Birthday Prank: SMSL 2003 memory...

As I read some of my earliest blogpost entry since 2006, I have a feeling that somehow life is so interesting. What I wrote about the current issue, politics, music, medicine, were just providing fact and information for readers out there who are seeking for it. My real passion in writing is to write about those interesting experience in my life. The thing that I wanted to share. Half of me wanted to give information, half of me just want to share. 

Today, I suddenly remember regarding a story that happen 13 years ago. A story that most of the people who are involved will never forget. This story happen when I was in Form 5, at Sekolah Menengah Sains Labuan (SMSL). It happen because of one person. We call him Buyut.

So do you all know that during my time, it was 2003, there were a tradition in our boarding school where everyone will prank you during your birthday. This tradition was prohibited by the school because it cost too much 'damage'. People would just thrashed out everything during that prank - make a lot of thrash everywhere. The prank traditionally involved throwing flour to the birthday boy, then throw egg on them. The person will be covered with flour and egg. The prank did not stop there. After that, the person will be splashed by water and only God knows where the water came from, hyperbolically. It could be from the toilet, drain, or anything.

So, everyone were trying to keep their birthday a secret back in those days. There were no facebook so if you just keep quiet about it, you will be fine. Those prankster also kept their knowledge of the person birthday a secret. So the birthday boy will never know when the prank will start or will it happen or not. Day will start as usual, if you were not pranked at midnight, just like normal days, and suddenly out of nowhere, flour, egg, and water will be coming at you from no where.

The story that I wanted to tell here happen during Buyut's birthday. For your information, Buyut was a likeable character in the school. Perhaps the most likeable seniors. He was funny, he just be himself all the time. He never caused any trouble, never fight, even though my memory of him was now blurry (after 13 years), but I remember him as a nice and funny person. So, no one scared of him.

It happen at midnight. At daytime, nothing unusual happen, everyone were doing their daily routine normally. I heard about the prank, but even I myself did not really know when it will start. At midnight, out of nowhere, we heard a laughter. Initially small, then it got bigger. Starting from a small group of student, more and more student started to join that prank. It was a chain reaction. From one dorm, to another dorm, and before you know it, it become one of the biggest birthday celebration prank ever. The whole boy hostel were awake. Everyone were chasing Buyut and nobody want to miss the opportunity to prank him.


The prank did not involved only the seniors Form 5 student, it involved the whole hostel. It was big, and noisy. The funny thing was, Buyut never submitted to the prank. He fought as hard as he could. He run as fast as he can. He tried with a huge effort to avoid water being splashed on him. The more he fight the more prankster join to catch and make him submit. It was funny, up to the point where thing got out of control. At 1 am in the morning, the hostel was lively as it was 12 in the afternoon. Nobody cared about our warden anymore. Everyone just carried away.

That was including me. I do not know why, before this we were even scared to make a sound when we walk, because we do not want our hostel warden to be disturbed from his sleep. Because when he does, people are going to pay for the consequences. At that time, everyone just carried away with the prank and forgot that the warden was still there, in his room, at ground floor of our hostel.

I was just in front of the warden room, when somebody called me discreetly from a room beside that room. The room beside the warden room was called "Bilik 6 Jahanam". It was a room dedicated to the 6 most notorious senior student at that time. You know, warden like to keep them close so that they cannot do anything illegal, something like that. They were not bad, it was like 'bad' for a 16-17 years old in a boarding school. How bad can that be? So this person inside that room called me, he told me that thing are getting crazy out there and the warden will be awaken anytime soon. Better hide myself and calm down. He pulled me into the room. The room was dark, everyone was sleeping, or pretending. It was irony, the biggest prank were happening outside, and this so called 'notorious' student just stay in their room, sleeping, did not want to be involved. Turn out to be, they were smart. And I was just lucky.

The moment I step into the room, I sat on one of their bed, suddenly we heard our warden shouting from in front of his room.

"ASPURA!!!"  That was our hostel name. That shouting referred to everyone in the hostel. That was a bad sign.

Then everything stopped. Just like mannequin challenge, people stop immediately at what they were doing at that time. The warden were so angry, he shouted and ordered everyone involved to stop and start to gather downstairs, or in the middle of our nearest basketball court. Punishment was on its way. As expected, the warden first check this Notorious room, always suspecting them to be involved. He opened the door, to find out that all of us in there were sleeping. Pretending. Including me, under our blanket comfortably. He just stand at the door for 1 minute, I did not know what he was thinking about. Then he closed the door and left.

I was saved that night by my friend inside the room.. Save by the 'notorious'. They were not bad student actually. I do not know why they were always labeled as bad during those days. All of them now grew up becoming a good citizen, have their great career, some became teacher, and I am pretty sure one of them became a doctor. I work with him before in Queen Elizabeth Hospital during housemen ship.

The consequences.... everyone involved including Buyut got punished. By rotan obviously. Those days were still the days where teacher can actually hit student with this Rotan. It was spelled rattan in english, I believed. When you were hit by this rotan, it feels like a huge bee stung the palm of your hand. It leaves a mark. Sometimes, your skin exfoliate. It was painful. I am not pro on this kind of physical punishment nowadays. I am against it. This kind of punishment brings fear, but not lesson learn. We will not do the thing that will get us into having that punishment, but do we learn why we should not do the thing in the first place? Some people will disagree with me. It's my opinion. A better punishment for a school children can be done, like running around school, duck walking, holding bag on top of their head, ketuk ketampi, a lot of this creative beneficial punishment (some of our teacher did this to us). Not hitting, no. I am against physical contact kind of punishment.

This memory I believed was still remembered by all of us who were in SMSL on the year 2003. And maybe, our teacher will read this and found out that not all involved that night were included in the punishment. I am one of them. I am not sure whether everyone learn their lesson that early morning..One thing that I am sure was everyone will never forget the fun and the kind of friendship that we were having that night. It was worth a memory of a lifetime.