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School Meme

UPDATE : Click old class photos here

This was a surprise…I was happily reading on Nilesh’s smoking days during class and once I reached at the bottom, there it was – a tag for me. Talking about the school days however inspired me to “just do it”. Here it goes…one before the weekend

How many schools did I go to?

What do you know; I followed almost the same path with Sashi

Started in SRK La Salle Brickfields in 1980 (I remembered the year very clearly – I was in Standard One and one of the lessons for the day is shouting out the current year). It was all the way until Form 3 because the school’s highest level stopped at Form 3. After that, fellow “La Salleins” was scattered to other schools for Form 4.

A bulk of them including me joined a neighboring school, SMK Vivekananda. It was trying days for us – first it was a co-ed school which meant there was girls too (as I was saying very trying days for us), secondly we were moving towards SPM (form 5 – critical point in our school life) and finally the gangsterism in the school was high (I still recall that there will be a fight almost every Friday with the involvement of outsiders. It has toned down a lot these days)

Despite that, this was the best school that I ever attended – for one reason: I felt that I was just too good and was consistently passed with high marks.

After Form 5, it was time to move again – this time to SMK Methodist KL for my Form 6 studies. I did not fit well in the tradition and pace of education there – ended up being the class’ backward student, I did not complaint because it got pressure to do well off my back. I did well in some subjects – for others, I was dozing off in the classroom.

I barely made it through my STPM – I thought it was a sheer waste of time, all you need to do to memorise and you can answer do well in STPM. I rather wanted something where I am forced to think to answer. I got my wish when I enrolled in ATC for my Bachelor of Law. There, the rule of the game was – think to answer. I loved the whole 3 years when I was in ATC doing law – the girls were beautiful, the teachers were great and the subjects required good thinking.

Was I the studious nerd, or the last minute hero?

Due to the close “monitoring” by my parents, I was a studious nerd – no doubt about it. The only time I was last minute hero was when I was in Form 6. My parents trusted me enough to study hard which I did not do. In end, it was last work study, last minute handing up of assignments, last minute of everything.

Was I the class ‘taiko’ or the teacher’s pet?

I was neither…my classes had enough taikos and teacher’s pets. I and my friends were the backbenchers when it came to this.

What was the biggest rule I broke in school?

Being the “good” guy (ahem), there was no major rules that I broke when I was in school. The one that I remembered was…hold on, let me think…damn, nothing. Was I that perfect?

Oh wait, ok got one. There was a time I was bored in the Chemistry class, the teacher was not in, and so I started to draw some pictures on the table. The problem was the picture that I was drawing was a big as the table itself (the table in the lab was big – 6 of us shared one). Before I was caught (my classmates keep silent on the identity of the culprit), someone repainted all the tables – the evidence was “erased”.

Three subjects I enjoyed

Law
Pengajian Am
English

Don’t ask for details – sometimes it just depends on who is the teacher and who is the class with me.

Three teachers that inspired me

All from La Salle Brickfields and all from secondary school:-

Mr Anantha – My class teacher in Form 2. Funny guy and great mentor when we had personal problems
Master Lopez – The Senior Assistant when I was in Form 2. He inspired me on the beauty of English
Master Low – The class teacher in Form 1. He was also the “Sains Pertanian” teacher – very understanding and the guy who cleared away the cockroaches inside my desk after a great flood in my school (it was at a critical moment too – we were having our exams)

Also worth mentioning…

Dr Siva – The principal when I was in ATC (I remembered him when I watched Russell Peters). He inspired me on lateral thinking or was it on superb jokes that he often told in the case – whichever the case was, his classes was fun

I will pass “the baton” on to:-

Yvy (if she is not been tagged by now)
Project 8555 (this will be interesting to see)
Din (since 8555 been tagged, might as well tag the master)
Ganesh (just for fun)

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127 thoughts on “School Meme”

  1. I remember all the teachers that you mentioned here. It certainly brings back memories of my years in La Salle Brickfields!

  2. Your story definitely brings back many memories from my days at La Salle Brickfield’s. I’ve been searching the Internet for anything La Salle Brickfield’s but could not find anything substantial. Perhaps, we should get an Alumni site setup.

