Commemorative Wu Lien-Teh exhibition

I attended the opening ceremony of a commemorative exhibition on the life of Dr Wu Lien-Teh last week, and I duly went to the function hall at the Kwong Wah Yit Poh premises in Presgrave Street yesterday for the event. I have to say that the ceremony was very well organised and they had even invited the new Chinese Consul in Penang to attend. There was also a huge crowd, notably from two Chinese schools - Sek Men Jenis Kebangsaan Jit Sin and Sek Men Jenis Kebangsaan Heng Ee. None came from Penang Free School, however, as possibly no effort was made by the organisers to inform Wu Lien-Teh's own school. The exhibition runs until tomorrow (30 October 2022).

What a coup by the secretary of the Wu Lien-Teh Society who managed to get all the VIPs to hold a scroll of Wi Lien-Teh's portrait. This wasn't in the script at all. Among the personalities I can identify are Wu Lien-Teh Society president Anwar Fasal, Loke Gim Tay, Penang exco member Chong Eng, the new Chinese Consul whose name escapes me and Dr Doraisamy from the Malaysia-China Friendship Association.

We wanted to take a picture with the Chinese Consul and the Penang exco member, but someone else happened to be on the stage at the same time and we couldn't ask him to leave

This lady here was the curator of the whole exhibition

In this and the following pictures are various pictures taken of the exhibition

Loke Gim Tay playing the role of guide to the pupils from Jit Sin and Heng Ee 

Siang Jin's art

I haven't been able to go down to Kuala Lumpur to view my friend's solo art exhibition but I am happy that he has been receiving lots of good feedback in the newspapers. Plus, many of our old schoolmates from both primary and secondary schools have gone to support Siang Jin, not to mention too the general public.

Revelry night

Originally, i had wanted this story to be part of my recollection of the events that occurred on the 21st of October this year. But on reflection, I would want to separate the solemn and formal morning from the revelry at the end of the days. Hence, a decision to make the OFA annual dinner a separate story by itself.

If I had felt upbeat while at the Speech Day, the OFA annual dinner was THE event that was definitely exhilarating. It raised the temperature of all Old Frees that attended the function. Right from the word Go when the Free School Band struck up the strains of the School Rally, from the moment when Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow took the stage to preach his election-tinged message to the diners, the atmosphere in the ballroom of the St Giles Wembley was electric. People who had not met one another for two to three years on account of the pandemic greeted one another with such camaraderie and friendship. One of my chess friends described the occasion as filled with "boisterous laughter, hearty chats and regular yum seng toasts." I myself must have renewed my acquaintance with more people in a single night than in the first 10 months of this year. That was the power of the OFA annual dinner and I am glad that I was there. 

Loh Lean Kang and I discovered these three boys who had attended our leadership workshop in 2018. They are now in Form Six but unfortunately, the Free School no longer has Science classes and they are forced to continue their sixth form at the nearby Zainal Abidin school.

My schoolmates with our spouses. Standing, left to right: myself, Ho Siang Juan and Tan Kok Yong. Seated, left to right: Wong Chye Chye, Ooi Kah Theang and Lee Hock Siew.

My wife and I with Khoo Yeoh Gan Hong, easily one of the oldest, if not already the oldest, member of The Old Frees' Association who attended the annual dinner. Befitting his age, his feet were now unsteady but he was still game enough to be on stage to celebrate the cutting of the anniversary cake.

The School Band provided the initial entertainment at the function starting with, of course, the School Rally

Penang boy in Bangkok Chess Club Open

The 2022 edition of the Bangkok Open chess tournament has started and there is a big group of 21 Malaysians participating in the Open and Challenger events. Leading the Malaysians' charge in the Open tournament is 13-year-old Poh Yu Tian (newly minted FIDE Master with a current rating of 2340) and in the third round, he scored a sloppy but precious victory against German grandmaster Jan Gustafsson (rated at 2638). I said sloppy because Yu Tian could have finished off Gustafsson much earlier when he had caught the German by the balls but for a series of blunders by both players, the German got off the hook. However in an endgame position which looked likely drawn, the German played the final blunder of the game and lost. With three points from three games, he will now meet a Polish grandmaster, Grzegorz Nasuta (rated 2542), in the fourth round. We shall all be cheering Yu Tian on.

