03 May 2011

It all started innocently enough

The first time somebody officially asked me about my ambition and I seriously replied with full of enthusiasm to become a scientist was in 1978. Without much thought on the dark secret life of a scientist, that was exactly my answer. I was in standard two at SIS Kemaman, my first year at the primary school after the hijrah from SOS Dungun. The person who asked me that significant question which later influenced the way I think and shaped my future was the bubbly Cikgu Zubir.

At this point, I have to make it clear that my ambiguous decision to pursue that ambition however had nothing to do with the prospect of how many girls I could charm with that bombastic ambition nor that I could change all the zombies into productive monkeys. But it has all the reasons in this world to influence my future romantic journey which took precedence over my entire life.

Oblivious to me at first, that childhood ambition was actually the precursor that endlessly ignite the fire that flamed the greatest love story ever - "cinta monyet di menara gading". The flame never died ever since. As any other great love epic- among others, the place was one of the important settings for this romantic journey to take place. My feeling over the years, subconsciously evolved and influenced by my surrounding, which were diverse in their complexity, unique characters and major players.



1st phase : The setting

The sparkling new laboratory at the deserted new KUSZA campus marked its inaugural opening with load of enthusiasm by scientist wannabes. The first experiment we were asked to take on was on the exciting concept of endo and exothermic reaction of chemicals. As we were still very innocent, ignorance and careless - evidence from the naive faces in the photo, the idea of mixing chemicals that release or absorb energy was very alien and intimidating. The idea of courting and flirting with girls was also very alien and intimidating too. The natural surrounding dictated boys and girls should mind their own business. I hardly knew who were the backbencher girls in the laboratory or even in my class. They all looked very similar to me and I assumed they treated me the same. Teropong iman at that time was still in its infancy and under-developed.

That fateful day however, we saw one of our colleague at the end of the experiment had almost burnt down the whole laboratory (the one at the back who was seen seriously meddling with the Bunsen burner and he was also the one and only ardent fan of Eddie Lawson that I mentioned in the earlier entry - Dharma Kasuma). He lost his eyebrow as well.


My subsequent jihad to Bangi had presented me with a totally new perspective on life and a bigger laboratory to experiment with too. Suddenly the atmosphere had totally changed. Nothing seemed to dictate the way you dress, to whom you should talk to, where you should eat or even how long you could have your leisurely afternoon siesta and missed your important lecture. It seemed like a total anarchy. To survive one had to be strong and of course discipline.

I could not remember what experiment I was doing (in the photograph above) or what was the name of my project partner or in which lab the photo was taken because my mind was not focus as it should be. Luckily I managed to finish all the assignments, thanks to my project partner of whom I still could not remember his name. There were so many distractions. The only thing I remember was how excited I was and so looking forward to go to the biochemistry practical laboratory to do my assignment. For the first time, something had caught my eyes and motivated me to spent time doing my experiment obediently in that particular lab. For the first time I stayed focus. That laboratory was the perfect setting for some serious chemistry reaction to take place. It was irresistibly powerful and I am helpless. I blamed that on my puberty hormone. The jeling-jeling and senyum-senyum process started here.

I later also found out and realized that playing with fire in the biochemistry laboratory could be one hazardous endeavor especially if the fire is so big as what happened to my friend Dharma kasuma. Luckily I didn't loose my eyebrow. But over time I learned to control the flame and harnessed its affectionate power. Life was full of flowers and its smelled nice too. Flamed by unfamiliar but a pleasant feeling, that was the exact time when my teropong iman started to activate.

Ah...now that my mind is starting to focus a bit, I remember my poor partner was actually Dr. Asri of the RMC, the guy who endlessly broke the glass test tubes in order to prove that his hand was made of steel.



next stage : the chase

30 comments:

catz said...

Teringat dulu masak sekolah darjah 2, darjah 3...cikgu tanya cita-cita. asyik-asyik org lain sebut, cikgu, askar, doktor. (now ada lagi ke org yg sebut askar bila cikgu tanya..ahahh).
cita-cita catz asyik berubah-ubah.
bila cikgu suruh senarai ada 3:

1. cikgu
2.wartawan
3.usawahan

padahal tah tau ke tak amenda wartawan dan usahawan tu apa benda.hahha.

bila dah form 5, melawat UTM, terus tukar ..nak jadik engineer. siap tulis atas getah pemadam.kehekhkeh.

Anonymous said...

Haha, kita dulu pun bercita2 nak jadi scientist, tapi sekarang cuma jadi scientist di dapur jer, :)

Sally said...

Dulu2 kan cikgu selalu tanya cita2 kita utk diisi dlm kad biru tu.. mine was that one constant answer : to become a teacher! Mission accomplished :)

Fadhil said...

Salam Doc,

This entry of yours reminded me of my chemistry class in form 5. We were given an assignment by the teacher to each choose a chemical compound but not tell the class what it is. We were to exchange samples with our classmate and then run some analysis to determine what it is.