  3. My class teachers in La Salle Brickfields :-

    Form 1 – Miss Ng
    Form 2 – Mrs Hng
    Form 3 – Mr Yong

    The teacher whom I remember and admire till today is a Mrs Diana Yeoh…the teacher who had helped me pass my math exam!

  4. Balajoe….the joke she pulled on your class is hilarious…and I can imagine that smile on Mrs Diana’s face when you guys got so excited about P.E. I met Mr Annantha a few months ago at the pasar malam in bangsar. He is still teaching till today….and yes…will always remember him for his Sains Paduan classes in form 1.

    Teachers I remember….

    1. Mrs Fernandez – Art teacher (Form 1)
    2. Mr Low (Sains Pertanian Form 3)
    3. Mrs Khoo (Geography) Form 2
    4. Mrs Tan (Geography) Form 3

  5. Zainal – I still remember Mr Anantha asking the class what to buy for another teacher who just got married. One guy said “Burung, cikgu” and that was it was needed for Mr Anantha to crack a joke.

    Which year you were in Form 3?

  6. In form 3…..the year was 1986. And my class teacher was Mr Yong who passed away a few years ago. My headmaster was Encik Amari….he took over from David Koay. And Joseph Lopez was senior assistant at the time who always came in his sunglasses at morning assembly…haha….amazing that I can remember all this after all these years!

  7. 1986? Hmmm, I was in form 3 in 1988 and I know one Zainal – Zainal Zakaria.

    Ya, who can forget Master Lopez with his pianaca for the Monday’s Negaraku singing with the raising of the flag too. One time, the flag came down instead of up and some guys laughed and Master Lopez gave them a whack with his rotan. He is very cool guy with his sunglasses.

    Cikgu Amari, when come to the class always switch off the fan because he is feeling cold. Very quiet guy.

  8. Balajoe….I am Zainal Zakariah.

    Am surprised that you remember this name after all these years!

    Have we ever met before during our school days?

    Reply me…I am curious to know to know who you are!

  9. Oh Zainal…you were my senior back then. I remembered your name because our teachers would be mentioning during the class. You may not know me – kept very low profile during school days. Haha

  10. Balajoe…do you still keep in touch with your batch from La Salle Brickfields? I met one junior in a lift at citibank last year! And the last time I saw him was in form 3! Btw…do you remember a Miss Seoni who taught Art and English if not mistaken…..

  11. I rarely keep in touch with my old office mate, so school mate fare even worse. But I have met couple of them over the last 2 years, most of the time, they calling me. Alot of them have changed so much.

    I can’t recall Ms Seoni although the name is very familiar…hmmm

  12. Hey Guys,

    Stumbled on your blogs & it brought me down the memory lane. I was in 3 Red (Mr Yong’s class) in 1988. Still remember Suresh, Keith, Kelvin Sia, the greatest Augustine Wong, Dave Stephen, Nandakumar, Devasenan, Annavi, Yogan, Leslie, Chester Paul, Aw Joo Hock, Raj Kumar, Christopher Jong…….Sukminder Singh….last saw him in Pines Brickfields, now in the states. Oh boy..how time flies. So La Salle Brickfields Brothers, you may reach me at nagulan.marathamuthu@citigroup.com

  13. Nagulan – “Suresh, Keith, Kelvin Sia, the greatest Augustine Wong, Dave Stephen, Nandakumar, Devasenan, Annavi, Yogan, Leslie, Chester Paul, Aw Joo Hock, Raj Kumar, Christopher Jong…….Sukminder Singh…” – damn, all my ex-classmates! I was in Master Yong’s class

    I still in contact with Jayaganathan and I met Nandakumar in my old office in KL couple of years ago. Also met Jagadesh Babu in IOI Puchong before he was leaving to Middle East. Saw Annavi and Magendran couple years ago in Brickfields.

    I think we need to organise some get together for old time sake. I need to dig out the old photos and post it up in this blog.

  14. Hallo Bro, Is that you Bala Subramaniam, I’m also a La Sallian, same batch as you, may be you not remember me I am very low profile man:

    Std 1- Merah
    Std 2- Merah
    Std 3- Hijau
    Std 4- Merah
    Std 5- Biru
    Std 6- Merah

    Form 1- Merah
    Form 2- Merah/ kuning (cannot recall)
    Form 3- Merah

    I lost contact with all my La Sallian friends since transfer from bangsar school to Vokasional in Temerloh.. and Im also that time moving to Kajang..