[Event "Bangkok Open 2022"]

[Site "Shangri-La Hotel, Chiangmai, Thailand"]

[Date "2022.10.24"]

[Round "32"]

[Board "3"]

[White "Jan Gustafsson"]

[Black "Poh Yu Tian"]

[Result "0-1"]

[EventCountry "THA"]

1. Nf3 c5 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. e3 e6 5. d4 d5 6. cxd5 exd5 7. Bb5 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Bd7 9. O-O Bd6 10. Nf3 Bg4 11. h3 Bh5 12. Be2 O-O 13. Nh4 Bxe2 14. Nxe2 Re8 15. Nf3 Ne4 16. b3 Qf6 17. Ned4 Ne5 18. Bb2? (18. Ne1 Bb4 19. Bb2 Qa6 20. a3 Nd2 21. Nef3 Nexf3+ 22. Nxf3 Qxf1+ 23. Qxf1 Nxf1 24. axb4 Nxe3) 18...Nxf3+ 19. Qxf3 Qe5 20. Rfd1?! (Inaccurate. 20. Qf4 Qxf4 21. exf4 Bxf4 22. Rfe1 f6 23. Re2 Rac8 24. Rd1 Kf7 25. g3 Be5 26. Kg2 Red8) 20...Qh2+ 21. Kf1 Rac8 22. Ke2 Be5 23. Rac1 Rxc1 24. Rxc1 g6 25. Rc2 h5 26. Rc1 Rd8 27. g4?! (27. h4 Qxh4) 27. ... h4 28. a4 Rd6?? (Big blunder. 28...Bg3 was best. After 28...Rd6?? White could have gained the upper hand with 29. Rc8+ Kg7 30. Qf4.) 29. g5?? (Returning the favour.) 29...Rd8 30. Ba1 Nxg5?? (Third blunder in the game. 30...Re8 31. Bb2 a6 32. Ba1 Bg3 33. Rf1 Bb8 34. Rc1 Be5 35. Bb2 Bg7 36. Ba1 Nxg5 37. Qh1) 31. Qh1 Qxh1 32. Rxh1 Bg7 33. Nf3 Ne4 34. Bxg7 Kxg7 35. Rc1 Rd6 36. Rc7 Rb6 37. Nd4 a5 38. Rd7 Kf6 39. Kf3 Nd2+ 40. Kg4 Nxb3 41. Nxb3 Rxb3 42. Rxd5 Rb4+ 43. f4 Rxa4 44. Rb5 Ra1 45. Rb6+ Kg7 46. Rxb7 a4 47. Ra7 a3 48. Kxh4 a2 49. e4 Kf6 50. Ra6+ Ke7 51. f5?? (The final blunder. 51. Ra5 was best.) 51...g5+ (It took Yu Tian one minute 29 seconds to find this winning move.) (see diagram) 52. Kh5 g4 (And another one minute 17 seconds for him to confirm that this pawn push was indeed winning.) 0-1

Marching towards the Centenary

The 21st of October is a very busy but special day for me. For the past decade or so, I find my demeanour undergo three distinct mood changes as the day progresses from morning to night. My schedule starts off very solemnly enough as I fit in a visit to the old heritage Protestant Cemetary in Northam Road. There, I would join the Prefects and teachers of Penang Free School and Hutchings Secondary School for the annual commemorative service for Robert Sparke Hutchings. The service is led by the Ministers from the nearby St Geroge's Church and normally, I notice the presence of some other Old Frees as well as a few parishioners from the Church.

The Free School Prefects and their Senior Assistant, Leonard Selva

Revd Ho Kong Eng and Revd Tim Nichols leading the commemorative service

The School Prefects with their past and present Senior Assistants, Ho Nean Chan and Leonard Selva

The Old Frees at the conclusion of the service

Three of the Old Frees who had participated in a past PFS leadership workshop. Former School Headboy, Inesh, on the right

Another group picture of the Old Frees

Front view of Hutchings' grave

Side view of Hutchings' grave

The text of the Order of Service (top and bottom)

Inclusive of the singing of the school songs, the service ended after 15 minutes

The recording is, unfortunately, not clear as I had forgotten to adjust the camera's setting. But it was still possible to follow the service from start to finish.

From the Protestant Cemetary, I proceeded to the Free School for their 206th anniversary Speech Day. In the last 13 years, I've only missed Speech Day once in 2018. Last year's Speech Day was a very low-key event in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic and was held at the Penang Digital Library at the far end of the school field. In fact, it was almost cancelled until The Old Frees' Association impressed on the previous Headmaster that it must be held to uphold the tradition to mark the School's anniversary. But this year, the situation is almost back to normal and Speech Day was again held at the Pinhorn Hall with a new Penang Governor and Headmaster marking the formal occasion. My mood was decidedly upbeat - a change from the solemnity of the visit to Hutchings' grave - when I arrived at the Free School and put on my jacket.

Myself with Dr PP Shah and Johnny Ooi

Arrival of the Penang Governor. It would be Ahmad Fuzi's first time at a Penang Free School
Speech Day after being appointed to this position last year.

Greeted by the School's kompang and Chinese drums

The Guard of Honour awaits him too

The story behind this ceremony is that traditionally, the Free School pupils wear metal badges on their shirt but somehow along the way, the metal badges gave way to cloth badges. In the last few years, there was an effort to bring the metal badges back into usage as it was recognised as a school tradition. But let me say that during my time in Free School, none of us wore any badge - metal or cloth - on our tunic. Free School boys stood out by not wearing any badge at all.

TO BE CONTINUED.....