Group photo of all the attendees of the Monkey Reunion dinner.
KUCHING: It was a gleeful evening for over 80 alumni of St Joseph’s School, Kuching who gathered for a reunion dinner at the Hornbill Restaurant, Sarawak Club here on Saturday.
The men, who appeared jovial the very moment they entered the dinner hall decorated with monkey balloons at 6.30pm, are from all walks of life.
Some came from Canada, Hong Kong, Australia, Singapore and Brunei where they work and have settled down in, but most reside in Kuching and Sibu.
The gathering marked another significant year for all the alumni.
“This reunion dinner themed ‘Monkey Reunion’ managed to gather 80 of the notoriously infamous monkeys, those who were born in the year 1956, a Year of the Monkey according to the Chinese zodiac. All of us here are 60 years old.
“2016 marks another significant year for us since it is the Year of the Fire Monkey. Therefore, we have decided to organise a reunion or gathering again this year,” said its organising chairman Lim Chee Tiong.
Lim related that the ‘Monkey Reunion’ was a culmination of months of planning by members of a WhatsApp group managed by him to reach out to their former classmates and schoolmates especially those living in other parts of the world.
The fifth of such gathering organised by the committee, the event was considered as their biggest reunion so far.
“We hope to be able to reminisce about our school days, spending quality time with each other, and let every one of us renew our friendship that was forged many years ago,” he added.
The participants received mementos including T-shirts, mugs and school magazines bearing photos and information of them when they were in Form 3 (1971) and Form 5 (1973).
Among the activities held were singing of the school anthem, cutting of monkey cakes, storytelling sessions, karaoke and lucky draws.
There was also slide presentation of their schooldays.
“The slides presentation also includes pictures of those who have left us over the years.
“Such reunion is important for us to strengthen our bond before it is too late and we plan to organise a reunion again, probably by 2020 or 2021,” Lim added.
The evening ended with all the attendees forming a circle before moving around the hall while singing the ‘Auld Lang Syne’.
Among those attending the dinner were State Secretary Tan Sri Datuk Amar Morshidi Abdul Ghani who is one of the alumni and former teachers.