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!

Form 5AG (1990)

Form 1AW (1986)

Std 5B (1984)

Std 4B (1983)

The Woman

Dear friends,

We have heard so much about women be it in the manner of jokes, comments or even criticism. Every now and then we receive mails making fun of how emotional, moody, self-centered or even ridiculous a woman can be that drives many men crazy (or some even into total misery).

There is no denying that many married men (of course not all of them....or rather 'us') out there very often lament our (sorry not 'our' but 'their' - yes, that's more like it) regrets of marrying 'that' woman. Many moan that they have made the biggest mistake in their life and some even claimed that they had been cheated and fixed into the marriage.

Well, probably after viewing this beautiful slides, you may change your perspective altogether (as they've done on me) on how women (including your mummy too) should be treated, cherished and respected.

So, sit back, enjoy and ponder!

But before that, please play the video clip below to get into the mood!

My Kuih Batik (Part 2)

Well, the kuih batik I made last weekend was to me a great accomplishment......a truly satisfying effort and indeed a time well spent. I've made it a few times but this time round the kuih turned out to be just the way I had wanted it - a little chocolaty and not too buttery.

So, for those who wish to try it out, let me share with you the recipe:

First, these are the ingredients to prepare :

40 pcs of Marie Biscuit

1/3 bar of butter

1/3 can of condensed milk

AND

5 tablespoons of Milo

As for the method:

1) First, break the biscuit into pieces
2) Then, melt the butter
3) Next, pour in the condensed milk
4) Stir well until mixture even
5) After that, toss the milo in and stir
6) Then, pour in the biscuits and mix well
7) Next, pour out the mixture into a baking tray
8) Then, arrange the buscuit chunks into 2-3 layers
9) Thereafter, lightly press the layers so that everything is compact and even
10)Finally, refrigerate for 10 minutes before cutting it into pieces.

The final outcome is like this....

So, Happy trying!


p/s : For those of you who have successfully made this local delicacy or if you may have other better variations, please feel free to share, okay!

My Kuih Batik (Part 1)

"Khang Guan, can you get the recipe for me, please?" I begged.

"No problem, sir" he willingly agreed (in my heart, you better agree otherwise.......more essays for you this weekend, he he!)

Well, it all started two weeks ago on a Saturday when I was in St. David's High School for their Food Fair. Surprisingly, my wife and I finally found 2 things that we both loved so much - pineapple tarts and kuih batik. We have sampled so many and we unanimously agreed that we have finally found the best one right here, in St. David.

The first thing on Monday afternoon when Khang Guan (my Form 3 student) came for tuition, I got hold of him to help me hunt for the kuih batik recipe (as the kuih came from his stall). On Friday, the secret (of the kuih batik) revealed, thanks to KG for his meritorious effort?....deed?....whatever you want to call it. KG, in return, may you be blessed and obtain straight As in your PMR exam this year!

So, on Sunday, I kuai-kuai stayed at home, kuai-kuai followed the recipe and made my kuih batik. The results?...................Well, let's take a short commercial break and I shall return in my next post, so stay tune!

My XXXXXX Birthday!

I had better post something more joyful otherwise this blog will turn out to an 'obituary' blog (as my previous postings were all about deaths/funerals). Initially, I wanted to blog about Micheal Jackson's demise but on a second thought, I had better not. I had enough of it!

Well, yesterday was my grandnephew's 3rd birthday. YES, GRANDNEPHEW! Obviously, it has NEVER occurred to me in my wildest imagination to see myself becoming a granduncle merely in my mid-thirties. I still remember when little Clifford first came to me and called me 'gu ye' (means granduncle in Chinese), I was like.....WHAT, oh my God! I really had goose bumps! Anyway, I will be expecting my second grandnephew in a few weeks time.

Just imagine, my seven-year old son, Bryan became a 'gu-gu' (uncle) when he was barely five! And to top it all, my wife is expecting our second child (most likely a girl) somewhere in October this year. So, this implies that my soon-to-be baby is already an aunt (ah yi) now!

Well, back to the birthday celebration. All family members gathered at Mc Donald's in Dataran Pahlawan. It was just another get-together : the children with their antics were seen playing and running around, the teenagers were in their own world engrossed with their handphones, the aunties clicked together immersing themselves in their updates, gossips and occasional reprimands (most of which were to show authority), the in-laws (where I belong to) sat together engaging in their man talk and of course my father-in-law being the head of the family and a lone ranger singled himself out at one corner watching everybody, 'expressionlessly'. Only God knows what was in his mind!

Clifford with his uncle & aunties

Clifford with his great-grandfather & great-grandmother

Clifford with his mother

To sum it all, it was indeed a get-together well-spent that will be remembered fondly!

Another 'Goodbye'

It has been more that a week since I last updated my blog. Well, it certainly has not been a good, smooth-sailing weekend for me last week. It all started last Friday....

19 June, Friday
I was busy surfing the net early in the morning (about 8.00am) when my cousin, Ronny called me on my mobile. "Marcus, I think Jie Jie Eng passed away" was his opening sentence. "What do you mean - YOU THINK?" I asked. "I was informed that she collapsed and when family members found her she wasn't breathing anymore. Anyway, they have taken her to the hospital to confirm. I have yet to get their reply" he responded.

I waited hoping that the news was untrue but unfortunately, it was confirmed that I had lost a cousin, Jie Jie Eng (as she was affectionately called and in our Baba-Nyonya language, it means Sister Eng). Jie Jie Eng was Ronny's eldest sister and her passing (in KL) was a great shock to all of us. First, she wasn't suffering from any major illness. Secondly, she was inarguably known for her even-tempered, gentle, soft-spoken and likable personality and little did we expect that God would want to take such good soul. Thirdly, we just congratulated her for embracing her first newborn grandson barely four months back. And lastly, she was merely 47 with two still-schooling teenagers. Indeed, she's just too young to leave us. If you may be wondering, YES, she passed away due to heart failure. It was truly a very sudden death. Absolutely, no signal given whatsoever!

On that day itself, preparations were made to send her body back to Malacca. I only managed to view her body (through a small see-through glass window on the coffin) at about 8.30pm. I inched closer to the glass opening and.........Oh, my God........

May your soul rest in peace, cousy!  You will be greatly missed!

Funeral

This is perhaps one of my favourite video clips and undeniably one of the best I've ever seen. It is truly beautiful! I have watched it umpteen times and every time the words sipped into my ears, I would unfailingly be choked with emotions. It is just so touching and enlightening and certainly a good wake up call for all of us. I even shared this clip with my beloved wife and surprisingly, she got teary. Ha! Ha! So, please spend some time and enjoy.......





Entitled "Funeral", this clip is a new TV commerical launched by the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) which looks at relationships in a different light, through a woman at her husband's funeral. This is fresh off MCYS latest Viewers' Choice 2008 win for last year's Family TVC which promotes the importance and value of family bonding.

Indeed, in life, we are so often drawn to expect 'perfection' in others (especially our spouse and children) when we ourselves are far from being perfect. Instead, why don't we learn to appreciate what the Chinese call 'the beauty of imperfection. (缺陷美)

Come to think of it, loving someone should actually be about loving that imperfect person, perfectly. Agree? So, please cherish the times you have, will have or even you have had together with your loved ones. Please stop scrutinizing, magnifying or criticizing their imperfections. Instead, learn to accept them for who they are. As the saying in the clip goes, "in the end it's this small things that we remember - their little imperfections, that make them PERFECT for us!" Aaah, just too beautiful!!