Turning back the clock

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(From left) Willie, Norman and Yaw Khoon.

(From left) Willie, Norman and Yaw Khoon.

WHILE browsing through an old album, I came across a photo taken way back in the 1950’s. It was of my Primary Six class.

All of us in the photo have moved past the threshold of “ah cek” into the geriatric realm of “ah pek,” fast approaching – if not having already reached — the biblical allotment of three scores and 10. We all could use a facelift but as the saying goes, at 50, everyone has the face he or she deserves. Never mind!

If my old classmates had seen that photo, they most probably would have chuckled (or felt flattered) at how they had looked over half a century ago. Youthful … oh yes, like fresh spring chicken! Indeed, there is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven.

Bumping into an old school or classmate is such a rarity these days. Oft-times, we may walk past each other at a shopping mall or in the street or have ang tau chendol next to each other at Swee Kang, without recognising one another.

So when I ran into Norman Law, a fellow old Thomian, earlier this month (Oct 10), it felt good that we have not become like strangers meeting up for the first time after a lapse of over 40 years. He was in town on a short visit from Edmonton, Canada, where he is presently living.

We had breakfast at Mile 2 ½, Rock Road.

Norman hasn’t changed much. He still enjoys Sarawak laksa and remembers vividly his childhood home opposite a triangular-shaped field known to most of us as sar kak por, just a stone’s throw from St Mary’s School and a wee bit further from our alma mater, St Thomas’ School, along Jalan McDougall.

During my early schooling years, I used to wait at Norman’s sar kak por home after school for my dad to pick me up. Norman’s  mum Aunty Lun Hwa was a gracious lady and she always treated me like family. And his dad, Uncle Julian, was a fatherly figure as well.

What I remember most about Uncle Julian is that he is statuesque, handsome and always had time for little urchins like us school kids. I always enjoyed his avuncular company when I went to his sah kak por home after school – plus some treats from the Tiger Graden nearby!

I learned from my dad that Uncle Julian was an outstanding footballer in his days – equally proficient with both legs, unlike the inevitable one-footed kickers like most of us — left or right foot, not left and right foot.

Uncle Julian now lives in Canada. He is 98.

For breakfast at an eatery called Verynice Restaurant on that Oct 10 day, we had Tan Yaw Khoon and Willie Chong for company.

Yaw Khoon is a dear friend from our schooling days at St Thomas’ – not forgetting the many picnics at Tan Boon Tian’s old pebbled beach holiday spot, known affectionately to us as Kerangan, opposite Bako National Park. He was also my school hockey captain.

In the late 1950’s, St Thomas’ had a very good hockey team. This was before our batch of players had taken up the game. I used to watch the team play on the school field and cheer them on from the old Sarawak Union Club.

One Kuching club called The Rovers (if I remember correctly) wanted to “sign” some of the top Thomian players at that time but the deal fell through even before it gained any traction. Students from the School were not supposed to play for any outside teams. You risked getting keel-hauled if you dared.

The principal or the headmaster would see to that.

There was no comprmise on discipline and disloyalty went against the grain of the School. Students who thumped their nose at this strict code of conduct would have their nose put out of joint in no time.

However, this unwritten protocol did not extend to the affairs of the heart as there were many love stories, involving members of so-called rival schools, such as Thomians tying the knot with Teresarians and Josephians leading many a Marian down the aisle. Are you are one of them?

When we first started playing hockey for the School, we were coached by an expat education officer called Mr John Bailey before a staff member, Mr Robertson, took over and he really put us through our pace during practice – come rain or shine.

I never asked Mr Robertson what his first name was. I am sure he would not have minded if I did. But that never crossed my mind because we weren’t supposed to be on first-name basis with our teachers!

You just don’t say “Hey Pete” when you addressed Mr Peter Eaton or “Morning Tommy” when you greeted Father Thomas.

That would be sheer madness – a one-way ticket to the tiger’s den for some painful lessons in good manners, common courtesy and respect.

Mr G Saunders later became our hockey master. He made it a point to be on the field for our matches. We not only had to keep our hockey sticks high (not above the shoulders though) to justify his faith in us but also ensure we were on our best behaviour when the going got tougher — and rougher — on the pitch. Discipline was a top priority.

We bore the brunt of questionable tackles and ungentlemanly tactics but took it all tough on the chin. Fortunately, except for some wayward individuals who made breaking the rules of the game their mission in life, most teams came to play hockey, not hurt people. And for us, on our day, we gave as good as we got.

In fact, we did our three mentors – Bailey, Robertson and Saunders — proud by holding our own against top sides from the Borneo Company Limited (BCL), the Police and the Commonwealth Armed Forces (those were Confrontation years).

I remember Borneo Company fielding one former Dutch Olympic player called Van Kan who hit the ball so hard that woebegone, if you mistimed the block and the canon shot happened to land smack on your knee or worse, somewhere higher up!

Good thing Van Kan was playing in defence otherwise many a goalie would have been in for a torrid time.

Borneo Company also fielded another European player whom we dubbed tuk lu (thinning scalp). He was a terror inside the D, firing missile-like broadsides and was seldom off-target.

All credit to our unflappable goalie Ahadon who earned nods of approval from the balding sharp shooter for some of his spectacular saves during our many tight encounters with BCL in the Kuching League.

