Thank You, Sir!

On one morning of early January during the LCE year in 1965, the whole class went dead silent. We were waiting for the arrival of  the legendary Mr. Krishnasamy, the most fearsome Maths teacher in the world!

We had already known about his unique style of teaching during our earlier years but I in particular was not very bothered by it, simply because I never like mathematics and never got marks beyond 25%.


His sudden appearance at the entrance of our Form 3A class made us all look like our National Monuments.  His first sermon was that we had to prepare ourselves the Time Tables.  We are to memorize the 2 time table till the 20 time table ( i.e 2×2 =4..to..20×20=400) and he will be asking as spot questions at any time during his class. It was a momentous task for me as I have never memorized anything beyond the 2 time table.

The following day, Mr Krishnasamy would just point out his index finger randomly at us and ask  “16 x 17″.  The first victim whose name I won’t mention. stood up with a blank stare.  No words came out of his mouth except for a spurt of “ayak!”.  Mr Krishnasamy’s fat knuckles just fell on his skull.  The rest of us felt like peeing in our short pants. I don’t really know about the girls. :)   There were times we had thought of placing thumb tacks on our head!

For the whole of that week, there was no football at Speedy Road padang for me. No bicycle ride in town. Imagine I have to sacrifice my evening rides with my usual cycling partner, Kien Lee.  Bicycle rides are important to us in those days because it was the only way to steal glances of the girls at their homes.  Day and night, at home I would spend time drilling and straining my left brain, just to avoid the knuckles.

Then came one unfortunate day.  His index finger pointed at me and asked me “17 x17″.  My blood rushed to my feet and not a drop in the head.  I just could not give an answer at that moment because my mind went blank.  I must have been overwhelmed by fear. I could see the knuckles coming and I couldn’t do anything about it.  He stared at me through his round black rimmed spectacles and said, ” Your father was my teacher!” .  In my mind then, I thought my dad must have had given him a hard time. And was this his sweet revenge?  His knuckles met my cranial bones. The excruciating pain made me able to remember better.  Do you think I dare to tell dad that I had the knuckles?  Do you know what will happen?  Dad would unhesitatingly give me another one!  That was the order of the day.  Unlike in recent time we do hear teachers being sued by prominent lawyers. Students and parents of yester-years were indeed so much different from what you find nowadays.

Our maths book was the green hard cover entitled Durell’s Mathematics Book 3.  Mine was a worn out one, which was handed down from Othman, my brother.  Then came the time of memorizing of  mathematical Theorems.  The drilling was the same.  If you forget, the knuckles will make you remember….forever!

Mr Krishnasamy would also hold saturday classes for technical drawings.  It was held at the canteen. He did it out of sincerity of the highest level. He genuinely wanted us to excel in our studies. I don't think he was paid for the extra work done.

What good had Mr Krishnasamy done to us?  You be the judge.  I, who never pass beyond the 25% mark in Form 1 and Form 2, got an A for LCE, the Lower Certificate of Education.   Now, it’s time for the red hard cover Durells Mathematis Book IV.

All I can say to Mr Krishnasamy is ” THANK YOU, SIR!”

Going To The Upper School

When we were Anak Ansonians in the lower school ( pupils of Anglo Chinese Primary School are refered as Anak Ansonian) we use to admire those seniors in the upper school. Especially so when we see them carrying hard covered text books like the Durell’s Mathematic and the Geography For Today. Wow! Such thick heavy books. Make you look so learned!  Our books were thin paperbacks which normally would have its covers detached from the main book in the 2nd term.  I refer this particularly to the MPH readers.  This is the book we use to act out a play from its scripts.  Just like in the Hollywood, I suppose! :)

We were exposed to the upper school when we had to go there for sports practices.  It was a long march from Anson Road going through Canal Road and then just short of Innes Road, we turned into the upper school via the back entrance.  On the right are the school gardener’s quarters.  On the far left was a caged like structure covered by chain-link fencing.  We never knew what it was for.  Later when we were admitted into the upper school we found out that it was for a funny game called cricket! I then did play for the school’s 1st & 2nd XI team. :)

From the back entrance, the view of the upper school was spectacular. The football field looks so huge. It looked huge maybe because I was just 4 feet 4inches tall!  And there were the classrooms at the far end, beyond the field. On the far left was the woodwork shop commandeered by Mr Krishnasamy.  On the left was the tuckshop where the Wong’s family was the anchor tenant.  That building also houses the store for the gymnastic equipment and facing it were the table tennis tables.  On the right was a new double storey blue coloured building.  It houses Form 4s and Form5s and on the ground floor was En Ahmad’s domain – his Chemistry and Physics Lab.  Everybody knows him as he was the only Lab Assistant.  Students come and go. He was there through thick and thin and had live to serve several principals.

