Some travel notes on Pekanbaru..

Pekanbaru is only a 30 minute flight from KL. Airasia and the Firefly have been servicing this route for some time now. It is the capital city of the Riau province - Riau historically being the heart of the Malay hinterland. As such the architectural designs of the dwellings of the local folks look very much like at home. So is the cuisine.

This is a very rich region of Indonesia in general and specifically of Sumatera. Oil and Gas industries as well as palm oil plantation are the main revenues of the region. Pakdokter foresees this city overtaking Medan in the not too distant future. As it is now, the airport badly needs an upgrading and the city could do with better roads and highways. But credit must be given to its Governor for the city is clean and is reputedly recognised as the cleanest city in Indonesia.

Although there are 4 or 5 golf courses in the region, only the Labersa Golf Resort is of a standard equal to those in Jakarta, Bogor or Surabaya. And for 'golf addicts' from Malaysia, Pekanbaru is a new attraction which is nearby and cheap to fly to.

The two restaurants where pakdokter's group were taken to for dinner were just so so. Medan has better 'Nasi Padang' outlets and local restaurants. But perhaps there may be better restaurants here yet to be discovered. And the city does not appear to have that many shopping attractions.

However the administrative precinct has quite a number of lovely and impressive buildings ala Putrajaya. And the medical faculty of the local university also looks impressive from the road. Unfortunately pakdokter did not manage to snap any pictures of these sites.

Would pakdokter go again to Pekanbaru for golf......? Perhaps not, unless there are more good golf courses to try out and the hassle and inconvenience at the airport are improved.

quick lunch at the golf club..

dinner at a restaurant serving typical 'Riau' a.k.a Melayu dishes..

The 'Sting' at Pekanbaru Airport...

Wednesday, 28th July 2010

Pakdokter saw the announcement and the invitation to play for the club in the "QUAD" game in September when pakdokter went to the RSGC to play the usual morning game last Sunday. There were only 16 places available and when pakdokter signed in, pakdokter's name was eight on the list. Pakdokter's fellow clubbers in the Pekanbaru tour, , pakZahardin and Mr Lim Cheng Yeow are also regular touring golfers of the RSGC. So on being informed by pakdokter about the "QUAD" which will be played at the Dongguan Golf and Country Resort in Southern China, not far from the Mission Hill Resort, they both desperately wanted to join the tour. Pakdokter encouraged them to call up the club immediately before the 16 places are taken up. Pakdokter told Cheng Yeow to call up the Sports Executive and inform her that pakdokter had 'instructed' her to put down their two names into the RSGC squad!

Cheng Yeow made the long-distance call on his I-phone ( which must have cost a bomb!) only to be told that the 16 places have just been taken up that Monday morning,but since she was told that pakdokter had 'instructed' her to include them, she would put their two names on the top of the 'wait list'. Although somewhat disappointed, both pakZahardin and Cheng Yeow were still hopeful that pakdokter will be able to make good use of pakdokter's office to help them get their places in the club's team!

Pakdokter asked Cheng Yeow to call up the Sports Executive again on Wednesday morning and this time pakdokter asked to speak to the Sports Executive himself to add weight and urgency to the matter. Pakdokter was told that both of them have already been included in the team.

Just then it struck pakdokter to pull a fast one on pakZahardin. Pakdokter told Cheng Yeow the good news of both of them being already included but conspired with him to put a 'sting' on pakZahardin.

PakZahardin was to be told that Cheng Yeow has already got a place due to someone else's cancellation but another early bird registrant was also considering to pull out due to a clash of a business meeting. But he has already bought an Airasia ticket to Shenzen for RM1000 and was willing to give up his slot if anyone was willing to re-imburse him the cost of the ticket.Pakdokter told Cheng Yeow that pakZahardin will be told that pakdokter can 'fix it' with this Mr Ah Chong and cut a deal of RM 500 only in order for pakZahardin to secure his place.

Pakdokter told Cheng Yeow that if we succeeded in the 'sting', we will share the RM500 on a bottle of 18-year old Glen Livet.......heh heh heh.....

Well, like any good story book, pakdokter will not tell the outcome of the 'sting'.....

Please look at the facial expressions on the faces below and work out the end to the story....

pakZahardin 'calculating' his "options"....

the 'poker face' of Cheng Yeow...

the master 'story-teller'..pakdokter....

Victory at Pekanbaru.....

Wednesday, 28th July 2010

The second game was played on Wednesday morning. We left for the Labersa Golf Course at 6 am to tee off at 7 am. This had to be so because we were returning to KL by the AirAsia flight at 4 pm.

The second game was played at the Lake and Plantation Nines. Pakdokter was put in a flight with two other RSGC golfers, pakZahardin and Mr Lim Cheng Yeow and the 4th player was a guest, Mr Lim Hong Boon from Bukit Jalil Golf Course.