    Do you have the photo of our class..
    still remembering: Augustine Wong, Azman Abu Hassan, Warren Fernandez (popular host now), Jose Nigel, Eric, Chester paul, Annavi, the G And V Arumugam, Nandakumar, Rafi,Zariman, Wan Norhisham, Shasi kumar, Yogeswaran (yogi bear)

  15. Lah Johar, I still remember you lah. Great to get your contacts again. I have some primary photos posted in this blog – check the link on the top of this post. The funny thing is no one took secondary school photos (pelik betul lah).

    Warren Fernandez popular host now? Wow, great! I met Nanda couple years ago when he came to my bank to service the computers there. Annavi, the last I saw him in Brickfields told me that he was working as a draftman (I think this is what he said). I still remember Rafi – always kena kacau by the male teacher (can’t remember that guy’s name).

  16. Hi Guys, I was in La Salle Brickfields from 1979 – 1987. Still remember Mr. Anantha, Master Yong, Miss Low and also my favourite actually everybody’s Mrs Diana Yeoh.
    Teachers I remember
    1) Mrs Fernandez (Arts)
    2) Mr Joseph Lopez (Discipline Master)
    3) Mr Novel Chow
    4) Mr Kathrivelu
    5) Pn Zainab (Geo 1986)

  17. Hi Balajoe! War…your blog brings back so much memory! (I was in std 1 in 1981..so u’r one year senior)

    Just reading the comments and names of the teachers is bringing me good and maybe some bad memories!

    Oh Joseph Lopez…i think i can still remember the Pipe Piper poem that he made us all recite! lol.

    Isn’t Mr Anantha the science teacher? I dun recall his name but he had a goatee.

    man i was in this school until form 2 before leaving for Canada..lotz of memories alright. sigh!

    Zainal Zakaria sounds really familiar…?

    Jit-Hoong

  18. Boy, the names you guys have thrown out are so familiar and ring so many bells. The teachers and schoolmates you guys have mentioned are some who I have associated with. Bala, you seem quite familiar to me too.

    Are some of the teachers from the mid-80’s still teaching or around, like Anantha Krishnan, Diana, Mrs. Ng, etc? Does anyone have any contact info for some of our former teachers? Someone mentioned seeing Mr. Anantha, and I would like to contact him. He was my Scout’s teacher and I was the Scout’s Troop Leader. The previous leader was this short Indian kid who was my senior and was quite obnoxious and hateful. What’s the phone numbers to the school?

    I remember Lawrence, Ramesh, S. Nantha Kumar, K. Krishnan, S. Krishnan, Himat Singh, Ruben (he was thin and kinda disabled and had a bad speech impediment), this kid who used to shit in his pants all the time and stink like a sewer, and this other kid who we used to call Mosquito. Mr. Novel Chow gave him that name as he was really tiny and short!

    Anyone remember the kid who fell from the ceiling of the school hall and busted his face? He and a couple other guys were goofing off (most likely smoking) behind the stage of the hall when they heard the principal coming. They dispersed but this guy decided to climb up behind the stage and walk on the beams of the ceiling. He lost his footing, broke threw the asbestos tiles, and smashed to the cement floor. It was a mess!

    If anyone wants to contact me privately, please do so by emailing me at harjit(at)gmail(dot)com. Do any of you have any old school books? How can I get copies of those?
    Thanks.
    Cheers from the other corner of the world (Burlington, Vermont, USA)!

    -Harjit

  19. Harjit – I think you are senior…which year you were in Form 3? I was a scout leader too and I took over from a Punjabi guy. I guess it must be you! Haha

    I have some old photos which I posted in this blog but all my school year book missing when I shifted house.

  20. Bala,

    I was in Form 3 in 1985. I then completed Form 4 and 5 at Sultan Abdul Samad in 1986 and 1987. I was transfered to Vivekananda after La Salle Brickfield’s but only stayed there for about a month. I begged my Dad to pull some strings to get me out of there. I think the Punjabi guy was me! When I was the Scout leader, Mr. Anantha was in-charge along with a Chinese guy who lived near the school but was not a teacher.

