Yes, we made it for the first gathering for the year 2009 as planned in KFC Jalan Universiti. Edmund Teng has confirmed thirteen of us will be attending. The list are as follows; Cornelius Koh Beng Yan, Ivan Foo Jong Hock, Aminur Rashid, Rusli Baba, Paul Low Soon Chye, Robertson Ong Sing Hock, Ace Fong Yuen Wah, N.Ghanapathy Pillay, Richard Lim Chew Lee, maybe his twin bro, Philip, Goh Cheng Kian, Lee Ee Chai, Jonathan Tong SS and Edmund Teng himself. However, at the on that day, Paul Lim Heng Loy couldnt make it as he happened to be travelling and not in town.
I left my home at 7 pm and the traffic was unexpectedly smooth, the whole stretch of LDP is clear. As I was approaching One Utama shopping centre, my phone ring and guess who call? Ya, is it Chiah Boon Chai. He has reached KFC and sees no one there. He is also kind enough to update me about the traffic situation condition. He warns me of the heavy traffic situation along Jalan Universiti. Just to let you know Ben Chiah is really good in computer stuff, he is IT savvy. So if anyone is in need some kind of free consultation either on hardware or software, you may call him. I am sure he has a good bookmark of very interesting website that he may recommend you. He also runs the popular DUCK restaurant. For those who are familiar in SS2 area, you can see a large wooden carving , obviously in a shape of a roasted duck hanging outside the shop. So if you happen to be in that area, do drop in and have a meal there.
When made a left turn from Jalan Universiti, I can see Edmund Teng from a distant, as usual he is with his long sleeve shirt and he must have left directly from his Bond Eyecare Centre in SS2. He is one of the school friends that I have been closely in touch with. You know, when I was in sales line, whenever there is waiting time, Bond Eyecare will be my rest point. You can just stop by and spend some time chatting with him. If lucky, you might be offered a drink. And if you are tired of eating the same lunch now and then, I suggest you may invite him out. He will be able to bring you where good food is to be found.
One of the best foods he has recommended me is the Char Kuey Tiow in Section 17 market area. For those who like cockles (kerang), this is five stars Char Kuey Tiow you can ever find in PJ. However, it is non-halal my friend.
After I have parked my car and take a walk there, I saw a familiar faces of the twin brothers Richard Lim and Philip Lim at the sidewalk sitting area outside the KFC restaurant. Richard has not changed much; he is still much the same as I have seen him 27 years ago. He maintained his body size much like in the school days. He is the guy to look for if you plan to visit Thailand. I am sure all the hot spots in Thailand are at his fingertips. Here we go again, another consultant in our networking now. As for Philip, he has just decided to keep his mustache and beard a week ago. It shows clearly in the photo here.
Rusli Bin Baba was early too, he is already there when I arrived. Later I found out that he happened to be on leave today. What a great friend, even he is on leave, he made the effort to be with all of us here. We have met in the previous gathering held in Sunway in Ben Chiah’s restaurant sometime ago. Rusli is the Panasonic man. He works in the Security Division of Panasonic if I guess correctly.
It was really exciting to meet up with old friends especially if we have not met for almost 3 decades. Common questions among us are like where are you attached to? which company? Are you married? How many children…
As we getting update about one another, we then saw Cornelius Koh Ben Yan walking between the parked cars at the side of the road. You know what; he is still the same old Cornelius Koh. His facial look doesn’t really change much. The only changes I have noticed is his glasses. If you can recall, it was so fashionable and trendy to have oversize glasses during our school days. He is the HR Man, now he is attached to Tan Chong Motors, as a Gropu GM in the Human Resourcesthere you go, anyone wants to buy a Grand Livina, Sylphy, Latio, Sentra, X-Trail, Serena or Navara? Go and get in touch with him, you will get a discount. And if you do, please don’t forget my free lunch ok? Thank you to Edmund Teng for his effort to browse Facebook where he found Cornelius the great. So now we can know the wonders of Internet. So guys, be be up to date with the information technology. We can always have a better friends or business network.
