Tai Tay Eah temple

This is the 聖菓院 temple in Kuala Kurau. Not exactly in Kuala Kurau town itself, but on the southern banks of the river. Although the building is rather recent, maybe rebuilt on the same spot, the temple dated back to 1882 when the forefathers of the present townsfolk emigrated from Hock Kien in China. They brought with them the worship of the deity, Poh Seng Tai Tay (保生大帝) or Tai Tay Eah. It is either the original ashes in the joss stick urn or the deity's image itself that was brought over. If you ask the caretaker, he'd probably claim it was the image but it is very hard to say whether he knows for a certainty or he is simply repeating a story handed down through the generations. 

This is the same Tai Tay Eah that is worshipped at the Cheng Leong Keong (清龙宫) (established in 1895) temple in Jelutong on Penang island. Both temples celebrate the deity's birthday on the 15th day of the third Chinese lunar month. I got the dates of their establishment from AngKongKeng.com and if they are correct, then the Kuala Kurau temple is the older by several years! The Swee Cheok Tong (Seh Quah Kongsi) also celebrates the birthday of Tai Tay Eah, our chief resident deity, on the same day too. In fact, the original name of our clans house, prior to it being known as Swee Cheok Tong, was Tai Tay Eah Society when it was established by our forefathers in 1846.

Remembering Ban Hin Lee Bank

𝐁𝐚𝐧 𝐇𝐢𝐧 𝐋𝐞𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐤 or 𝗕𝗛𝗟 𝗕𝗮𝗻𝗸 was Penang's own homegrown bank. This year would have marked its very significant 88th anniversary as a corporatised entity but unfortunately, it ceased to exist on 30 June 2000, having been taken over by Southern Bank which in turn was swallowed by the CIMB Group in 2006.

 

Taiping and Kuala Kurau day trip

Made a day trip to Taiping and Kuala Kurau yesterday with my mother-in-law tagging along. An overall pleasant journey that took me on the secondary roads of southern Kedah and northern Perak. After picking her up, my wife and I detoured through Serdang and Selama before travelling down on the eastern side of the Red Hill Lake and then entering Taiping through Kamunting. By then, we were famished. With the Dragon Phoenix Restaurant closed, we had to settle for the Yu Xiang Seafood Restaurant. Though not exactly to our expectations, the dishes there were cheap enough. We spent something like RM86 for four dishes. 

We tried whiling some time at the Taiping Lake but raindrops forced us to cut short our time there. Decided then to visit the Antong coffee mill, reputedly the oldest in Malaysia. Regarded it strange that they did not play up the fact that this year was their 90th anniversary. Are they waiting for the 100th anniversary to celebrate? Don't have to, actually, Every milestone should be observed gloriously. Can never know whether there'll be a next one. Anyway, the place was under some sort of renovation and the old bungalow building was out of bounds to visitors. We bought some packets of coffee and left, but not before experiencing their expresso ice-cream that left me awake half of last night. 

From Taiping, we drove to the southern banks of the Kuala Kurau river to visit the Tai Tay Eah Temple by the riverbank. Then on to sample the ever-popular prawn omelette which we found a little lacking in taste this time. We also ordered an oyster omelette and a plate of fried mini-crabs. Nothing really special, in my opinion. Thereafter, an uneventful drive back home through Tanjong Piandang. One whole day gone, just like that, but at least my mother-in-law was happy for this little distraction in her life.

A book called Centenary

At long last, this book is ready and set to be launched at The Old Frees' Association annual dinner on 21 October 2023. 

Happy 96th

Many happy 96th birthday wishes to my Headmaster
Tan Boon Lin 

He was the Headmaster when I entered Penang Free School in 1966. However, because we were in the afternoon stream in Form One, he hardly interacted with us. Everything was left to the afternoon supervisor. It was only the following year when we moved to the morning stream that we saw enough of him. Very stern during our schooldays, I remember well the Monday morning assemblies when his approaching footsteps grew louder and louder as he neared the school hall. 

