Dear
friends, I hardly received any feedback
except from Zainal Arshad and Janet
regarding the proposal made by Encik Ismail Abu Bakar. However the subject
is still open. I sometime wonder about the ‘Dewan Kirkby’ at the Zainal Abidin Manaf
From: Zainal Arshad janza@streamyx.com
Dear Zainal,
Today I received the 24th Newsletter. Thanks very much. I read with interest comments by my good
friend Ismail Abu Bakar ( a fellow
Penangite and my junior in Kirkby). I
wish I had his e-mail address or contact number. Very noble of Ismail to suggest establishing
a Maktab Perguruan Kirkbybut in Perak.
Unfortunately it won't work. Only
Kirkbyites "care" about Kirkby.
Not every Ahmad, Ah Chong or Muniandy know about Kirkby. Among the "ultras" they would say we are trying to perpetuate
"nama penjajah". I believe
after the reunion of 2001 our Tan Sri Yahaya tried to ask for the creation of a
Kirkby Chair at Universiti Pendidikan Tanjung Malim. But it was shot down. The reason
being it is an unMalaysian name. So there you are.
Another point. The youngest Kirkbyite would be those who
went in 1959 (last batch). Assuming the
average age was 18 (in 1960), they would be about 64 years old now. All have retired from government service.
Perhaps there are a few still working in the private sector. By 2020 the number still living and physically
and mentally healthy would be very small (average age 80). I feel that in our twilight years we should
take things easy, relax, have the occasional reunion AND the Newsletter from
your goodself. We should give thanks to the
Almighty that we are still able to read and write. What I think we should and CAN do is to
assist you to make this Newsletter into a website. It’s commendable that Low
Sau San in
Kind regards.
Zainal Arshad
From: Janet
Dear Zainal,
Thank you for both, the hard and soft copies of the latest
Kirkby newsletter.
I would like to share with you my
opinion regarding Ismail Abu Bakar's proposal to set up a
That's my two cents' worth.
Regards,
Janet
From: Ismail Abu Bakar
Dear Zainal,
I just received your newsletter and it was interesting to
notice that there was a response to my “dream” of setting up a college and name
it after our alma mater “KIRKBY” . Let us hope more Kirkbyites will give their
opinions on my suggestion. Reunions of Kirkbyites alone won’t last. We want
Kirkby to be remembered as a landmark in the Malaysia Educational agenda
because it had done so much to bring about changes in the mind-set of
Malaysians. Our “lot” is respected wherever we are. Definitely that’s a feather
in our cap. Let us hope our colleagues who had migrated overseas will respond
positively to my idea. History is to be cherished so that posterity will look
back in awe and admiration to the vision of Dato’ Thuraisingam in education.
Dreams can come true and can be translated
into reality if we are ambitious enough to pursue them diligently and
persistently. To build a teachers’ college ( later upgrading it to a university
) is not impossible ( just like SITC Tajung Malim )
The few of us who are alive may not
be capable of handling a bog project like that all on our own. I am sure there
are many well wishers here and in
First, Zainal, set up a committee to
do a feasibility study. This committee should arrange a meeting with the Raja
Permaisuri of Perak, YMM Tuanku Bainun, to discuss the matter seriously.
As I stated before in my letter
obtaining a 20 acre piece of land in Perak is not a problem It’sthe financing of
the project which needs fine-tuning.We may go on a ringgit per ringgit
fund-raising i.e. for every ringgit contributed by the layman the government
will give RM1.00 . That’s one idea the committee can look into.
Keep the idea of setting up
You might remember the renowned
Welsh mountain climber. Just before he climbed
So much for the Maktab Perguruan
Kirkby Perak.
I would like you to commence on
obituary column in your newsletter to inform fellow Kirkbyites of the death of
our brothers and sisters.
The Kirkbyites from my batch ( 5th
batch ) are as follows:
|
1.
Poon Mun Oon 2.
Chong Weng Kai 3.
Wong Fong Tong 4.
Low Guat Choo |
5.
Rajoo Suppiah 6.
Ghaffar Hashim 7.
Ong Boh Sioh 8.
Choy Suan Ee |
I believe the above people live in
Before I end this letter I enclose
a poem for your newsletter.
POINT OF DECISION
|
There comes a time In a man’s life When he has to decide One way or another To take one step Or two Bur he hesitates and vacillates He reaches that point of
indecision To be or not to be He asks or beseeches He stands tall and short |
Tall because he aspires to be Short because he is a coward Maturity has little to do with it Experiences of the world come to
naught He searches and searches Should he run for his life He asks for time For how long or short He doesn’t know Therefore he wonders and wonders His salvation is in himself. |
From: Haji Mahmud
Hassan (1955-1957)
e-mail: mahmudhassan
<mahmud37@streamyx.com>
Dear Tuan Haji,
I received your email address from Mr Cheong Koon Hoe, who
was my senior in Kirkby. I would like to subscribe to your Newsletter. I would
also like some back copies if you have any left. Kindly let me know the cost.
