
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| Sensei Nadimin |
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| At the Astaka overlooking the Topaz block |
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| Arranging chairs and desks for an exam |
Form 5 (2007)
Dorm : Alamanda 2 Bedmate : Asiah and Merr
Class : 5 Restu Deskmate: Mizah
Final year. Broke even more rules. Keluar hostel lambat and nama kena tulis every morning. Dah la lambat, ponteng assembly pg cafe beli nasi lemak or mihun then makan dalam kelas plk tu. Haha. But apart from that, we were starting to get worried how much we will miss the time we had but at the same time anxious to face what lies ahead. Started to work my ass off for SPM. In form 5 we had our own desks and chairs in the dorms so that we can study easier. Didn't do much of that. I just filled my desk with pictures with S. We studied a lot at the Emerald pantry. That was like our port to just sit and chat and gossip and study and whatever.
In the dorm we combined out beds and never separated them. Usually in previous years, kalau combine malam, esok pagi kena susun balik. But we had more flexibility masa form 5. And I must say, I had the best nights sleeping during this year. My bed was directly under the fan, our beds were next to the windows which we never closed at night, I always covered myself with my blanket and topped with the bedspread (which I brought back home, more like stole it), so it was just perfect.
Omg, in August, I absent-mindedly left my phone on my bed when we went to the dining hall and guess what, kena rampas. My reigning years as the student yg x pernah kena rampas phone since form 1 was over. Lagi a few months je for me to keep that record. I was like FU..........dge. My mum could be reading this remember? Hihi. But yeah, that sucked. And from what I heard the prefects were so happy bc nobody was able to confiscate my phone before.
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| We loved formal dinners bc they meant better food and ice cream! |
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| The inseperable beds |
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| Surau and our batch baju kurung |
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| BB courts overlooking the classes blocks |
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| Myl was always at our dorm bc hers was with other prefects |
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| The evening before our Grad Dinner |
When the year nearly ended, it was a really bittersweet time. Sedih gila kot nak tinggal a place that u've called home for 5 years. To leave the people you've been with 24/7 everyday. Some of them u'll never see again. SSP taught me pretty much everything I needed to survive adoloscence and future adulthood. I learned how to kopek udang with fork and spoon! Bc we weren't allowed to eat with our hand. Semua kena fork and spoon. It made me unbelievably independent. And best of all, it gave me friends for life. The friends who know my secrets, tolerate my nonsense, who take me as I am, my best friends. No need to mention names, they know who they are.
My little sister wants to go SSP to but my mum kinda thinks it was a bad idea to let me go in the first place bc she thinks I've turned into this somewhat brand conscious person. Hahaha. So I was like, why not? SSP gave me the best years of my life so far, the.best.ever. There's just so much that I could write on and on about but the post would be a thousand houses long. So this is just like a super compact of my fondest memories during high school. My friends and I are still close to this point even though we're each heading out in different directions. We'll always find a way to get together and its always easy bc we can just pick up where we left off. Always. :')
Some of the things I miss
- Tidur kat surau in between class and prep
- The bell ring
- Makan ramai2 kat dorm after prep
- Escaping things. Riadah, qiamulail, usrah masa bulan puasa, anything that sounds potentially boring
- Hibernating on Saturdays
- Reading sessions. Which were more like gossiping session
- The days with nice food. Nasi ayam, sambal ikan bilis, sambal telur hancur
- Launging around the Astaka
- Getting all excited kalau ada boys school like SDAR or SAS nak dtg
ps. I think I might do My UiTM Years next
10 comments
aly, thank god I found u form 5 la! haha
ReplyDelete4 laaaa. wait im not so sure now. haha
Deletereally nice, baca ulang2 plus the effects from the fade-colour pictures just made my day. though i only got to be close to you and the rest in form 5, but the memory lasts. thanks for writing this piece. :')
ReplyDeleteawh. u're welcome! wish i know this is though. hehe :)
Deletethose were the happy days- maybe everybody should get together for bbq again
ReplyDeletemaybe we should. everyone's all...........grown up and getting married now.
Deleteoh so you were there with eldaterra, hermanas, and ohana? is your batch akravatore?
ReplyDeletenice reading your life cycle in SSP, very very interesting... mine is different in military school..........mmglah kena dgn title....sekolah berprestasi tinggi.
ReplyDeleteWere you from RMC?
Deleteso youre my ex senior lahh ni.hhaha.hows the juniors ek time zaman youdulu.imean yeah juniors nowadays are really BAJET
ReplyDelete