I Remember ... Life's Memorable Moments

"Abang Ali, what is the meaning of me..mo..rable?"

Good question, and I then asked the class if anyone knew it's meaning. A girl at the back of the class raised her hand and answered, "Something you remember in your memories."

At this point, I wished that I had checked up the meaning of memorable before conducting the Journal Writing session.

"Abang Ali, must it be good memory or can it also be bad memory?"

At this juncture, I really wished I had done my homework.

"Class, I believe something memorable is usually something good. But it can be due to bad experiences also. So let me give u an example by starting the session off by sharing with you something that I remember - one of my life's memorable moments.

I remember, when I was in K1, in the bus, on the way to school, I stuck my head out of the window and the wind blew my songkok away! I asked Cik Amin, the friendly bus driver if he could help me get it back. He then said,'Dear son, your songkok has probably been flattened by the wheels of a thousand cars. There's no way we can get it back.'

That was the last time I ever stuck my head out of a moving vehicle. It was also the last time I let the wind blow my songkok away."

Some of the kids laughed. Some smiled. I was glad they liked it. I then asked a fellow mentor to give the kids another example by sharing with them one of her life's memorable moments - which was about her experience at a story telling competition when she was in primary school.

As soon as her sharing was over, I asked the kids if anyone would like to share a story they remember with the class. Little did I know that the next few minutes would go into my list of life's memorable moments.