Pakdokter's handicap was 24 and so was pakZahardin who kept his handicap of 22. Mr Lim Hong Boon played to a handicap of 21 while fellow RSGC member, Lim Cheng Yeow played to a handicap of 29! Pakdokter pretended not to know Cheng Yeow and told everybody that we were having a 'lady' golfer in our flight.....(this is just pakdokter's ploy to psychologically upset Cheng Yeow at his game.And he was also offered the chance to tee-off from the red tee.Pakdokter had to pull out all these tricks because on the first day Cheng Yeow had colllected the 7th prize by returning a score of 29 stableford points on his handicap of 29....). And true enough, all the 'pokes' did affect him and he came home with a score below his handicap! He only managed to collect 24 stableford points.....

Pakdokter, on the other hand, played exceptionally well. As pakdokter had said earlier, since returning from Italy, pakdokter's drives have improved considerably. On the average, pakdokter was hitting 220 yards with the driver. And a safe steady second shot ensured a simple chip to the pin to give a fair chance at a par or at least a bogey for the par-4 holes. Having learnt from the previous day's disaster at the green, pakdokter was more calculated this time and came home with a par golf score of 48/48 with 36 stableford points! And this score earned pakdokter the 4th prize. Even Datuk Tan came home with 36 stableford points! The winner was Tan Sri Datuk General Yunus Tasi, the club's golf section Chairman, who played 4-under with 40 stableford points playing to a handicap of 22.

Mr ( Miss) Lim Cheng Yew grumbled a lot about his caddy - accusing her of being hopeless at reading the green, giving confusing tips and making him play miserably that day. Pakdokter told him then that pakdokter had 'paid' his caddy at the start of the match to ensure that she gave him confusing tips so that pakdokter will not lose to him.

Luckily for pakdokter that Mr Lim was a fair sport. He did not grumble about paying for the round of 'Tiger' after the game. Thank you Mr Lim. It was a pleasure to play with you. Next time, better watch out. Pakdokter still has many tricks up pakdokter's sleeves......heh heh....

the above pictures were at the prize giving event and lunch..

Datuk Tan, the trip organiser....

and seated, Tan Sri Datuk General Yunus Tasi..

pakZahardin also won, 8th prize?..

34 stableford points...

4th prize, 36 stableford points....

pakdokter....!!!

document as proof for the 'non-believers'....

pakdokter's score is on the first column..

well, the short course on how to hit with the driver at

the Academia del Golfo della Toscana did help....

perhaps next summer pakdokter should go back for lessons

on the short games.....

after all pakdokter's instructress, Ms Claudia,

was not unlike a young Sophia Loren....

that in itself is already an incentive...

champion of the Pekanbaru tour...

Tan Sri Datuk General Yunus Tasi....

Congratulations...

pakZahardin, Mr Lim Hong Boon, pakdokter and Mr @ Miss Lim Cheng Yeow...

all these girls have been paid by pakdokter

before the game even started....heh heh...

see how happy they were at pakdokter's victory....

To Pekanbaru with the Royal Lake Club..

Monday, 26th July 2010

The Royal Lake Club organised a 3-day golf tour of Pekanbaru and having heard so much of good reports about the golf course there, pakdokter had signed up with 39 others for probably the 'biggest ever overseas tour contingent' of the Royal lake Club golf section!

The club organised a bus to ferry us to the LCCT Airport but the crowd at the check-in counter was a 'stressful' start to the trip. The queues were long and slow and 'disputes' over 'oversized baggage' booking thought to be for the golf bag further delayed the registration. So some golfers had to forgo what they paid for the 'oversized baggage' and still fork out the RM50 for their golf set. The introduction of 'self electronic check-in kiosk' which many of us were not aware of explained why at least 3 or 4 counters had very short queues.....while the usual check-in counters had long and slow queues which tested our patience....

And arrival at Pekanbaru was another 'nightmare'.....

The airport was small and the distance from the baggage carousel and the immigration counters was probably about 10 feet at the most. So just imagine the risk of a 'stampede' that pakdokter and many 'more senior gentlemen' of the club had to go through....

The 'Grand Elite' Hotel was a pleasant comfort - big spacious room but some of which unfortunately were next to the Karaoke Club which blasted hopeless singing by 'Idol' wannabees...

The "Labersa Golf and Country Club" is a 27-hole golf course developed by a rich family of 8-brothers from Medan ( Labersa is a short form for ' lapan bersaudara'). It is a relatively new course and the Ozzie course supritendant has managed to keep the course in immaculate form. And the 'passionate golfing 8 brother-owners' also ensured the tip-top state of the course....

