CY@CY Says Welcome to my dreamscape. Where a Lim is also a Ling.
It was 1970. Thirty seven students from St Augustine’s Primary School and Council Town School were placed in Form One B at Kai Chung Middle School with Ms Constance Yii Mei Ho as the form teacher.
The class was as a mirthful bunch, earning the dubious reputation as the noisiest class in the school that year. There were of course several quiet students like Kimberly Chew Yaw Kim, Siong Choi Fung, Ling Siew Hung, Wong Chu Ngiik, Wong Soon Ping and yours truly. Our class often erupted into boisterous behaviour when there was no teacher in the class. As all the students in the class were from English-medium primary schools, the reputation of our class gave rise to the perception that students from English-medium schools were less well-behaved.
Do you still remember those pencil sharpeners that come with a small round mirror? I remember some classmates making use of such sharpeners for a very naughty purpose. We had a teacher by the name of Miss Lo who used to wear short mini-skirts to school. These classmates would leave the sharpeners on the floor by their desks with the mirror facing upwards. Whenever Miss Lo walked past them, they would glance at the mirror of the sharpeners to see what was the colour of the pantie Miss Lo was wearing. That was how naughty they were!
Joan Didion once said that writers are always selling somebody out. Few things inhibit our writing more than worrying about someone’s reaction to our portrayal of them. I hope that my portrayal of my classmates in this article will not offend any of them. When we were young, we often did things that we regret when we grow older. Almost all of us are guilty of this. We were young and often acted with mischief.
Anna Lau Yien Hong
Anna was one of the top students in the class. Unfortunately for Kai Chung, she (and Mary Hii) left Kai Chung during the first month of Form 4 due to issues with one of our teachers nicknamed Amoeba Wong. None of my classmates are in contact with her and we hear from her family that she has been living in USA for the past few decades. Attempts to contact her through emails have failed.
Jenny Lim Mei Siang
Mei Siang stayed at No.15 Wharf Road during her time in Bintangor where her father operated a grocery shop. She is now living in Kuching with her husband Peter Wong who is also one of my Form 1 classmates. She is also the cousin of Kimberly Chew Yaw Kim and Lynn Chew Yaw Leng, two of my Form 1 classmates. Her dad was probably my dad’s best friend.
Kimberly Chew Yaw Kim
Kimberly was one of the quietest girls in the class and is the sister of Lynn Chew Yaw Leng. She is now working in Kuching. When I contacted her about my preparation for this article, she shared with me that during her Form One, she was fascinated by the multi-colour tissue paper used by Mdm Chiew, our History teacher. At that time, the only tissue paper that was available in Binatang were all white in colour.
Grace Ling Poh Choo
From a very humble background, Grace is now a successful businesswoman based in Sibu. During her Kai Chung days, she was regarded as one of the prettiest girls in the class. She is now a grandma!.
Siong Choi Fung
Choi Fung was another quiet girl but was also one of the smartest. She left Kai Chung for St Elizabeth in Sibu during the first month of Form 4 due to her poor health as her parents felt that she could get better medical care in Sibu. I always remember her as a very helpful, caring and kind person. That she ended up being a nurse comes as no surprise to me as I feel that her personality and temperament are very well suited for the nursing profession. She has been working as a nurse in Australia for the past two decades.
Ong Yuen Ming
Yuen Ming lived in the same row of shophouses as me during our Kai Chung days. I remember her as one of the most vocal girls in our class. She has been a teacher for the past few decades and is now residing in Kuching and is a grandma. I bet not many of you know that I am Yuen Ming’s uncle. I am not trying to pull your legs. Yuen Ming’s mum and I are cousins. Yuen Ming is now also a grandma.
Annie Tiong Siew Hee
Annie was our “mean” (according to Joseph Ting) class monitor. Joseph is trying to tease you, Annie, so don’t feel bad. I guess Annie was appointed the class monitor because of her height as she seemed to tower above most of her classmates during our Form 1 days. She was a very active girl during her Kai Chung days and she is STILL a very active lady now in Miri where she runs a coffeeshop. You can see how active she is by looking at her Facebook account, haha!
Mary Hii Moi Ling
Mary was another top student of the class. She was a very articulate person. She left Kai Chung for Sekolah Tinggi in Sarikei during the first month of Form 4 after having issues with Amoeba Wong. It was a loss to Kai Chung as she was an excellent student. We both ended up at Kolej Tun Datuk Tuanku Haji Bujang in Miri to do our Form Six but she left for Australia after completing Lower Six.
