We were to gather together for a small reunion in Sibu with Miss Ida Mamora, Mrs. Wong Bing Sing, and Mrs Kwang Ik Ung. Probably we would have 2 tables at a restaurant and that was our informal plan.
We went over many photos at Miss Ida's house to look for photos which may help us remember more.
We always enjoy going to her house in Brooke Drive, have coffee and eat sweet local cakes. And if we over stay we can always get some take away from Rajang Park.
As I write this post I remember how it was like in those days long ago..looking a photo albums. It was one of our favourite things to do when we visited elders.
And Miss Ida has many photo albums which we can really pour over, again and again. Besides she has a good memory of all the teachers who have taught in the school. She herself was a student in the early years. Her most famous school mate is Madam Luk Dai Hee.
2018 is a year of just ordinary lives, ordinary stories and ordinary teacher and student events.
One of the teachers we remember is Mrs. Chih who taught us Science in Form One, 1962. Miss Ida herself had just come back from the USA with a degree and her Home Science Room was just next to my Form One A classroom. From our class, we could smell the aroma of biscuits and cakes most mornings. Hence we could be quite distracted.
I remember Mrs Chih vividly because she was extra ordinary. She was a driver of her own car and she would come early in the morning to the school. I remember she was never late.
She had come from Shanghai and she was held in awe by every one in the school. Besides we were told that her husband was a very senior Government Officer (Information Officer).
1962 was also a year when I first became a Secondary School student, and it was the year when we had to wear school uniforms.
Wearing a school uniform gave us a mark of identity. The blue skirt for the girls was a very practical colour which occasionally hid the stains from our monthly period!! Miss Ida remembers that, as many girls had to go to her Home Science room to wash off the stains and change their pads (at ten cents a piece).
However when we looked at teacher's outfits we were impressed by what Mrs. Chih wore. When teaching she wore a white blouse with a nice floral skirt. for school occasions she wore cheong sams which were remarkably elegant and probably very expensive.
Our other Chinese teachers like Mrs. Deng, Miss Wong and Miss Hii wore cheong sams to teach.
These three Chinese ladies had told us that teachers in China wore cheong sams because it was classic and a traditional befitting wear. - a mark of a high standing professional. I remember that. But not every one had the figure to wear cheong sams.
Mrs. Chih was good in class and no one dared to misbehave. She was really very charismatic.
Now that I think back to those days, she actually did not smile very much. But we could see that she was very kind hearted from the way she marked our exam papers. She would always leave some kind words like, "You have improved!" "Always try your best!" "Please try harder!"
And when she told our class she was leaving Sibu, almost every one cried. We had a good science teacher who opened our eyes to a brand new world. And she was a grand Shanghai lady.
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