| My Fond Memories Of My Alma Mater - King Edward VII |
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| Written by MEJ NOR IBRAHIM BIN SULAIMAN TUDM (B |
| Monday, 23 November 2009 04:24 |
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The tigers' population was increased by one when I
registered for admission to Form 3 in January 1964...long...long time ago!
Before this I was studying in ACS Sitiawan but followed my late father when he
was transferred to Taiping. Based on my 'report card', I was admitted to Form 3
'C'. I know what you are thinking...no problem. I used to tell my wife
that if I stayed on in Lumut, I don't think I could even pass my LCE
(Lower Certificate of Education). You see, I really enjoyed my childhood days
in Lumut. After school and Quranic reading class...with the sarong as
a cape (like superman) I ran to the beach and dived into the sea
with members, crabbing during low tide, catapulting fish and fishing...but
not studying! Well, the transfer was indeed a blessing in
disguise.
Oh ya...let me tell about meritocracy (quality control?)
during my era. I finished my primary education at a Malay school - Sekolah
Kebangsaan Lumut. There was no such thing as SMK
then and no 'automatic' promotion, too. All
Standard 6 students must sit for an examination and only on passing will make
you eligible to continue to Form 1. If you fail, you can 'retain' for another
year..again depending on age. The next filtering system was LCE.
Again, if you fail...good bye Form 4. Here was another restriction...if you
fail English, then you are not eligible to sit for SC
(Senior
On passing Standard 6 examinations, I chose to enrol in
Remove Class instead of Form 1 Malay Medium at ACS Sitiawan. I also wanted to
speak
I managed to scrape through the LCE and my results qualified
me to sit for SC/MCE....not bad eh? I was placed in Form 4 Commerce .
During my time, there were 4 classes only - Arts, Science,
Commerce and General. Both Commerce and General classes were
housed on the first floor of the "
We simply loved to stand on the veranda to watch the girls
below walking to their class. What do you expect of the boys...we were
not angels! And don't expect us to admire those beauty of nature in
silence. I'm sure the girls were flattered by the attention given to
them. But of course, their teachers were not happy and both Commerce and
General classes were ordered to shift to the main building. My class was
separated from the Principal's office only by the Administrative office.
Both these classes stayed there till we completed our schooling in 1966.
When we were still at the Sheffield Hostel, our Science
teacher, nicknamed 'Abang Kartun (AK)', simply loved giving
test every Friday. I never liked Science and Mathematics....something which I really regret now.
Overall marks was 15! For the first test, most got about 7.
Yours truly got 3 only. So our beloved AK told the class
that those who got below 5 would have to attend detention
class on Saturday morning. Oh...oh...detention class meant no 'cheap
matinee' at Rex, Majestic, Odeon or
On a sad note, we lost a classmate - arwah SHAFIE. He and our senior were swept
away by a strong current and drowned when they went for a swim at
Makotiong, Tupai (I can't remember the name correctly). I
remember him very well because his table was right in front of me. During one
of those weekly science tests by AK, he was busy copying not realising that AK
was looming over his shoulder. What do you expect? Immediate 'O' and detention class the next day. Al
Fatihah to arwah SHAFIE!
Forgot to tell you. When I first joined KE, the principal
was Cikgu Bion Dury. He was succeeded by none other than the
most famous, the late Long Heng Hua,
popularly known as Pak Long. When he first came to the
school, in early 1964 I think, he was driving his green Morris Minor with
a "W" plate. Later on he used Worlesley..
It was he who introduced the School Song -" King Edward's Will Live
Forever... As Long As the Taiping Hills Stand."
Oh boy....he was a real
disciplinarian! When you see the 'Office Boy (OB)' coming
to the class with reports cards (RCs)...most of us would start sweating. He
would hand over the RCs to the teacher who would then call
out selected names to see the Principal. We, the priviledged few, then,
had the pleasure of 'chit chatting' with Pak Long. Yours truly
and a few others obediently followed the
Another unforgettable experience was when I was in Form 5.
During recess time, my friend and I enjoyed throwing chalks at each
other. By coincidence, Pak Long passed by and the chalk hit him. He
'invited' both of us to the tuck shop with a cane in his hand. You can
guess what happened next...Well, in front of the rest of the students ...whack....whack....whack! Another painful experience...but still managed to put
up a 'painful' smile!
As commerce students, we were encouraged by our
teacher, Aloysius Kong, to take typewriting class held at night. So,
we diligently learned 'the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog'.
And we had to sit for the PITTMAN Elementary examinations. I passed....30
words per minute. We were also asked to sit for the PITTMAN Elementary and
Intermediate Book-Keeping examinations in preparation for the Principles
of Account subject in the SC/MCE examinations. I passed both the
examinations. Mind you, those days I am talking about the
conversion of Pounds, Shillings and Pence...not RM, and there
was no such thing as calculators.
After the results of the SC/MCE were published in The
Straits Times in early 1967, we all departed to chart our course in life.
In May 1967, I was accepted for a 2-year course as an Army cadet
Intake 11 at RMC and commissioned in April 1969 as a 2Lt in
the Artillery Regiment (Arty). My first posting was to 3
Arty, Kemunting Camp. I made it a point to pay a courtesy call on Pak
Long. Well...well.. he still remembered me! In 1973, I switched to RMAF as a
Nuri pilot.
My wife, being a teacher herself, told me that she can
only remember students who are either
extremely excellent in their studies or extremely naughty. In my
case....maybe just an 'in-between' for Pak Long's
standard! An ex-TMGS, she was an Edwardian too, for a short while
before continuing her Lower Six at Tun Fatimah, Johore. You can read
her blog - sitiroffinimy.blogspot.com.
To Zainal Thani, Nazri Khalid, Mohd Noor, Anggamuthu, S.
Subramaniam, Zaini, Radzi, Isa Abdullah, M. Subramaniam, Logarath, KY
Siow, Isa, Hussein Mohd Noor, arwah Azizan Ismail, Wan
Sahir, Ramani and others whom I can't remember ...Those were
the days...My Friends!
To my teachers...Pak Long, Miss Yap, Miss Chee, Aloysius
Kong, Abang Kartun and others whom I can't recall....No matter
what....you have my utmost respect.
This song is
dedicated to all my teachers ...Sir,...THANK YOU!
MEJ NOR IBRAHIM BIN SULAIMAN TUDM (B) Senang-senang sila baca coretan bertajuk di atas di blog saya -http://xnuripilot.blogspot.
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| Last Updated on Monday, 23 November 2009 04:48 |
