NST : Calling St Joseph's Class of 1976

Following last Thursday's dinner in KL, the following piece came out in the New Straits Times this morning ...

Not bad. Our upcoming event is on national news.

Can you name the attendees in the photo? I think the mastermind has conveniently moved aside ;-)


More information

You all know how precious space is on a printed newspaper, right?  Well, the original copy was edited for final print. But you can read the full version below, as well as see a much clearer & colour version of the photo (courtesy of Ms Sheila and NSTP) ...

From: sheila@nstp.com.my
Date: November 4, 2009 11:34:07 AM GMT+08:00
To: myben868@yahoo.com
Subject: The lenghty version (u may edit it if you want)

By Sheila Sri Priya
streets@nstp.com.my

KUALA LUMPUR: Members of the Class of 1976 of St Joseph Kuching are invited to a reunion dinner where they can catch up with each other 33 years later.

The dinner is planned for Dec 23, at 7.30pm at Merdeka Palace in Kuching.

These 50-year-olds will be able to take a trip down memory lane and recount on their student days when what was similar to the 1Malaysia concept was instilled in them by their teachers.

Although they had a strict missionary as their school principal, they shared many good practices including racial tolerance.

"We all feared Big Brother Columba, our school principal who demanded a high level of discipline. He also made us recite a general morning prayer at our school assembly before we head to our classes.

"This is in accordance to our school motto, ‘Ora Et Labora’, a Latin phrase that means pray and work," said Class of 1976 member Datuk Justin Jinggutt.

"We were also better than students from the top boarding schools and we strived to be the champions in both academic and sports," said Robert Chin.

"After school session, we go home for lunch and have our shower. Then we return again to school for our extra curriculum and we stay onn until 10pm in the school library to do our homework," said Robert Chin.

"Once on April fools day, we prank a schoolmate by hanging his bicycle on a tree. He realised his bicycle was missing late at night when he was about to return home from the library," said Philip Chin

"In another incident, we almost cause Edmund Lee our classmate to be killed because of our mischief. We had a competition on who could eat the most noodles and drink the most soft drink all at once.

"Edmund emerged as the winner but students had to rush him to the first aid room later because he was suffocated," said Benjamin Wong.

When it comes to fashion statement, sideburns made popular by King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley was very famous in St Joseph, but principal Brother Columba disapproved the hairstyle.

"He would cut off one side of our sideburn if he happen to spot any. Yet, some of us will hide our sideburns behind our ears. But on a bad day Brother Columba will even manage to spot that," said Bartholomew Sinos.

Former student Mike Kumpow was said to be the trend setter in the school.

"He was the first to own a pair of Amco Jeans, Adidas shoes and had a sport bike with drop handlebars. The rest of us were creative so we tried to modify our bicycles by shifting the handle backwards but we could only afford the North Star brand shoes,

"We came to know that Mike Kumpow’s dad was shocked to see his new sport bicycle because of the thinner tyres and unique handles," said Lawrence Chin.

The former students hope to reunite with their schoolmates in the Class of 1976 at the reunion dinner at Merdeka Palace in Kuching on Dec 23, at 7.30pm.

During the reunion dinner, the night will be filled with rendition of famous songs from the 70s and 80s including the school song, a memorabilia corner with popular items from the past such as school photographs, lucky draws and other surprises.

Interested participant is required to pay RM100 and should contact Robert Chin at 016-8774018 (robertjfc@gmail.com) or Ben Wong at 012-8989868 (myben868@yahoo.com) or visit http://www.stjoe-form5in1976.blogspot.com/