Mary has been practicing as a dentist in Australia for the past couple of decades. She is married to Desmond Wong, a college mate of ours at Kojej Tun Datuk Pattingi Haji Bujang. They have 3 daughters and one son.
Ling Siew Hung
Siew Hung was another quiet and well-behaved girl in our class. Her parents operated a coffeeshop in front of the Eastern Theatre. She is attached to JKR in Sibu.
Lynn Chew Yaw Leng
Ah Leng was the more outgoing of the two Chew sisters in our class, the other being Kimberly Chew. I think their family is the only Heng Hua that I know of in Bintangor but I might be wrong. Her dad was a successful businessman known to us as Uncle Ah Kui.
Richard Teo Chai Seng
Ah Seng was a good friend of mine and his dad operated his business in a shop in the same row of shophouses as my dad’s shop. I remember him as a naughty boy and there was a story circulating around about his “conquest” (sorry I cannot go into specifics, haha!) Ah Seng passed away several years ago after being bedridden for years because of a stroke. God bless his soul.
Robert Tiong Yong Hoe
Robert Tiong was probably the most notorious student in the class who used to get into trouble with the teachers. He was sort of like a gang leader. But I never had any problem with him as he did not disturb quiet boys like me, haha! I heard that he is currently doing business in Singapore.
Peter Law Ung Kai
He is the guy with the darkest complexion in the class. If he had been a girl, we would probably give him the nickname “Hitam Manis” as he also loved to smile but that nickname had been bestowed on our form teacher Miss Yii. Did you know that when he got married, he used a helicopter to fetch his wife from her house in Simmangang on the wedding day?
Peter Wong Kiun Ming
Peter was a good basketball player in those days. He and Jenny Lim became an item during our Kai Chung days and eventually got married. They are now based in Kuching.
Lucas Luk Chong King
Lucas used to apply a lot of haircream on his hair as you can see from the class photo. In those days, I doubt there were hair styling gel but I know Tancho was very popular in those days. Maybe that was what Lucas used for styling his hair. Lucas is now a contractor in Miri but if you meet him, I think you may fail to recognize him as his size has ballooned a lot.
Linda Lau Hie Ing
I am sorry that I cannot recall much about Linda apart from the fact that she was one of the shortest girls in the class. She is still residing in Bintangor.
Lee Poi Ling
She had a dark complexion and was good in athletics. I have no idea where she is now.
Wong Chu Ngiik
Chu Ngiik was probably the quietest girl in the class so little is known about her. She was a hardworking student who kept pretty much to herself. It is sad that she left this world many many years ago from some illness.
Ting Tiew Huong
Tiew Huong stayed in the same shophouse as William Ngu. My memory of her is rather vague though I remember her as an active girl in school. If I am not mistaken, she is residing in Sarikei now.
Wee Thiam Huat
Ah Huat is another guy with a dark complexion. I seem to recall that he had a mole somewhere on his face. Can anyone confirm that? He is attached to the Customs Dept in Kuching.
Thomas Cheu Kuok Tuh
Thomas was truly the most outstanding student in the class who not only excelled in his studies but also in sports too. He almost seemed to have a monopoly on the top position of the class during Form One to Form Three though Anna Lau and Mary Hii may had beaten him on one or two occasions. He left for St Thomas in Kuching after Form Three and went on to become a national volleyball player. He is a very successful doctor in Miri and is also a grandpa now.
Tang Tung Ann
Tung Ann was another classmate hailing from Sg Siang. He had a bigger physique than most of the other boys in the class.
Hii Sie Ming
Sie Ming was a good friend of mine who loved watching movies and was a frequent patron of Eastern Theatre. He was also a hardworking fellow who sold ice cream after school hours. Unfortunately he passed away many years ago and it is such a pity that I never had the chance to meet him again after our Kai Chung days.
Francis Tu Tuong Ung
Being a quiet student, I never mixed with Francis Tu who was one of the naughtiest boys in the class. He together with Robert Tiong and Kah Ping were often up to some mischiefs in the class and after school. He was one of the tallest boys in our class which probably gave him an advantage in basketball which he was good in. I heard he is residing in Binutulu.
William Ngu Ngie Kiong
William has always been a good friend of mine. He was a hardworking student who had to help out in his brother’s stationery shop (Good Companion Bookstore) after his school hours. He has been working as a government servant in Halifax, Canada, for the past three decades or so. I envy him for being a Berkshire Hathaway shareholder who has attended a few Berkshire Hathaway annual general meetings and been in the same room as Warren Buffet!