I was lucky to get a sample from one of the prettiest girls in the class (her name is Yana, by the way). It was a white grainy powder. I did one test and determined it was a sulphate. Looks like plain salt to me.... so what the heck, forget about the next test and just taste it. It nearly burned my tongue! Turns out it wasn't salt.

After class I told her the story and we both had a good laugh...

besi said...

dr sam...pic old school...superb young saintis..became reality

DrSam said...

catz,
betul tu catz. jawapan lazim dan skema kepada soalan cita-cita bila besar ialah askar dan cikgu. Pemadam sumber inspirasi tu masih disimpan lagi ke Catz?

dangarumbia,
saintis dapur memang kreatif. macam-macam masakan inovasi keluar dari dapur.

DrSam said...

sally,
Tahniah cikgu sally sebab dapat menggapai cita-cita malah jadi cikgu mithali sekarang ni.

lupa nak tanya: sekolah baru kat mana ya?

oldstock,
Salam sir. Ha...ha...with burning tongue you still could laugh with Yana. I bet Yana must be really really pretty :) nice story to share sir.

Abd Razak said...

Assalamualaikum sahabat..

Tak pernah terfikir nak jadi Aircraft Engineer, apatah lagi bercita-cita ke arahnya. Selesai belajar practice sekejab then serius pulak dalam hal agama hingga kini...apa pun bidangnya semua rezeki kita sudah tertulis sebelum kita lahir ke dunia

Pn Kartini said...

Assalamaualaikum..:)

errmm..agak2nya suka sgt 'berlakon' jadi guru dgn kasut tinggi makbonda masa dulu2..rupa2nya menjadi betul2!!
Tapi tulah..masa study cita2 lain..!!tup2...ikut channel guru jugak..:):)
Betullah kan ..dah tertulis di azali:):)

Afida Anuar said...

Assalamualaikum Dr Sam..

ooo inilah sambungannya..pandang-pandang, jeling2 sweet...he he...

menunggu the chase pulak;)

PS: Dr di Bangi? UKM? Mak saya pun student UKM jugak Dr... tak ingatlah tahun bila...last2 keluar U ni jadi ustazah.. skrg dah pencen. Minta pencel awal.

Afida Anuar said...

Saudara abdul razak, pernah jadi aircraft engineer?..serius saya tak tahu.... lepas tu tukar ke bidang agama..Allahuakbar, lagi mantap dari aircraft engineer...tahniah saudara...moga Allah lipat gandakan usaha agama saudara..

PS: maaf dr sam..komen pasal saudara abdul razak pulak di sini;)

PerantauSepi1306 said...

envy you :) used to be my ambition to, astronomy more likely.. but omak tak nak lepas gi obersea hehehehe takpe adalah hikmahnye tu kan :D

Mulan said...

seronok baca pasal cita2 ni...

ps:- cikgu zubir ada lagi ni.. sangat lah aktif politik nya... and yup, very bubbly..

Wan Sharif said...

Noted that you only realized the smell of flowers in your Bangi stint.. in a way you are luckier than me.. being in all boys school till form six and being the only Malay in class of 27.. not a single Malay lady taking Physics in Minden.. Have to smell flowers elsewhere.. huhuhu.. was not very good at it though.. ha ha.

DrSam said...

Abd Razak,
Assalamualaikum ustaz. Kita merancang DIA menentukan. Alhamdulillah, berjihad dan menginfakkan diri ke jalan yang diredhai sesuatu usaha yang murni. Semoga segala pekerjaan kita diberkati.

Pn. Kartini,
Waalaikumussalam. Guru penyambung ilmu dan kearah pembentukan modal insan pembela Agama. Satu pekerjaan yang dihormati dan besar ganjaran pahalanya tu.

DrSam said...

Afida Anuar #1,
Waalaikumussalam Afida. Jeling-jeling nasib baik tak naik juling dibuatnya :) Insyaallah jika ada mood romantika dan mendapat kelulusan lembaga penapisan dalam negeri akan adalah sambungan ceritera "cinta monyet di menara gading" ni.

p/s: saya di UKM masuk batch 86/87. Mak Afida mesti dari Fakulti Pengajian Islam tu.

Afida Anuar #2:
Memang mantap Ustaz Abd Razak. Kita memerlukan lebih ramai individu seperti itu berdakwah dan menjadi tali penyambung syiar Agama tidak kira apa latarbelakang kita. Alhamdulillah.

PerantauSepi1306,
memang sah ada hikmanya tu. Teringat cerita omak-omak yang tak suka anak perempuan ke obersea ni... memang selalu berlaku terutama zaman dulu-dulu le. Kalau tak dah kerja asyik teropong langit aje lah ye :)

DrSam said...

Mulan,
cita-cita selalu tinggi menggunung. Ada yang tercapai dan ada yang tidak kesampaian.

p/s: Alhamdulillah panjang umur cikgu zubir. Macamana Mulan boleh kenal cikgu zubir? sekolah di SIS juga ke?