After the end of the 3rd term school holidays, it was time to go to the upper school. Of course to be selected to go there one had to pass the Secondary School Entrance Examination which was usually referred to as the Std 6 Exam.  An intelligence test was part of the examination.  So I guess, we must have been intelligent to be able to go to Form 1 in the upper school. In the first week of 1963 we were not school children anymore!

1963: Our class teacher was Miss Hwa Mei Chee. Where ever you are, teacher...Thank you!

Seated: Woo Chee Yan, Chua Tiong Thor, Sagadeva, Napsiah Omar, Poh?, Miss Hwa Mei Chee, ?, Quah Chai Peng, Kuan Peng Khong, Francis?, Lian Chin Hoe.



Middle Row: ?, Aziz Tahir, Wong?, Zahari, S.Muniandy, ?,?, Akmal Hisham, ?, ?, Cheah?, Hooi?, ?,

Last Row: Ong Pit Teik, Sahar, Hashim, ?, Woo Chee Seng, ?, Yusof, ?, James Bond, Ong Beng Tiong, ?, ?, Azhari, Ong Beng Chye.

Looks like I couldn't remember all. Well, that was 50 years ago! If anybody can remember, please comment so that I could make the necessary corrections.

Akela! We Will Do Our Best!

Our Akela shouted, “Paaaacccckkk…..pack…pack…pack…pack!”.  After all these years, I could still remember his voice and intonations, his enthusiasm and above all his dedication to teach us living skills.

We would run to form a circle.  We then squatted in a circle with our index and fore finger touching the ground and Akela stand upright in the middle. We shouted with all our might: ” Akela, we will do our best.”  Then we would jump and stand tall with our index and fore finger placed against our temple, and the person that faces Akela would say, ” Dip, dip, dip dip.”. We then end the ritual with the our salutation, saying “Dop, dop, dop,dop”.

That’s how we begin our weekly Cub’s meeting at the padang beside our school on Thursdays at 4.30pm.

Standing (L) : Mr Ong Tit Hoe (Akela) Standing (R): Miss Lee (Baghira).  Seated (middle row from L-R) ?, Lian Chin Chew, Hashim Kamal, ?, Woon Tong Boo,?,?

Akela was the macho Mr Ong Tit Hoe in his Akela uniform and Baghira was our beautiful Miss Lee in her stunning dark green uniform with her green beret always slightly sengget! :)

I had always looked forward to this meetings as only then I could proudly wear the Cub’s uniform – a short sleeved grey khaki shirt designed not for tugged in, brown rubber shoes with socks, a neckerchief colored blue and yellow (the colors of ACS) and crowned by a green cap with golden yellow laces.

We spent our meeting days with all sort of games and camp fire songs.  It was all fun and laughter.  Above all we learned the true meaning of team work,  tolerance and respect.

Being a Cub was for only for 3 years. That is from Std 3 till Std 6. After that we had to resign automatically I suppose.  It was sad to leave the primary school but was excited to go to the upper school.

It is a kind of mixed feelings. Probably it is the first mixed feelings of our life.

Kampung Guru – An Overview In the 50s

My thoughts of Kampung Guru is still fresh in my mind.  I can’t help talking about Kg Guru because it has direct links to Anglo Chinese School as well as St Anthony and Convent in Teluk Anson.  Most of the teachers of ACS live in Kg Guru.  Their children grew up there. One way or the other, our childhood in Kg Guru did shaped our lives.

Kampung Guru in the early 50s

Kampung Guru is situated about 3 miles away from Teluk Anson town, along Changkat Jong Road.  Most noticeable landmark while travelling on a bus from town, was the Hup Soon Bus Depot on the left which use to be my marker for me to be ready to ring the bus bell, so that my 10 cents bus trip would stop right in front of the entrance of Kg. Guru.  From the rattling sliding window of the bus I use to enjoy watching the hundreds of pigeons, that would fly off from their pigeon shed built on a tall wooden pole.  It was simply fascinating to see them flutter their wings for a short flight.  I remember how Dad use to say about the birds there. He would say "Ornithological Species of Identical plumage tend to congregate in closer proximity" with a sneer.  I think he just wanted to show off his command of the English language. He could have just said “Birds of the same feathers flock together!”  Anyway, back then, Kg Guru was basically like that. It was multiracial community living harmoniously. This was what it was like in the 50s. It was the best of times free from any creative and innovative politician.

Impressively, Kg. Guru was the first Multi-racial Cooperative housing project in Malaya!  The idea was mooted by Mr William Edward Perera, the first principal of ACS just after the war.  He together with some teachers and ex teachers of various schools in Teluk Anson, formed the cooperative in 1952.  The Coop bought a piece of rubber plantation and built Kg. Guru.  That was how it all began.

In 1953, we moved from our bookshop house in Anson Road which our family had lived since dad established his bookshop in 1925, to our banglow at No 9, Kg Guru. It was a start of our new life living in a kampong of brick bungalows with its unique round windows in a spatial landscape of greenery without fences.