Farewell to three friends

The last three weeks have been kind of a mixed emotional for me. No doubt I have been satisfactorily busy and my time had been well occupied with scheduled activities, but there had been unwelcomed and unexpected events as well. And what can be more unwelcomed than news of people passing away: people that I've known for quite a while, more than 40 or 50 years.

On 19 August, our very much anticipated Ban Hin Lee Bank reunion dinner was held at a major hotel in George Town. When my wife and I stepped out from the lift, we had heard loud laughter from the end of the corridor. "That must be Lean Hin," we told ourselves. His laughter was unmistakable to us, we had heard it so many times before, during our work days and even during those years when we were no longer part of the BHLBank family, it had to be him. But when we arrived at the foyer where people were mixing and registering themselves, Lean Hin was no-where to be seen. The registration list didn't even have his name; so he couldn't be present at the reunion. But how strange it was to hear a laughter so distinct that it sounded so much like him. And it wasn't me alone who thought that. My wife had felt it too.

The next day, word filtered through our grapevine that Lean Hin had passed away from a heart ailment. He had been feeling poorly and hospitalised for more than a month. However, nobody outside his immediate family circle was aware of this. We were all shocked but perhaps no-one felt more shocked that my wife and I.

We had known Lean Hin since 1983. He was a fellow Old Free, a member of The Old Frees' Association, but many years my junior. We never met in the Free School. My wife was working in the bank's Bukit Mertajam branch and Lean Hin had  joined the staff as a clerk in that year. Friendly and personable, he eventually ended his career in BHLBank as the branch manager in Kamunting. This was at the point when the bank was taken over by Southern Bank. Later, he worked at the Penang Turf Club for a number of years. He would have been 60 years old in 2023.

There was another surprise three days later. A friend told me that his uncle - his father's brother - had passed away on the 23rd morning, aged 92 years old. I had known Chong Kee Kian for a very long time. Sometime in the  late 1970s, he had dropped into Hooi Lye Association in Kimberley Street on a Sunday afternoon. He had heard about the Penang Chess Association having our chess playing sessions there and was eager to have some social games with us.

I saw him coming in and looking at many of the players but no-one paid him any attention. Myself being curious about him, I struck up a conversation and before long we were exchanging pieces on the chess board. And that was the start of a friendship that lasted decades. It turned out later that Kee Kian was also an Old Free. While playing chess was a hobby for him, his real passion was ballroom dancing When he celebrated one of his milestone anniversaries, he invited my wife and I to their anniversary dinner at a major heritage hotel and he and his wife practically spent the whole evening oozing their way around and across the floor. The perfect partner for one another, I had observed then.

After the Covid-19 pandemic set in, his health took a turn for the worse. But then, he was already almost turning 90-years -old. Warded many times in intensive care, I learnt, and each time recovering sufficiently. But he was no longer strong enough to venture out on his own. I can't quite remember the last time he went to an OFA annual dinner but we greeted one another like old friends do.

Last Tuesday, I received a message from Chee Wooi to tell me that his father had passed away that morning. This one too, I also couldn't believe the information. Saw Boo Pheng dead at 71? I never knew he was sick, let alone dying! I took me some time to fathom it but it had to be true as the information had come from his son. But what had happened? Sick for some time, relapse of an old illness after a seven-year reprieve. Darn it!

The last time I had been in touch with Boo Pheng was in 2020. We had been messaging one another and had promised to meet for a cup of coffee, which never happened because of the pandemic. We never got in touch after that but strangely enough in the last week or so, I suddenly thought about him. His name sprang to mind. I should get in touch with him, the thought in my head swirled around. How or why it did that to me is quite a mystery but it happened. Unexplainable.

Anyway, Boo Pheng and I go back a long way. We met in May or June of 1972, at Han Chiang Primary School. Playing chess. He playing for the Technical Institute team, me for the Penang Free School team. Our schools had met in one of the preliminary rounds and we were playing on the second board. Strangers to one another but by the end of the game, a friendship had been struck. 

