Thursday, November 12, 2009

Inviting our Teachers

As you may have read already from some of the comments, our friendly organizing team of Ben Wong, Bob  Chew and Robert Chin turned professional couriers yesterday, driving around Kuching to personally deliver the Grand Reunion invitations to some of our former teachers and special guests. Many thanks guys! Most impressed by your dedication and the personal touch.

Here's what the invitation card looks like ...





And here are our intrepid trio's various stops ...



Mr Clarence K M

Back in 1976, Mr Clarence was the Form 5 Science form teacher and he also taught us Additional Maths. Thanks to his excellent teaching, many of us can still differentiate and integrate with gusto (or am I being too hopeful here? Whatever it is, it certainly helped me when I was trying to coach my daughter on her maths homework!). Now aged 71 and fully retired, Mr Clarence looks hardly a day older than when he was our teacher. Definitely someone who holds the secret (or mathematical formula?) to anti-aging. Mr Clarence has two daughters and a son . The eldest two are living in Australia. So he spends his time between Australia and Sarawak, where he lives with his wife and youngest daughter at Lorong Poh Kwong, Kuching





Mr Lee Hock Kia

Mr. Lee started teaching Art at St Joe in 1974 and retired from teaching in 1992.  He was a popular and talented art teacher who taught for a total of 28 years. Initially he had taught at a Chinese school but was persuaded to join St. Joseph’s in 1974. I guess Bro Albinus & other teachers used all their charm and influence to bring him over to St Joe. And after he arrived, art classes were never the same again in St Joe. Now aged 74, he continues to pursue his passion for art in his own home at Jalan Foochow No 2, and he holds regular exhibitions in and around Kuching.



Mr Nicholas Jee

It's incredible! This bachelor teacher who taught us to appreciate the beauty of the English language through his Literature classes turns 60 next week. Mr Nicholas Jee retired in 2000 after a teaching career of 31 years at St Joe. When we met him on the street, he was as spritely as ever. He now lives at Pending Heights, Kuching.



Mr Augustine Ong

Mr Ong joined St. Joe in 1974 and left in 1984 to pursue law. He became a practicing lawyer and is now teamed with his nephew as a partner. In his teaching career, he taught English, Geography and Commerce, through which he has left an indelible mark on many of us. He lives at Tabuan Desa, Kuching.



Father Nicholas Ng

Father Ng also hits the Big 50 this year. How do we know? Because he was our classmate in Form 5 Science in 1976. Clearly he received his calling from above, and he was the only one in the class who spurned material things and became a Catholic priest . When we met him this morning , he was very busy, but still managed to squeeze a little time out to have a chat and at our request, even posed in his priestly robes in front of St Joseph’s Cathedral.



Bro Albinus

Bro Albinus is (we believe) the only La Salle brother remaining in Kuching, if not in Sarawak. It was good to see him in good health. Unfortunately he will not be able to join us for the Reunion as he will be out of the country.

There are still other teachers we are trying to get in touch with, and we'll update everyone on further progress later.

What a great job B B & R have done ! Three cheers for them and for our former teachers who have done so much for us. Hip, hip .....


Day 2 (13 Nov 2009)

This evening, Bob, Jensen and Robert delivered the invitation card to Mr Anthony Goh at his home.






Mr Anthony Goh, now aged 59, taught Woodwork, History, English and PE at St Joe from 1972 to 1977, before leaving for the Batu Lintang Training College. Now he teaches in Lodge School.

He was a popular PE master and a supreme commander in sports especially rugby and athletics. He reminisced that at one particular inter-school sports meet, St Joe was the Overall Champion for boys and girls even though we didn't even have girls representation.

Mr Goh lives with his wife and two children (already working) at Lorong Sg. Maong Baru, Kuching. His hobby these days? Fishing !


Another Day (16 Nov 2009)

The guys met up with Mr Kenneth Abbey to deliver the invitation.



Mr. Kenneth Abbey joined St. Joe as a teacher in 1969 and left in 1970 to teach in SMK Betong until 1973. He then returned to St. Joe. for another 2 years. He taught English, Geography, History and Bible Knowledge. Eventually he decided to quit teaching in 1975. He was a councillor in MBKS (twice) and Bau District Council. His last posting was as a member of the Public Service Commission. Mr. K Abbey, now aged 69, is now retired and staying with his wife at Lintang Park, Kuching. He has two grown up children working aboard.

Mr K Abbey jokingly remarked that he had once punished a student for not bringing his report card to class, by making him run around the field. He really wants to know WHO that student was ??

