Happy Birthday Adrian Pragas!

Yesterday Ben Wong,a former student from La Salle School called me up and invited me to his class reunion. He came to fetch me as I don't drive at night. Headlamps blind me as I have glaucoma and my eyes cannot take bright lights.

Many of the old boys were already at the venue and I couldn't recognise many of them. I first taught them when they were in Form 2 and all the way up until they completed their form five. This class was a very special class. Not only did they excel in their studies but they were also cheeky, just like all boys are! That was my first year teaching in La Salle and I was there for 14 years.

I'm very proud of them and I can't believe that their average age now is in the early fifties!! It's remarkable that these grey-haired lads with grown-up children of their own were once my students in the old wooden classrooms. It's amazing that some of them even remember the particular car I used to drive!

The cakes gave away the fact that it was Adrian Pragas' birthday.
He now resides in the UK but had flown in on Thursday and his classmates decided to have a "do" to celebrate his birthday. So it was all on the spur of the moment thing and many of his mates showed up to celebrate.

Datuk Bro Charles, our former School Principal was there too so it was great, full of camaraderie as the boys caught up with one another. He's hale and hearty and his memory is as sharp as ever. He could sing the School Rally without having to look at the lyrics.

The boys had also invited Annie, who had taught them in Primary Six at Sacred Heart School. A few old girls were also present. Girls are admitted into the sixth form in La Salle.

This is one of the nicest things about being a teacher. The old boys, especially La Salle old boys, never forget you. This is a very humbling experience, to know that they still remember and care to invite you to their functions, despite the many scoldings they had received when they were in their classrooms. Many of them hold high office today and are very successful. To see their success and how well they are doing and to know that they still remember their teachers is a credit to them and to their alma mater, especially under the helm of Bro Charles, who is an institution himself. Bro Charles has always been and will always be identified with La Salle, Kota Kinabalu.

So Adrian, once again Happy Birthday with many returns. You're blessed to have such good friends.

Ben, Wilfred, David, Laurence, Steven,Daniel,Rayner,Willy,Ricky,Patrick, George, Lee Ah Kin and the rest, ( I'm sorry but the memory cells have been disappearing as the years go by )it was good to see all of you again. Cheers!

She Did Us Proud

My granddaughter has done us proud.

Last week, she attended an interschool science camp and together with two of her classmates, emerged as overall champs in their category.

Here is a picture of her with her trophy and certificate after we got home.

This evening her piano teacher came with good news for her and her brother Stephen. Both of them have passed their grade V in pianoforte.

I hadn't realised that both of them were sitting for grade V examination until we took them to the venue to sit for the exam. Children being children, they did not spend much time practising on the piano, preferring to chat with their friends on Facebook or watching their favorite manga DVDs. Considering the scant attention they paid to their music pieces, it is good that they passed.

These two grandchildren really light up our lives.Their voices bring life to an otherwise still and quiet house. the silence broken only by the occasional barking of the dogs and the chirping of the birds in the garden when both of them are away at school.

Brinsford Lodge - 11th Reunion

On Friday morning two busloads of grandparents, of average age 70 years, left Kuala Lumpur for Cherating on the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia to celebrate the 11th reunion of Brinsfordians.

Brinsfordians are those who graduated from Brinsford Lodge, a Malayan Teachers’ Training College set up in Featherstone, a village near Wolverhampton in the UK. This institution trained 8 batches of men and women and closed its doors in 1964. All graduates began as teachers posted to rural areas on their return to Malaya
(before the formation of Malaysia) but many moved on into other professions after completing their 5 year bond. Some had also migrated to distant lands and many of them returned for this reunion which is held once every two years in different parts of Malaysia.

The journey took longer than usual because of the toilet stops ( necessary for senior citizens ) but we arrived safely at our destination, eagerly welcomed by the organizing committee and others who had flown in direct or driven there. The weekend was a hectic one with activities and lots of catching up with old friends and making new ones. The attendees were from all the eight batches and there were more than 200 present.

That night we had a barbecue and some of the ladies danced the poco-poco.

On Saturday, in four buses escorted by two out-riders and an ambulance,we made our way to Lake Chini, Malaysia’s second largest natural lake, the counterpart of Scotland’s Loch Ness. Legend has it that a monster guards a sunken city in its depths although there is no scientific evidence to prove its existence as claimed by the local indigenous folk that live on its shores, eking a living from fishing, collecting jungle herbs and rattan.

A boat ride in small boats ( 6 passengers plus the boatman) took us through the channels in the lake that had little islands of plants ( nipah??) and reeds.
One not familiar with them could easily get lost as Lake Chini comprises a series of 12 freshwater lakes.
In the months of July and August, the lake is covered with lotus flowers, we were told.

The next stop was a visit to the birthplace of our second Prime Minister, the father of our current one.Two houses stood side by side in a compound, one the house where he was born and the other which now houses a museum, where the past is captured in photographs, past currencies, etc.

That evening culminated in a grand dinnerand dance where a book about Brinsford Lodge was launched by the representative of the Pahang Menteri Besar ( Chief Minister ). We were each given a piece of batik as a souvenir from the CM. The function lasted well into the early hours of the morning, despite the tiring day of travelling.

Came Sunday, we parted ways,promising to meet again in two years' time, either at Pangkor Island or Malacca, God willing as each year sees our numbers dwindling. Many of our compatriots have moved on to the other world.