I was 3 then, and we had just celebrated the coronation of Queen Elizabeth where the whole town was beautifully decorated with the Union Jacks, buntings, flags of red white and blue.  There were “God Save the Queen” everywhere. No wonder she is well saved. It must be the prayers of her subjects throughout her empire where the sun never set.

My neighbor on my right was Mr Leow Say Ying, my Oral English teacher when I was in Form 1 (His children Leow Shing Onn, Quee Onn, Chee Onn, Kam Leng and a few more I can’t remember).  On my left was the Lim family ( Lim Chong Eng, Lim Chong Huat and Molly Lim).

Talking of Mr Leow, I can never forget the day how Mercury, Leow Shing Onn’s dog bit my ear.  I was about 4 then. I must have yelled so loud and made the dog run for it’s life.  Anyway, I think the whole neighborhood rushed me to hospital. That was my first anti tetanus shot and it was more painful than the dog bite!

I Am My Mom's Birthday Present

My mom, Mary Lee

On the morning of 21st September 1950, Majimeen Abdullah (Mary Lee) gave birth to a 7 months premature baby in a shop-house at 77, Anson Road.  Me, the 6th child in the family. It was on her birthday that I was born. I was her perfect birthday present!

How thrilled my dad, Cikgu Samad must have been.  Probably, that morning he did not open his bookshop (SAMAD’s – the shop that’s different – established in 1925).

I remember mummy use to mention the name of the midwife, Mama Goh also a Straits born lady, who lived in Canal Road, a stone’s throw from our house.  I was then covered in pure butter, “Polar Bear” brand that comes in a round tin can.  Refrigerator did not exist then.  That was what that kept me alive, I suppose.  Butter was used to keep me warm as there was no such thing as an incubator.  I was so tiny and weighed about 3 lbs (pounds). That’s the weight of 3 loaves of local bread!

Mummy had never stop telling me that my hairy characteristics was due the butter treatment I received as a baby. I have been looking all over for the photo taken on the day I was born. I found these instead.

On my 1st Anniversary

 

My 2nd Anniversary

Mummy said I wasn’t able to walk till I was 3 years old. This must be due to my premature status.  Everyday, she would to bring me to the open field in the early hours of the morning to wipe my legs with the fresh morning dew.  This treatment must have made my legs now to be as strong as the kangaroo.

Every Thursday she would read to me my favorite comic "The Eagle". Here was where I met Dan Dare.

On  every 21st September we never miss to wish Happy Birthday to each other. On 21st September 1988 I had the loneliest birthday. She died on 18th June 1988.

A Brief History of ACS, Teluk Anson

With only 45 pupils in a wooden shack with thatched attap roof  located at Anson Road (the present primary school), our school came to existence.

The year was 1899 and the name of the school was Goverment Tamil School.  In 1901, Rev. N. Paul introduced the English language and the school was renamed Anglo Tamil School.  In 1905, Rev. W.E. Horley took over the administration of all the Methodist schools.

 A bigger building was built to replace the wooden shack and the school was renamed Anglo Chinese School, Teluk Anson.

The principal in 1914 was Mr Augustine and was replaced by Rev. Jesudason in 1917 and Rev. M.E. Jones in 1918. In 1919, Rev. S.S. Pakianathan became the principal and had transform the school into a “Grant-in-Aid Institution”.  In 1922, students took the Cambridge School Certificate for the first time.  It must have been an exciting year!

In 1924, the old building was demolished and replaced with a double storey building complete with an assembly hall.

Rev. R. Doraisamy became the principal in 1926 and with the assistance of Mr. K.N.O.C.V.  Vellayappa 5 additional classroom was built.

.............to be continued

A Brief History Of Teluk Anson

Teluk Anson is now known as Teluk Intan.  It changed its name when Abdul Samad bin Ibrahim made a suggestion to the Raja Muda during an his Octegenarian Celebration (his 80th Birthday bash) organised by the Horley Methodist School (fomerly known as Anglo Chinese School) on the 15th March 1980.  Somehow, I have always liked the name Teluk Anson.

Teluk Intan is a town located in the state of Perak in Malaysia. It is the largest town in Hilir Perak district and third largest town in the state of Perak with an estimated population of around 120,000, about half of Hilir Perak district’s total population (232,900). Teluk Intan is the district capital of Hilir Perak district.

In the early days, the town was known as Teluk Mak Intan, after a female Mandailing trader. It was here that the Perak rulers held court from 1528 until Kuala Kangsar became the royal town in 1877.

During the British protectorate era, the named was changed to Teluk Anson (Anson Bay), in honour of a British Officer and last Lieutenant-Governor of Penang, Major-General Sir Archibald Edward Harbord Anson who drew the plan of the modern township in 1882.