A friendship that took us through the decades. In 1989, fate brought us together to collaborate on writing a beginner's book on chess with yet another friend. The publishers wanted a book in Bahasa Malaysia and Boo Pheng was there to help with the translation. That he was a teacher and also a chess player helped to smoothen the translation because he knew what I wanted. So my original script was in English and he duly translated it into Bahasa Malaysia. Catur, the book was called. Funnily enough, when the publishers later wanted an English Language version of the book, I could not find my original manuscript and I had to translate the contents from Bahasa Malaysia back into English.

But away from chess, he and I had one more thing in common: durian. I remember in the 1990s, he would telephone to ask me to join him on a durian hunt around the fruit stalls of Balik Pulau and Paya Terubong during the durian season. For me to travel all the way from Bukit Mertajam to meet in Paya Terubong already tells people how durian-mad both of us were. Our durian adventure lasted for only three or four years when finally, I grew tired of driving all the way out.

So there it is, three stories that I had to get off my chest. Glad to have known you guys: Lean Hin, Kee Kian and Boo Pheng. Rest in peace, forever.

#Friendship #Loss #Remembrance #EmotionalJourney #InMemoriam

Portable chess sets

I discovered these chess treasures at the back of a cupboard a few days ago: foldable, two-dimensional chess sets for the purpose of playing chess or analysing a chess game while on-the-go. Used to be very popular in the past before smart phones allowed for chess apps to be installed. Nowadays, these portable chess sets have gone the way of the dinosaurs.

Of the three shown in the picture, the one on the bottom right was a souvenir from the 29th Chess Olympiad in Novi Sad, Serbia, in 1990. The casing is made of leather while the pieces are pieces of small chess figurines glued onto transparent pieces of flat plastic which can be pushed, with some force, into tiny slots cut into the leather board. The one of the lower left is definitely of Soviet origin. I recognise the Cyrillic characters on the cover of the set although I'm at a loss at knowing what it says. Meanwhile, the topmost set was a souvenir from flying with Singapore Airlines a very long time ago.

A little update. A long time ago, I had also bought two Portland cardboard chess sets. One of the sets came with a single chess board while the other had two chess boards laid out side-by-side but only with one set of pieces. Maybe the other set had gone missing elsewhere, I can't quite remember.

The former was the original Portland cardboard set from England, made by Robinson & Sons Ltd of Chesterfield and sold through CHESS Sutton Coldfield. Decades later when the double chess board version came into my possession, I bought it from Ignatius Leong's chess outfit known as National Chess Enterprises. I would assume he had acquired the rights to make the Portland set in Singapore by then.

A second little update. Apparently, the Portland cardboard chess set has a bit of history. The manufacturer of the original set was this Robinson & Sons Ltd of Chesterfield in Derbyshire, England, as I had mentioned above. This was a family business, founded in 1839 by John Bradbury Robinson (1802-1869) in Chesterfield, Derbyshire. From making pill boxes, the company grew to become a major packaging and healthcare business. The packaging business, it seemed, started in 1839.

John Bradbury Robinson had two sons and it is interesting to note that one of them was named Charles Portland Robinson (1844-1916), and this is probably my a-ha moment because the cardboard chess set also spotted the Portland name. To cope with the expanding cardboard packaging business, an extension to their manufacturing plants was opened in 1920. By this time Charles Portland Robinson had already died and it could be that the Portland Works was named after him.

Victor Owen Robinson initiated the set-up of the Chesterfield Chess Club in 1924, becoming its vice-president. He was in the family business and in 1945, he became the Chairman of Robinson & Sons Ltd. And here was where Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp came into the picture. 

Duchamp was a French painter and sculptor. He was also a chess-player. During the Second World War, he escaped from France to the United States. According to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, he created a leather pocket chess set in 1943 and planned to produce and market them to chess enthusiasts with the guarantee that the pieces would remain in place even though the chess set was moved about during travel. 