Ayah Wan,
I presume Minden's flowers must be very sophisticated and wild in nature. Quite difficult to domesticate...I think le Ayoh Wang. ke guane?

Afzainizam said...

,=====,o00o Ponn..Ponn.Ponn..
//__l_l_,\____\,__
l_---\_l__l---[]lllllll[]
_(o)_)__(o)_)--o-)_)___
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
" Antara kau dan aku
Blog ini sebagai pengantara”
http://firestartingautomobil.blogspot.com/
http://bukandoktorveterinar.blogspot.com/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Maaf lama tak ziarah kamu semua….
Jom Terjah entry terbaru ??
diy cat spray dashboard kereta

AKU PUN SAMA MACAM AWAK... DULU AKU MASA MENUNTUT DI I.V.M BELAJAR PUN JURUSAN VETERINAR KONONNYA NAK JADI DOKTOR HAIWAN ... DULU MMG ADE CITER-CITER MENGGUNUNG PALING KOMAN NAK JADI PEGAWAI VETERINAR BUT SEKARANG JADI LAIN PULAK.. JADI DOKTOR KERETA AJERR...

BAGI AKU KITA HANYA BERUSAHA MERANCANG ALLAH JUA YANG TENTUKAN...

sahromnasrudin said...

cikgu tanye besar nk jadi ape...

saya pernah cakap nak jadi diver bas heheheeee

TheFusionTea said...

You are what you are cum blogger :)

tomato_masam said...

memori yang menarik + gamba lama = post yang menarek :)

MaizaC'Joe said...

Cita-cita Maiza nak jadi doktor jg.. tapi bila kat Matriks [Sains Hayat] ala tak leh score sbb banyak main.. hehe.... Allah dah tetapkan rezeki masing2 kan.. Syukur apa yg di kurniakan.. sekarang ni banyak pegang calculator ;)

kat sekolah dulu.. nak operate katak tak lepas gak.. sbb tu tak sesuai jd doktor :)

PS: ok la jeling2 time study tu doc.. acu Maiza ada pesan masa nak further study tu "kat U tu.. tengok2 la sama pilih2" eh.. dia soh Maiza jeling2 gak :)

Afzainizam said...

,=====,o00o Ponn..Ponn.Ponn..
//__l_l_,\____\,__
l_---\_l__l---[]lllllll[]
_(o)_)__(o)_)--o-)_)___
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
" Antara kau dan aku
Blog ini sebagai pengantara”
http://firestartingautomobil.blogspot.com/
http://bukandoktorveterinar.blogspot.com/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Selamat Hari Ibu...”Mummy I love You”...
~~~~~~~@@@~~~~~~
sebenarnya masa study dulu aku amat lemah dalam subjek famakologi

tu yang banyak kali kantoi paper tu... mungkin aku tak ade bakat jadi doktor kut

DrSam said...

Afzainidam,
apa-apa profession pun semuanya sama penting. Sebab masing-masing menjadi pelengkap kepada keperluan yang lain.

shahromnasrudin,
menarik juga cita-cita tu.

DrSam said...

Thefussion Tea,
I am wondering if you ask a schoolboys these days... we will ever get an answer like..."I want to be a prolific Blogger..?"

tomato masam,
mengimbau kenangan silam, menghidupkan nostalgia lalu

DrSam said...

maizaCJoe,
Jalan cerita hampir sama dengan saya di UKM dulu. kantoi bukan pasal geli pegang katak atau tengok darah tapi sebab terlampau sangat main dan main-main termasuk terlebih main jeling-jeling agaknya...

p/s: memang bagus dan berwawasan betul acu maiza. Siap memberi petua mencari pasangan lagi. Habis tu, jelingan menjadi tak :)

Afzainizam,
masing-masing ada kekuatan dan kelemahan masing-masing. lagipun memang dah tersurat perjalanan hidup kita. Yang penting kita redha dan buat yang terbaik dalam apa jua bidang yang diceburi.

ASH said...

'Graduate' Kusza ni sinonim ngan ustaz dan ustazah...
but then scientist pun okay kan?
.
.
.
Ni kira bekas one of Mat Bunga UKM la ni kan?

Al-Manar said...

Browsing around rather aimlessly I suddenly found myself here. This earlier entry is interesting to me, a brief rundown of your earlier life.

I suppose we are from the same state. That KUSZA says a lot. I was not from KUSZA. In my recent entry, coincidentally I talked about my path through Sekolah Agama Sultan Zailnal Abidin, Ladang, years, years ago, before KUSZA was conceived.

Salaam to you.

DrSam said...

ashley,
saintis ustaz mat bunga pun boleh lah juga kot...sinonim tak?

Al-Manar,
I am glad you stumbled upon my blog and thank you for leaving a comment here. It seems that we shared the same school (SMUSZA) but from a different time gap. You are my super-senior it seems.

Salam Pak cik.

Dr Zatiel Ismail said...

salam ,hi Dr Sam.
segan nak tegur dgn Dr yg dah senior sbnrnya.

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