Another Day (14 Dec 2009)

Today Bob, George, Ben and Robert managed to meet up with Cikgu Bujang Hadi at Pizza Hut, Satok outlet for coffee and invited him to our Big 50 Reunion Party.
He is in top form and was very happy to see us. He confirmed he would come to the party. Hooray !




Here's a brief of Cikgu Bujang. He joined St Joe in 1970. He taught most of us Bahasa Melayu from Form 1 till Form 6. In January 1977, he left St. Joe to join Batu Lintang Training College. He then returned to St. Joe in 1994 and left again in 1996. From 1996 to 1997, he was the principal of SMK Petra Jaya. From 1998 to 1999, he was in the Divisional Education Office as head of service unit.

As we all know, Cikgu Bujang Hadi is keen sportman and enjoys football most (he's a fan of Mr. Pele, the Brazilian soccer superstar!)

Ciikgu Bujang, aged 65, is now retired, staying with his wife and blessed with 5 children (4 boys, 1 girl) and 5 grandchildren.

39 comments:

  1. well done, Ben, Bob & Robert. this is the stuff of real Josephians.

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  2. Any female teachers? Diana Ho? Lucy Lau? Anne Lin? Y K Tan?

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  3. BBR Express - new name for courier service. Sure beat Post Laju, Fedex dan DHL la !

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  4. Hi Bob, Ben, Rob. Great Job. Very nice to see Pic of our teachers. One thing that strikes me is that they are only a little bit older than us!!! Will give anyone a reward if they can find Mrs Groovy Tan, my favourite teacher.

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  5. Hi...guys

    Excellent work again, btw, I never recall you guys were so active or volunteered your services during the school days? LOL.

    Has anyone contacted Bro Mark, Master William chan, what about some of our primary teachers. Can you remember Mr Chai, who was our primary head who also teached mandarin/chinese lessons? He was a feared one and would punished anyone who misbehaved with strokes of rotan. Was it Mr Mathias Lee who used broom sticks to roll up our shins or pulled our side burns. Miss Tai, "Groovy" Tan, and others, did we not have some temporary teachers from the Batu Lintang training college? There's another one that we seemed to have missed, Anthony Goh - where is he now. He was our sports teacher and a good friend too. I remembered one year, we went to Brunei to play in the Rugby tournament there.

    Keep it up, boys.

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  6. WJ, I think the statement about Nicholas Jee that 'He now lives at Pending Heights, Kuching' should read 'He STILL lives at Pending Heights, Kuching' cos i remember him staying there during our school days and even visiting him there during CNY over 30 years ago.

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  7. Thank you BB&R! Few but sincere words for your efforts

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  8. Always remember Mrs Josephine Kong, who taught us Commerce in Form 3. Great teacher.

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  9. I am super impressed with the effort. I am sure you will all have a blast on that nite.

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  10. BBR , You are the guys. You all did a great job.You'll get the blessing not only from Fr Nick but the LORD as well.

    Kopi

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  11. Hip hip hurray for BBR & J !!!

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  12. Where's William Chan? Mr Sebastian? Mr Mathai?

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  13. Patience Anon 3.56am.

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  14. It was 1976 when we sapu the interschool championsip for boys and girls even though we did not have girls.....

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  15. Mr Sebastian is now living in India. His son, who is a spitting image of him , is a doctor living in Singapore.

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  16. What championships CLK? Fancy dress?

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  17. "Bro Albinus is (we believe) the only La Salle brother remaining in Kuching"

    No. Bro Albinus belongs to Mill Hill Brothers and NOT La Salle.

    And Mill Hill is definitely NOT in Ireland!

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  18. There is no such thing or order as Mill Hill Brothers. It is Mill Hill Fathers and La Salle Brothers.

    SJS Kg was founded by Mill Hill missionaries who are Catholic priests. Subsequently the La Salle brothers took over from the Mill Hill Fathers.

    Bro Albinus is definitely La Salle and he was SJS Kg principal between 1963 - 1969. Then he became principal at Sacred Heart School Sibu (also La Salle administered).

    Anyway, WJ has already done a post (back in July 09) on all the past SJS principals dating back to the days of the Mill Hill fathers here:

    http://stjoe-form5in1976.blogspot.com/2009/07/former-principals-of-st-josephs-school.html

    Want more info on the Mill Hill Fathers and/or La Salle Brothers - go google them.

