Down
Way back in 1958 when I was
teaching temporary at the
Together with the scholarship was
R$600 for our preparation, essentially for buying winter clothing. We
were departing by the former BOAC in their Folker twin-propeller plane with
stops in
It was winter when we landed,
freezingly cold and howling winds; certainly a vast contrast from
our perpetually hot and humid climate. People walked so fast with such
great strides as though running. We soon learnt to do likewise lest we froze by
the winter winds.
Unfamiliar with the environment,
we were soon drilled and ragged by our seniors who took pleasure to orientate
us to “kowtow” in acknowledging them as “ Yes Honourable Sir.” No question
asked. Every bit of fagging to be executed like in “Tom Brown’s Schooldays”-
the tradition of young public schools.
We were young and fresh, only
reaching on the second decade of life. The whole world was ahead of us, but
timid and virtually very inexperienced as compared to these seniors who were a
year ahead of us in College. Need I say, we were easy meat.
However, once we settled in,
having learnt the lessons of knowing “how to bomb Tokyo” (toilet training), the
task of bed-making, the etiquette of dinning, queuing for buses and all things
unfamiliar, college life soon unfolded its pleasurable aspects.
College social life included many
varied activities – weekend informal dancing to popular tunes from record
player, occasional former dinner & dance, folk dancing, cultural concerts
and festival celebrations. Some found pleasure making out at Kirkby Woods,
canal walk, or a drink or two at the local pub. The Liverpoolians have a
strange pronunciation of words and strong accent, with frequent utterances like
“loaf” (meaning love”.
Most interestingly were the
educational tours as organized by the College or British Council. They took the
form of short coach trips to nearby places of interests: Stratford-On-Avon for
Shakespeare’s plays, and Drury Lane Theatre in London for the stage play of “My
Fair Lady”. The plays in London often last for years and years with no end in
sight. Other places of interest would include visits to nearby castles, quaint
old towns or villages and zoos. One such visit was Chester across the Mersey
Tunnel.
Photo: Chester
The
greatest thrill & excitement were all the great adventures we had hitch
hiking to the Lakes District, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and of course various
parts of UK, from John O'Croats in the UK northernmost tip right down to Lands
End at the southernmost point. Even greater by comparison were all the
beautiful countries toured in
“One Day When We Were Young”, a
favourite tune of mine in those days, will always be dear to anyone’s
heart. Life was free and easy. Academically, we didn’t have to work very hard.
Many would agree with me that we had two wonderful good years of joy and
fellowship. If only we could turn back the clock, have the whole life journey
replayed. With the cumulative years behind us fast superceding the years ahead
of us, we must look forth to the future, trusting that it would as
good, if not better than the years gone by.
Paul Chong ©
(Batch of 1959/60)
Wed. 19 March 2008