Year 1997...As a first former, I went to Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Bandar Baru Bangi. Just by looking at the name, I'm positive that everyone would know the location of this school. The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir once visited it somewhere around the 1980s. Also considered as one of the elite schools, SMKBBB was chosen to be one of the schools to execute the BESTARI project. I was at this school from form one until form three. Throughout those years, I encountered the sweet and bitterness of school life - I'm sure we all do. Recalling those past memories as a first former, I remember entering a choral speaking competition both at school and state level. There was a day when my friends and I did not even attend class because we practised the whole day through for the state level. It was a worthwhile practice because in the end, we managed to attain third place.

During my second year at SMKBBB, there weren't much activities which I was involved in. Oh yeah...I forgot to mention that I took nine core subjects which comprise of Arabic Language, Malay, English, Islamic Studies, Living Skills (Kemahiran Hidup), History, Geography, Science, and Mathematics. For co-curricular activities, I joined Taekwondo Club and the Arabic Language Society. The school ran at two sessions; one in the morning and one in the evening. For first and second formers, they attended school in the evening which starts at 1.15pm. The ones who go in the morning were third, fourth, and fifth formers. As third former, I spent most of the time focused on PMR. It was a nerve-racking period because I have never done a formal examination in Malaysia before. Nonetheless, when the results of PMR came out, I managed to achieve a good result and thereby was qualified to continue my study at Kolej Islam Sultan Alam Shah (KISAS).

Year 2000...It was something beyond my expectation. One ordinary day, I received a letter from the Ministry of Education. Upon reading it, I was thrilled to find out that I was offered to enter a boarding school named Kolej Islam Sultan Alam Shah (KISAS). It was first opened in 1955. At that time, its actual name was Kolej Islam Malaya and later changed to Kolej Islam Klang. In 1989, the school was renamed Kolej Islam Sultan Alam Shah by Almarhum Sultan Salahuddin Ibni Almarhum Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah. Its building was once a palace and was released from the possession of Almarhum Sultan Hishamuddin Ibni Almarhum Sultan Sulaiman. The Sultan's intention was to make the palace a place to generate Islamic scholars who would one day enlighten this country with the light of Islam. At KISAS, SPM students consisted of two major streams which were religious science stream and religious vocational stream. Both streams had to take eleven core subjects.

When I first trod my foot into Kolej Islam Sultan Alam Shah, I was absolutely thunderstrucked. The school was somewhat ancient or rather unoccupied at that time; new buildings were being built as loaded noisy trucks passed my class. But life at KISAS was fantastic! Although the first year at KISAS was a bit challenging, it gave me an experience carved upon my memory for life. Students at KISAS range from form four until form upper six. Being a fourth former here meant that you had to go through various programmes organized by the main Islamic body which they call BADAR (Badan Dakwah dan Rohani). BADAR was an organization led by students of this school to implement the values of Islam in KISAS. It was a body which provided the opportunity to enhance the qualities of leadership among students...but of course, other socities (e.g. English Language Society, PERMATA - Persatuan Matematik, Karate Club, and etc.) provided the same avenue. When I was form five, I held the position of being the head of the Arabic Language Society...and I dare say that you'd have to be self-motivated and creative if you want your society to be active.

There are a lot of experiences that I have gone through in KISAS - but not all can be told here. My friends and I were like a big family. It was a family that one would've find hard to be parted from.