I was in Kirkby from 1955 to 1958. I
was one of those sent to
After
While in the Syndicate, I was sent to
After 6 years in the Syndicate, I
applied for a job in Parliament as a simultaneous interpreter. I was in Dewan
Rakyat and Dewan Negara from 1972 to 1989. I opted for early retirement at the
age of 52 and was invited by Public Bank KL to start their own translation
unit. I served Public Bank for 7 years after which I finally called it a day.
My wife and I bought a piece of land
in Kuang, Selangor and built our retirement home. We call it “LUBUK HATI” (the seat of love) which actually is the
literal translation of
On our front gate we have the words
Lubuk Hati flanked on both sides by the Kirkby Crest. One day someone stopped
me in a supermarket in Sungai Buloh. He said to me, "
My contact phone numbers are: Home
03-60382328,
Some of my contemporaries at Kirkby
were Ghaffar, Effendi, Guat Choo, Mohd Thalha, Wong Fong Tong, K K Pany, Soo
Fook How, the late Zaiton Hamid Don, the late Ali Nordin,
I hope to hear from you soon Tuan Haji.
Sincerely,
Mahmud Hassan.
After sending him a few newsletters I
received the following reply.
Assalamualaikum Tuan Haji,
I am looking forward to reading the Newsletters. I hope they
arrive today.
Your experience in kampong life is most interesting, but you
must listen to what my first experience
was.
After returning from Kirkby, I had
only about 2 weeks at home in Alor Star before proceeding to
To get to Tutong, I had to travel by
bus. There was only one bus per day and this bus passed by Tutong before proceeding to Seria and Kuala
Belait. The bus was just like our old police trucks with passengers sitting in
two rows the whole length of the bus and facing each other. In the centre were
placed bakuls, boxes, live chickens, coconuts, etc etc. After about ten miles
out of
When we got to Tutong, I made
enquiries at the balai polis and was told my school, the Sekolah Muda Hashim,
Tutong was on a hill behind the police station. Some school children came to
help me carry my belongings up to the school. The headmaster was very happy to
meet his English teacher. He took me to a house which turned out to be the
quarters allocated to me during my stay.
The house was next to a graveyard
and no teacher wanted to stay in it. Well, what choice did I have? Mau tak mau
I had to accept the house. To make me feel secure in the house the headmaster
lent me his shotgun and several bullets. My God, I was more afraid of the gun
than of any ghosts from the kubur.
For meals, the headmaster asked me
to buy 2 tiffin carriers. Hostel boys would come to collect the carriers
morning and evening to provide me with whatever food they were having.
I was the only Malayan there. The
locals were Tutong Malays who spoke their own language. There was a Chinese
shokeeper in the small town. His wife offered to do my laundry for me.
Apart from teaching English, I was also required to
start adult education calsses in English. At first I looked forward to the
weekends to go to
Such was life in Tutong with no one
to talk to in our lingo. Fortunately I was there only for a year. 1959 saw me
at the
Wassalam.
Mahmud
Surprisingly I received an e-mail from
Zainal Arshad about his visit to Mahmud’s house:
Dear Zainal,
I visited Mahmud and his wife in Kuang a few weeks ago. I have written an article re the visit. I have also attached a photograph. I hope you can include this in the next
Newsletter. Thanks and kind regards.
A Visit to”Lubuk Hati”
Not many Kirkbyites would know what
“Lubuk Hati” means. Literally translated
it means liver pool (
Mahmud left, first to join the
Examinations Syndicate, then the Parliamnet and I believe his last appointment was
with Public Bank. I left teaching and joined RTM (TV Malaysia). We kept in
touch and used to meet from time to time.
One day Mahmud told me that another Kirkbyite had also joined the Exam.
Syndicate. It was none other than our
Malacca Baba Cheong Koon Hoe. Through Mahmud
I met Cheong again(we had not seen each other since Kirkby) and he
invited me to join a group of over 35s to play badminton at the
Mahmud had invited us to visit him
and Maimunah at their retreat (which eventually became their permanent abode)
at Kuang. We had planned to visit him in
January 2006 but unfortunately it didn’t materialize until March. We eventually found a date when everyone was
free of health complaints. That was the
15th of March.
Armed with very detailed
instructions from Mahmud as to the directions to get to Lubuk Hati (sent via
e-mail) my wife and I together with Cheong Koon Hoe drove in search of
Liverpool in
What a lucrative hobby for Mahmud.