Michael Jimbai
Michael was a close childhood friend and we stayed in the same row of shophouses in Binatang. His family name was the butt of a lot of nasty jokes as it sounded like a part of the female anatomy in Hokkien. Michael and I got caned by Chen Ling Mei during one morning assembly after being caught by her carrying Michael on my bicycle one afternoon when we went to the school for extra-curricular activities. I heard that Michael is probably in Johor Bahru.
Wong Soon Ping
Soon Ping was another quiet person hailing from Sungei Siang. He is operating a business selling shoes and bags in Miri. Feel like meeting him? Go to the small corner shop beneath the Chinese Chamber of Commerce office in Miri.
Joseph Ting Siew Ping
Joseph used to be very active in the Boys’ Brigade. After our Kai Chung days, I did not meet him until about 2 years ago. I was having lunch with my brother Chin Tian at a coffeeshop in Miri when Joseph walked past with his wife. He retraced his steps and asked my brother whether he was Mr Lim who used to teach at Kai Chung. I did not recognize Joseph at first but when my brother asked him for his name and he replied “Joseph Ting”, I immediately knew he was my classmate Joseph Ting . He is attached to a Shin Yang company (no big surprise there when we are talking about employment in Miri).
Tang Liing Yiew
Ah Yiew was one of my good friends at Kai Chung. I don’t know why but he was the target of bullying by some classmates. After school, he had to help out in his brother’s shop and deliver newspaper to his brother’s customers. He has been happily married to Ling Sui Chung (a Kai Chung student too) for decades and is already a grandpa.
Lee Kian Hui
Kian Hui was another naughty boy who used to sit behind me and occasionally liked to disturb me. I remember visiting Bintangor about 2 decades ago and I happened to meet him. Though he was working that day, he spent almost half the day with me. He was working for the District Council in Bintangor then and he said that it was okay. Sadly he passed away many years ago.
Lawrence Ling
Lawrence was probably the best artist in our class. I used to admire his water colour paintings. As he lived just a few shops away from my dad’s shop, we were childhood friends. Sadly Lawrence succumbed to cancer in 2011 in Canada.
Wong Hin Yong
Hin Yong is another childhood friend with whom I sometimes played marbles when I was a kid. His parents operated a coffeshop where I used to go and buy “tiam bian gu” ( a Foochow dish). I have never met him after Kai Chung though I heard he is probably in Sibu.
Kong Nien Chin
Neng Chin earned himself the nickname of Sakai when he pronounced “I have never seen an elephant” as “I have never seen an aeroplane” during an English class. His family used to operate a business selling kompians and other delicacies. Neng Chin is currently working in West Malaysia.
Thomas Ling Leong Wong
Thomas was one of the shortest (together with me) in the class. But his small size belied his naughtiness. I can still remember him often bullying Tang Liing Yiew in those days. Thomas’ height suddenly shot up when he was in Form 6 and he is now one of the tallest among our form one classmates. And he is also a very successful businessman in Limbang where he has been based for the past few decades.
Daniel Kueh Kien Chai
Like me, Daniel was one of the shorties of the class. He loved singing and always represented our class in our school’s singing competitions. Despite coming from an English-medium primary school, he could sing Mandarin songs too. If I am mistaken, one of his favourite Chinese singers was Wang Chin Yuen. He used to idolize Donny Osmond and Donny’s hit “Puppy Love” was a song that Daniel loved to sing. He got into a relationship with Elizabeth Loi during his Kai Chung days and most of us thought it was just a case of puppy love. How wrong we were! Daniel ended up marrying Elizabeth and the two have been happily married for decades!
Lim Chin Yong
Yours truly was one of the shortest boys in the class and definitely the quietest. I was so shy that I did not even dare to talk to the girls in the class. When I managed to contact Ms Constance Yii a couple of years ago, the first question she asked me was whether I was still as lovable as before. I asked her what she meant by that and she said that she remembered that I would blush whenever she talked to me when she was my form teacher. That was how shy I was!
Tang Kah Ping
Kah Ping was another naughty boy of the class. He, Robert Tiong and Francis Tu were like the three musketeers, ganging up to cause mischief. I remember my brother Chin Kiong chasing him around the school compound during our Form Two when my brother was our temporary History teacher. Kah Ping has been based in Miri for the past couple of decades. During Choi Fung’s visit to Miri a couple of years ago, we dropped by Kah Ping’s house and we were happy to see that he is a much-changed person and doing well.
I apologise for not being able to write much on many of my classmates as my memory is rather vague now. If any of my Form One classmates can remember any interesting stories, please let me know so that I can add those stories to this blog post.
On behalf of my Form One classmates, I wish to extend our gratitude to MIss Constance Yii for being such a good Form Teacher…you were our Hitam Manis teacher and will always be!