Still Buddies after All These Years
The day somehow rather came quickly after a series of frantic searches a fortnight preceding it.
The old boys gathering was orgainsed for students of Class of 1971 to recall common memories and so there was added significance since many have known each other since primary school days of Bukit Baru Primary English School, Keck Seng Chinese Primary School, Tranquerah English Primary School or Sin Hua Chinese Primary School, Durian Tunggal. And if you were to fit into the descriptions of an average student between1967-1971, you would be clothed by uniforms made by Bee Loon, wore Fung Keong shoes to school, had your pictures taken at Happy Studio and took part or was aware of the shop-lifting that was going on in Tai Chong Book Co at Bunga Raya.
The old boys trickled into Lee Garden from early afternoon to about 8.30pm. There were some early birds and the late comers were the usual culprits. We met with broad smiles, followed by almost the same very creative opening line “Oh yes, I remember you” , even when one had the faintest idea who the hell the person in front of him was. We have learnt to be polite after leaving school; Politeness we gathered is needed mask to survive in this world.
Mingling became more intense as night fell by, then slowly and surely we all found our little cliques and began to form groups of 3 to 6 gathering in circles apart from the rests. The independent rests (Sai Cheong, Mossadeq, Kamarulzamman, Chee Yu, Pang Boon, Chien Siong etc) would move within spaces left by the groupings.
For each group it was “still buddies after all these years”.
The night wasn’t where everyone could share everything with each other. It never was like that. Still it is not and was not intended to be I think. I for one can live with that and would be looking forward to meeting us all once again.
( Kim Meng- 6th November 2009)
