Tuan Hj Hamdan - Our 3rd Principal

I know I'm supposed to write about the first principal first, but today I was given the contact number of Tuan Haji, which prompted me to call him, and hence since it is still fresh in my mind, I've decided to write about him first.

Tuan Hj came to our school (as recorded by here) on 15 Dec 1977. He was there until 31 March 1979.

What fascinated me of this great principal was his fatherly approach in handling the students -both boys and girls. I remember how he lead the Thursday night prayers (as the imam) in the big hall (no mosque nor common surau yet then). He also made a point to come to the girls hostel every fortnight to lead the prayers, after which we would sit around him and listened attentively to his "nasihat", just like listening to your dad talking!

Tuan Hj was also good in languages and Music. He can play the piano well. In Those days, we had the piano parked at the foot of the staircase that leads to the stage, in the main hall.

The day he departed was a sad one. I remember Tuan Hj sang the beautiful song "Selamat Tinggal Bungaku". Right until now, if I hear that song, I get teary eyes, and am very much reminded of him. What I do not recall is that I actually ran up the stage to ask him to sing the song (and HE remembers it!).

The lyric of the song:

Selamat Tinggal Bungaku

Selamat tinggal bunga ku
Aku bermohon pergi dahulu
Terima kasih seruan ku
Jasa mu untuk diri ku

Ke timur atau ke utara
Tak tentu dimana nak tujukan
Setitik airmata
Dititiskan dibuang jangan

Sekiranya aku masih
Berada nun jauh di balik awan
Salam yang bahagia
Khabar yang gembira ku kirimkan

Inikah akhir bertemu
Bila nian kan berjumpa lagi
Ingatlah pesanan ku
Jaga baik diri mu sendiri

( Lagu : Johar Bahar / Ahmad Wan Yet - Lirik : Johar Bahar )

Here are some of the pix of me with him:

Here he was with us, watching our Malay debating team practicing in the main hall - we went into the final that year with the team thatconsisted of Roslan Ghani, Zaidi and Zulkifli and Ab Aziz Ahmad:

Fr left: me, Anee Lin, Che Jamilah, Tuan Hj Hamdan

While I am at it, I might as well say a bit abt the team. That year we had back-up teams consist me, Affendi (in the pix) and a few others (some are not the this pix). I was with Team B, while the other girls were in Team C (they were only in form 2 then!). Team B went all the way to win the Piala Ekspo Pendidikan Kelantan while Team A went on to win Piala Koperasi (Kelantan) as well as entered the PPM final in Angkasapuri at the end of the year.

The Pix of Pasukan Bahas BM for the school magazine.

The following pix was taken during the Prefect's Jamuan (can't remember if it was for Raya, or just end-of-term-thingy).

Girl Prefects with Ustaz and Tuan Haji Hamdan
Standing fr left: Parishah, Delima, Rosmayati,Ustaz Alwi, Tuan Hj Hamdan, Rosilah, Mahiza, Che Nasirah, Sh Haslina
Front fr left: Roselina Hussein, Roselina Yusuf, me, Nik Rozana, Husnayati

Here's a photo taken during one of the last assemblies at the end of 1978. The Home Science Club did very well that year - we did catering services to the school especially during MSSK (Majlis Sukan Sekolah Kelantan) sub-committee meetings. If I remember correctly, with our "income", apart from having the "Jamuan Tahunan", we managed to buy gifts to our Advisor (Cikgu Adawiyah), as well as a brooch (worth RM3 - that's a lot in those days!) each for every member! (we practically finished up the stock in the small supermarket!) and Tuan Haji as the Pengetua was willing to pin them to EVERYONE of us!

Note: The assembly was held in the open space, just in front of the flag poles! Many students were given certificates for their achievements in various fields.

P/S: Tuan Haji came to our recent Raya Gathering. For the blog on that and his latest pix, please click here.

Also, if you can read what Tuan Hj wrote about the school here. You can read about his childhood here.