After the War, Duchamp's innovative idea came to the notice of Victor Owen Robinson who saw the potential of mass producing his version of the flat foldable chess set from cardboard. The Philadelphia Museum of Art suggested that the first edition of Victor Owen's cardboard chess sets appeared in 1950, but of the nomenclature, surely they must have called after the factory where they were made, the Portland Works?

Note: All these are only my interpretation and nothing is definitive. I may still be wrong in my narration and conclusion, and I welcome any new information that comes to light. 

#ChessTreasures #ChessHistory #ChessCollectibles #ChessSouvenirs #ChessMemorabilia #ChessArtifacts #ChessOnTheGo #ChessFacts #ChessTrivia #ChessHeritage

Nyonya food quite unreal

The tickets for the OFA Centenary Show, held at the Pinhorn Hall in Penang Free School last Saturday, cost RM60 each for members and their immediate families. It included a so-called halal nyonya dinner served in tiffin carriers. The dishes may look interesting but take note that I added the qualifying remark "so-called" to the food. 

In my opinion, the dishes were anything but authentic nyonya. There were asam prawns but the prawns were cooked sweet rather than sour as it should be. The jiuhoo char was simply mangkuang char with no trace of jiuhoo. I took a bite and chucked my tiny portion aside. The curry chicken? Quite ordinary. Something you'd find selling in economy rice stalls. As for the fish, all I can say is that this isn't achat hoo by a long shot at all. Maybe I should be told what the caterer was trying to cook! And the bubor chacha dessert came looking quite unimpressive. Bubor chacha is supposed to be made with fresh coconut milk but the soup looked like it was cooked with canned santan purchased from the supermarket shelves. 

And yet....I was told that there were diners who praised the caterer's cooking skill to high heaven. I think these people should make comparisons with the food from real nyonya restaurants, and there are so many in George Town. Then they'll know what real, authentic nyonya cuisine is all about, and what they have missed. 

The OFA centenary show

 My wife and I spent a wonderful evening last Saturday at The OFA Centenary Show. For two hours, we sat enthralled with performances by the Old Frees who were once involved with the Music And Drama Society of Penang Free School. 

The Centenary Show opened with the father-and-daughter duo of Lee Eu Beng and Karen Lee. Karen Lee was one of the participants of the Leadership Workshop in the past and I was delighted to see her singing on stage with her father accompanying her on the guitar. Yong Kok Fooi had made his way back from the United States to entertain the audience with some nostalgia which included Don McLean's American Pie, Monty Python's Brighter Side of Life and Sam Cooke's What A Wonderful World. 

We saw an inspired performance by stand-up comedian Abdul Raqib Karim who brought the house down with his jokes. Roshini Thilegachandran took to the stage to present some wonderful rendition of songs from plays that the Music And Drama Society had performed in the past, and she then gave way to Ang Teng Chye for the final singing session. To wrap up the evening, Kean Yin Phing had also made her way back from Florida to dance for the audience. For this, she was well supported by the ballerinas from the Greenapple Ballet Academy.

Amidst all this, Andrew Lim Tatt Keong made a dedication speech at the start of the Show, paying tributes to the past teachers who had played big roles in the development of the Music And Drama space at the school. Special mentions were made of Gerard Reutens and Cheng Hin. The latter had been most persistent in wanting a Bicentenary play presented in 2016 but the idea fell through. Andrew also commented that Reutens had been most inspired by the inspirational poem, Invictus, by William Ernest Henley, when he penned these lines for the School Rally: It matters neither how strait the gate, Nor how charged with dangers the goal. 

The Centenary Show wouldn't be complete without the involvement of some Present Frees who put up three short plays. There is a need to revive the Music And Drama Society to its former splendour and range of activities - they must reorganise themselves to put on school plays - these Present Frees and their teacher advisor have a big task before them. But from what what I saw on Saturday night it is not an impossible task. For a start, the boys and girls put up three short plays and I was impressed by the students' energies. In my opinion, two of the boys stood out, Mohammad Mikhail and Muhammad Nazim, but then I realised that this wasn't the first time that I had seen them speak. They had participated in the Centenary Elocution Contest in the School Hall only last May, They were eloquent then and they were eloquent now.

