Coming Up - 25th Reunion!

Time flies, we are fast approaching the end of the year, and that means looking forward to our next reunion in Sibu in 2013!

Our organizer this year is Anthony Aloysius Ting...take a bow, Anthony :)   You can catch him in FB on http://www.facebook.com/ting.anthony

Venue:  Tanahmas Hotel
Date: 11 Feb, 2013, 8.30 pm

Theme: 80's Disco Night Fever!

If you are coming, go along to FB and add yourself to the guest list :)  http://www.facebook.com/events/420208314689753/

Coming Soon - 24th Reunion Dinner!!

Hi friends,

     The next CNY Reunion Dinner in Sibu is ON!  Our good friend Paul Ting is the organizer this round.

     Details:

     Date & Time: 24 January, 6.30 pm

     Place: Cafe Cafe, 10, Jalan Chew Geok Lin, Sibu  Facebook page here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cafe-Cafe/90060243039?sk=info



      More details and latest updates can be found in this Facebook Group: http://www.facebook.com/groups/283180758395173/

Menu for the reunion dinner:

Where we came from

While wandering around Popular bookstore in Pyramid, I came across a DVD set of Astro's documentaries on the Sarawakian and Sabahan Chinese.

You know you must be getting old when you are attracted to documentaries rather than the latest Hollywood blockbuster :)

The package came in a set of 4 DVD's, and for Sarawak they cover Kuching, Sarikei, Sibu and the New Villages.

Watching them brought back a flood of memories - of taking the noisy "water bus" between the towns with my parents and siblings (this was in the days before the bridges were built), of helping my grandma pick pepper on hot sunny days, of swimming in the river to cool off, of visiting my barber to get the standard issue haircut.

I must salute Astro for taking the effort to document the stories of so many old timers before they ride off into the sunset.  We must be reminded, and our children must be reminded, too, of who we are, where we came from, of the values that our ancestors held and we must continue to hold on to such as hard work, integrity, humility, filial piety, and courage.

I am sure the stories shared in those documentaries are very similar to our parents and grandparents stories, and maybe through these DVD's, you can share a bit about our past with our next generation :)

23rd Reunion (Premier Hotel)

The weather was kind to us on the big day, and we had a fantastic attendance of about 90 friends, including beloved teachers.

For those of you who missed it this year, make sure you come next year! :)

You can view the photos here. Thanks Hardy for the fantastic photos!

The Return of Shaolin Temple

Ok, something nostalgic to remind everyone of home :)

Today's Star carried an article of a sequel to Shaolin Temple, the famous movie made in 1982 (our primary school days) that launched Jet Li's career.

I don't remember much of the movie, but the song in the movie (牧羊曲) somehow stuck in my mind through all these years.

A quick scan of Youtube, and presto!  Good to relieve those memories again.  Don't forget to meet up with all our friends this coming Chinese New Year at the Reunion!!

The original from the movie (a VERY young Jet Li starring):

A nicer rendition of the song:

Remedy to weaken memory

One sure remedy to keep our memory intact is to revisit the good times that we have together. The more we visit, we will be able to keep the sector in our brain in good order or at least much better than never use. It is just like the old VCR tapes or even CDs.

I admit openly that I have forgotten many of our friends as I go through the list and the only last hope is looking at their face, I believe I can still recall. I dare to say all of you experience the same like me and may even worst..hehehe...

So, buddies, this 4th February 2011 is another opportunity to run through the memory lane and for sure we will be able to stay in good memory together for many many more years to come before all it is in history book..hehehe..

As of today, I have gathered than we have already have 40 buddies confirmed their attendance. Our modest target was only 50 as many had stopped going back to Sibu as they have rooted some place else and few are unable to get leaves and many other reasons. Looking at the response, we may even touch 80 by the reunion night. It's going to be an explosive night !!!

See you guys and gals !!!

