Committee Members Perak Kaying Association 2012-2013

Tan Sri Lee Oi Hian is the new President of the Perak Kaying Association.  This picture is taken in the Assemble Hall of the Assocation after the swearing in ceremony.  The golden dragon motif behind is more than a 100 years old.  The photos of the founding members of the Association are at the centre of the hall.

Welcome dinner for the new committee members.  I am sure you can recognise some notables amongst us.

Tinnitus - Ringing in the Ears

Tinnitus is the medical term for ringing in the ears.  I had tinnitus at 7.00 pm in Hospital Fatimah today after emerging from ICU.  To my pleasant surprise Jingle Bells was ringing in my ears.  The carollers were from the St. Michael's Church.  I followed them up to Ward 4 C and recorded two songs before I headed home.  The youthful choir was more enthusiastic.  They planned to sing in every ward to bring in the Christmas cheer.

Spectacular Christmas Deco in private house

Christmas is here.  A house in USJ, Selangor with the Christmas deco so beautiful that I could not help but stop my car in front of it to capture this display.  Enjoy this short clip.

Wishing All My Friends a Blessed Christmas.

My Geography Teacher is here.

Christmas is a wonderful time to rejoice the birth of Christ and to share the Good News.  Our Small Group has gathered with some friends.  Can you recognise the 2 ACS teachers in the photo above?

Here we have the current ACS Principal as well.  Guess who?

And this is a freshly baked chocolate cake - a creation from Poh Peng. 

Healesville Sanctuary, Australia

At Healesville Sanctuary near Melbourne.  There is an abundance of Koalas in the sanctuary.  Koalas love Eucalyptus tree leaves.  I used to have 5 Eucalyptus trees in my home.  They were planted by my father who was ever fascinated with the tree while he was studying in Australia.  The leaves are used to make medicated oils for body aches and pain.

Here you see a vet nursing the Tasmanian devils.  These cats in Tasmania are threatened by a disease which causes facial tumours. 

Picture taken from the base of a 250 year old Eucalyptus tree.  Awesome!!

And me inside the tree.  Pondering how it feels to be 250 years old.

A water fowl with her eggs.  Reminds me of avian flu.  A hot topic a couple of years ago because of a possible link with the flu pandemic.

Another photo with my Fuji camera.  I am certainly very happy with my camera. 

Watching you eat...............

The ACS TuckShop Prefects. Mr. Yeoh Eng Soon led the team to make sure the students eat graciously.  Spitting was not allowed.  Loud talking was prohibited (very good training to keep restaurants less noisy).  Running was not allowed while eating to prevent choking.  Students were ordered to return the cups and plates back to the various food stalls after eating.

So you see, all of us have very good table manners now. 

Mr. Yeoh Eng Soon was the Senior Assistant.  I last met him many years ago at a petrol station and I heard he had gone back to be with our Lord Jesus Christ.  I remembered him as a kind teacher.  He showed me how to wear the special sash which you see in the photo.  I was estatic to be a TuckShop Prefect!!!

The ACS Grand Prix - 1975

Zooom. It's the ACS Grand Prix! This is a charity project organised by: Leong Oon Keong, Chen Tet Ngian, Khor Chin Guan, Chen Set Ngian, Timothy Liew, Julian, Lee Hock Hin, Lee Hock Soon and Cheah Teng Gin. The profit was $100.00 and was given to the Benefit Society.  It was a lot of money then when a bowl of mee just cost 50 cents. I am not sure whether our currency then was called the ringgit yet.

Here you can see Mr. Ng Chee Pin (Science), Mr. Mak Kim Yeng (Art, English), Ms Ong Su Ming (English literature), ?, Mrs. Liew Nyuk Choong, Mr. Justice Havelock having great fun driving the model cars. This Scalextric Racing Circuit was set up by the organisers.  We had to borrow very many racing tracks from several school mates to create a really long 4 lane racing circuit which occupied the Science Laboratory.

Mr. Ng is still lecturing in a private college in KL.  You will be able to meet him in Kok Thai Restaurant during Chinese New Year. 

Ms. Ong is in Ipoh and is the President of KAMI (Kinta Alliance for the Mentally Ill).  She is well remembered for her lessons in Macbeth. 

Mr. Mak had a stroke and passed away some years back.  I meet Mrs. Mak (Doong Lay Huong) in the Canning Garden Methodist Church every Sunday.

Mrs. Liew is still going strong.  She is well remembered for teaching us how to find books in the library using the Dewey Decimal system.  She is in my small church group.  Her husband, Mr. Liew is a pharmacist whom I remembered dispensing medicine in George Town Dispensary and later Himalaya Pharmacy, both favourite haunts of my father.

Mr. Justice Havelock taught me wood crafting. I love wood working and I am still dreaming to make my own dining set one of these days so I can invite you all for dinner.  Mr. Havelock is now residing in Australia.

Standard 4

Standard 4 and the class teacher was Mrs. Cheah May Lian.  I am not sure whether her name is spelt correctly.  I need to find her son Mr. Cheah Tong Kim to confirm.  I cannot remember much about what she taught in class but I certainly remembered her coming to my parents house to watch TV.  She stayed opposite our house and I was told that her husband was killed by the Japanese.  

