Members of St Joseph’s class of 1977 pose for a photo during their reunion at the Victoria Arms in Merdeka Palace on Saturday. Seen are Dr Kong (second row, second left), Ikhwan (second row, left), Abdul Karim (front row, right) and others.
KUCHING: It was like going ‘back to school’ for alumni of class 1977 from St Joseph’s Secondary School at the Victoria Arms in Merdeka Palace on Saturday evening.
Around 70 Josephians turned up at the reunion, the second of its kind since May 22 this year.
“It feels very good that most of us are able to reconnect among ourselves after 37 years,” organising chairman Dr Dennis Kong Ket Ming told The Borneo Post. He said the reunion was mooted after most of them managed to reconnect with each other through social media platforms and chatrooms.
“After 1977, most of us went on with our separate lives by living or studying in different parts of the world,” he added.
The first reunion in May, he said, saw the attendance of around 50 Josephians from class 1977 which gave them the confidence to hold the second one on a bigger scale.
Also from class 1977 is Merdeka Palace director Ikhwan Zaidel who said that Josephians have always kept the school motto ‘Ora Et Labora’ (Prayer and Labour) close to their hearts.
“In general most of us are doing well in our lives even though some of us were very naughty during our school days,” he added in jest.
He also said that some of them had been in the same class since primary one in 1967.
Ikhwan stressed that class of 1977 or any Josephian in general had always been able to foster a close bond among people of different races or religions which should be continued.
Also present at the reunion was Assistant Minister of Housing Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) vice chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Kadim Suaidi and Public Works Department director Zuraimi Sabki.