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  19. BobRobBenJenSen, wonderful job, great effort. I am impressedd

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  20. Dear Brother Josephians,

    Much water has flowed under the bridge (bridge of friendship..not troubled water ) since the idea of our Grand Reunion was mooted..months ago...
    As we flip the pages of history..down memory lane 33 or more years ago, there are many wonderful things that surfaced.
    Among them is the realisation that life is more than just about dollars...it is more about sense. Sense of belonging..sense of camaraderie..sense of fulfilment..etc...
    When we look at the candid snap-shots of our teachers...we realised that they have aged..but with much grace and dignity, living life to the fullest, moulding young, rebellious souls like us into what we are today.
    Though times and things may have changed, they have not been forgotten and I believe that one of the most beautiful outcome of this Reunion is the recognition of the sacrifices of our teachers.
    The smiles on their faces and the sparkle in their eyes as they received the invitation cards have driven home a very powerful message - "everything we did as teachers while you were with us in school..we did it for you !!"
    And Bob,Ben,Jessen and Robert also seemed to acknowledge the Teachers' smiles and echoing in silence.."nothing's gonna change our love for you.." to which our Teachers nodded..."you said it best...when you said nothing at all...."
    Yes...this Grand ReUnion....it's about appreciation...it's about rekindling old friendship ( not flames )...re-bonding....re-living beautiful memories..re-visiting history and renewing our friendship. (that's where I feel a tinge of sadness that the "teresians" will not be there...hehehehe )
    It's a celebration of life...a life well-lived..or a life that could be better lived....

    Someone mentioned that we hit a "resistance level" at "65"...I would prefer to call it "market consolidation"....let's look forward to a mini bull run in the days and weeks to come and be optimistic that the ReUnion Index will surge past the "70" mark...76 would be most ideal as we commemorate the "Class of '76"...

    Let's make it happen !!!

    Together we can make it happen !!!

    ORA ET LABORA

    Cheers !!!

    Edmund AS Lee

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  21. ELAS, wah, so early you are up already ka? The next reunion at age 76 is wonderful, most of us would be walking to the dining hall with walking sticks and can play sword fighting with it ho?

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  22. Hi Sabun King,

    How are you getting on ? Thanks for chipping in...and adding spice to our ReUnion with your fair contribution. You are early too...12.22am

    ReUnion at age 76 ? Sure we will be there, God willing. Must sit near Father Nick on 23rd Dec....need more "spiritual" nourishment..quite deficient in that area.

    Come 23rd Dec..we will shake Merdeka Palace...shaking hands..shaking bodies ( at Victoria Arms )and paint the town red...with faces so red...thanks to Carlsberg and Johnny Walker.

    By the way...why are you called Sabun King ?...quite a soapy name..but sounds good, nevertheless...LUX, Rexonna or Chap Tukang Besi ???

    Cheers and God Bless

    Edmund AS Lee

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  23. Which teacher has confirmed his attendance?

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  24. i remember mr Abbey and his History classes

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  25. Hi...guys (BW/JN/BC)

    Another nice work, I remembered Mr Abbey too. He was such a nice teacher, I cannot recall he ever lost his temper and always smiling. Btw, has any of member of the Organising Committee located any female teacher yet?. I recalled one class made Mrs Tan (Geography teacher) cry and she had to leave the class in the middle of lesson. Come on owned up if it was one of you. LOL. You need to repent!!!!!

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  26. If there's female former teachers, then no pole dancers. If there's pole dancers, then there's no female former teachers. So which one are we going for?

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  27. Female teachers or pole dancers ??? what a conundrum ... what a tough decision ... what a difficult choice ... POLE DANCERS ! POLE DANCERS ! POLE DANCERS ! LOL

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  28. What's the Problem ?

    No pole dancers ! No female teachers! No female teachers ! No pole dancers.
    Well, get the former female teacher to be the pole dancers.

    Problems solved !


    "I like pole dancers and I like former female teachers"

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  29. I say man, Anon 11.57PM, I think it is too much la to get our former female teachers to be the pole dancers lors. Might even go for 'Ah Kuas' to do the shows for us. Don't worry, we can invite the 'Ah Kuas' even at the very last minute, they are over at the GPO, walking distance from Merdeka Palace, RC,BC, BW, NL, GL, or ELAS can do the job, I mean getting the 'Ah Kuas'. LOL.

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  30. Wow, Cikgu Bujang is joining us for the Grand Reunion ! Yay !

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  31. Wah, Cikgu Bujang has hardly changed ! Must ask him what he eats to keep so youthful.

    I vividly recall him telling us about Pele and the "bicycle kick" during BM classes at St Joe. Yeah, he was a great fan !

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  32. Cikgu Bujang's ripped. I grab ahold of his forearm as we were leaving and it was rock-hard. That man's 66 and he puts most of us to shame!

    Now, where's that set of dumb-bells I bought 20 years ago?

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  33. Great to have Cikgu Bujang joining us for the ReUnion.....Apa khabar, Cikgu ? Lama tak jumpa !!