TV sets were a rarity then.  Ours was a Grundig.... and we would not have heard about Sony, Samsung or LG.  It was a black and white TV about 38 inch.  There were two fold able wooden doors which were used to cover the screen when the TV was not in use.  And the antennae would sit on top of the set.

It was the Olympic season then and Mrs. Cheah would come over to watch her son swim in the world event.  Mr. Cheah Tong Kim was an Olympic Swimmer representing Malaysia.  I am not sure whether he got the gold medal but he was really hunky, someone with that enviable V shaped body. 

Mr. Cheah is currently a very active Toast Master member.  I see him often in church.  He was the Master of Ceremony during my wedding day.  Thank you Tong Kim.

CHIK KAW's in TOWN - dELICIOUS

Good frenz and good food at dELICIOUS Bangsar 7 November 2012.

For those can make it to Rock Garden, Robson Height on Sun18 December evening, see you there ya.

Chik Kaw is back

Tan Chik Kaw the pharmacist from UK is back in Ipoh for a short family visit.  Great to see him again.  Amongst us he is the top contender for the "balding head" competition. 

We just learnt that Yau Sook Fun is the grand daughter of Yau Tet Shin, the person who built the Yau Tet Shin Market in Ipoh.  He was also responsible for bringing Ipoh town across the Kinta River to become the Ipoh New Town.

We were at Old Town White Coffee shop (opposite Ipoh Padang) at 4.00 pm.  Others present were Victor Chan Kok Meng, Chan Nyat Keong, Leong Oon Keong and Chan Sum Mee.

Great meeting.  The next will be ........ soon.

Standard Three Class Photo

This is the earliest class group photo that I can find from my albums. Oh dear my memory is fading.  I can only remember Mrs. Chai Ah Chee whose husband was the accounts clerk in ACS secondary.  Someone please help identify the other 4 teachers.

Ah, I see some familiar faces.  Starting from the left the squatting row: Chan Sum Mee, ?, ?, Wong Yew Thye, ? Kok Fook Loy, ?

Seated: ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, Tan Chik Kaw, ................. ?, Yeow Yew Yuen, ?, Lee Kuan Wah,?, Lau Fei Chew

Standing 1st Row: ? Chan Wan Hon, ? , Lim Soon Aun, ?, Chin Tuck Seng, Chan Nyat Keong..............Wong Leong Yan, ?, Chuah Choong Chee, ?, ?, Paul Teh Teik Heng.

Standing Last Row: Lee Keng Loong, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?Wong Chee Kai, ?, ? Selvarajah, Chung Kek Yoong, Leong Oon Keong, ?, Yau Ngan Sing, Kwoon Wai Hoong, ?, ?, ?, ?

Paul TehTeik Heng was a good friend. He was the son of Datuk Teh Siew Eng a close family friend.  I remembered playing with him in the school field and on the 3 tiered high wooden benches. And guess what I did?  I pushed him down and he broke his arm!!  He probably had a green stick fracture which required an arm sling for several weeks.  What did I get for punishment? 

This is a quick drawing of the wooden bench. Behind the giant Tembusu trees and the fence surrounding the hockey field.  Behind is the ACS church.  Remember??

Perak Kaying Association 111th Anniversary Celebration

This year we are celebrating the 100th Anniversay of the Wuchang Uprising which led to the founding of the Republic of China.  The Perak Kaying Association was founded 11 years earlier.  The 111th Anniversary Celebration of the Association was held at the New She  Lai Ton Restaurant in Ipoh on 1/11/2011 (a very auspicious day with 8 ones).  The food was good and the entertainment was great.  There were about 500 people.

The 3 new "Lions" donated to the Perak Kaying Association.  They will be employed during Chinese New Year and other celebrations.

The Choir of the Association.  Singing practices are held in the Perak Kaying Association building weekly.  Famous for their Hakka folk songs.

The President Dato Hew Choy Kon in his speech reminded the guests about the contributions of the Hakka community towards the development of Perak. 

The Perak Kaying Association is located at 114, Jalan Sultan Yussuf, 30000 Ipoh, Perak.  Tel: 2544052.

The ACS Primary School Magic Club lead by Mr. Samuel Seow (left) the magician.  This picture was taken in 1966.  Mr. Low Chooi Beng (right) was the principal then.  Mr. Samuel continued to teach magic to the students for many years and even opened a magic shop in Anderson Road. I bought a magic wand, several decks of cards, match boxes, ropes etc and practised magic but failed to qualify as a magician.  Mr. Paul and Mr. Peter, sons of Mr. Samuel Seow, learned the trade but left later to serve the Lord Jesus Christ till today.  Mr. Samuel Seow is now a devoted Christian and is a member of the Canning Garden Methodist Church where I usually meet him to "yum cha". 

From left: Tan Chik Kaw, Leong Oon Keong, ?, Mr. Samuel Seow, ? ? ?.  Mr. Samuel Seow was also instrumental in setting up the school Movie Club.  I still remember the picture "The Return of the Mummies".  A real scarry movie for me then. Mr. Samuel was my class teacher once and I still remember his English dictation classes.  He had a big bat to frighten you if you get lots of mistakes in English spelling.  Now my Inglish spelling is pretty good.  Keep it up Mr. Samuel.

