..afiq spray...

....not all children turned out the way their parents want them to be...of course, we would want them to be doctors, engineers and rocket scientists, at the very least, being straight-A's students that they are...but not all children are inclined academically...as my son Afiq, 25,  proved out to be...

...attaining sometimes below average results in school prompted pakmat, upon completing his spm,  to enrol him into Institiut Kemahiran Belia Negara, Chembong, Negeri Sembilan for a course in car spraying...where for some years he submerged himself  into the trade, and, in the process, developed a flair and a love for it...but on attaining Level 3, he quit...Level 4 would see him with a diploma..

"I cannot do it, papa...too much writing...paper submissions, written assignments...and I am not good at that..'

..and I said ok...Level 3 it is, now go out and learn your trade...and for the next four years it was some spray workshops or other..from Bachok to Shah Alam...plus stints as Mat Kilang at a factory producing diapers, and even as a waiter a Sudara Resort, Tok Bali.... ...what he earned  was barely enough for him to survive..but he learned to be hardy and resourceful...he learned the value of money...of friendship...and at Sudara Resort, Tok Bali, he met his belle...and learned the responsibilities of a relationship...

...maybe it was her, I do not know...he was not the youth pakmat once was...but sometimes later, he came to me and said that he was ready to start out on his own...and again this father said ok...and with the help of his mother, helped set him up...

..and later, as I helped  hang his banner, I could not help but felt a tinge of pride...no, there was no fanfare...no vvip present...just an old coot and a few friends...but that evening, we helped launched Afiq along his way...its too late for this coot to dream...but for Afiq it was the beginning...go, son...and may Allah be with you...there are many doors to His Bounty...may He opens them for you...InsyaAllah...