They were my students long ago in Kanowit and I was their class/form teacher in Form 2, 1980 and Form 3, 1981, around 35 years ago…and last Sunday evening, they held a reunion here and I was invited to their gathering. It sure was nice that they have not forgotten their old teacher and I was pleased to see that they are all doing well in their own fields. A few of them even took it upon themselves to sponsor the dinner, the hotel stay for some coming from places like Sabah, Langkawi and even Thailand!
It was a buffet dinner with a whole lot of choices to pick from…
I loved the fish fillet – using fresh fish, probably red snapper, not those frozen fish fillet (dory) and there were freshwater prawns…
too! I wonder how much that was per head but I am quite sure it did not come all that cheap.
This was home-cooked and they brought it along – the sour duck…
If I am not wrong, this is a Cantonese delicacy – many of them are Cantonese and they would chat among themselves in their dialect. We do not get this too easily here and the one we had that night was a lot nicer than what I had here or here…but it was sour, if you can catch the drift. LOL!!!
There was also the ethnic Melanau umai…
…which was very nicely done and also the beef salad…
…that I quite enjoyed too.
This was the salad and dessert bar…
…and while the ladies had a go at the food first…
…I decided to try the Sarawak laksa…
…from the laksa stall…
It was mild, not spicy at all…
…but on the whole, I thought it was pretty good except that I did not like those factory-produced fried shallots sold in plastic packs at the supermarkets – they have a certain smell that I do not quite fancy at all and I would much rather go without any if I can’t have any freshly-fried ones.
The students even went through all that trouble to get this done for the teachers…
…with the original school crest that would date back to 1978, the year they entered the school in transition…and my first year of teaching after graduating from college. It seems that the school has changed to a new one now since 2011 so this one has become part of its history that is definitely a lot more relevant to all of us.
Of course we had a group photograph taken…
…for remembrance. There were two other teachers, my ex-colleagues, who were present that night…and goodness, how they have changed and grown from the little boys and girls that I used to know…
I could remember some of their names…and others, I could remember their faces…but of course, I could not remember all. On a sad note, I heard that six of them had passed away – life is indeed so very fragile, we never know what tomorrow may bring.
I think this is the first ever reunion they have had and they are planning another one next year in Bintulu. It sure was nice to see all these wonderful ex-students of mine once again after all these years and if I do get invited again, I sure would try my best to attend. In the meantime, thank you once again to all of them, God bless and do take good care till we meet again. Cheers!!!
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 