[one of the many sacrifices people conveniently overlook in the face of his 'glamorous' overseas posting]
2 convos this year - AF's was in August and now AI's. another of those occasions i have to be both mama & abah. not that i can ever take his place or make up for his absence. but then thats just the way it is and fortunately enough, he's always been just a call & an sms away. and of course, love bridges distance.
AI - Oct 2009
AF - Aug 2009The convocation at UiTM was both systematic & chaotic at the same time. a system seemed to be in place but it failed miserably. there was what one would call, a system overload... and the busload upon busload of people probably had a lot to do with it.
UiTM was bursting at her seams.
Better be earlier than early if you want a good seat. UiTM requires you to park at designated areas only and you have to take the bus to the convocation area & dewan budiman, the same old place where i had my own graduation ceremony.
The nearer to the stipulated time the crazier the human behaviour so beware.. be ready for some jostling & pushing if you're late.
My son had earlier warned me that i wouldnt be sitting at the same hall as he was but would instead be watching the ceremony thru a big screen somewhere else. even prewarned the way i was, i wasnt quite prepared for the crowded dewan syarahan nor the terrible sound system.
According to the handouts, one was supposed to dress decently. in fact if you were to follow the instruction to the t, it would be bordering close to formal... no pants, no slits, nothing sexy or flamboyant.
Well, i could've sworn i saw a tight pants or two.
No kids under 12 please.
There actually was a screaming baby in our lecture hall.
Phones to be put on silent or vibrating mode.
In view of the other two, should i even bother to elaborate?!
People have a tendency to become lawless when there's no enforcement in sight. thats just the way we are i guess, always pushing away at boundaries. probably because there were too many of us there, the people in charge just sort of gave up. not unlike lost sheep, we were herded into our 'kandangs' and left to our own devices. if not for a couple of cursory peeps, it almost felt like we were forgotten as well.
Sigh.
If only it felt more like a convocation and less like a jom heboh.
In this case, my UPSI experience was better. parents could feel & appreciate the auspiciouness of the occasion... simple but effective.
Still, nothing but NOTHING could detract me from any of the pride & joy i was feeling for my son's achievement.
the trio
kidnapping abg's dip ;)
a friend's mom giving her son's robe a try :DYou did well my darling, both mama & abah are mighty proud of you :D
Abe - i couldnt help being a little emotional when we were taking the studio pics. its an odd feeling without you around.. almost like i didnt have a husband. its twice already and i hate it, i really do.
AF - yang, we really must do something about your own graduation pics. what happened ek, werent they supposed to send it to us or something?
AI - hehehe macam robot je anak mama ni ;)
AH - your turn next month... graduation day for F5s pulak :D
8 comments:
Congrats AI. I was there for my bro's convo in 2007. Yeslah, a bit like jom heboh, hehe, but the kids sure enjoyed the bus ride!
Haza - pergi & balik kami dpt seat paling belakang.. aduhai, melambung-lambung dibuatnye!!!
Was also a trip down memory lane for me.. akak kat situ '79 -'81, time tu dok main2 mata dgn golfman ;D
Congratulations to your son on his graduation. Pity the father can't be there but, as you said, other priorities need to be attended to as well.
I hope to be at a UiTM graduation ceremony some years from now, when my second ace makes it, insyaallah. Hopefully, takde la overseas assignment pada masa tu.
..congratulations, justiffa..crowds behaved the same way everywhere, I guess..we are lawless even when there is enforcement around..it's a matter of attitude..and sometimes love not only bridges distance..but also reasons..this oldster was not around for four of his daughters graduation..one was too far..(London)..but the other 3..I was in some jungle somewhere..hindsight gave this old man opportunity to regret..even though I know they understood, being there would have made it better..
Congratulations to your AI. Sytematic but the system failes miserably....ha ha I like that.
Oldstock - the poor hubby is missing out on so many things..kesian dia but what to do. i hope you & wifey will BOTH be there when the time comes - for ur son's sake as well as for yourselves :)
PakMat - tq and welcome pak mat to my place seadanya :) i think during those busy years when we were bringing up the children, we never really realise how much we'd regret the things we missed out on... that actually the effect would be worse on us than on the children. bcos they grow up and get caught up in the excitement of their future, while we grow older and start dwelling more in the past.
But i believe selagi ada kasih sayang & ehsan, insyallah it'll be ok :)
OS - laws are made to be broken & systems are created to break down?!! ya la kot ;)
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