Within a short while, more begin to turn up.. Chan Soon Leong, Lee Ee Chai and Aminur Rashid. Now we have an attendance of 10/13. Ivan Foo Jong Hock, Paul Low Soon Chye, Ace Fong Yuen Wah and Jonathan Tong SS who has agree to come did not turn up due to last minute matters . We have to proceed to the restaurant as the number grows. As most of the tables there is for 2 or 4 persons, we have to joint up the tables to fit about thirteen of us. In a way we converse kind of a loud and we were the center of attraction.
Lee Ee Chai is the Techno Commercial Manager in Kansai Paint, for those who are not so sure, is also popularly known as PAR paint. He has been in that company for many years. Chan Soon Leong, Jimmy is the Regional Sales Manager for CYTEC Industries. I have met him on 2 occasion in One U shopping centre in Bandar Utama.
Aminur Rashid is as handsome as before and he lives in Klang and work in Mount Kiara area, if I am not wrong, is Suruhanjaya Tenaga. Correct me if I am wrong. So he has to travel quite a distance to and back from work.
As the deep fried chicken is begin to serve by Edmund and Cornelius, I can see Yu Tuan Chong and Goh Cheng Kian at the counter making some special order of personal plates for themselves. Richard Yu will remind me of the late Madam Lim, our beloved school teacher. She is always remembered and love by all. I am sure all of us remember very well how she was in the tricycle (becah) with Yu Tuan Chong and Ghanapathy, how all of them fit into the tricycle .We are so lucky to have Philip Thomas called us on the phone. He is on the other part of the world, Paris… how nice to hear from him after all this time. Unfortunately, the situation there is too noisy and is hard to hear him well from my 1st generation Iphone. For those Iphone user, I am sure they know that the hands free speaker sucks. You can only hear it in enclosed room in the late night when is really quiet. I was surprised at excited but didn’t manage to speak to him much. It was like to many of us there that want to talk to him. He only managed to speak to me myself, Cornelius, Edmund and probably Philip Lim too. He tried on a few attempts to call back but unsuccessful.
By the time, Lee Ee Chai has gone to his car to take his notebook. We hope to chat with Philip Thomas together on MSN. With the help of Ben Chiah, we have finally installed the new version of MSN but since Philip Thomas couldn’t be get connected with us on the mobile phone, we left with the MSN ready in the notebook without his MSN id.
Guess what, the last one to turn up for that night was N. Ghanapathy. He has to finish his tuition class which was why he is late. He is being excused. Good thing about him is that he made the effort to get the old copies of photos taken during the school days. That really bring us back done to memory lane of the fun time we have had in school. Many were trying to figure out who is who. Ghana has been a vegetarian for a long time so the only food he can have is the smashed potato and a cup of coke.
I have shown all pictures of those who attended and is only fair if I include my photograph here too. There you go..
We have had a great time together and it was really interesting to get up to date information about our old friends. Besides the gatherings, anyone who happened to have a bit of time may always give me a ring and we can have a chat over a cup of coffee. I am in Damansara Damai area and to meet up in places like SS2, Taman Megah or anywhere in PJ will be fine. On the same day, i called Khew Siew Lian and he happened to be in Berlin and Chai Cheng Fatt was in Dubai. Some from Malacca like Michael Chiam, Peter Yeo, Chan Chee Keong, Ivan Foo, Ace Fong were unable to attend as the gethering is on a working wednesday evening. Others like Peter Too and Lee Deck Sern could not make it as well.
As suggeted by Peter Yeo, we will try to organise the next gathering in Malacca, where it all begins and looking forward to have more of us there. If possible will organise it in the hall of ACS Malacca. This will be very interesting if we can have the permission to use the school hall. We will try to pick a date close to Christmas where Philip Thomas would be able to join us.
As for me, I would appreciate if someone would be able to locate Chua Seng San and Wong Kean Yeen. I hope to meet up with them. They have been my great class mates.
So, I would like to thank all of you that took time off your busy schedule to attend this gathering. It was a great night for all of us.
Please feel free and all is welcome to add more or give your thoughts in the comments section. Also, please do not forget to leave your name at the end of your comment. For the database of ACS1982, please email to me and i will provide you with the user name and password to access the contacts information.
Cheers
