CAN THE CLASS OF 72/73 FORM 6 JUST DO THE SAME?

Former students meet again in Batu Pahat 42 years after leaving

Saturday August 11, 2007

Former students meet again in Batu Pahat 42 years after leaving school

IT was the first real reunion after 42 years for Batu Pahat High School’s (now known as SMK Tinggi Batu Pahat) Class of 1965 and the air was vibrant with expectancy and excitement. The men were aged between 59 and 61 and most of them were from Batu Pahat. But some had flown in from London, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth while a number of them had travelled overland from places like Singapore, Penang, Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur and Johor Bahru to return to the small town of Batu Pahat. Although these men were of different races and now reside in a number of countries, and many of them had not met one another for over four decades, they all had one thing in common, a great desire to meet. Almost all of them were from the same batch that took the Senior Cambridge (SC) and Malaysia Certi-ficate of Education (MCE) Examina-tions in 1965. Some had left earlier for other towns when their parents went on transfer. Two attempts at holding reunions had been made earlier, but the turn-outs had been poor.

Together again: The class of 1965 of Batu Pahat High School pose for the camera at a reunion recently

This time, there was a difference. The majority of the men had just turned 60. There was a poignancy in the air and a realisation that there might not be any other reunions after this big one. The idea for the reunion celebration was born two years ago when some of the men met over dinner and decided to take up this challenge to organise the reunion. It took them nearly two years of painful detective work to find their classmates all over the world and the results were beyond expectation. The Internet was a tremendous blessing in the search for their classmates. The reunion was held at the Kate-rina Hotel, Batu Pahat. The theme was Celebrating Friendship while the theme song was Cliff Richard’s The Young Ones. About 60 men turned up and many brought their wives. A number of the old teachers were also present. The evening opened with a welcome speech by a committee member who said that, “We are all small town boys with small town joy.” Next the school captain addressed the audience and spoke of the wonderful days and the pleasant memories he had as a student in the school. Soon the 42 years that had gone by disappeared as poignant memories came flooding back. The people moved about freely renewing friendships and exchanging telephone numbers. There were some other speeches followed by dinner, and then the commemorative DVD was played to great excitement and laughter and brought the people present on a trip down memory lane. The success of the reunion was best epitomised by one former student who said: “I don't feel like eating anything; I just want to talk and talk, on and on