23rd SHS 8890 & SES 88 Reunion Dinner

Guys/Gals
The e-tickets are on sales and you could contact the following representatives;
a) Joseph Sia
b) Eric Phang
c) Paul Ting
d) Ivy Puah
e) Thadeus Ling
f) Suhardy
g) Daniel Kong
f) Louis Wong
g) David Kuok
h) Stephen Yii

The organising committee has also invited our teachers to join in our reunion and we hope you could join in to support them and your participation is also directly sponsoring their dinner tickets as every ticket sold, RM10 is used for sponsoring our teachers participation.

Those who could not make it due to other commitment, you are still encourage to sponsor the events by buying a ticket or two as your contribution will be a direct sponsorship for our teachers' participation.

On behalf of Organising Chairman
HEROES

4th February 2011

Please block this date and time ; 6pm to 10pm.

One of the key result factors in the success of any organising any reunion dinners is the full support of the members. This is the very reason why we wish to be together. So, I do hope everyone would give their best effort to attend this reunion. Thank you for many of you especially who had already purchase tje airtickets just to attend the reunion.

For your information, the core organsing committee members will soon be sitting down to brainstorm the programme for the night and we are more than happy to receive any suggestions from you to make our event more memorable...

At this moment, we need your help (even if you are unable to attend), to spread the news of our reunion to all our classmates/school mates of SHS88-90, get their email address or FB address so that we too could be in touch with them.

So, let's get it moving !!!

Next change : 23rd Reunion Dinner

6 months towards D-Day.....

New SHS Website

Our alma mater has a pretty cool looking new website, check it out: www.shssibu.com

Mini Reunion on 2nd June 2010

I take the liberty to publish this reunion photo by courtesy of Jess Wong (the elegant one in black blouse standing in the centre, beside Jimmy) and whom I learnt that she is also the host of the whole event which was held in Kuching. A wonderful event indeed as I viewed the after effects displayed on FB of how a group of 38-40 years old happy like teenagers once again...dancing around, hugging, singing, cracking silly jokes and laughing throughout the night. It was such a happy event...(regret till today of not been able to attend the event as it clashed with my cousin's house blessing).

This was the most sober and discipline photo taken for the whole event as for other photos....I do not dare to publish them here unless due clearance was sought or else these pretty people will go after me....hehehe.

I hope more mini reunions such as this one will be organised from time to time as I do agree with comments shared by Ivy, Vincent, Siaw Chen and the rest that this mini one is provide closer interaction, more fun and enjoyable with ample time to mingle around when compared to bigger one where everything is just so squeeze in and quite formal for the 2 hours time....plus many would not just let their hairs down...and become once again 18 years old !

Then...again when you mix boys and girls...you will get beautiful fireworks !!!! yay!!!

I will not miss the next one !!

22nd SHS8890-Part 2

My clock runs slower in the blog! Thus the delay in this post ie post report on the CNY reunion.

Despite the very last minute notice, we managed to pull a crowd of 11 adults with two kids.

Personally speaking, if not because of MGB almighty push, i think we wouldn't have this gathering at all for this year! Bravo MGB! This is the kind of spirit we need from all SHS8890 alumni. BTW, for family reason, MGB couldn't make it to this reunion hence I was appointed to take charge while he did most of the calling and hotel reservation.

I am sure it was a good catch up for all who turned up especially (I myself) haven't met Dr Wong Kok Soon for 20 years and Yong Hwa Ming for at least 10 years! Somehow at this point of life, I treasure school mate like my family members!

To sum it up, all who attended haven't grown older as you can judge from our photo but just a bit more matured with the trend of less hair!

Attendees:
1) Dr Wong Kok Soon
2) Dr Jude Lau Ngi Chuong
3) Dr Sia Wui
4) Kelvin Kong Soon Shu
5) Doris (kelvin's wife) and 2 kids
6) Paul Ting
7) Peter Sii How Hui
8) Ngieng Sii Jing
9) Thadeus Ling
10) Yong Hwa Ming
11) Jimmy Ting

BTW, Dr Jude Lau sponsored all our meals!