We played the Plantation and the Hill Nines on the first day. Pakdokters flight consisted of Datuk Tan Chee Sing, Tuan Haji Jayos Prawiro and RSGC buddy pakZahardin. Datuk Tan played to handicap 17, Hj Jayos 18, pakZahardin 22 and pakdokter 24. Datuk Tan is an accomplished golfer - his years of developing several golf courses in Malaysia ( Berjaya Hills, Berjaya Tioman etc) and his own skill at golf put him way ahead of us. If we had played a 'cut-throat' game against each other, the three of us would definitely have paid for Datuk and Datin Tan's holidays!

Datuk Tan generously offerred to play a partnership game, with the partnership being rotated after every 6 holes to give everyone a fairer chance of winning ( or losing!)...

Pakdokter partnered Hj Jayos for the 1st six gholes and lost 4 balls to the other pair. Pakdokter partnered pakZahardin next and was 'dommy' one at the 5th hole and managed to square the game at the sixth and win the 'dommy'. Pakdokter thought the third six would be easy meat as Datuk Tan was in 'great' form. But pakZahardin and Hj Jayos came back strongly and squared us in every hole till the end. Pakzahardin was the biggest winner with Datuk Tan coming in a close second. Unfortunately for pakdokter and Hj Jayos, were were the part sponsor of the lunch for that day. Half the winnings were put out for lunch and the rest were settled by the losers....

Datuk Tan was the overall winner for the day. He played 4-under with 40 stableford points. This was Datuk Tan's 4th consecutive wins over the last 4 club games....His handicap was reduced by 2 immediately.....

Pakdokter only managed to score 52/53, quite the usual score for pakdokter. Pakdokter's drives have improved considerably since returning from Italy but this course punished pakdokter at the green. The green speed was easily 10 by pakdokter's assessment but the 'golf expert' of the Royal Lake Club, Datuk Tan, said that it was playing to 11 or 12......

Hari Prasad, Edmund Chiam, Francis Campos, Datuk Nadzir ( sitting)

Hj Jayos, pakdokter and Zahardin (standing)..

Hj Jayos, Datuk Tan, pakdokter and Zahardin..

Datuk Tan Chee Sing...

these girls did not help...

Staroba Back to School 2010 : Striking Stars Project...

Sunday, 18th July 2010

A group of STAROBANs who, in their school days, were great soccer players, took the initiative to revive the game in STAR and produce a school team that would emerge 'champions' again as in those years when we were in school. The project dubbed as the 'Striking Star Project' was started a month or so ago with a few of the ex-soccerroos mentoring the teams representing each of the hostel blocks to compete in the league of soccer matches leading to the Finals played during the Reunion weekend.

Ex-Starians were approached for funding and pakdokter was happy to sponsor the "Blues" - pakdokter's abode during the schooldays. Pakdokter was proud that pakdokter's teams made it to both the Under-14 and Under-16 Finals.

Unfortunately, both teams were a letdown during the Finals. The Under-14 team was in control of the match against the 'Black House' team but could not finish the oppponents despite the many chances. And in the final determining penalty kicks which went on to 9 penalty kicks, the Blues lost to the underdogs 9-8.

In the Under-16 game, the 'Blues' came in as favourites based on their performance during the league matches but at the finals they had no chance against the more organised and creative 'Red House' team. Pakdokter wonders if there were 'bookies' at play.......

pakdokter was co-sponsor of the 'Blues' with the likes of Samsung etc..

and the players had their names at the back of their shirts...

but what a let-down...

the 'Blacks' jumping' with joy after winning by one penalty goal..

the 'Red' devils ( oops...apologies..no devils..tak boleh..)

beat the 'Blues' in the Under-16...

pakdokter asked if anybody wanted to 'buy' the Blues...

Mr Abramovich said he will fly down end of the year

to look at these teams...

STAROBA Back to School 2010...a sentimental walk through the school..

Sunday, 18th July 2010

Sunday morning pakdokter went back to the school for the "Finals" of the interhouse Under-14 and Under-16 soccer matches which was initiated by a few outstanding ex-soccer players of STAR during pakdokter's days in school. As pakdokter had some time to kill before the matches, pakdokter decided to take a walk and 'look-see' the condition of the school.

From the exterior, the school hall and the main school block still look somewhat grand.

Inside the school hall, pakdokter felt proud to see pakdokter's name etched on the board listing the 'Scholar of the Year'. Pakdokter was 'Scholar of the Year' in 1969.

However, pakdokter cannot say the same about the floor of the school hall where the Monday morning school assembly and the Friday prayer were and are still held. The timber strip flooring looked so faded and dusty and made pakdokter feel quite ashamed of its condition. Surely the school could afford a tiny sum to clean and polish the floor, at least for this 'home-coming' occasion!

