Obituary

Anthony Khoo, Wm Dielenberg

Another sad piece of news. One of those who attended the 50 years Reunion in Penang, Anthony Khoo, passed away yesterday. I have attached pictures of him taken at the Reunion.

The funeral will be held on Saturday, 23^rd May from his home in Taman Sentosa, B Mertajam. I saw him in his house the last time I was back in Kulim and after you left and went back to Alor Star. We went to see him again in BM and of course with LOH Yoon Choy. At that time he already had problems with his back and could not walk and needed a walker to help him.

Anthony Khoo was with us in Form 3, he was senior to us but was retained. He used to stay in Machang Bubok and travel daily in our head master, Auyong Teik Yoon’s HILLMAN so much so I always thought he was related to him and got corrected by Anthony Khoo when we were last in Penang.

I have already arranged for Loh Yoon Choy to send a wreath on our behalf.

You know two down already. This means if we all were to meet next year it will be two short. Let us hope 2 is enough. If some more it will frighten the shit out all of us lah!. I will try and send a photo of him of those years so that others may remember him.

Teddy

(picture above)

Old Patricians

Patricians Nite 2009

Venue: The High Tech Golf Club

6th June, Saturday 2009

at 7.30 pm

charges per head; MR 35

For more info pl. contact:

James Vincent 013-4533127

Chin Kim Fook 019-3645128

Bala Surramaniam 019-5622611

Lurthanathan 012-4637296

***********************************************

Reply slip

Name ............................................is interested to participate in the above dinner/ Pl keep me posted on further developments.

Pl. make payments in cash or cheque to per. alumni Sek. MenKeb. St Patrick Kulim

a/c:058-201-200389-2

Thank You

signed; James Vincent.

President

Memoirs of Kulim Coronation Cinema

I read your recollections of the old Kulim Coronation Cinema with great delight. I am a little younger and I do recall enjoying going to the ‘Cowboy VS Indians’ film shows. I think I paid 40 cents for 3rd class, but sometimes when I went with my sisters, I had to go second class which cost 65 cents. I do remember the heroes Alan Ladd and of course there were others like Gene Autrey, Roy Rogers and my favourite Audie Murphy (not to be mistaken with EddieMurphy)
Later, because my elder brother worked in Lian Thye Hoe (a Chinese Liquor Store in Kelang Lama) which had connections with the proprietary of the Coronation, we were actually given 2 free tickets a month. Guess what? We were upgraded to 1st class upstairs!
On some good days, if I had a spare fives cents I spent it on buying nutmeg ‘hum sar lay’ (preserved skewer of nutmeg or green mango) and enjoy it during the show. Sometimes it would be a small newspaper cone filled with rojak for 5 cents! The options for tit-bits those days were incredible – there was ‘kachang puteh’ (I particularly like the dry round ones – you can break your teeth eating them!), fruit slices of pineapple, papaya, mango, water melon and ‘bung kwang’ which were pre-chilled on top of a large block of ice. Of course, don’t forget the messy ‘sng wan’ (shaved ice ‘ball’ in syrup) that we all liked.
I distinctly remember having to shut my eyes to the bright sun when the show was over as we trooped out of the cinema .
Those were the good old days when you can have a bowl of char siew mee for 20 cents and for a couple of extra wantons you pay 30 cents. Char koay teow with egg was 30 cents and ‘Kopi or peng’ was 20 cents! And this is all available outside the Coronation cinema.
I was back there recently and its surroundings haven’t really changed very much, except that that Coronation has now become a very congested bazaar. I ambled into a stall for a cool drink of chrysanthemum tea and stood right next to this hawker selling rambutans and langsats whilst I (sadly) reminisced about those good old days. As far as I can remember, this ‘leong char’ stall with its big brass vats containing the drinks has been there all these years!
Keep the fire of this St. Patrick’s School c60 Alumni burning. It sure brings back sweet memories.
I will be seeing Teddy in KL in April.



Thank you Stewart. Very entertaining. I wish more people would partake in the contribution
Bill

Comments by Stewart Chew from WA

Hi Guys,

Its quite strange that I too had a fascination for the 'char koey teow' man's antics as much as his delicious 'char koey teow'. Apparently my 'char koey teow' is quite well known among my Chinese friends here in Perth!I learn a lot about the technique by watching the Penang hawkers do it. Lets compare our methods. First, you must use a very hot wok (preferably of cast iron) - use plenty of hot oil (tastier if lard ouch!!)and a generous scatter of chopped garlic. I used chopped fish cake or prawns for taste. We can get nice fresh koey teow, bean sprouts and even 'koo chye' (chives). In place of cockles, indulge in a few chopped fresh oysters!Fry quickly on a very hot wok. Do not cook more that a couple a serves at a time (the idea is to scorch it on a very hot pan. Add the usual light and dark soy to taste. Add a tablespoonful of 'sambal olek'. Put in the bean sprouts last followed by the oysters. Quickly take it out. Bet you it'll taste good.

Kind regards.

Stewart

My appetite for Char Koey Teow

What is your appetite like for hawker food?
I enjoy a plate of hot (as in temperature), hot (as in chilly) Koey Teow.
My first taste of Koey Teow was the one prepared by an old man just outside Coronation cinema.
He used to do a roaring wayside business. Watchiing him stir frying the stuff is just mouth watering. A springkling of garlic on to a spoonful of hot oil, you can almost hear the the garlic sizzling , followed by a spoonful of chilly smashed in a lesong. Then it was followed by two handsfull of the noodle, This was stirred rapidly before an egg was cracked over the mixture, I always paid extra for a second egg. I forgot, I would always insist on some prawns and slices of chinese sausage. Within minutes my mouth watering koey teow, with bean sprout added, was bundled in a piece of banana leaf layered over by a piece of newspaper. There were times when I would squat by the wayside to savour the stuff. Most times I would take the makan home to share it with my mum and the other siblings.
Recently I have been experimenting with the frying myself. I have reached a stage when I can say that it is like the real thing.
Who likes rojak? Me me me me me .
Tell us what you like best.

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