We hope in future we can come up with a permanent committee members divided into region based on geographical locations who can continue to organise this yearly event! Till next year! Chao!

Live Is Life

The year - 1986.

The time - Form 3, with SRP exams coming up.

The song - Life is Life.


Among my many fond memories of 1986 (except for the studying, hehe), was a song that everyone kept singing in school. It was super catchy, and the lyrics were simple but seemed to strike a chord.

I am talking about, of course, Live is Life by Opus.

It became some of sort of anthem for us at the time. So, altogether now "Na, na, na, na, na, na....." :)

The Big Four Oh

For those of us who studied in "Peralihan", the year 2010 will be the year we officially hit middle age. The rest of us can still look forward to another year of counting down :)

I've been thinking about this quite a lot lately. I reflected back on how, 20 years ago (1990), we were in the final year of our secondary of education. The last 20 years seems to have flown past, especially when we started to work, and later, started a family. When I thought about what will things be like in the next 20 years, I realized, by gosh, that we would be 60 years old by then!

I think it is during times like this, that we begin to realize how precious our time is, and not to waste it. How often do we spend long hours in our work, away from family and friends? Do we make time for our elderly parents? Such questions become more pressing with each passing day.

I suppose spending time with our loved ones has to be an intentional effort, not something that we hope will just happen naturally. So, hopefully every morning as we wake up, we will remember that, and we let that guide our lives.

Carpe Diem, my dear friends! :)

TV Nostalgia Part 2

Apologies for my long silence - writer's block, etc. Many thanks to Stephen for faithfully updating the blog regularly. Also, congrats to Paul for managing to pull together a lunch reunion at short notice this year :)

Anyway, continuing on my TV Nostalgia series, this show was something that my whole family loved back in the late 70's and the early 80's. My mom, despite her lack of English literacy, still managed to fervently follow it. Yup, I am talking about none other than Little House on The Prairie.

The kids in the series were around the same age as me when I was watching it, so I guess I could identify with some of their adventures, challenges, etc then. Coupled with that was a heart-warming theme of family togetherness, of facing adversities together, making for a very compelling and watchable programme.

In the 80's, I got to read to the actual books written by Laura Ingalls Wilder (did you know that she lived to be 90?) in the Sibu Sacred Church library.

Anyway, just to relive those memories again, here's the theme from Little House on The Prairie, courtesy of Youtube:

22nd SHS8890 Reunion

What A Nice Gathering Here...Well done, Paul ! I am glad to have such a friend who can be counted upon when needed and for all attended you have make a lot of people proud and envy showing your care without thinking whether you can fit in or not...two new faces are Hua Ming & Kok Soon...I learnt from Paul...all together a perfect 10 ! came to our reunion though a last moment event after the original chairman could not do it...

Friendship is easy to have but is hard to maintain...being a true friend means going all the way for another person without asking for a return. do not do it because of self interest, unselfish one would go all the way to meet and gather friends. It is indeed a blessed opportunity for many but many would not have it. In fact it is a commitment to be a true friend !

Our chain of tradition is still intact by the smiles shown by those inside the photo. TQVM. I sincerely hope next year we could plan a grand reunion calling for reunion among the teachers, headmasters and creation/launching of a SHS8890 scholarship for less fortunate for our school students...the planning starts now...(I hope I am not scaring the new chairmanship away...)

Paul, please put up a special post for this just concluded reunion...please share more photos...

22nd Reunion Lunch @ 15th February 2010

Venue : Coffee House, Tanahmas Hotel, Sibu

Date : 15th February 2010 (Monday)

Time : 12.30pm to 2.30p.m

Entrance : Free

"Sekali ditipu, dua kali takut" Tapi sekarang sekali lagi ditipu orang...now 4 kali takut !

