Memories are made of this

It was 1978, and I have just arrived from Alor Setar from Iskandar School where I was there for 2 years, in standard 2 and 3. Sekolah Rendah (J) Kebangsaan Air Panas in Setapak was chosen to continue my primary education. I was placed in 4 Marikh, where I made many friends. For most of us, we were 9-year-olds turning 10. I then went on to 5 Kejora and then 6 Kejora.

Fast forward to 2023, 45 years later, a group of school mates decided to arrange for almost an impromptu gathering generously sponsored by some of the school mates. We had it at an establishment in Setapak owned by another school mate. We had it at Kedai Makan First Khalifah at Lorong Chow Thye.

Kedai Makan First Khalifah - Google Maps

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He has been here since the early 2000. And the food is great. We had chicken beriani, mutton curry, fish head curry and it was delicious. I even broke my little rule to celebrate this little reunion.

I was most surprised by the turnout, for something that was almost impromptu. Our school was a small school and we had 4 classes, Kejora (Venus), Marikh, (Mars), Neptune and Pluto. Yes, it was named after the planets. And overall, on average there was around 40 students per class. Therefore, assume in total that there's just over 150 students. With 30 people turning up that's over 20% of us, and everyone had a wonderful time. Of course, some of us had to reintroduce ourselves, it's been 45 years after all.

Some of us are still recognisable, while others have changed. We started with remembering our schoolmates and classmates that have passed on. What is simply wonderful was that we met when we were mere children, some of them even knew one another from kindergarten. And people like me moved to a different school and then proceeded with life. Some were in the same school, so it was easier to stay in touch. Therefore, to me, it was absolutely amazing that after all these years, in our mid 50s, we are still able to remain in touch all these years. Of course, it is thanks to socmed like WhatsApp and Facebook, but also testament to our own resolve to remain in touch after all these years.

We do hope that we can entice more to come the next time we gather. Getting another 30 will be great. We hope that this will mean more things as we grow old together, taking care of each other. I have my other reunions from my secondary school, college and university. But this is different. This seems more meaningful because we kept in touch from when we were children. I was 9 turning 10 and now I am 54 going 55. It seems incredible.

The students of SRK Jalan Air Panas is as innovative as ever. They managed to organise a lucky draw, invited a photographer to capture our memories, a great menu, it was a brilliant day. It all ended as the heavens opened up with a heavy downpour.

Many of us didn't want the day to end and were reluctant to go home, but we had our own things to do, own lives to lead, so that was it, a great day. Creating another memory, reacquainting with old friends. When life was that much simpler.

Here I am back in Putrajaya having a big smile on my face as I looked at the photos and watched the videos taken of yesterday. Yes everyone, this is Malaysia, and we are Malaysians. We didn't see ourselves as Indian, Chinese or Malay, just as classmates and schoolmates from Sekolah Rendah Kebangsaan Jalan Air Panas.