In the background I must single out Cheong Lai Fong who is in charge of the English Language Department of the School, Despite her portfolio not covering the Music And Drama Society's activities, she had played a big role in arranging the logistics for the Centenary Show. It's just that we do not know much of it, There's also theatre director Chee Sek Thim who spent time coaching the students in the three plays. Philip Yeoh, the creative director, was the  force behind the show and the success of the evening was all to his credit.  

Second IM norm

Solid show by 14-year old Poh Yu Tian in the 2023 edition of the Malaysia Open chess tournament that has just concluded at the Cititel MidValley in Kuala Lumpur. He amassed 6½ points to earn himself an International Master norm. This is his second IM norm and he shall require a third in order to qualify for an International Master title. 

The way he is developing into a matured player, this should not be too difficult for him to achieve. Moreover, his rating is required to move above 2400 points (it should be 2405 points come this October 2023 rating list) which he had also achieved in this tournament. Therefore, possibly within the next year or two?

 

Rd.	Bo.	SNo		Name	Rtg	FED	Pts.	Res.
1	20	92	AIM	Rajasa, Muhammad Andi	1837	INA	4,5	1
2	19	59		Azhar, Muhd Syakir Shazmeer	2069	MAS	5	1
3	1	1	GM	Song, Raymond	2512	TPE	5,5	½
4	8	9	IM	Quizon, Daniel	2425	PHI	6	1
5	5	14	IM	Concio, Michael Jr.	2406	PHI	6	½
6	3	8	GM	Laylo, Darwin	2426	PHI	6,5	0
7	15	52		Vo, Pham Thien Phuc	2108	VIE	4,5	1
8	10	12	IM	Badmatsyrenov, Oleg	2416	FID	6	½
9	6	4	IM	Lou, Yiping	2464	CHN	5,5	1

Poh Yu Tian with his certificate of achievement, standing next ot the President of Penang Chess Association, See Swee Sie

Hokkien is NOT a dialect

I am a member of several facebook groups, some local and some foreign. Among the local ones is a group administered by Timothy Tye (an Old Free, like me) known as Learn Penang Hokkien. Yesterday, I read a most interesting contribution by a fellow member, someone named Ian Chai, in which he called for a rethinking of the term Dialect (方言).

Why should Hokkien, Cantonese, Teochew and others be called Dialects while Mandarin is called a Language, he asked. I agree totally with his question. Why should they be called Dialects? Their histories predated Mandarin by centuries, and recognition should be made of this fact instead of sidelining them.

For example, sources like Wikipedia say that Hokkien developed from Old Chinese and Middle Chinese. (that is, dating from the Shang and Zhou dynasties from the 14th to third centuries BCE). With this long history, it is one of the oldest and most well-preserved of Chinese regional languages. 

On the other hand, Mandarin can be traced back to the Yuan and Ming dynasties (from the 13th century) when it started evolving from earlier Northern Chinese dialects. During the Ching Dynasty, it became the basis for the standardised Mandarin used in official government communications and education.

Thus in terms of a longer history, Hokkien is more ancient as it can be traced back to the early stages of the Chinese language. However, Mandarin gained prominence due to its association with later political movements and administrative centres. I am sure similar conclusions can be made with the other major regional languages in China such as Cantonese, Teochew, etc.

Ian Chai's important piece below should thus be made known to a wider audience. In my opinion, it is time for Hokkien, Cantonese and all other Chinese regional languages to stand up and be counted for their importance! Our heritage will be richer for it.

Rethinking the Translation of 方言

In our globalized world, language holds immense power in shaping our identity, culture, and relationships. Yet, the term "dialect" has often been misapplied to regional linguistic variations, leading to misunderstandings and undermining the unique heritage of languages such as Hokkien, Cantonese, Hakka, and more. It is time to reevaluate our approach and accurately refer to these as "regional languages" rather than mere "dialects" of Mandarin, acknowledging their distinct origins, historical significance, and lack of mutual intelligibility.

