Old farts talking cock

Old friends from our Westlands Primary schooldays gathered for a small chit-chat over dinner on Saturday night at one of Penang's oldest Hainanese seafood restaurants, the Ocean Green. The exact date when this restaurant began its business is uncertain, but there are indications that it could be some 40 to 50 years ago. Nevertheless, it sits on the seafront, directly in front of the Paramount Hotel, which had its beginnings after the Second World War. As the land on which the restaurant sits also belongs to the hotel's owners, I would presume that long before the restaurant was set up, this area fronting the hotel was used for catering functions, where the best-dressed baba-nyonya would turn up for dances and makan-makan sessions. When these activities became less popular in the late 1970s, the hotel owners decided to convert the vacant area into a dining area with a roof to shelter people from the elements. Even today, it attracts a large crowd of local diners, with their foreign or outstation guests in tow, for its delectable traditional Hainanese dishes such as choon piah, grilled spring chicken, satay and more. The seven of us old farts, with at least 490 years between us, spent close to three hours exchanging opinions, gossip and generally talking cock in the restaurant, and our wallets were thinner by some RM50 each. But it was time well spent as some of us had not seen one another for at least a year. Our opinions were, however, another matter as we were very certain that whatever we said, they surely won't change the world during our lifetime.

Ewe Leong, Chien Ch'eng, Seng Huat, Oon Hup, Siang Jin, Seng Huat and I