Pakdokter must admit though, that the hall now looks so much smaller in size than how it appeared those days.

the list of 'Scholars' of STAR

Walking towards the main classrooms block, pakdokter came across a new building which pakdokter later learnt was to be the Computer Centre which was still under construction.(wonder for how long...). Pakdokter's first class ( Form Remove A) was the first class on the top floor of the three-storey building. It used to fit in 40 of us then but today there were only 20 desks in the class. Well, this must be some improvement.

Standing at the window of the class overlooking the hostel block and the horizon expanding beyond the Kinta Valley, pakdokter recollected those days when pakdokter used to go there every Sunday morning looking beyond the horizon imagining pakdokter could visualise home and see pakdokter's family. That was how homesick pakdokter was and how unhappy pakdokter was at being seperated from pakdokter's family at such an early age....

the new Computer Centre under construction..


pakdokter class of Form Remove A in 1964..

this class used to pack 40 of us..

view from the window of the class-room

where pakdokter used to pine for pakdokter's family..

Next stop was the 6th Form Block ( or it was then the 6th Form Block). Pakdokter's room was packed with some of the old boys who have chosen to spend the weekend in school. They probably did not have enough of 'school experience' after having lived 5 to 8 years in school....

The 6th Form Block was in a fairly good condition - this was probably because it was built much later in the school's life....

doesn't this look like a 'transit' centre

for illegal immigrants?....

this used to be the 'Remove Block'....

freshies were all housed here to spare them from the 'seniors'

pakdokter was a dormitory prefect here

under pakdokter's charge then were

Datuk Dr Awang Adek ( current Deputy Finance Minister)

and Datuk Idris Jusoh(ex-MB of Trengganu)

the dormitory in the 'Remove Block'

where pakdokter was dormitory prefect...

Next stop was the 'Blue House' - where pakdokter spent at least 4 years of pakdokter's life in STAR. The block looked OK from outside but.....

the 'dorm' pakdokter occupied in 'Blue House'

pakdokter's bed...

second from the door...

current occupier is a Gaza sympathiser...

'mana' sink in this bilik mandi...

shower cubicles with no shower head...

'geli' to look at the slimy floor and wall...

clogged toilet.....yeak...

pakdokter has 'censored' other photographs

because pakdokter does not want to 'dirty' this blog...

Well, this is something which pakdokter hopes the new STAROBA committee can look into. Pakdokter can remember the former President, in his speech, reporting that they have met the PM and the DPM and was promised RM38 million to redevelop STAR.

Well..don't hold your breath waiting for it!

Can the STAROBA, with so many successful enginneers, architects, quantity surveyors, contractors etc etc in its membership, pool its resources and rehabilitate at least one of these hostel blocks. Pakdokter does not think it would cost that much to redo the wiring, plumbing and repainting of at least one of the blocks.

In fact if enough funds could be raised , perhaps STAROBA should even fund the construction of a completely new hostel block with modern comfort and facilities and offer it to the best of its students based on merit to be housed in the STAROBA block!

If STAROBA can initiate this and present it to the government, surely pakNajib or pakMuhyiddin would not want to be embarassed and keep us waiting for the promised RM38 million......

STAROBA Back to School 2010....meeting up with some of the old teachers...

Saturday, 17th July 2010

At the 'Reunion Dinner', some of pakdokter's teachers were there too. It was nice to meet up with them again.

Mr Lau Hut Yee @ Pak Lau was hostel warden for Yellow House

he was pakdokter's Science teacher

pakdokter scored a perfect score of 100% in one of his exam papers

Pak Lau framed and hang up the test paper on the class wall

and challenged subsequent students to match the score....
did anybody match pakdokter's score????

Mihdzor, Selampit,pakdokter, Pak Lau and Samat...


Mr Tan Chew Kiang, current HM and exHM Datuk Khalid A Halim
Mr Tan taught pakdokter ?Mathematics
Datuk Khalid was a fierce HM then
he told the 'rebellious' lot of students
that he was a gangster from Alor Star..
so he knew better than any of their tricks..
so don't play play with him...
at the right most corner is Mr Sarjeet Singh
he taught ?Form 6 History and General Paper?
Mr Sarjeet also coached hockey and is today
a fairly good golfer....


Mr ?, Mr Ho ( taught pakdokter metalworks) and Mr Tan Chew Kiang

Mr Kok Kee Chai....

as a PE teacher, he was a 'terror'

he coached rugby and led STAR to be the

National Schools Rugby champion in 1969...

MCKK was repeatedly thrashed by STAR those years..

pakdokter played in the full-back position

but more often only as the linesman....

?,?, Mr Kok, Samat Moain,Hasan B, Selampit, pakdokter,

Mr Tan Teong Leong and Mihdzor..

Mr Tan Teong Leong was the English teacher

he was also the teacher in charge of the school Library

pakdokter was the Library President when in Upper Sixth Form

and with Mr Tan organised a state level Library conference

that year which was a tremendous success

Mr Tan was and is still very proud of that 'event'...