Realising objectives (part one)

I must say with some satisfaction that my objectives in visiting Kuala Lumpur earlier this week were all achieved, even with a last-minute change of plans included.

The main reason for my trip to Kuala Lumpur was to give support to my nephew, Adrian Khaw, who would be at his convocation ceremony in the University of Malaya on Monday. He had graduated with a First Class degree in Accountancy and his mother, my wife's younger sister, had invited us to follow her down.

That was the reason why I had to give the annual dedication service to Robert Sparke Hutchings and the Penang Free School Speech Day a miss on the 21st of October, not to mention too The Old Frees' Association dinner in Penang in the evening. I would be driving down to Kuala Lumpur and I needed a clear head in order to do so. Especially after having attended a long wedding dinner, followed by a long drive home, the night before.

But there was a snag. My nephew informed us several weeks ago that he was unable to get me a ticket into the Dewan Tunku Chancellor. The University allowed only two guests per graduand into the hall and we were more than two. No problem, I told him. I can stay away and let his mum and aunt (my wife) attend. I can make some alternate plans to keep myself occupied.

So on the 21st morning, we set off from Bukit Mertajam. Did a detour into Ipoh for lunch at the popular Thean Chun coffee shop in the middle of town where we discovered a satay stall offering the meanest selection of skewered delectables.

Yummy! The skewered pieces of pork liver were truly out of this world. In fact, I haven't encountered any other satay stall that offered this. Even their skewered pieces of pig intestines were fantabulous. Truly memorable! We also ordered the coffee shop's special egg custard but despite all the raves which other people had given it, I would say that it was nothing rather special. Smooth though it was, it was also too sweet for my liking. Of course, this wasn't the first time that I had stopped at Thean Chun. In my previous visit, I had tried the curry mee there as well as the Ipoh koay teow soup. But like the egg custard, nothing really special. Only the satay was nice enough for me.

On the 21st night at 7.30pm, I turned up at the Pullman Bangsar where I had received an invitation to the Old Frees Association Kuala Lumpur & Selangor annual dinner. As this was the first time I was attending their dinner, I did not quite know what to expect except that it was going to start late. But never mind, I was prepared to be there at 7.30pm and see who I could recognise there. Surely, among the OFA KLS crowd, there would be someone that I knew.

And true enough, I bumped into Azril Aziz whom I've known since the Bicentenary two years ago (he came out with the postcards), Kok Ghee and Rohayah who were my former colleagues from JobStreet (Rohayah was the sister of the organising chairman for this dinner BUT was from St George's Girls' School) ... and surprise of surprise, Anuar (Mat Hitam) and Idris Mohd Kassim from my Ban Hin Lee Bank days.

I could remember Anuar instantly when we met but it took a while of talking and probing before Idris and I realised that we both had come from similar backgrounds! After that, we were new-found fast friends. It was in the late 70s that he worked in Ban Hin Lee Bank's Bayan Baru Branch.

But did I meet any of my schoolmates there? Yes, I did. There were only three of them while I had expected more to turn up. But very, very sad to say,0 these three might as well be strangers to me. We hardly clicked. Though I was a guest from Penang, they hardly talked to me. Real disappointment but not something for me to dwell on for long. Frankly, I wasn't bothered much by the aloofness. There were far more friendlier people in the hall than the three of them. People like Shun Ming who, though not an Old Free was an invited guest to the function. People like Ivan Ooi from the OFA KLS management committee who was surprised but glad to see me at their dinner in Kuala Lumpur. And people like Hafiz Hashim who had invited me to join him at his table. Thank you, Hafiz.

The dinner started way after nine o'clock, no thanks to the presence of royalty. The Raja of Perlis is, of course, a distinguished Old Free and as the Guest of Honour, his presence perked up the evening. But by and large, everybody were immersed in their own world and revelry, chattering with their own schoolmates, to care much anything else. The dinner also included a book launch of Hafiz's book by the Raja of Perlis, and the screening of a 10-minute documentary trailer about Penang Free School. 

TO BE CONTINUED......