First and foremost, labeling Hokkien, Cantonese, Hakka, and similar languages as "dialects" of Mandarin belittles their rich historical roots. These regional languages have ancient origins that predate Mandarin itself. By using the term "regional languages," we pay homage to their individual histories, which have developed independently over centuries. The term "dialect" inaccurately implies that these languages are offshoots of Mandarin, overshadowing their unique linguistic evolution.

Furthermore, the misconception that these regional languages are dialects of Mandarin stems from the fallacy of mutual intelligibility. Unlike variations like the Cockney accent and the Queen's English, where speakers can generally understand each other despite differences, regional languages like Hokkien and Cantonese are not mutually intelligible with Mandarin. This key distinction is a testament to their linguistic diversity and independence. Therefore, applying the label "regional languages" rightfully acknowledges their inherent differences and the necessity for distinct linguistic categorization.

The misclassification of these languages as "dialects" also perpetuates a skewed hierarchy that undermines their cultural significance. By using the term "regional languages," we grant them the recognition they deserve, highlighting their pivotal role in preserving cultural traditions, storytelling, and artistic expression. These languages encapsulate the nuances of the diverse communities that speak them, fostering connections across generations and strengthening cultural identity.

In advocating for a shift to referring to Hokkien, Cantonese, Hakka, and their counterparts as "regional languages," we empower ourselves to appreciate linguistic diversity in its truest form. This change in terminology not only respects the historical lineage of these languages but also underscores the importance of embracing linguistic richness. It challenges the stereotypes that linguistic variations must be secondary to the "standard" and encourages a deeper understanding of the complex tapestry of languages that shape our world.

In conclusion, it is evident that the term "dialect" inadequately represents the uniqueness and significance of languages like Hokkien, Cantonese, and Hakka. By embracing the term "regional languages," we honor their distinct histories, acknowledge their lack of mutual intelligibility with Mandarin, and celebrate their vital role in cultural preservation. Let us collectively recognize the power of words in shaping perceptions and promote a more accurate and inclusive terminology that reflects the true essence of these linguistic treasures.

Chess observations

I have an invitation to attend the closing ceremony but unfortunately,
I won't be able to accept it this year

In the last few editions of the annual 10-day Malaysia Chess Festival, I had made it a point to travel down twice to Kuala Lumpur for the event: once to participate in the Merdeka rapid team tournament with my chess friends from The Old Frees' Association and a second time to attend the closing ceremony. Not this year though. I am unable to travel down to KL for the closing. Thus, I shall be missing out on the excitement of the last day's play in the main Malaysia Open event. 

Who shall be the new Malaysia Open champion? As I write, the tournament is taking a breather between yesterday's fifth round and tomorrow's sixth round. The competition at the top is still wide open but I am very happy to see one of Penang's top players, 14-year-old Poh Yu Tian, a FIDE Master, still holding his own against the main contenders. I shall continue cheering for him and urging him forward in his quest to get a first International Master norm. I hope he gets it from this tournament.

The main problem of playing in only the rapid team tournament is that one gets too engrossed in one's own games until there is no time to observe the goings-on during each round. As every player is required to play all nine rounds, there is no opportunity for anyone to sit out during a round.

Luckily, or unluckily enough, I had a meltdown in the eighth round which left me enough time to wander around the tournament hall and take a few snapshots of the participants on the top boards.

On the right are the Penang "A" team, led by Wong Yinn Long on the first board, Poh Yu Tian on the second board, Tan Jun Ying on the third board and Ooi Zhi Yang on the fourth board.

The PKM Parlimen Shah Alam team which comprised, from right, Yeoh Li Tian, Nicholas Chan, Marcus Chan and Nik Farouqi

Another look at Penang's top two players, Wong Yinn Long in the foreground, and Poh Yu Tian in the background. Both of them, together with Tan Jun Ying, are also playing in the main Malaysia Open tournament

A chess pasar malam

I should mention that concurrently with the Merdeka rapid team tournament, there were other junior chess events going on as part of the Malaysia Chess Festival. Thus outside the tournament hall, it was a real pasar malam situation with parents and family members setting up camp while their children were competing. As pictures speak louder than words, I shall let these pictures do the talking. Who says chess is not a popular game?

