All of us at one time or another do wish to go back to the time when we were school children especially during our primary years.It is the child in us and there is no harm in reminiscing those carefree years.
Five men from the King Edward VII primary school Taiping of 'class 71' went a step further by searching for their comrades which their school affectionately called the 'Tigers'.Thanks to the social media and modern technology, they managed to trace a few."Our journey together began during our kindergarten in 1965.From then on our friendship and brotherhood grew bigger and stronger."said Zakaria Yaacob,56.
The school itself is one of the oldest school in the country.Built in July 1883 it was called the' Central School.' Located where the present nurses hostel stands.Then it moved to the land on which the first railway station stood. This main building is no longer safe although it is a heritage building.The Edwardians now occupy a new building leaving the old one as it is.The old heritage building was once used by the Japanese as a headquarter of the 'Malayan Kempeitai'.
"When we were primary kids, our school was called King Edward VII named after the King of England himself.It was inaugurated by Sultan Idris I in 1905 who changed the name from the Central School to" King edward VII" said Zakaria.
We have had our moments , the good,the bad and the ugly.What matters most is that we want to relive those moments by having a first reunion for the class of 71 after 44 years.
"When we finished secondary school,we all went our separate ways but deep down,we wished to meet again" said Ong Tuan Kah, 56 who is a good friend of Zakaria. Zakaria who is also known as P.Ramli back in school is a good sportsman added Ong.
We often get what we wish for ,so they say and there is a saying that goes " be careful of what you wish for'.Well,for the five men from Taiping,they got what they wish for and God always have a plan for us."Our first meeting since 44 years ago was at Jusco Ipoh garden, Ipoh and we became children again.Hugging each other with tears of happiness in our eyes." said Meor Shaifuddin Zakaria and since then we never lose touch and we plan to have a reunion for our batch.
Professor IR DR Muhd Fadhil Nuruddin, a 'Tiger ' aka Edwardian is now with the department of civil and environmental engineering at University Technology Petronas.He suggested naming their group "the Fifty-Niners ".He will announce the formation of this special group and the name during the reunion.
"The school do have an old boys association just like any other schools but we want to gather groups from our batch" said Fadhil.So they have decided to organise an event at the school on the 12th of Dec 2015.Their target is about 40 old school mates which they managed to contact.They will give a calendar with pictures of each of them on the date of their birthday as a token on that day. Creativity at its best I must say.
"Our favourite teacher is Charlie Boey "they said.He was our English teacher.We are looking forward to meeting him during the event at our school from morning till evening for the class of 71 or as we like to call ourselves "the fifty niners".The event will be held underneath the 'angsana tree' at the school compound.This tree is symbolic to the tigers.
Meor recalled his first meeting with an Edwardian, Abdul Majeed Abdul Rahman from his batch after 44 years.They met last year at the Casuarina Meru hotel. "We were so happy, then after a few minutes Majeed collapsed and passed away in front of me."That was his saddest moment.
Unknown to many the first President of Singapore was an Edwardian.Yusuf Ishak was a student of King Edward VII and he passed away in 1970.
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