Saturday, July 11, 2009

CLASS OF 85-87

The flyer which was sent to me. I immediately said yes!


A BSS staff photo. Thanks Fendy for this!
From each His Best is the school motto.

The reunion t-shirt. I love it. With Affandi, the main organiser

Fendy as the chef of the day or the great eater of the day?

Linda and Sakinah

They came with their family members too!

BBQ chicken and prawn to whet your appetite

See...they have built their family after 25 years

Havng fun in one of the games played. Suria is behind


A trio of girls who have grown into matured women


Watching in the background at the thick of event


Both gentlemen must have realised the goodness of organsing such event


For good old time sake....


Any barrier? No I'm just like one of them


It was hugs and kisses when we met



Catching up with old times


It was great to be with you again, people!


Young boys who have grown to men and fathers

All wearing the reunion T-shirt


Getting together for the reunion


My body guards???? No...just my former students


Photaking was never ending....coz we love it girls!

The t-shirt which Fandi designed himself


Fendy and Linda met in BSS and got married after school


One more for the album and memory


Getting ready for the reunion



BENDEMEERIANS REUNITED
One of the schools I taught at was Bendemeer Secondary School from 1979-1985. I left the school after my marriage when I moved to Yishun to set up my matrimonial home.

I received another invitation for a reunion this June. My third one for such gathering; the second for BSS while there was one for Yishun Sec School two years ago. I obviously gave my attendance of presence to the organising committee with a big YES!.

These were my students of twenty over years ago. I must be there to see how they have grown and carved their life all this while. I reached Goldskist Beach Resort with a lot of anticipation and wondering whether I could match the names to the faces of my former students. Oh Boy! It was tough as many of them had truly changed and there was no way I could get a perfect score for this match-up game.

I was known as Ms Rahim back then at BSS. There were groups of ex-students around the chalet. Would I be recognised by them the minute I said Hello? All hell broke loose when they saw me approaching. It's just so strange that the students could recognise you ten miles away but it would take a teacher ( I am talking about myself here) a while to read and recognise those faces. Well, obviously I would not miss those who have coloured my life ten miles away though!
There were the compulsory greetings and questions; "Hi Miss Rahim", " You have not changed a bit", "How have you been?" and " Are you still teaching?". The questions came like an avalanche and almost choked me. I scanned for familiar faces. Could manage to guess a few faces right but I failed in identifying many of them. Not that I had forgotten them but they had changed so much that I was scared of guessing the wrong names. The timid, Innocent and naive teenaged faces I used to stare at were no longer there. I am now staring at confident, articulated and successful adults who told me proudly of what they were doing.
I was glad I came and met up with all of you. It was such a good feeling to be remembered by in this manner by your students. For one, it made me feel young again to be surrounded by the boundless energy you each exuded on that day.

So what's our next plan Bendemeerians? A car rally convoy to Malaysia? A Hari Raya gathering? You know how to contact me, right?
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I sent out a mail thanking my Bendemeer students.

Dear Bendemeerians

Thanks for that nostalgic trip down memory lane yesterday. Kudos to the organising commitee members and the backbone organiser Affandi who tracked me and dropped me the first mail last month regarding this reunion. The minute I read it, I wasted no time in endorsing my attendance with a big YES! Though it might seem difficult at times to organise such large scale gathering, but from each best comes the saying when there's a way, there's a will. Syabas again!

Had a wonderful time in meeting up with all of you, though had a difficult time trying to piece together the names and the faces together. My oh my.... all of you have changed (so have I - wrinkles, crinkles and all). The last time I remember about all of the guys was when you had your light blue shorts over those hairless pair of legs. Now I daren't see those legs cos I might not notice those spindly legs anymore. And the ladies....you all used to look so 'kuai-kuai' with very neat starched plastered hairstyle. Now all of you have blossomed from a bud to a bloom that enhances your surrounding. I could see that each of you stood proud of where you are now and I am glad to know that all of you have charted your own career so well and had grown into very confident and articulate ladies and gentlemen.

Nothing would make me more elated than to know that all of you have carved out your own niche in your life, career and family and have come out unscratched despite the many tumultuous moments you might have faced in your journey towards where you are now. The journey may not have ended, but from what I had observed yesterday, I have the confident and faith that more good things would come your way. You are still young - be self-driven to chase the moon, the stars and the sun. They are always there up in the sky. You need to make things happen to grab their attention! If you fall, the clouds are there to break the fall.

Thanks again for that lovely opportunity and meeting-up. All the huggings and kisses (with reference to the ladies only) have reminded me that there is actually no age-gap between us. That's what I love about teaching - the teacher 'zaps' the youth of their students to be at par with their current interests and way of thinking. I need to stay relevant. It's what that keeps me going...still going strongly and passionately despite being a teacher for the past thirty years. I hope you too would have the passion and the clear navigation to orientate the real directions to steer yourself to what you want to achieve and BE for the rest of your life!

Include me in your mailing list ok folks? Would gladly join all of you for any future line up of other Bendemeerian programmes you have in the pipeline. Insyallah.

BTW...can someone tell this dinosaur how to view the photos at your facebook. I am still at blogspotcom stage.....Very ulu and malu!!!!! Also miss the Indian rojak at our canteen. Used to look forward to eating it for recess.

Love
Mdm Azizah Bte Abdul Rahim aka Miss Rahim

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