1956 .... already thinking of going to ACS Ipoh

The first year of my life in Ipoh. I don't recall very much about this period except to say that the bed which is pictured here stood the test of time.  This spring bed has rubber mattresses and 2 rubber wheels at the head end.  The frame is made of iron and it is completely mobile.

4 hour lunch and coffee......

It was a good 4 hours lunch/coffee to catch up 3 'lost' decades of frenzship......quite sure most of you folks can recognise at least one of these guys

More pics from Hapi CNY and Miner's Arm 2011

Hapi CNY and Miner's Arm 4 February 2011

I think we started the annual CNY minum-minum way back in 1993 or earlier, which mean we had met in Ipoh for more than 18+ years. Most of the time it will be at Miner's Arm in old town. once at Oon Keong's place plus a couple of times where we sort of wandered to GreenTown. The number of us would vary from year to year; there was one year where it was only FongFatt and I wandering around GreenTown. We had a good crowd this year though not as many as the year in Oon Keong's place. Interesting characters graced the evening - we had a guru besar cermelang (hope the spelling is correct), someone back from cold cold Russia, an American cow...etc.

Hope we can keep this going as long as possible thought Miner's Arm is a bit of disappointment as it is now a karaoke centre rather than the good old pub that we knew. I miss the horse shoe sofa that we always occupy......

# pics courtesy of TehMC

Grandson desires to honour a patriarch - The Star

A GRANDSON of the late Leong Sin Nam, one of Ipoh’s famous tin miners and philanthropists, plans to hold an exhibition highlighting the contributions of the patriarch and Perakians in the Chinese Revolution led by Dr Sun Yat Sen.

Dr Leong Oon Keong said this year was the 100th anniversary of the Wuchang Uprising of 1911 which paved the way for the founding of the Republic of China.

“Perakians had contributed significantly in terms of time, money and lives to the Chinese Revolution,” he said, adding that Dr Sun had maintained that the financial con-tributions from the Overseas Chinese were indispensable and often called them the “Mother of the Revolution”.

Looking back: Guests viewing a slide show on Dr Sun Yat Sen during a memorial dinner for Leong Sin Nam at the Perak Kaying
Association.

“His descendants Victor Sun and Leland Sun who visited Ipoh after attending a conference in Penang in November last year also acknowledged and praised the people in Perak for their contributions towards the Chinese Revolution,” he said recently during an annual dinner organised by the Perak Kaying Association in memory of Sin Nam who died on Jan 19, 1940 at the age of 60.

Dr Leong said his grandfather, a Hakka from the Guangdong province in China, was one of the founders of Perak Kaying Association and had bequeathed his bungalow and land in Ipoh to the association.

The bungalow was subsequently demolished and the land sold to help finance the building of the current association building on Jalan Sultan Yussuf in Ipoh.

Great man: A portrait of Ipoh's famous Leong Sin Nam.

Dr Leong said the association holds a memorial service at Leong Sin Nam’s tomb in the Cantonese cemetery off Jalan Gopeng in Ipoh on Jan 19 followed by a Hakka dinner every year.

He said his grandfather, who lived from 1880 to 1940, worked his way up as a mining labourer to own several tin mines and managed several large rubber estates in Perak.

He said Sin Nam was known for his contributions to charity, education, sports and social institutions in Perak. He was the founder of SJK (C) Min Tet in 1913 in Falim and the SJK (C) Wan Hwa in Menglembu in 1914.

Sin Nam held several posts, including that of a member of the Perak State Council, president of the Perak Chinese Association, president of the Perak Chinese Chamber of Commerce, president of the Perak Kaying Guild, chairman of the Overseas Chinese Mining Association and vice-president of the Khek Community Guild in Singapore.

Tribute to a philanthropist: A street named after Leong Sin Nam in the centre of Ipoh.

 

He was also chairman of the Malayan Chinese Daily News in Kuala Lumpur and managing director of the Perak Chinese Daily News in Ipoh.

Sin Nam had also received various awards, including meritorious service from the Republic of China and the Order of the British Empire conferred by King George VI.

Dr Leong said his grandfather was a strong supporter of Dr Sun and his successor Chiang Kai Shek in overthrowing Yuan Shi Kai and the warlords after the 1911 revolution in China.

Due to his fame and contributions to China, Leong Sin Nam was appointed Warden of Mines for Yunnan, adviser of the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce, member of the Economic Committee of the Chinese Government and committee member of the Kwantung Branch of Reconstruction Commission.

During the second Sino-Japanese War, he was chairman of the Perak Overseas Chinese Distress Relief Fund and he gave cash aid to alleviate the wounded in the war zones in China.

A road in Ipoh and another in the Cameron Highlands were named after Sin Nam after his death.

Dr Leong said the ad-hoc committee for the Dr Sun Yat Sen exhibition wished to receive assistance from Perakians who have information, pictures and family links with the Chinese Revolution. He can be contacted at 05-2556302