All the matches were played on the old KMC hockey field at Jalan Padungan. The grass surface was mostly uneven and it got water-logged during a downpour. Astroturfs were unheard of back then.

All in all, we were a gallant team, having survived the ouchs and the aiyohs of close combat to earn the respect of the hockey fraternity in Kuching at the time. Cool!

Willie Chong is a fellow Old Thomian and my senior in school. He was a champion athlete (hurdles) whom we from the lower forms looked up to. He has been organising reunions for old Thomians (and old friends).

“What do you think if we try to gather all the old famous athletes from ST (St Thomas’) and SM (St Mary’s) who had done well for Sarawak for a reunion and get them to encourage the present two schools to bring sports back?

“It will be a big dream to see them together – eg Latip Olen, Albert Blassan, Rosalind Anding, Vivien Ee (Chua) etc, etc. For those remaining, we will try to keep the family up among us,” he whatsapped. Good on him.

Lost contact

Many of us have lost contact with our school alumni. They started fading from our memory soon after we left school and our recollections of them grew dimmer and dimmer over time until we forgot about them altogether. Most of us were so engrossed with making a living that before we knew it, time had passed us by and our school and classmates had become history.

Still, it’s good to know at the back of our mind that quite a number of them have gone on to become big shots. Some have become medium shots while others like yours truly have remained small shots! But didn’t someone say variety is the spice of life?

Actually, I have a famous classmate – Tan Sri Jamil Johari who rose through the ranks to the position of Deputy Inspector General of Police. He is now retired and lives in Matang. We still keep in touch.

It’s always good to have the opportunity to see our long lost school buddies again for chats and laughs. Such opportunities are rare though and usually come once in a blue moon. I reckon when they come knocking, we should just grab them.

One school event we looked forward to with a lot of hype and bluster was the Annual Inter-House Sports Meet. My boyhood track hero was Leong Kim Jui, the school long distance champion. He was from Mousey House which also happened to be my House. Our colour was green but when Kim Jui hit the track, he was red hot — hotter than the “red” of Hose House (sorry, old Hose House members. No offence meant).

In one Inter-House Sports Meet, Kim Jui won the one-mile event (eight laps of 220 yards each on the running track laid out on the school sports field) with a typical spurt, leaving the rest foundering in his wake! Mousey Housers could have been more proud of him.

For a good laugh, who can forget the whole school getting punished for something a dog did! A group of Form Five students incurred the wrath of the headmaster when they stood out of line, leaving a noticeable gap in their row, to avoid stepping on a canine poo during the morning school assembly, triggering a blanket punishment! We were made to march up and down the school compound in atonement.

Or how the same painting passed up by two different classmates came back with different marks – 8 upon 10 and 6 upon 10. Till today, I still couldn’t figure out how the marks were given – the same and one painting but not the same and one grading!

There was also one innovative teacher who could lay claim to inventing the “soundless umpiring” system.

During a badminton competition between students of the school, he had to intervene because some of the players were getting annoyed with one of the “student”umpires who was holding up play for stammering uncontrollably when calling out the points and the mistakes made by the players.

To circumvent the problem, the teacher came up with a brilliant idea … under the circumstances. He told the stutterer not to use words but hand signals instead to referee his matches. It worked but it looked funny as well. Gesticulating with his hands – up, down, sideways — the umpire resembled a policeman directing traffic!

Back in the 60’s, four-piece bands were a rave, fashioned mainly after popular international instrumental groups like The Shadows (British), The Ventures (US), The Jumping Jewels (Dutch), The Quest and The Stylers (Singaporean) and the Fabulous Falcons (Malaysian).

At that time, many Thomians also formed instrumental groups, brandishing solid guitars plugged into powerful amplifiers and speakers. They usually struted their stuff on stage during the School Food and Fun Fair, going full blast late into the night, nary a care about the headmaster’s house being just up the hill, a short distance yonder!

Combined Dinner

The last time I got to meet some of my old classmates was at the Old Thomain Dinner on October 17, 2003. Seems like yesterday — some 13 years whizzing by in the blink of an eye!

In fact, it was a Combined Dinner, organised by the Old Thomian Assocation (OTA) and the Old Marian Association (OMA) at the then Crowne Plaza Riverside Hotel. Over 600 old boys and girls from both schools and their guests attended.

The Dinner was also to commenmorate St Thomas’ 50th anniversary of Sixth Form education in Sarawak. The first batch of nine boys from the School sat for the HSC exam in 1953.

There was the traditional parade of flags. After that, Mr Y John, a stalwart of St Thomas’ teaching staff, accompanied by the then Old Thomian Association president Dr Ong Lark Sai and his daughter Roaznna Ong, rang the bell to get the Dinner underway.

In the old days, teachers from the School were still on the job well into their 60’s. Examples: the late Mr Lee Teck Huat, the late Mr Samuel Gawing and the late Mrs Wong Foo Lam.

They were honoured at the Dinner for their dedication to the Noble Profession.

St Thomas’ had some foreign teachers in the 60’s and early 70’s. News about them is hard to come by. We wish them all well.

One of them left behind a song, sung to the tune of the Red River Valley, as sort of a parting souvenir. At first, it was thought Mr Pierce Plowright and Mr Martin Rawstone co-wrote the lyrics but it was later pointed out by Mr Walter Herring that the composer was actually our hockey master Mr G Saunders who also taught us history.

If you wish to have the wordings, you know where to find me!