  21. Harjit…Form 3 in 1985…means you are not the Punjabi guy which I took over, haha. In 1985, I was in Standard 5. When I left Form 3, Master Anantha was still the scout master. Great blog you have there.

  22. Hi Guys

    Brings back memories a lot . But the only one I know who writes here is Nagulan. Not many has got that name though .
    Nice to see something going on . Was in the same batch. All names in Nagulans list are known and meet them from time to time . Standard 1 in 1980 left Form 3 1988 . So that’s my age . Nantha Tel 0122826660

  23. Guys .. Remember the Sound Barriers . The band which was the best ever we saw in that age . Well I know the Guitarist who’s Gerry Pillai . He’ll have all the photos you want. I really think this is one of the best sites ever and it’s active. Got a whole lotta guys on different blogs. Will get them in. All Form 3 in 1988. It’s like the Sitcom “The Wonder Years” NANTHA

  24. HOLY COW !
    These names oh my goodness

    Keith, Kelvin Sia, Annavi, Yogan, Leslie (noel his brother), Chester Paul, Raj Kumar, Sukminder Singh, Sashi (Prem & Anand his brothers), Zaidee, Edgar, Jose, Punendran, Arul, Eric,

    man you guys wont remember me ha ha ha… well sashi will, this is Vinod Nair, i just didnt stand out and was not outstanding at anything except ART. Does any one here remember the ART teacher in Form 1 her name? she had short hair and she was Indian and Christian.

    i can be reached at +6012 2950472
    orangasli@gmail.com
    or facebook me (just type the name in search)
    http://www.vinodnair.org

    if you guys plan to meet up man “TELL ME”

  25. Nantha – Been sometime since I last met you – were you at the bank that I was working, servicing on our workstations? I think we need to link up our blogs and remain in communication.

    Anyone in these photos:-

    https://bjthoughts.com/2007/07/12/la-salle-brickfields-%e2%80%93-part-1/

    Gerard Pillai – any links to the photos. Alot of us are keen on seeing the old photos again

    Vinod – Good to be hearing from you too. We need to organise something to meet up

  26. Hey Guys,
    good to hear all these names after a long time. long time since i heard about vinod nair. u had a younger bro right. harjit are u 37 yrs now.

  27. Oh shit! Yogan ya bro i have a younger brother Vijay, at Brickfields. Are you that tall chap…?

    Thanks Nantha, for the info on Mrs Fernandez, damn she was the teacher that gave me a sense of confidence in myself, she pointed out that i was good at art, it was after this that i started picking up academically, i did my BFA in applied arts… I just cant forget her but i ouldnt remember her name and that drove me crazy, i remember her so well. She thought ethics as well if i remember correctly.

    I think i remember Joharudin…short chap right?

    Anyone remember the alma matter of La Salle Brickfields?

    Guys, all of you we should meet up!

  28. If it’s the school song:

    Cheer, cheer and courage display ,
    All you La Sallians join in the fray!
    Send a volley of cheers on high,
    Shake down the thunder from the sky.

    What though the odds be great or small,
    We all La Sallians win over all,
    While her loyal sons are marching
    Onward to victory.

    Additional:

    Rise, boys and loudly proclaim
    That you will never sully her name!
    Let the hills and woodlands ring,
    Lift up your hearts and loudly sing.

    What though the way be rough or steep,
    We unto virtue’s summons will keep;
    And if e’er our country needs us,
    Loyal and true we’ll be.

    I dont remember singing the last two stanzas:)

    Cheers

  29. Damn good, Pines was the “meeting” place from those days…it’s ok with me but need to schedule it to maybe november. Too much travelling overseas in the next weeks…haha

  30. thats wonderful gerard, you sound familiar…hmmm, you must have been a senior, which year were in (form 3) i think i am 88 then got shipped off to SMK Bangsar, left that hell hole, in a month and went to Sri Cempaka.

    how old are you? i’m 33 then we can judge how much senior or junior you were 🙂

  31. Vinod, im 36 this year lah…old boy…My batch of guys: Kuan, Choon (TC), Basil Jong, Zainal, Ian Jeremy Jones, Errol, Mahendran, Kevin Seow, Phoon Weng Keong, Dominic Kam, Patrick Siang Hock and so on.