He has a sprawling 5 bedroom house and an annex for special guests. Although
Mahmud and Maimunah have some minor health problems (who hasn’t at our age!)
you can see that he and Maimunah are
enjoying their retirement in full contentment.
They have five grandchildren whom they adore. When we visited it was during the school
holidays. We got to meet four of his
lovely grandchildren (3 boys and a girl).
The eldest went for tuition.
Mahmud and Mainunah prepared “mee
rebus” and “mee goreng” for us. We
enjoyed ourselves. He invited us to come
again. We promised to visit him during
the fruit season. We hope to enjoy some
of the fruit from his orchard provided the gang of monkeys don’t get to them
first. The next time I visit “Lubuk
Hati” I shall take a series of pictures
and post them in an album so that Kirkbyites (especially those from Mahmud’s
and Maimunah’s year can view them). For
the newsletter I hope one photograph showing the three “generations” of
Kirkbyites can be included.
Thank you Mahmud and Maimunah for
your warm hospitality.
Zainal Arshad
(1955-56)
The three
"generations" of Kirkbyites from left: Cheong Koon Hoe &
Zainal Arshad (1954),
Mahmud (1955), Maimunah (1956)
Photographs of En Mahmud & Maimunah
during their Kirkby days and the gate of their home:
|
|
|
|
|
Mahmud 1955-1957 |
Their Main Gate notice the Kirkby
Crests on both sides ‘Lubuk Hati’ |
Maimunah 1956-1958 |
From: P Ramakrishnan -
rama1938@yahoo.com
FAREWELL
Dear Kirkbyites,
It is with deep sorrow that I’m writing this letter to
inform you all that Tara Singh (1959-1960) had passed away. Shan from PD rang
me up this morning (Thursday, 13 April 2006) to draw my attention to the
Obituary in The Star. Later I found out that the same Obituary appeared in the
NST as well.
In 1960, together with some of our
Juniors they toured
I never met him after college, though
I had tried my best to contact him. Some years ago I learnt that he was the Secretary
of the Sikh temple in Malacca. I managed to get the address of the temple and
wrote to
Last year he visited Cheng Swee and
Lean Aing and complained that he had been left out in our gatherings. I got his
handphone number from Lean Aing and unsuccessfully called him several times. I
sent him a sms but he did not respond. I called his home and was told by his
wife that he had gone to Malacca to play golf. I left a message with his wife –
again there was no response.
The Obituary did not say when he
passed away. It merely stated that he passed away suddenly and that his funeral
was 0n the morning of 13 April 2006. We can presume that he must have passed
away the previous day.
He leaves behind his wife, two sons
and a daughter. May his soul rest in peace.
For those who may
want to contact the family, the address is: 5 Jalan Putra Bistari 2/1R,
Take care and keep well.
With very warm
regards,
Rama
I received a letter from Madam Chee Siew Lian
(1956-1958) and I would like to share this letter with you.
Chee Siew Lian (1956-1958)
55V Jalan Telok Wanjah,
05200 Alor Setar, Kedah.
Dear Hj Zainal,
I was introduced to your wonderful, interesting and
nostalgic ‘Newsletters’ by Ong Siok Hong. She took the trouble to reproduce a
few copies for me. After reading them I passed them on to Yeow Siew May. She
then wrote to you to send the publication right to her. Now I would like to so
the same if it is all right with you.
I
thank you for your noble effort in producing such a newsletter to remind us,
the Kirkbyites the happy and wonderful stay in Kampong Kirkby.
With best
wishes and kind regards to you and family.
Yours sincerely,
Siew Lian
( 8 Mac, 2006 )
I then posted to her a few copies of our
Newsletters and here is the reply:
Dear Haji Zainal,
Many heartfelt thanks for replying my request so promptly.
You are really very kind.
( Siew Lian in Kirkby)
I am a widow. My husband was a
teacher and then headmaster. He passed away in 1993 because of leukemia. We had
four beautiful children – two boys and two girls. Unfortunately my two loving
daughters succumbed to breast cancer. One died in 2002 and the other in 2003.My
whole world collapsed. They were only in their thirties. I am still grieving
over the great loss.
In Kirkby I
took up P.E. Option. I was very active in athletics, net ball and badminton.
You can see my long jump photo in the “Golden Panduan” . I enjoyed playing
netball and badminton with other colleges and clubs. I remember it was always a
Saturday when we played such games. We always had lunch with our hosts after
the game. The two and a quarter years in Kirkby was a very happy period of my
life. I learnt how to play tennis in there. When I came home, got married and
had children, I started playing tennis in Kedah Club. As a result I collected a
few titles including singles. (Kedah closed only). Because of my tennis I was
given a PJK. As I grew older I switched to golf. This year I have started golf
again.
My phone
numbers are 012-2258036 and 03-60924029.
