Impressions on 2008 Kirkby Reunion
by Teresa Voon (Tess Chong)
It was truly a 'funtastic' and surreal
experience for 156 Kirkbyites including some spouses at the Kirkby Reunion 2008
held at the Equatorial Hotel, Melaka.
This
Registration time was organised
chaos. In the first flush of meeting one
another after so many years, our overpowering emotions superseded words which
just could not come out fast enough.
Though we were rendered quite speechless and much had to be left unsaid,
our “Hi’s” and “So good to see you’s”, bear hugs, warm handshakes and broad
smiles spoke volumes. Everything seemed
to happen so fast – new faces kept appearing one after another. A round of wide-eyed, open-mouthed wonder
greeted each other ever so often. It was
really heart-warming. Suddenly, vivid
memories and images of Kirkby days were replayed in our minds and we were
transformed into ‘The Young Ones’ all over again. Honestly, we felt that we had not changed
very much – well, of course we were viewing each other through Kirkby-tinted
spectacles. We experienced such an
adrenaline rush as we weaved in and out of the ever-growing crowd, clicking
cameras, speaking almost gibberish and savouring every precious moment of
our first meeting. The whole room
reverberated with an excitement that spoke of an infectious exuberance among
kindred souls. The ‘chit-chat’ session
which soon followed saw us munching ginger biscuits and chocolate coated ones
a’la Kirkby and conversation flowed as freely as the coffee and tea.
A much-desired photographic session of all
participants by an official photographer at the poolside was a prelude to our
Formal Dinner. An English sounding menu with alliterative names of dishes to
boot like Summertime Starters, Struther’s Soup and Gurney Greens heightened the
nostalgic mood for the evening. The
dinner was in effect a palatable 7-course Chinese halal dinner. Some of us could not resist visiting other
tables when we spied some faces which we had missed at registration session and
thus forfeited some of our favourite dishes.
Our Chairman, Lye Yuen Chew, looking very relaxed and floating on Cloud
9 delivered his welcome speech with aplomb, not forgetting to enumerate the
names of first timers at this Kirkby Reunion.
He then invited our MC, Dato Dr. Thambyrajah to say a few words which
somehow morphed into a discourse that succeeded in making all Kirkbyites feel
ten feet tall, when he placed our academic and professional training in Kirkby
College on a pedestal – on par with the best in the world!
Soon it was “Nyonya and Baba”
showtime! James Van Dort looking gay
indeed in a tight-fitting sarong kebaya called out for ‘Lang Looi” and in
sashayed Maggie Yeoh, looking resplendent in a lovely embroidered sarong
kebaya. Next, James hollered, “Hum Sup,
Hum Sup, where are you?” Who should
answer to that appellation but our one and only Cheah Phee Eng flashing a
‘buaya’ grin. The rest was a comedy of
the superlative degree. This
entertaining piece was truly salutary because it was unscripted and
unrehearsed! Not meant to be profound or
intellectual, it succeeded in rekindling fond memories of Kirkby days
especially when they spoke of “sputnik curry”.
This talented trio had indeed upstaged ‘The Three Stooges’ who paled in
comparison.
The post-prandial Lucky Draw on both
nights turned out to be a delightful treat.
Once again our inimitable Phee Eng drew peals of laughter when he manoeuvred
the draw into a reality show with gamesome winners dancing spontaneously to his
tune. It was hilarious alright! Many thanks to the generous donors who made
this event possible.
A dance item named the ‘Chicken Dance’ was
performed by the Kirkbyites from
The ‘Portuguese Dance’ on the second night
added an old world charm to the atmosphere.
Arrayed in quaint, improvised and colourful costumes of a bygone era,
the dancers gracefully and gaily treaded the measure. They even composed a witty introductory song
entitled, “Sixties going on Seventy” and sang it to the tune of “Sixteen Going
On Seventeen”.
We revelled in Singalong sessions for 2
nights with the help of lyrics of well-chosen golden oldies flashed on to a big
screen, talented song leaders and even an ad-hoc choir of twenty plus back-up
singers at the back of the banquet hall on the second night. We sang with gusto and passion as every song
was reminiscent of our carefree, good ole Kirkby days, ‘when we were young and
sure to have our way’.
The last night’s dance session was an
incredible experience indeed! Besides
dancing to our favourite melodies, we went kinda wild while doing the long last
samba. We went samba-ing round and round
(in one or more than one very long line) in and out, and some of us even went
up & down the stage. There was such
a great release of active energy and we were so revved up that we were unstoppable. The dear band of musicians in sync with our
mood merrily played on and on.
Everything seemed to conspire to make it a magical and enchanting night
for all.
All too soon, it was time to link arms or
join hands to the familiar strains of ‘Auld Lang Syne’. After that, this amazing band still continued
to play a few more slow and sentimental numbers. It was like they knew that we felt,
‘Parting
is such sweet sorrow
That we must say Goodnite until tomorrow’.
Some of us were wishing that the night
would never end. After all, we thought,
‘the night was young and so were we’.
But like all good things, the night did come to an end! A small group however just had to prolong
those precious moments and so adjourned to the disco bar in the hotel for a
night-cap of wine, fruit punch and nibbles up to 1.30am. Ditto for the first night too! Some Enchanted Evening alright!
Amidst all the fun and laughter,
Ramakrishnan did jolt us into stark reality when he delivered a meaningful
speech reminding us that only by the grace of Almighty God we were gathered
there. He also read out the names of our
dearly departed Kirkby friends who since the last Reunion 2006 could not make
it to this Reunion 2008. We observed a
solemn minute of absolute silence in memory of our R.I.P. friends and tears
wellnigh bedimmed some eyes.
Mention must be made of two endearing
gentlemen who sacrificed a lot of their precious time to record the proceedings
of Kirkby Reunion 2008 so that our memories will never fade - Lee Lam Hua with
his award-winning camera of the year working overtime and Fong Weng Yew, Lye
Meng’s husband with his trademark camcorder recording the entire ‘do’ to be put
on DVD format. Our deepest appreciation and a million thanks to them! We sure have remarkable talent and excellent
goodwill in our midst! Lam Hua has since
spread out the thrills by sending via e-mail more than 200 photographs in
tantalising installments. And Weng Yew
has donated DVD’s of the
Oh yes!
There was also a well-planned tour of the city’s historical sites like
St John’s Hill, Hang Li Po’s Well, the Stadthuys etc. This tour necessitated 4 buses to enable participants
armed with cameras and loads of enthusiasm to take in the sights, sounds and
smells of the historic city. It was a
rewarding outing and the ‘tourists’ must be congratulated for having done the
city.
An unscheduled lunch on Day 3 provided yet
another welcome chance for us to bid our “cheong hei” farewells to one another
before we reluctantly went our separate ways.
It was at this lunch that the G.M. of the hotel walked up to some of us
and declared in sheer disbelief, “Never have I seen a group of people enjoying
themselves so much! Not even a younger
group! You all were very naughty!” So, many thanks and thumbs up to Chairman Lye
Yuen Chew and Secretary Lee Lam Hua and the Organising Committee members (even if
I may humbly say so myself) for a job well done! To all the participants, a standing ovation
for your presence and active participation which largely contributed to the
magic of the 2008
For now, let us pray that God’s Amazing
Grace will empower us all to meet again in 2010 in the