Kelvin is second from left while the writer is 4th from right wth Mr Earnest Lau (5th from right) as guest-of-honour.
Kelvin is second from left while the writer is 4th from right wth Mr Earnest Lau (5th from right) as guest-of-honour.
It all began on 8 October when I received a post card from my friend, Kelvin Steven Soh who is now living in Toronto, Canada. Kelvin has migrated to Toronto and is an accountant at Bay Street, Toronto. Needless to say, he announced that he was coming to Singapore for a week from December 18 till 26 December with his wife. I had not seen him for the last seven years, but still kept in touch via the mail after all these years.
In his post card he told me to "round up the crew". I guess this inferred that a class reunion was in order. Between October till December I had an exciting and frustrating interregnum getting in touch with my friends for the dinner. Apparently December was a bad month for most of my friends as most of them were flying out of Singapore for Christmas. I called 33 guys altogether, but 9 had already said they would not be able to come. It was fun locating and finding chaps whom I have lost touch for some fifteen odd years. Our friendship was rekindled by COINCIDENCE & CHANCE. The problem was finding a venue that would hold our capacity and trying to figure out what Kelvin would like to eat.
We decided that we should go stag and meet at Ramayana Restaurant at Plaza Singapura. On the night of the dinner Kelvin decided to bring his wife, sister and cousin. My friend Shih Shung brought his wife. It was finally time for us to shed our monastic image. I guess we made the ladies felt welcome and made them honorary ACSians by default.
Mr Earnest Lau our principal was there. We also invited Mrs Raja Gopal who taught us formerly at ACPS. Some of us left ACS after 1978. Incidentally our batch of ACSians was from 1969 till 1981 for most. Whether we were from the primary, junior school, the secondary or the junior college, we had already formed a foundation of friendship that have lasted many years. All of us were 31 by now. Some of us had families and were mature working adults from all walks of life. However, some of us were feeling quite disconnected with ACS after all these years. Yet we felt the warmth and fellowship of being ACSians whether we were from "China's plain", "the land of the rising sun", "Island of the Main" or"India's strand".
This was affirmed on the night of the dinner. Both Kelvin and I were late as we came from T2 to pick up Noriko, Kelvin's wife who flew in from Japan. We made it at last to the dinner. Not everyone made it. There were 17 of us, plus Mrs Gopal, Mr Earnest Lau and four other ladies. Not all of us were from the same class, some were from 4D, 4H and the rest 4K. It was fun trading jokes, sharing the camaraderie and catching up with one another after all these years. Most of us were not only in the ACSian spirit, but also in a Christmas spirit as well. Mr Lau looked pretty much the same, albeit from his grey hair.
At the end of the dinner, we took a group photo. Missing from the picture was Mr Adam Rahman who happens to be the producer of Inside Asia, SBC. Soon we had to part. It ended too quickly for me. I did not have the chance to talk to everyone, but it was a wonderful and awesome meeting. Kelvin left today for Japan. He said he hopes to return in two years time. Enclosed with this article is our group picture. Perhaps we will have another meeting then.
T.H. Chan (Organizer of the Dinner)