But it is okay, we will rise to organise this reunion together with David, Paul & myself. We have immediately set up the venue at the coffee house of Tanahmas Hotel, Sibu. The serving will be on Ala Carte menu and entrance is free. We have set a humble figure of 20 pax but all are welcome, we can easily extend the seating. We may not have the luxury to have the stage, dancing and performance, but definitely all who attend this simple reunion session will provide the best present for everyone.
To ensure the best reunion for future and many years ahead after two years of disappointments in a row, taking the lead from Sie Chiong in my personal blog, I am proposing to set up a life time organising chairman/committee members for our Reunion (until such time...real election can be organised). These members have proven their unselfish acts of contribution and support over the last 22 years since we left school...and they are;

a) Paul Ting
b) Ling Sie Chiong
c) David Kuok
d) Eric Phang
e) Ivy Puah
f) Anthony Ting
g) Ngan Tuong Kiew
h) Thadeues Allu Bartholomew
i) Tiong Kwong Siong
j) Joseph Sia

The post for the chairmanship will be rotated accordingly. For 2011, I am proposing Eric Phang to lead the dinner planning (funny...if this is a nomination for MP/ADUN...everybody will be fighting each others).

By tradition, it has been said that everyone will have one time opportunity to organise the reunion but the last two years have taught many loyal supporters of the reunion that this tradition is just not possible for whatever reason, not all are passionate about reunion with one another.

Let's the few of us burn our energy and love for many others, be the uniting force for them throuigh generations. I look forward to your comments so that we are able to chart out more concrete plans ahead. Remember, how many 10 years do we have ? Just do it ! Cheers.

Last but the least, though I am away from Sibu for this Chinese New Year, my heart with all good friends and I seek my apology for unable to be with you all. It was a last minute arrangement as my parents came out to Kuching to celebrate with my sister and brother. The least I could afford is helping to spread the news and encourage many to attend our Reunion Lunch 2010.

NO NEWS

Two days before our reunion dinner on the eve, I have not received any news on our SHS88-90 reunion dinner. I hope to update all but the organiser had not make known to me until now though he has assured to get back to me on the details (I have just texted him to remind).

Something is brewing somehow...so those of you going back to Sibu, please keep yourself contactable...I hope a simple gathering can be organised. I shall check with him again.

Next Chance

The news to our 22nd Reunion Dinner in Sibu is coming soon...

Just an update, I have contacted the O.C and he promised to revert to me soonest when all details have been finalised...

Well, folks (especially those who are going back to celebrate CNY or just for holidays), please block your time on 2nd night of CNY (15th February 2010), timed 6.30pm to 10.pm (or past midnight for late party goers)...

Volunteers are needed here too.....to spread out the news when the full details are available.

For ladies....this will be our 20th reunion !...

Cheers !

Age Is Not Just A Number !

My dear friends, I read a sad and shocking FB message by Ted last night declaring that one of his friend/nephew has a cardiac arrest and gone to the Lord. First of all, may his soul rest in peace and may perpetual light shines upon him.

Guess what...his age is only coming to 38. Well, he is about our age +-1 or 2 years old. Think about it...No ? Some 3 weeks back, Mr. Tee also posted a message about one of his cousins suffered a stroke and now is still recuperating at Normah ($$$)...guess what, his age is also near to ours.

Okay, think about Frankie ? one of our closest buddies. Oh...yes, I bet now you are more sober...

Hmm, trying to share this out but more towards reminding myself sincerely, I need to cast these 2 Rules into stones ;

1. 2010, practise a super healthy living (but do not ask me to let go my swing once a week ok !)
2. Remember the Rule No. 1.

Do whatever it takes to stay in shape and constantly check our condition (especially those clocking the "40", as for ladies....very soon pausing here and there :-) ), if we want to help to better the mortality table of Malaysian manhood. Or else, the visit to St. Peter will be very soon.

So, friends, do not wait for annual reunion for keeping in touch. When and where possible, just make the call and we can meet up...Cheers!