    Teachers we had were: Mrs Arul (who can forget her??), Mr Low, Mrs Heng? Ms Heng? etc etc

    A bunch of us used to get bored and jam at the old ‘gym’ belekang trophy room/corner.

    Even during SRP (before it got downgraded to PMR) times, we had some great fun practicing at the gym cum studio of ours.

    We used to play at all school events and I remember playing at the St Teresa’s school.. Now that was a kick those days!

    Cheers

  32. oh my god you were the guys who use to jam near the trophy room, you guys use to preform some Rock n roll numbers, man you guys were my idols man ha ha ha… i can never forget those gigs on stage. and i always wanted to get into that room and listen to you guys, but it looked of limits, plus i was timid 🙂 by the time i managed to get into that room you guys had left school along time ago and the room never really seemed the same.

  33. Balajoe, yes Basil Jong was in the scouts as well. His younger brother is Christopher Jong. Basil Jong was my batch and a good friend too…..1986 Form 3.

  34. Now I remember Zainal Zakariah . Man you were the good guy. Always been. You still the same ? Good to hear this.

    What meet up scheduled guys ? PINES .
    Call Master Anantha to come . He’ll love it very much . … NANTHA

  35. good question but I think both of them were bala subramaniam. one was school one & the other was school 2. nantha u should get the other guys in this too. sri, keith, ruban, ranga etc.have a great weekend guys. vinod, i don’t think i am tall.

  36. Nantha – need not indulge my name but in my batch, there was 2 “Bala”s – one was K.Bala and another R.Bala (the sportsman). Me was the one with K.

    Meeting up in Pines sounds great but need to schedule a date / time for it, preferably Sat – I am not working that close and on call for overseas trip. Life have changed from the good old life back in the La Salle school, haha

  37. Another thing, I think we have changed alot over the years (I know it has when I saw some of our buddies couple years ago), so when meeting up probably we need to have some kind of IDs…just like those in the school reunion movies.

  38. Ok everyone seems ready for a reunion, but before we set a date, lets try and see whether we can get a few more people on board…what say? perhaps we can direct them to this website too.

    Saturday is fine with me Bala… we’ll keep in mind that u may have to go abroad so if that happens we’ll just change the dates.

    Anyone got the college BADGE artworks?, I think i can get some T-shirts printed 🙂 that’ll be cool. Everyones got to chip in though LOL

    So how many of us do we have at the moment?

  39. I think I need to create a separate page for the reunion…and it will be better if personal details like hp number and full name is communicated through emails rather than on the blog – it is too public here (I will clear some numbers soon).

    For the reunion…we can all can chip in for food or any other things. Can you imagine we are meeting back after almost 20 years! The more, the merrier…and our old teachers will be our chief guests.

  40. Nantha….you are 2 years my junior rite. I was in Form 3 and you were probably in Form 1. Am doing good thanks. Am surprise that you could remember me since I was in the morning session and you in the afternoon. Hope you guys are all doing well. Have a great week ahead!

  41. Yogan, yes, I’m 37 now. Hi everyone. This blog is turning out pretty neat with us La Sallians.

    Gerard, that school song is still fresh in my head. I remember Mr. Noel used to make us sing that when we used to attend games like hockey and football between schools.

    I remember sneaking out during school to hang out behind the teachers’ lounge facing the padang, or behind the caretakers house next to the sports equipment storage, near the chicken farm at the end of the padang, or getting food and drinks from the hawkers in Brickfield’s.

    I would love to join you guys for a reunion but it’s going to be hard to do as I’m in the USA. I plan to visit Malaysia sometime next year on my way to Perth to visit my brother whom I haven’t seen for 10 years. If I do confirm my visit, I will shout out to you guys and those that want to meet, can do that.

    I love to see some old school pictures.
    Hope all is well.
    Cheers.

  42. Sorry guys ………. Mrs Fenandez is still alive and kicking. Keith told me. Got Keith looking into this blog but that fellow didn’t put his words . Some say he’s very busy……. Keith , you names everywhere in the Blog . What the hell did you do in school la ?

  43. Bala,

    Sreekant here man. I have not read the whole blog yet but i gather there ppl here i have not heard of in a long long time dude.

