In partnership with the Tree by David Lee

I too spent my youth in Kulim. We, My brother Gilbert and I were sent to St. Patrick to continue our education after it was interrupted by the second world war. I know it was a long time ago.
I was in Std four and my brother must have been in Std three. That was in 1947. We loved school because we were always in the front line to collect prizes for our successful performances. I completed School Certificate in B.M. High school within the next four years - quite an achievement.
One of the things we used to engage ourselves in was watching films at the Coronation Theatre. We would all line up at the third class entrance and as soon as the show started we would sneek ourselves through the screened doorway after slipping twenty cent coins into the ticket collector's hand.
Our hero was Allan Ladd. Western was our first choice. Second was Tarzan.
We would wait patiently for the adds and coming attractions to roll by and as soon as we saw the words "Directed by" the whole theatre would burst into a roar of applause because we knew the show would be starting. It was fun. We really enjoyed ourselves together with the rest of the audiance.
Guess what? Each time the heroes went charging after the Red Indians, in the case of the Westerns, we would all clap and cheer half expecting the soldiers to wipe out the Indians.
When the show ended we would all walk out feeling all excited and recalling all the actions that took part in the show. Such was the excitement each time we went to the cinema. I used to love the Coronation theatre. It was a place to escape from the hard work at home.
More next time.

from the blogger ( Bill Dielenberg)

A very Happy Chinese New Year
to all who celebrate the occasion

Another pic from Juru

How's it going mate! I have another old picture
for you taken at Juru in ?1962. We must have a few common friends
in this picture.

Back L-R Rockson, Kariappan, Stewart, Dr. Kok Seng (still lives in Kulim - married the late Ah Eng from Chung Wah Photos), ?
Middle L-R Siew Chengs sister, Ming Khee, ?, Siew Cheng, ?Rais
Sitting L-R ?Beng Huat, ?.

Old buddies forever.


I can't explain why the picture is so small. If you click on the photo you will be able to see an enlarged image. It was sent by David Chew. (Help me to keep this blog alive)

to William from David and his response

Greetings William.
Haven't been accessing your blog for a long time as I was very busy. It was my brother stewart who drew my attention to this picture of the boy scouts to see how many I could recall. Straight away I could figure Kok Poh and Hardev Singh and will take my time to figure out who the rest are.

A point of correction here William regarding Auyong Teik Yoon. He was still very much alive in 1960 when I was in Form 3. He passed away only in late 1965. I attended his funeral then. Will catch up with you later.

Regards,
David

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David,
Not heard from you for a long time. How are things? How did your attempt at your doctorate go?
I know, the blog has not had any life at all mainly because I have not had any contributions from anyone. I really thought, after the reunion the blog would pick up more energy. It is true only a few of our comrades have access to computers let alone the knowledge of using the damn thing. Some are just lazy.
I hope you can help me revive it.
It was a quick guess. I remember attending his funeral in Pagat Teras( is that what the place is called?). I could not have been to his funeral after 1960 because I left Kulim in late 1959. Too confusing.
Any way glad to hear from you again. Keep in touch. Your brother has give up and gone fishing.
Bill

Teddy C Dielenberg

Old Xavarian
Looking very prosperous and confident

Who is who?

Referring to the picture of all of us scouts taken outside St.Patricks in 1957 (compliments of William Dielenberg). Back row (L-R): Veerasamy, Teddy Dielenberg, ?,?,?,?, Tan Ooi Seng (lives in J Kelang Lama, opposite Kong Peng Cloth Merchants, cousin of Kee Chang), Kim Chooi (a surveyor who used to live opposite Kulim Cathay Cinema), Rockson Loo (married Lucy, brother-in-law of Allan Khee - they were in our '58 Reunion) and of course yours truly (gee, I'am kinda tiny!). Front row, can't recognize too many except Hardev Singh, Cheah Kok Poh (I think he just became a Queen's Scout!) and a dimunitive Hamid (in front of me) who is a brother of our teacher ?Ghaffur)
Double click on the photo to enlarge it

In the Centre: Rev. Bro. Bernard, Auyong Teik Yoon and William Dielenberg

This article was extraced from the Star

St Xavier’s marks a new chapter after 156 years

GEORGE TOWN: Next year will mark the end of an era for the La Salle Brothers’ public school administration in Malaysia when the last Brother principal in the country retires.

St Xavier’s Institution (SXI) here will see a government servant lead the institution for the first time in over 150 years when Brother Paul Ho, its 29th religious head, steps down in June.

“SXI was the first school in the nation to be administered and fully owned by the Brothers and it can be called the epicentre of spreading the La Salle vision of educating the young,” said Brother Director of Malaysia Anthony Rogers.

Although Brother Paul’s retirement would mark the end of the line of Brother headmasters in the country, Brother Anthony says it will not be the end of the Lasallian legacy.

“A long time ago, when people thought of the schools, they would always think about the Brothers but over the years, we have grown beyond that.

“There is now a whole La Salle family made up of every boy and girl who has studied in our schools along with the teachers, parents, staff and collaborators who have had ties with the schools.

“We’re handing over the baton and it’s a new paradigm which is formed with the same message by a community that knows what it means to be a Lasallian,” he said.

“Brother Paul’s incident is not new. Over the years, all our other schools have also been taken over by lay people.

“There is no real cause for concern as strong boards of governors have been formed to safeguard the traditions and it has been a long-standing promise by the Govern-ment to give us consultation in the appointing of heads in our schools,” Brother Anthony added.

“Since 1852 to 1965, the Brothers built 46 schools in Peninsular Malaysia and were also given 10 more in Sabah and Sarawak by the Bishop to administer,” he said.

On the future of the La Salle Brothers, Brother Anthony said there were many more good things to come.

“The Brothers’ initial priority was to set up a basic education system in the country and the Government has successfully taken over that responsibility.

“There are currently about 10 Brothers aged 40 to 60 who are still active in Malaysia and there has been a lot of thought about branching out into the setting up of private colleges or even universities.

“There is also an increasing number of children suffering from autism and providing education for children with special needs is also part of our plans,” he said.

Brother Paul, too, is positive about his impending retirement, and says the La Salle Brothers have achieved what they had set out to do.

“It’s okay. It’s moving and we have left our legacy.

“We hope that in whatever we have done, we have given the people what was expected. That is our yardstick of what a school should be.

“After all, we only came here to give education to the people of Malaysia and at the end of the day, we have done our job,” he said.