THE TREE (9)

THEtree for those that had lived in Kulim once upon a time in the late 1950s and 1960s... from Dave, writing with nostalgia and lasting friendships. This is his letter to all that spent their teen years with him. Dave is now at, 319 Lrg.Putih 3, Taman Rakyat Mergong, 05150 ALOR SETAR.

August 2008

Dear Friends,

Re-igniting the flame of friendships could never have been better then meet, hugs and handshakes!!....AND that was what I did on the night of Aug 1, 2008 at The Northam - All Suite, in Penang (East N West, level 2). For me this is THE night of all nights; meeting friends that I have given up looking after half a century of separation. (Friends that I used to play around with in good old Kulim back in the late 50s and early 60s!). Definitely the night of Aug 01, 2008 will be fondly remembered for a long, long time to come - the night when the Form III boys class of '58 of the St.Patrick's school Kulim had their first ever reunion after 50 years!!. This first ever reunion was so successful. There should be more like it in two or three years to come. The organizers of this reunion would like to stay low-profile but to that particular friend and those who had come forward (especially the duo who flew in from Australia) to help in making this reunion a success, salute!! You done a fantastic job men!

Hey wait something not quite right here! I am not from St.Pat, so what am I doing there? Well in 1958 I too was in Form III at SBS not SPS but then in 1962 I became a teacher at St.Pat (Private) School and I was there for about 3 years before I left for another job. That's the very reason I was present in the celebration



Steve Tan Chor Ing responded to my last letter in an sms; Dave, thanks for your THEtree of July 2008. I see now you've got my seniors too from as far as Australia and their feedbacks on life in Kulim back then was really interesting indeed. I didn't know the movie theater was named Kim Wah. When I was a kid I used to play around that area with friends. It was then an empty lot of land there.

And Abd.Hamid Salleh in an e-mail from England wrote; Dear Dave, I am in Birmingham again and will be home Aug.11. I was in Alor Star before that and phoned you up but the call went unanswered. After returning to K.L from Alor Star I was taken ill again and the children thought I should come here to take it easy. It was fortunate that I could make the journey with kind help from folks I met along the way.
When I saw the picture of The Tree in all its glory, a lot of memories came flooding back ..... the padang was where soccer matches of importance were played there. One match between SBS and an estate team was abandoned when the crowd rushed in and attacked some players who had continually fouled the SBS players.
Well the match was abandoned but the result favored SBS. I came to learn later that some people were taken to court and fined lightly for assaulting players They, the estate team players deserved it although the authorities thought otherwise.
Sometimes one had to pay to watch matches. I remember a cloth barrier was erected around the padang when a Kulim Selection played against Taiping Prison. No money no see la!
Fun fairs were also held there. I remember a Ghazal band with beautiful "women" doing belly-dance on stage. And of course Hassan Putu Mayong the comedian, remember?.
Those were the days, ya Dave? I remember so many things because of The Tree.

Hamid buddy, I am really sorry about that call that went unanswered. I must have left my mobile phone at home and went off without it.I am sorry too to hear about your illness. I hope and pray that you get well soon.Thanks for sharing with us those things that you remember about life in Kulim back in the early 60s. All the things you mentioned are still on my mind too, I haven't forgotten them. Fun Fairs were the in-thing then and I remember our band (3 guitars and one drum), comprising of boys from Jalan Pancor, now Jalan Tengku Bendahara - The Supersonic also took part at a Fun Fair there. On other occasion, Some boys from Jalan Market and I ran a business at one of the Fun Fairs there too - a stall where we played songs on request for a small fee. it was such fun and easy then - what a life!!

Keep in touch to keep THEtree growing ever bigger and stronger...Peace! (The St.Pat 50 reunion at Penang gave me the opportunity to meet so many more of my contemporaries. THEtree will definitely be what we want it to be after this; i,e Bigger & Stronger.)

Friendships Forever!!





Dave Li Wanji (Real name: Wan Mokhtar Ramlee)
E-mail: davidleemy@yahoo.com – Mobile: 017-4734384, Hse: 04.7315882
Group’s Web Site: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tree2008

PS: Friends receiving THEtree via e-mail may proceed
to page 3 & 4 to see several photos / happenings at the St.Pat 50 reunion on 01.08.08.
.