    I ll read and post stuff as i go along. How the hell have you been?

    Sreekant

  44. Now that i read this, u were the timid be-spectacled Bala, rite? Used to stay in old klang road rite? i remember we used to go back from school at Klg bus stand, n u had that monthly ticket that the conductor would punch for every trip u took…

    i was the fat kid that stayed in OUG.

    Maybe u remember these names; Khoo Huat Khoon, Tan Yip Wai, Choo Shing Yeh, Wong Chee Yeng(now a doctor), Lee Yu Chuan, Ruban Rajalingam, Raymond Tay (i think he bullied u?), Law ThinKen, Woo Wai Keen, Veerapan, Vincent Tham, Michael Ng (class clown), Harikrish (haze) Menon…. hell, there’s so many of us that i can’t recall.

    It’s the Malay guys, besides u Johari, that i can’t remember well. Rafi, sure remember but no idea wer is he now, then Nizam is working in TNB, then Abd Mutalib is staying near me. That’s about it.

    Fill me in when we are gonna meet up.
    Gerard, Vinod, Nagulan(vy vague memory), Sree(thanks for the encouragement), Nantha(thanks for the encouragement), and all the seniors n juniors… let’s make this happen !!

    ciao!!
    Kenny Lim (and i thot the band Khoo, Hari and i setup was the benchmark for ultimate coolness… hahaha. Guess the Rock n rollers were always the idols of La Salle, eh Jerry? Still keep in touch with King Guan?)

  45. Kenny, I remembered…we used to go back together. I was timid guy back then. There is one Raymond Tay that I can recall but he was not from La Salle but big size bully that I met when I in Boy Brigade back in YMCA. After a while, we became friends.

    I remember Harikrish – we used to jam together during recess. Still recall the time when he lost his front tooth when a classmate threw a stone at him. His father came to school and sounded the guy – he said “You think you are a gangster? I can be a bigger gangster than you”.

    Rafi was the soft guy in our class and one of the male teacher always disturb him. Wonder where he is now.

    Law Thin Kien followed me to Vivekananda after our Form 3. The last I heard about him was he was to Australia for further studies after we finished Form 6 in MBSSKL. Brilliant guy, he was.

  46. hahaha… tat’s rite. I think ThinKen was in Vive first then to SM Bangsar (cos he was wrecking havoc with the girls there, as i remember clearly) He’s in Hong Kong now. Big bucks!!

    I hear a lot of our guys are all over thee world, Augustine’s in New York, Keith’s in Ireland (last i heard), Suk’s in US somewer, Ruban’s between M’sia & S’pore, etc….

    Hope that this will happen cos can’t wait to see u guys after so long.. esp the timid but now very hippy Balajoe. At least u still have your hair… hahaha. I’m spoting the Wong Fei Hoong look, but not by choice, really…

    Be hearing from u guys soon? Ciao…

  47. Blog is still going strong but this post has slowed down. Sorry, I been busy lately – having one leg in Bangkok project and another in Kabul project.

    Ya, we definately need more people and photos….so far, I have received none. Come on everyone…scan your old photos and email me. I will put it up and linked. We need more materials…especially old teacher photos. I dig up mine once I finish with the Bangkok assignment.

  48. I need an image of our La Salle school badget for my facebook site. If any of guys have it, please send it to shydoc (at) gmail (dot) com. Thank You.

  49. Wah.. so hot here ahhh.. Bala.. I think this blog not just for our badges only.. even our sr and jr member also here.. but people with unfamiliar nick please intro your self i.e ez and sahaya (are you la sallian) (wah like this blog is mine hahaha) sorry to say coz past 19 years ago.. cant remember 100% of our schoolmates. I agree with sahaya about the group at least we have proper web for our 1980-1988 reunion pages.

  50. Haha, Johar…no problem with your comments (I also guilty with using nickname, haha). Like what sahaya, good to have a webpage for this, facebook is good and it has been suggested earlier.

    But the gathering will be a good start – sorry guys, too much work assignment is keeping me from the gathering.

  51. Besides, wih the gathering, we can get enough pictures for our webpages…btw no one revert to me with their photos! Unless photos been misplaced in the last 19 years, haha

  52. Also, if you had a funny or memorable incident back in La Salle school, email me with your story and I put it up here as a story from guest blogger. Perhaps later when we have our own site, we can copy all that there.

