Ex Primary School Headmaster
During the last Eidil Fitri vacation (October 1-5), I made a surprise visit to Mr Tan Teik Hock’s house. He was excited and teary eyed to see me, but I must say, that I was the one caught by surprise! The sight of the former elegant HM, who is now reduced to a frail senior citizen, living in a very simple detached home with his (formerly vivacious) wife and without any children of his own, simply stumped me! I began to understand the pain of loneliness!
He is having weak legs which are normal for many people pushing 78 years old. As such, he sleeps on the ground floor. He is also afflicted with nervous disorder which is a more sensitive problem.
I summoned our Abdul Halim (GM of Holiday Villa Subang), who was also on vacation, to quickly come over and add more cheer to the elderly couple. I passed him a set of the latest DVD on the “Alumni Launch2008” plus the remake of “Tribute to our Teachers 1998”, but to our surprise, they do not have a PC or a DVD/VCD player. We promised to get him one, and he gave away to me all his collection of the Methodist Primary School magazines (Gapura and The Methodian).
(Unfortunately, I did not have enough time to organize the DVD player but only managed to catch Mr & Mrs Khor (former Miss Yee) at their home before they left for a tour of China that same evening. I also passed them the set of DVDs)
Yesterday, on the 8th of December, Abdul Halim and Yong Han Foo visited Mr & Mrs Tan Teik Hock and passed them a new DVD/VCD player. Yet another surprise – their television is a very old set that is not capable to receive the video. So, I have already pre-approved a budget from the Alumni for Yong Han Foo to purchase a 21-inch new TV and fix it at their residence by this weekend, latest. I trust all members will support my decision on this.
Chin Pick Yee & Peter Lim
Many of the close buddies of Pick Yee attended the wedding reception of her son at the Eastin Hotel on the 23rd of November . This was a special occasion for the 1970 batch (including the undersigned) as both the sophisticated couple, Pick Yee and Peter Lim Siew Hwaik, has long migrated to Canada. This was followed by a gathering of the ex classmates at Holiday Villa Subang (where-else) on the 2nd of December.
At this gathering, our Cikgu Ismail (famous for his punches) made a surprise entrance. Apparently he had been residing at our Tommy Hng’s residence for a few days, while his wife was attending a residence training program in KL. Most of the guys (me, included) felt so miserable looking at the 72-year-old teacher, ever so slim and fit in his dungarees (reminiscent of James Dean)! Uncannily, Sim Chew(the event coordinator) arranged for another ex classmate, Khor Kai Tong to speak on “Longetivity”.
Remembering Sabee Mohd
I have been informed that Sabee Mohd who used to be with us in the primary school passed away, yesterday morning(8TH OF December) in KL. Burial was done in Penang.
For those of you who can’t remember too well, he was a lanky kid who was passionate and noisy on the soccer field. After school hours, he would work at the ‘mamak’-restaurant owned by Kol. Suleiman’s father.
I believe he left us after Standard 6(1965) and continued his studies in Penang. He was later employed as a technician at the airport services in Bayan Lepas.
With his passing, that makes it the second person after Vadiveloo, who passed away a few years ago.
Warmest regards,
Amin
