Someone posted this picture of our class photos in our school magazine back when I was Form 5 in St Xaviers Institution in Penang. I’m the 1st guy on the left “Tiah Ewe Tiam”.
Looking at the faces of my ex classmates really brought back a lot of memories for me. My class was truly 1 Malaysia. We had students from all different ethnic backgrounds and we all got along really well. Some of whom I still keep in touch with a lot.
There was Samuel Loh and Francis. Both of whom I constantly compete with for the Top 3 positions in the class.
There was Rajiv…. who I always remember told the teacher that the reason why he didn’t do his homework was because a ghost came and ate it (and this was in Form 5).
There was Teh Oon Khye who was one of my first friends in St Xavier’s when I first moved there from Sri Inai. People used to bully him in class because he was short…. today hes’ working at Fedex and he’s one of the few friends from class 5A1 that I still see regularly and keep in touch with.
Another guy I still keep in touch with off and on is Matthew who used to work at Maxis and is now a property agent.
In this next picture were the rest of them.
There was Jin Siang who was known as the tai kor or the gangster in the school. You know how sometimes there would be gang fights planned after school and a lot of people from both gangs will meet up for the fight after school. But at the actual fight itself, only 2-3 guys will be fighting, the rest of the henchmen will pretend to be useful by holding everyone else back. Well Jin Siang would be the 2-3 guys who would be fighting.
Then there’s Chia Chuien. I remembered his face but I didn’t remember his name and it was only later that I remembered the reason why was because nobody called him by his name Chia Chuien. Everyone referred to him as “Cacing”… cuz his name sounded some sort like that (the nicknames we call each other in school).
There there was Chin Lai, who was really into WWF wrestling and would love to wrestle in school then imitate the Rock’s eyebrow lift after each fight.
There’s Robert Low… who I remember used to be really good in math. He’s on my Facebook now and I constantly see him promoting property in Penang for sale.. so he’s a property agent I think.
Looking at these faces brought back so many memories for me. The things we used to do, the people I used to hang out with and the different backgrounds we all came from. It’s this diversity that reminds me why I would love for Fighter to go to a government school and not a private one (though Shorty and I are still debating the pros and cons).
Today these friends of mine have grown up. Most of them are married… and all of them have good jobs and provide well for their families. We came from different backgrounds and ended up with different path in our lives… but the one thing we share in common is that we’re all Xaverians.
Timothy Tiah – Co-Founder of Colony, Kuala Lumpur Co-Working Space