  53. I am lost for words. The sound Barriers, that’s my band. I am the guy who played the bass. They used to call me tosai. I used to be tall and skinny. Not any more thought. A search of Gerard Pillai on google and now this blog. Wow, amazing.

  54. Hi Balajoe, Thanks for doing a great job with this blog. I always wondered why La Salle PJ had something for the old boys and we had none. Now I’m glad that’s changed.

  55. Hi Soosai,

    I forgot how Mr. Low used to talk. That’s true, “marilah kitalah…….” This is funny and brings back memories. I agree, Bala’s blog rocks and if it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have found you guys. I’ve been searching for anything La Salle Brickfield’s for a few years but nothing. I think we should nominate Bala to start a LSB Alumni website where we can include teachers and students.
    By the way, there is a LSB group on Facebook which was recently started and the membership has been increasing. Here it is: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=21057445128

    Cheers!

  56. Hi Harjit, Yes I nominate Bala to start a LSB Alumni website, His done great here and I think a website would exemplify his talents even more. Also, checked out the facebook site. Man, those pictures bring back some memories. Does anyone remember Mrs Arul, she taught English? I never failed to piss her off. She always made me stand on the chair even before I said or did anything and if Mr Noel was walking around that day, I leave the rest to your imagination…………….

  57. Harjit – It is amazing on how things are turning out to be. I seeing old friends on the facebook and it brings back memory. As for the website, I think we can use the facebook LSB group – it has all the things that we need except for maybe old photos – especially of our teachers. Perhaps thereafter, we create one for the Alumni.

    Soosai – Thanks for the comments. But this post would not be anything without the great comments from our old friends.

  58. Bala, your blog has been a real ice-breaker and a starting point for us lost friends. The Facebook group is an added bonus and it’s working out pretty good too. We should think about that website idea in the near future. In any case, your blog and FB are great places to reconnect with old school friends.
    Thanks.

  59. Hey Bala, I am totally excited by your mail . It’s 3.08 am now and I gotta go and catch some sleep. Driving early on an outstation thing. Will be back to read all the comments when I’m back on Sunday.

    Cheers Buddy!

  60. Hello my brothers!

    The best time of my life is being part of La Salle brickfields. These are the guys I had the privilege to bump into recently. Nagulan, Leslie, Devasenan, Veerappan and Kuhan Thasapalan ( attended his wedding sometime back). I still have vivid memories about LSB. Let me just spell out those guys I remember. Akash Lal @ Lalat. Devasenan @ Buluman. Raymond Tay ( super gelled up hair and baggy pants icon), Anavi whom we called Anak V, time to time. Rueban who did the legendary “bad clap” in master Low’s class. V.ganeshan, A.Ganeshan and Ganesan ( I remember their faces ) My good friend Kenny Lim Kian Seng ( hope I spelled it right). Gunalan @ Beastmaster. Kuganathan and his brother. Philip Ng ( he used to walk on his hands ), Harikrish Menon ( the guy who broke his teeth was Akash), Warren fernadez, Yogen ( I still remember his house tel no. ) . Yes , I remember Mohd Rafi ( Good friend of Warren). Ramesh, Vinod Nair, Gurmeet and Jagdish Singh, Sreekant Pillai, Keith……frankly, the list can go on and on………….. Bala ( I hope you’re still sketching motobikes when you’re free ), Nantha ( I remember how you pumped your biceps with your school bag )

    I attended a La Salle Old Boys gathering by invitation sometime back and got to see Master Nathan ( He used to me “Pertama Perm”) and A. Bala. ( She told the entire table that I was a naughty boy….hehe). Another day , I meet Diana Yeoh @ dirty diana with her Artist hubby somewhere near Ampang.

    Let me quickly list out my teachers from Std 1 to Form 3.

