Aita Goes STAR

It's almost 2 weeks after Aita made his transition to STAR.

We didn't think it will hurt us as bad. But it had.

Naela felt it first. But we were hurt all the same. 

No more Aita around when we come home. To fight with Naela. I thought I would feel his absence more when handling chores. But it was more than that. 

Felt it first in the clothes that I washed and hanged. No more of Aita. No more his uniforms to iron. 

The strict 2 weeks quarantine made it even worse. Even worse when Qays said that he didn't know whether he's been making friends. We knew making friends easily is not that fluid for him. 

One night within the first weeks just probably2 nights after he enrolled, I cried, scrolling at his old pics. It was never this way  for Lope and Angah. And it was like that for him. 

So back to how it started. 

As I have put nicely on my IG, there was no other option left for Aita. It should be STAR and no other. Hubs was still toying with the idea of other school initially, just for the fun of it. But nothing quite like warrants any excuses: We know our kids would strive well in STAR, location is just nice and Opah would have been the most delighted. Most importantly, it would be the place where it will develop Aita's football better. But it comes at a price as well. Which by now, am not sure whether it would be a right decision as well, no matter how much you like the fact that he's in STAR. STAR is a magnet for kids' football. They know the track record is good, they will be able to develop their skill more. But along with that, there will be influx of football talent. One in which your kid may not necessarily secure their position safely as well. Just short of 2 weeks in STAR, we were faced with something not to our favour; Aita was no where to be seen during friendly match on Sunday, 25th Jan 2026. Angah didn't know what he was up. He was no where to be seen at the bench. He might have skipped the session altogether, or he wasn't even given the opportunity to play. Silently, I was hoping for the 2nd reason. Oh Allah protect him, and may he has the opportunity to prove himself and being seen. 

Back to how it lead to STAR.

Aita wasn't as keen as Angah for boarding school and naturally to STAR. He had always just play along, and follow whatever that we set for him in this regard. He never actually shown any excitement or any inclination of going. He is always full of fear and worry. What if this and that. The same goes to school placement as well. But towards the end, we've seen some signs of progress. Not too much excitement, but enough to say that it wasn't all distasteful. We had STAR as our 1st option, MCKK as our 2nd and SAS as our 3rd. SAS for us became too proud of themselves, making us prefer to steer clear if we can. 

The SBP placement result would only be announced on the day after Christmas. We were coming back from Bali on Christmas day. I tried to log in right after the clock strike 12. After maybe 1 or 2 attempts, I got in and Alhamdulillah, Allah had granted us our wish. Never was I so desperate to get my kid to STAR before. And that was the first. Checked on few other parents and those closest, did not manage to get in. I was even more thankful and grateful for He is the Most Generous and Most Merciful. 

The preparation for him started right after. The process shouldn't be as complex. But because we had to fully utilise what we had, before deciding what we still need, any purchasing decision could only start after I sort things out. And this include the assortment of lope's 5 and Angah's 4 years worth of treasure. Safe to say, that I had complete baju melayu, collared shirt, bedsheet and sampin to be handed down. We ended up buying just 1 long and short sleeve, 2 white pants, 2 black pants, 1 white baju melayu. Shoes and socks of course, there will be no way that these will be handed down. We had tons of tights, some trackbottom. Bought just 2 pieces for something to get him excisted with and to match the current trend of no cuff tracks. And Aita was so easy to deal with, he was never fussy nor demanding. He doesn't mind using Angah's old wallet, and his old pencil case when he was in Standard 6. I know cross country would be 1 of the first event up and I had Magic Speed, waiting patiently for him. New football boot was ever ready and unused as well.

So come registration day.

We were first greeted by Afnan, who we later found that he knew all about us. He knew the car and the aunty and uncle being Qays' parents. May have known that Qays' brother was joining as well. So it was a pleasure to be greeted by someone who had known us. I had Lope's tie and tie clip on for Aita, which turned out a wasted attempt, as they had a new set of tie and tie clip all ready and lined up at the hall's entrance. Our registration booth was manned by those that we are very familiar with, Alep, Irfan Rafael and Fahhim. Managed to choose a dorm that I can safely and comfortably harass the prefect with. Faris was one of the Matrix prefect. I always prefer ground floor's dorm and no matter how much they all tried to influence us to choose upper floor, I had a strong reason to be choosing ground floor now. And by now, am so lucky that I made such choice. Faris was really a saint. 

We bumped into Arjuna almost immediately after we got in the hall. Of course it was the boys who greeted each other first. There were never close before, but glad they seemed to find comfort in each other now that they're both in STAR. We made way to Koop, and met with more people. Ijat, Ija's friend from when I started first in TM. Nyoq and Ila. Skipped few items, that saved us around almost RM100 from the total supposed fee.

We then made our way to the hall come briefing time. We was stopped by Ustaz who apparently wanted to recommend Qaisar to read out the oath. It was a very kind of Ustaz to have thought of us, when we had never even given it a slight thought. Teacher asked us to sit at the very front, and we were right behind the teachers' and VIP's row. 

The briefing was conducted a bit differently than Qaid's time. And it was to our favour. We are blessed that Qays has been honoured with the responbility of TKU Akademik (Deputy Headboy, simply put) this year, and all 3 others KU and TKU were called on stage for introduction to the parents. Cikgu Azli even squeezed in silly joke and mentioned all Amin Syahiran's boys on stage. When it seemed weird for that to happen, but it had. Thanks Cikgu Azli for the thoughts. 

When we first came into the hall, Ustaz Firdaus already reached out to hubs to try out Aita's voice. They certainly seem to look forward for Aita's enrollment and had planned to let Aita recite the Form 1's oath. Once the registration briefing was done, all new students were called on the stage as usual, and we saw something odd. A different boy went forward. Qaisar made his natural way up, not in a kiasu way, not in a reluctant lazy way that we fear he would do. It was just nice. That different boy went on to lead the oath. He had the right voice, clearly he was well prepared. We later knew that he came forward to volunteer himself. How could anyone said no to that. Of course, he must have elder sibling is STAR to the point that he was that prepared.

We settled Aita at his dorm. I helped him to set up his stuff as I've always been with his brother. We were quite late to the dorm, there were not that many good beds + good locker + good location left. We chose the best we could. I took the nicer mattress from a different bed to his. Briefed him of where his stuff are for his ease to find them later. Magic Speed and boot should not be out at the rack and remain inside the locker first. 

Once done, we went out for lunch at line clear with our LO. Headed to STAR afterwards, we let Aita change into his tshirt, let him do his prayer, before decided to leave. As we were leaving, he finally showed signs of sadness. It's something that I would have expected, but was in denial Aita was crushing. Of course it would open up the floodgate even more. I wasn't that sad when leaving, considering this is our third. But it cannot stop you from shedding some tear still.

Night was getting late on the registration day. I anticipated that something is done differently this time. Some parent asked and it was certain. No pictures will be shared until after orientation is over. No call cards, no outings, no visiting for 2 weeks. It would be a strict 2 weeks quarantine. It hadn't hit us as bad still. Maybe about 2 days after that I asked Angah how was Aita doing. He said Aita was mostly quiet, on his own, doesn't talk much. We started to worry. Aita is different, unlike his brother. It took him 1 month before he can settle well in kindy. It was after much persuasion that we could get him to join KYS RBS. So this news, wasn't a big surprise. But we were hoping that it would turn out different. But reality won't lie. So, here goes to making the transition works well for him, and to extend support in a different way than we had before. 

Till then...