Friends (朋友)

The occasion was the Ban Hin Lee Bank reunion dinner at the Eastern & Oriental Hotel on 19 August 2023, which had brought together about 250 former staff. As the vast majority of us hadn't seen one another for at least five years, this particular Alan Tam song, Friends (朋友), brought back unforgettable memories of the best times we had in the bank.

As usual, we had to have Lee Soo Hock sing this signature song. He was an aspiring singer in the 1990s and jokingly - we had worked in the same ATM Centre - I told him then that if he ever turned professional, I would apply to be his manager.

Well, it turned out that he did earn himself a recording contract and had appeared semi-professionally on television but by then, I was planning to leave the banking industry and looking elsewhere for my career change. However, managing a singer was no longer within my list of things-to-do. Soo Hock went on to conclude his career in CIMB Bank, retiring very recently. By the way, he sang two songs on our reunion night. There's also Shanghai Beach featured here in this video.

By the way, I also made a third video recording of Teik Kean singing his ever popular version of The Room at the Top of the Stairs but I was struggling with a problem with my mobile phone and can't find it any more. So, Teik Kean, if you are reading this, my apologies for being unable to upload it to YouTube for everyone's enjoyment.

OFA at Merdeka chess

Eight of us from The Old Frees' Association travelled down to Kuala Lumpur last Friday for this year's Merdeka rapid team chess tournament at the Cititel MidValley. This year, the two-day event has a new sponsor in SMS Deen Jewellers. When I cornered the boss, Sirajudin, on Saturday, I told him, "hey, now you can really call this event as my tournament." He simply gave a chuckle. 

But seriously, everyone is thankful to Siraj for coming to the rescue of this long-running Merdeka rapid chess team tournament after the old sponsors terminated their interest. SMS Deen Jewellers is located at 52 Jalan Masjid India and is open throughout the week, including Sundays. Their sole business is the sale of 916/22K gold jewellery for all occasions such as weddings and engagements, and their range naturally extends to daily casual-wear too. There's even a branch in George Town, located at 106 Penang Street.

Anyway, our two teams took part in the tournament and the first team, which we named as OFA Young Penang Boys, played brilliantly to finish in 19th position. It should be noted that there were quite a number of achievements against a number of titled players. 

Ing Kiat drew with local IM Jimmy Liew and beat WFM Khadijah Qurota’ain from Indonesia. Colin Chong drew with FM Mahmud Syarif from Indonesia. Tay Aik beat FM Robert Gibbons from New Zealand and WFM Millyena Legowo Parahita from Indonesia. Terry Ong beat CM Helen Milligan from New Zealand and drew with both local FM Dilwen Ding and CM Paul Spiller from New Zealand.

The second team, OFA Youngest Penang Boys, fared slightly below par and ended in joint 56th position. Nothing notable to report on the players except to say that Chian Min and Peng Seng were the star performers of this team. I had a very torrid time playing on the first board and wasted a lot of chances. Only in the very last round did I find a little bit of redemption but by then it was already too late. And I know too that Hun Pin also found his opponents tough.

All these ups and downs are just part of the game. Win some and lose some. But one thing for sure....we should be back for next year's edition, come what may. 

Eighth student leadership workshop completed

This is only a brief post to say that we have completed the eighth Student Leadership Workshop at Penang Free School. the second weekend of the workshop was held last weekend at the Pinhorn Hall with 21 boys in attendance. There was one each from Upper Six and Form Five but the rest were all in Form Four. Having completed with this batch, we are now looking forward to the ninth workshop for the Sixth Formers which we hope will kick off at the end of September.

Thank you to the Headmaster, Syed Sultan, and the Senior Assistant, Leonard Selva, for making the workshop a success. Thank you to the coaches - Lean Kang, Sue, Cheng, Ben and Ugenthraa for their invaluable time.