    This man's one heck of a character !!!! He literally came back after a horrific accident...which one close Josephian mentioned as.." unimagineable " That's Cikgu Bujang...a man of steel...in person and attitude.

    His crowning moment ( as well as our school's ) was in 1973 ...0r was it 1974 ? when we won the Divisonal Schools' Soccer Final against a resilient Dragon School Team. I can still recall that memorable match...( I was there at the Jubilee Ground )and the Team members...all icons in their own right.

    Denis "Gordon Banks" Liew...Morshidi Gani (present State Secretary), Sabri...Sudarsono Osman ( present Director of Lands & Survey ), Joseph Jinggut (the fiery never-say-die Captain), Jonathan "Owen" Nanang,Othman Rani ( present CEO of CMS Quarry/Cement ), Bolhair ( present GMD of SPS Bhd, Abg Abdul Rahman, Sapree, and Poningin ( hope the name's correct )

    That Team of "Invincibles" was assembled by Cikgu Bujang and coached by him into a formidible "all-conquering" Champion Soccer Team of its time. (I may have inadvertently omitted a few names - my apologies )

    Kudos, Cikgu Bujang !!!

    The present Josephians ought to know the illustrious history of their predecessors who earned their right to be called "Josephians"

    Be seeing you at the ReUnion !!!

    Cheers !!!

    Edmund.

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  34. Edmund,
    It has been awhile since I commented on this blog. I noticed your describing of sporting events has a very distinct "American" flair to it. The way you describe the Rugby, Hockey games were with words used by American sportswriters. Only Americans and Australians call football "soccer'. Did you live here before? In 1984, a few of us Kuchingnites went to cheer the Malaysian Hockey team against Australia in the Olympics games in Los Angeles. Sad to say, Malaysian Hockey were already in decline at that point although Foo Keat Song was still on the team. Did any of our St Joe's sportsmen ever made the Malaysian team in any sports? Or ever been invited for tryouts? What about for Sarawak? I know you played for Sarawak in Hockey but who else and in what sports? I remembered Abg Abdul Rahman was the best football player during our time. He became our coach later. I hope I'm talking about the right guy. Thanks.

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  35. Hi Alex,

    How are you getting on in the States ? Honestly, I'm still in the dark over your identity...there was an Alex Shim ( Rockview Estate )..brothers were Harry & David...are you that "ALEX" ? Or am I mistaking you for another "Shim" ? That's not important..

    I was in the U.S.A. before...that was in Upper Six Arts....but never in the 'American USA' hehehe

    Talking of Josephians sportsmen at national level, Christopher Teo represented Malaysia in aquatics at the Asian Games in Beijing - 200m butterfly, I believe. That's all I can recall... then there's Abdul Rahman Hassan in Badminton (upteem times Sarawak Champion)...unable to verify whether he did make it to the national level.

    That Msian Hockey you mentioned was the remnants of the National Juniors who came 4th in the Junior World Cup. Derek & Gary Fedelis, Foo Keat Siong, Mirnawan Nawawi, Sarjit Singh, Nor Saiful.....Derek and Gary were guest players for our Odessey Hockey Team in the early 90s when his father William Fedelis became the Sarawak Coach. Very skilful players with great stickwork and slick moves....

    You mentioned Abang ABdul Rahman....were you a football player too ? There was a Team...Juventus, I think..with players like Alex Chin, Martin Ho, Au Yong Kien Hoe ( now Datuk Dr ),etc..etc...we used to have friendly matches with them. Quite a good team though.

    It's heartening to know that many Josephians are browsing this web page...that's great....this blog is for everyone who has been in St. Joe at one time or another. 91,596 hits already !!!!

    Do share with us your thoughts...and life at St. Joe...

    Cheers !!!!

    Edmund.

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  36. Hello Edmund, I'm 4 years your junior, class of 1980 (Form 5). The "Juventus" team was a great team. They were class of 1979. one year my senior. They formed the nucleus of the great Padungan United which went on to win a lot of local championships. Anyways, I'm from Rockview Estate too but not family of Harry and David Shim, great friends of mine. Understandingly, people always confuse our 2 families as we are both Shims.

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  37. Alex, are you from the LiLy and Lionel Shim's family then ?
    Where is Lionel ? Is he still in Kuching. I know LiLy is in KL.
    Thanks

    Old friend ( but not as old as those 50 yrs's Punk )Just joking

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  38. Yes, Anon Lily and Lionel are my siblings. as we speak, both of them and their kids are visiting China, visiting our family "roots'. It does seem like that is the trend these days, tracing our old "villages" in China. Care to email me at shimalex2001@yahoo.com for further conversations, old friend? Thanks.

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