Yours sincerely,
Siew Lian
Dear Siew Lian,
Received your letter dated 20th
March. My wife and I do not know what to say….. Having children ourselves we
can imagine how much sufferings you get for losing your loved ones especially
when they are still in their prime years. We have to live in this world and have
to carry on with our lives. I am sure that is what your late husband and
daughters would like you to do.
I received a letter from Mr & Mrs
Santa Singh dated 28th December 2005. I would like to share with you
extracts of the letter:
Dear Zainal,
We were delighted to receive your card and greetings. In a
way 2005 has been a year of landmarks for us. Santa retired 20 years ago;
Kieron joined the Air Force the same year, and this house has been our home
since 1985.
We feel coming to Buntong was a very
wise move: we have advantages of living in a small town and almost in the
country. At the same time only an hour by car from KL and all its modern
shopping malls. Some of you will be relieved that Buntong still has only one
fast food outlet – Kentucky Fried Chicken.
It has been a year of new and
unpleasant experience – not what any of us would like to see repeated. Yes we
can joke that Jasbir thought she was having a giddy spell when she felt a
tremor at the school of the earth quake off Acheh. But the horror of tsunami
was more than frightening or sobering. Even
Three months later when another
earthquake hit S.W. Sumatra and
Santa had to give up playing golf
this year. And increasingly, the steroids that he depends on are producing side
effects. However he still able to drive long distances but just has to wait for
the opportune moment. And, of course, nothing can stop him playing Scrabble.
Thank you very much for keeping in
touch. Hopefully some of you will visit us in 2006. You know you are most
welcome. We are delighted to receive your cards and Newsletters. Please
remember us to all at home.
Much love,
Mr & Mrs Santa
Singh
As you all are aware that Mr Maurice
Chye Shuck San passed away on 1st March 2006. I managed to contact
his daughter, Rita Chye, to convey our condolences to the wife and family. At the same time I posted
the photograph ( on the right) of the late Maurice Chye,( the one holding the
camera), when we were touring the continent during the Kirkby days. Of course
her daughter straight away recognized her Dad, and this what she said:
From: rita.chye@gm.com
To: zainal abidin <haji02@pd.jaring.my>
Hello Zainal
Thank you for the photo.
Yes, I can recognize him.
We are going through all Mum and
Dad's Kirkby photos and I thought it would be nice to have these on the
website. I will try to scan some of
these to Sau San and yourself sometime this week. It is a lot of work but it will be worth the
effort!
We learn something new about Dad
everyday and it warms our heart to know that he was well loved by many. He was a father of few words so other than
what we grew up with, we learn about him from others. I hope I get to meet you some day soon.
In the meantime, please take care
& thank you for your offer of help.
I shall bear that in mind and send your best to the rest of my family.
With warmest regards!
RitaChye
MAULIDUR RASUL
2006/1427H
Twelve people, including three non-Muslims, were honoured
for their contribution to society at this year’s national-level Maulidur Rasul
celebration held at Stadium Negara,
The national-level Maulidur Rasul
award recipients, also known as Tokoh-Tokoh Ma’al Hijrah, are made up of those
who have made significant contribution in areas such as dakwah Islamiah,
education, administration, economy etc. Created in 1987/1408H, the award for
that year was conferred on Tuan Syeikh Muhammad Idris bin Abdul Rauf, a
prominent Islamic scholar.
The twelve recipients of the award
this year include Tuan Haji Baharuddin bin Marji. His contribution is not only
in the field of education, especially in the area of teacher education, but
also in being on the Committee responsible for organizing the national as well
as the international-level Musabaqah Tilawah Al-Quran. Tuan Haji Baharuddin has
the distinction of having served on the Committee since the inception of the
Musabaqah during the time when Tengku Abdul Rahman was Prime Minister.
Tuan Haji Baharuddin was in the first
batch at Kirkby, and returned thereto in December 1955 to serve as a lecturer
cum Head of The Malay Department of the College for five years from 1956-1960.
He certainly would be well remembered by Kirkbyites who were at the College
during that period.
Congratulations
Tuan Haji Baharuddin. You have done us proud.
KIRKBY REUNION 2006
From: Cheah Eng <eng_cheah@yahoo.co.uk>
Dear Haji
Zainal Abidin,
Here's my
short message regarding our coming 2006
It's from 12 July to 14 July 2006.
The first night i.e. July 12 will be at Equatorial Hotel,
Please allow me to mention and thank
well-wishers for their very generous contributions towards our 06 Fund, thus
funding the cost of the 3 coaches, making the whole package very affordable,
especially most are pensioners. Special thanks to those who will be coming from
overseas at great costs.
To ALL, RIBUAN TERIMA KASIH for your
support and enthusiasm in keeping the Kirkby spirit alive.
CHEERS!!!!
Cheah Phee Eng