Papa Cooks!: My Old Classmates (SFI, Class of '90)

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

My Old Classmates (SFI, Class of '90)

Last week was rather a fruitful week for me, I shall say. I spent most of my free time hooked up on the internet. I was so absorbed that I practically chucked aside all my suppose-to-do tasks. Nevertheless, all the time spent was truly worthwhile and never will I sigh even a wee bit of regret.

How could you not bother if you happened to stumble upon many of your old schoolmates and friends whom you have not met for donkey years? YES, I've managed to reconnect with quite a few of my old comrades for some of whom I've not met for almost 2 decades, thanks to Facebook (to the creator of Fb, you're brilliant and tell you what, you've already secured yourself a place in heaven).

Well, these are the very friends who have added colours and spiced up my otherwise bland school days in St. Francis Institution (SFI) back in the 80s. If it had not because of them, my days (I reckon not only mine but all of ours) in SFI definitely wouldn't be that merry instead ditchwater dull.

So, exactly who have I found? Well, I should say many but meanwhile these are the few ones who had been with me the longest......

1) Fabian Tan Seng Hoe :

Have not met him since Form 5. A well-built chap wearing a hooligan/pai kia look, this is one of our top-3 most notorious mafia in class (in school? maybe). Surprisingly, we were classmates ever since Std 1 right up to Form 5. He had brought lots of miseries to many teachers. You should see how he professionally 'handled' the new trainee teachers.....kesian!! And the next victim of his would be the class monitor....and that would always be Tham Kim Wah. Ironically, though I was always the goody-goody type, Fabian had never 'touched' me even one single bit. Thanks, dude! He he! Anyhow, today he is one of the most transformed and most successful one among us - having been to so many countries, driving a big car, closing multi-million dollar deals etc. Bravo, my friend!

2) Alban Wee Tiang Lim:

This was the guy who sat beside me when we were in Std 6 and Form 5. He was the one who got me engrossed to Transformers and 'fighting fish' when we were in Std 6. A bespectacled with a tad big bulging eyes, he used to announce to the whole world of his growing pubic hair when we were in Std 6, an antic of his which I will always remember! When we were in Form 4 and 5, he moved on to influence me with Van Damme, a muscular well-known actor and also pestered me to join the Karate Club of which I innocently joined but chickened out after 3 months. Today, Alban still resides in Malacca, married and is into some kecik-kecik business (as he claimed).

3) Lau Chee Ling:

This was my 'busmate'. We boarded the same bus to school when we were in primary school. We were in the same class since Std 2 (if I'm not wrong) until Lower 6. Both of us were the only few ones (alongside Tay Siang Hock, Micheal Chong, Tay Boon Hock & Nixon Brian) who went to Form 6 in SFI. However, Lau left halfway for TAR College. When he was young, he was dreadfully quiet but changed a lot as we moved into our secondary years. In class, he was never the problem maker (not as bad as Fabian) but not as good as me though! Ha! Ha! I still remember he used to be skillful at making torchlights and other electrical gadgets. Today, he is a tax person settled down in KL, happily married with two beautiful kids!

4) Tutomo Ikoma (dunno why now changed to Tsutomu!!! More glamourous?)

He came to SFI when we were in Form 1 and was chucked in the same class with me, 1AW. Still remember what happened to him on the first day. He walked into the class to register and before he could speak up, he got bombarded by our class teacher, Pn. Kalimuthu, well for not knocking the door before coming in. The best part was his mom (then was pregnant) had to barge into the classroom to shut the teacher off. "What an unlucky day!", I thought. When he blurted out his name, all of us was like.....ooo Japanese. But the irony was that, this 'Jipun' could not even utter a single word of Japanese at all! Yah, he was brought up here, in Malaysia. Quiet at first, but after a few weeks, got a little bit rowdy (again, not as bad as Fabian and not as good as me!). Until today, he is perhaps the 'kinkiest' so-called Japanese I've ever known. I can't find any space in his mind that is holy or godly!