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.........

BPES Class of 1970 Reunion on 8 Nov 2008

Bala's invitation to our reunion :

Dear All,

I am very pleased to officially announce that we are now ready for our BPES
Class of 1970 Reunion which we were anxiously looking
forward for the past 2 months.The details are as follows:-

Date : Saturday 8 November 2008
Time : 6:30pm to 10:00pm
Venue : Staff Centre ( Via Gate 3)
Singapore Polytechnic
500 Dover Road
Refer Map Attached


We have managed to contact 40 of our BPES friends and 4 teachers. We are
expecting at least 30 of our friends and 3 of our teachers
namely Mr Chow Chee Wing, Mr Kandasamy and Mr Murthi to turn-up for this
historical event. It is going to be a wonderful and fabulous
evening and I am very sure all us are looking forward to catch up with our
friends especially after the lapse of 38 years for many.

We have gathered many good collections of photographs that were taken
during our primary school years and we will be running thru them
during this evening. I believe this will be the main highlight of the day
and the subsequent discussions and participation by all of you during
this photo review will be a moment that will remain with us for a long long
time.

Now we would like to finalise the list of friends who will be joining us
for this "once in a life time event".
For those who have already responded thank you very much.
For those who have yet to do it please keep me and Ai Lay posted.

Hope to hear from all of you soon.
I am looking foreward to seeing all of you again.

Regards
Bala

On the reunion evening.......

Nothing can be happier than catching up with old friends
L to R : Janet, Lee Kuen, Joycelyn

Mrs Kanda and Sien Chi waiting for someone?

What's happening at the other table?

Kim Chuan's turn to make everyone laugh.

more photos to come in the next post........

Visit To Mr Kanda's House on 1 Nov 2008

1st November, a day that I had been looking forward to had finally arrived. Planned months before, this was the day that some of us BPES-ians Class of 70 had earmarked to visit Mr Kanda at his home in Johor Baru.

Leaving my house at 7.30am, under a sudden downpour, I had this feeling of boyish excitement and a tinge of apprehension. Excited, because I was going to see my ex classmates, my teachers Mr Chow and Mr Kanda, after 38 years, when we parted as PSLE graduates. Apprehension, because I really did not know what to expect or how to react.

I reached the meeting point, Kranji MRT Station, at 9am. Moving around the station, I soon realized that I was the first person there. It was only when a voice, I distinctly recognized from the past, called out my name did I realize that I was not the early bird. Mr Chow was there earlier than me and spotted me checking out the place. Yes, he sounds and does look like the same Pri 5 and 6 form teacher of mine, packaged with a bit more flesh around the tummy, white hair plus the wrinkles that father time has bestowed on him. I was happy to see him and felt special that he could still remember me after all those years. Soon the rest of the gang, Sien Chi, Bala, Janet, Kim Chuan and Way Seng arrived. Bon Hian had prearranged to meet us at Mr Kanda’s house in the late morning. It was a feeling of joy that I can’t ever recall having felt all my half a century of life. We set off in 2 cars driven by Bala and Sien Chi.

A slight jam at the Woodlands custom did not dampen our spirits. Soon enough we were outside Mr Kanda’s house, which looked grand situated among a few rundown, burgled, bare skeleton of houses. Mr Kanda with his big smile together with his wife and son gave us a hearty welcome. Yes, after all these years, I was so happy to see the one teacher who actually carried me home when I was twelve due to sprained ankle.

Mrs Kanda, proudly brought out the Deepavali Goodies and yes, they tasted as good as they looked. Sitting in the hall, we took turns to spill out our experiences, stories and recollections of those wonderful years that we had all experienced at BPES. Of course, the one who took centrestage occupying most of the talking was none other than Sien Chi. Hmmm, I can’t recall if he was like that back then. Mr Kanda also highlighted the lawlessness in his neighbourhood which has seen “self proclaimed owners” who turn up in broad daylight at houses left unoccupied over a period of time and strip the houses of anything that is of value such as iron gate, railings, doors, windows etc.

Mr Kanda and his son, proudly showed us the replica car models which were displayed in the many glass cabinets. His collectables numbering in the hundreds, were the end product of his passion for cars since his “young days’ at BPES. Like father like son, the saying goes as his son also followed in his footsteps in not only becoming a teacher but also in his hobby of collecting models of spaceships. Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Star Wars, Babylon 5 and other figurines etc were carefully placed in an unused room securely padlocked. In my view, there is more treasure here than what the thieves made off looting from the unoccupied houses.

Bon Hian made it to the house eventually around 11.30am, after indulging in a game of golf in one of those golf courses in Johore. Bala introduced me to Bon as another of Kanda’s son. Looking perplexed but accepting the intro, Bon shook my hand. It was laughter all around when he was given the real scenario. So much to share and in so little time.

It was now time for lunch and Mr Kanda brought us to an Indian Restaurant. Mrs Kanda, Sien Chi and myself were the only ones to use hands to eat from the banana leaf lunch feast. After all the reminiscing of years gone by, it was a fitting end filling up our stomach with the sumptuous Indian food.

It was with handshakes and warm hugs that we parted. The genuine hospitality and warmth we had experienced was indeed an experience not to be forgotten. I am really glad that I had this wonderful opportunity to catch up with not only my schoolmates of old but also having had the occasion graced by the presence of the teachers.

- Seezer Paulose

P.S

As we were about to leave, we noticed that Kanda's car was sliding towards the deep drain in trying to move off, as he had parked on the slippery grass patch beside the road.

Without hesitation, the 4 of us, able-bodied young 50-year-olds (Sien Chi, Way Seng, Kim Chuan and yours truly) helped pushed his car onto the road surface and saw him drove off before making our own way home to Singapore.

- Bon

Eight of our friends visited Mr and Mrs Kanda on 1 November, during the Deepavali week....

Mr Kanda's son, Uresh was there too.

A sumptuous lunch at an Indian restaurant.

Mr Kanda's passion in sports cars.........

Uresh has his own passion.......