In 1982 during the centenary of the town’s establishment, the name was changed again to Teluk Intan (Diamond Bay) by the Sultan of Perak. Leaning Tower of Teluk Intan is one of the town attractions. The town has a number of colonial buildings and Chinese shophouses together with modern buildings, few shopping complexes and a modern cinema.

The town was founded on the river bank of the Perak River. The river forms an oxbow meander as it flows through the town, and the town is built around the oxbow. During high-tides, some parts of the town will be flooded with water even though there are watergates and banks to protect the town. Various measures taken by the government to solve the problem have seen relatively few floods in Teluk Intan nowadays. There has been speculation that the river’s flow will erode the narrow neck of land in between the loops of the meander effectively turning Teluk Intan into an island.

The town is on Malaysia Federal Route 58 (Jalan Changkat Jong and Jalan Maharaja Lela), 151 (Jalan Sultan Abdullah) and 147 (Jalan Padang Tembak).

The area around Teluk Intan was originally populated by refugees from the Malacca Sultanate who were part of the entourage of the Raja Muzaffar Shah, the eldest son of the last Sultan of Melaka, Sultan Mahmud Shah. Upon fleeing the Portuguese conquest of Melaka in 1511, a new kingdom was established on the banks of the Perak River near what is now Teluk Intan, and the court remained there until its relocation to Kuala Kangsar in the northern part of the state later in the 19th century.

This legacy can be seen in the choice of Teluk Intan as the location where the official residences of the Raja Muda (Crown Prince) and Raja di Hilir (4th in line of succession to the Perak throne) of Perak under the reign of Sultan Idris Shah. The town is one of four towns that play a role in Perak’s complex ruler succession system. According to the system, a crown prince stayed at Teluk Intan Palace before entering the next stage of becoming Raja Bendahara (Prime Prince). Only after becoming Raja Bendahara will he proceed to be Raja Muda (Crown Prince) and then Sultan of Perak.

This succession system was changed by the present Sultan, Sultan Azlan Shah just before he was appointed the Yang Dipertuan Agong. His son is now Raja Muda and does not live in Teluk Intan. The former palace is located just outside the town, and has fallen into disrepair.

The town of Teluk Intan developed around a few small villages in the location, such as Durian Sebatang, Pasir Bedamar, and Batak Rabit. A plan to build a township linking the few villages was drawn up by Sir Archibald Anson during the late 19th century, and the township was named after him in 1882. Teluk Intan developed into a port, and many agricultural products and tin were exported from it. The fourth railway track in Malaya was built connecting Tapah and Teluk Intan, showing the port town’s importance during the British protectorate age.

Teluk Intan was also home to the meeting between Raja Abdullah, Dato’ Maharajalela and other Malay chieftains who plotted to kill J. W. W. Birch, the first British Resident of Perak. The meeting was held in Durian Sebatang. Birch was later killed in Pasir Salak while bathing in the river.

The last major engagement during the Malayan Emergency was fought in the marshes near Teluk Intan in 1958, and ended with the surrender of the local Malayan Races Liberation Army forces to government forces.

By the early 1980s the town was the third largest town in Perak. Teluk Intan served as the major administrative and business settlement for smaller neighbouring towns such as Tapah, Bidor, Bagan Datoh and Hutan Melintang. Until the mid-1990s Sabak Bernam, a town in the neighbouring state of Selangor, also dependeded on Teluk Intan for most of their basic services. Even their telephone area code was registered using Perak’s area code of +605 instead of +603 that is used in Selangor. Acute medical cases would be transferred to Teluk Intan Hospital as their hospital did not have the equipment or expertise.

As the Perak River became shallower each year due to upstream erosion and silt deposition near Teluk Intan, the town lost its two most important roles in Perak’s economy which was being an export harbour for tin and rubber and as a petroleum distribution centre for Shell Malaysia. This is because big oil tankers and cargo ships were no longer able to sail into the town’s port. By the end of the 1980s, Shell Malaysia transferred their petroleum storing facilities to the coastal town of Lumut in Manjung, located 60 km from Teluk Intan. As the economic activity declined, it also lost its railway facilities which connected the town with Tapah and the national railway network.

During the 1990s, economic activities in Teluk Intan continued to decline. This situation forced the younger generation to migrate to bigger cities such as Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur, Klang and Shah Alam in search of better jobs. Ironically this caused the town to suffer a shortage in labour supply especially in the agriculture sector, resulting in an increase of migrant workers from Indonesia and Bangladesh.

With the development of a new town centre along with the completion of new coastal highway from Klang to Sabak Bernam in late 1999, Teluk Intan began to enjoy a resurgence in its economic activity. In April 2004, the town was made the fourth municipality (having upgraded to Municipal Council status, or Majlis Perbandaran) in Perak after Ipoh, Taiping and Manjung.