BPES Class of 1970 Reunion on 8 Nov 2008

"Blood, Sweat & Tears"

Saturday, 8 November 2008 will always be etched in the memories of the 23 of us and the 4 ex-teachers (Mrs Kanda was a teacher too, in BPES) who showed up at the Staff Centre in the Singapore Polytechnic campus as it was the occasion of the Reunion of the Class of 1970 from our beloved primary school, BPES.

A small core group of us started trying to locate as many 'lost sheep' as we could after our June gathering in preparation for this event slated for November. It was mostly difficult at times, heartbreaking at worst but we did enjoy the occasional joy whenever we managed to track down some long lost pals. Over time, the ingenuity of the human spirit cannot be denied. Separately, small groups of us were meeting up, either on the golf courses or enjoying a carefree afternoon sipping tea or having a cuppa together and reconnecting again.

The organizing team met up a few times to plan the evening proceedings and went away with assigned duties. We wanted to keep the evening light hearted and to allow ample time for people to mix, mingle and catch up. The highlight of the evening was to be a slides show flashback with many photos from our chequered and humble past. Kim Chuan kindly volunteered to put the show together (after all, he's got the most complete dossier on all of us !)

The evening itself turned out to be exactly wonderful as we had hoped it would be - a nostalgic journey down memory lane, filled with many poignant moments shared collectively in laughter and fun as we put the faces to the names we had known some 38 years ago. It was truly memorable and magical, especially during the slides show and personal reflections when our memory cells were working overtime trying to recollect our experiences and memories from years gone by. All went well, except for a small minor hitch through no fault of ours. The room aircon decided to pack up earlier that evening, so we had to improvise with some induced cooling. While that accounted for some 'sweat' and discomfort, the whole atmosphere at the gathering was one of tears of joy to be able to link up with some very dear friends and teachers after so many years being out of touch. We then resolved to press on with our endeavour to track down more lost pals from the Class of 1970, BPES.

As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. So, what more when we have so many pictures of that evening. Sit back, reminisce and enjoy but don't forget to re-connect with each other......till we meet again....at Freddy's house in January 2009.

Bon

Thanks to Janet, who managed to capture most of us, here are the pictures of our reunion for your viewing pleasure.........

Mr Chow meeting Lee Kuen.....

Mr Chow and Vincent

Mr and Mrs Kanda, Vincent and Mr Chow

Bala, Kim Whatt and Kim Chuan

Bon Hian has a unique way of shaking hands with Roy and Venkatacharie is amused.

Kim Chuan looking very pleased when Gek Lee arrived . He was the one who found her.

Way Seng wants to play on the piano??

Gunasekaran introduces himself

Kim Chuan was describing Tan Ah Yong whom he saw but didn't dare approach.

Sien Chi sharing his interesting childhood days.

Mohd Ali 's turn

Tan Kim Whatt saying "kongsi, kongsi".

Venkatacharie

Tan Kok Phang

Lim Yan Huay

Chor Lee Kuen

Chor Lee Kuen

Waiting for the show to begin.

Catching up.....

Mr Kanda couldn't imagine himself carrying Seezer who is 92kg now...

Mr Chow is proud to be addressed as "Mr Chow" by his current School principal.

Mr chow wants to see more new faces at the next reunion.

Mr Murthi, looking as young as ever.

Tan Kim Whatt thanking the organising committee.

The group that made the evening possible

Ditto

Mr Kanda had to leave early to avoid the JB jam.

Hellos must always be followed by goodbyes. How sad !

Ricky Tan, the bowling expert.

Vincent's turn to contribute

Margaret, can you read their body language?

Sien Chi is demonstrating how he ate nasi byrani with his hand.....

.....a very long story.

Guna corrected him.

Were Kian Seng and Bon Hian arguing over some issues? Should ask Poh Gek, she appeared to be eavesdropping.

Janet, our photographer !

Sorry, no more photos, Janet's camera battery went flat and couldn't produce the 'goodbyes' bits.......Anyway, a great job done, Janet.

Till we meet again.........