    1. Mrs Bala ( small size with big voice)
    2. Jamilah Itam ( i’m guessing here )
    3. A. Bala ( Who can forget her or her Volvo )
    4. Mrs. Foong ( She threw me out of class )
    5. Mrs Philip ( He used to own a daihatsu chairman. Like to jump when he hits you…hahahaha )
    6. Master Kua ( Great guy )

    form 1 Miss Ng ( i think )
    form 2 Anantha or is it Amari ( I’m not sure. Bala & Nanda, correct me if i’m wrong )
    form 3 Mrs Tan

    Others teachers I remember are Master Wong ( bad Karma ) And the Great Master Low ( Right , murid murid…marilah kitalah ke kubun/kubur..hahahahah )

    Before I go, here’s my best buddy list

    Std 1 mahathir
    std 2 can’t recall
    Std 3 Bala
    Std 4 Bala, Kuhan and Roshan Mervin Singam
    Std 5 rival of century – Veerappan ( Just kidding )
    Std 6 Bala
    Form 1 Bala
    Form 2 Bala
    Form 3 Gunalan, Yogen

    Bala , you top the list 🙂

    I remember a lot more …for somethings are meant to stay with us for good. Any of you guys remember the game called “chopping” that we used to play during the recess? How abt tennis ball soccer at the basket ball court? High time for a gathering my friends…..Let me know.

  61. Ha ha Jaya, looks like you remember more than most of us! Ya, I remember Harikrish and his teeth, a day after the incident, his father came to see Akash and asked him whether he is a big gangster.

    Ya, I still sketching motobikes when I am free, old habit die hard. Form 2 was Master Anantha. I remember “chopping” and also remember playing the “guli” – that is one of the main event during recess.

    Ya, I tagged along with you for most of my schooling days – and remember how we will go to your house and when your parents are not around, you will take your Dad’s car and drive around the apartment compound? Until one day of course, your Dad caught us red handed. Ha ha, still good days.

  62. I remember “guli”. These were the popular terms used in depicting the “guli” throwing styles. Tekong and Baicash. I really wonder what it meant ( who knows & who cares )……and the worst part was when you lost the game and your opponent whiped out a giant size Guli from his pocket to smash your marble right in front of your eyes. It was so much fun….. You still remember the 30 sen mee sup from the canteen?

  63. Yes, remember the 10 cents “air-sirap” that the canteen guy scoop up from a big baldi? Of course, for some of us who could not afford the 10 cents had the tap near the school hall for the cool water to drink.

  64. Bala, I remember everything just like yesterday…….not only the foodstuffs at the canteen..but also the mute chinese guy who always “lepak” there, the school caretaker who lived near the canteen, the other maniam who sells kacang putih and his sexy shakira (hips don’t lie ) look alike daughter.

    Do you remember this singh who was our senior in boy scout? I can’t recall his name. One was Harvinder, Mebbe the other one was Arvinder. I also bumped into clement ( another scout senior ) at Waikiki sometimes back. The best part was Akash Lal being a boy scout….hahahahaha….I cannot forget the way he did his push ups……..

    How’s bro Nithi ?

  65. Yes Jaya…Maniam’s daughter acted in some of the local Indian dramas. The caretaker Maniam was the skinny guy who helped out at the science lab right? The scout senior was Havinder, I think and yes, Akash was tall, so he had some trouble with the push ups.

  66. Harjit and Adrian Ng, 2nd damansara scouts troop LSB! Still remember you although you look so different on the facebook. Bet, memories of Dhanaraj aka Mangga still haunts you. The seniors…hmmmm….Selvam, Viji…I think (Tall Guy, used to be prefect)…can’t remember most of them

    My batch….Choon, Mahendran, Kuan, Avanesh @ Chapati, Seow, Edmund Woo (Wai Mun…Wai Keen’s brother), Ian Jeremy Jones, King Guan, Teong Guan, Hock Seng, Zainal Zakariah (Joey…Hello!), Shanker, Eugene Soh, Deva, Melvin, Kenny Lim, Ng Jun Hock….oh man, my memory is coming back…Mohd Zaki, Zainol, Wan Toren, Lee Hock Seng, Ghanananda, Gerard Pillai, P Ramu, Azlan, Michael Lee, Gareth Chow, Siang hock, Balakrishnan (3 hijau…I remember your brother nantha too..one of my first friend when I joint the school), Jeyarajah (Dr), Errol (Keith’s brother), Jeyachandran (Barnaby jones), Ampalavanan, Jeremy, Hong Thai (remember his juicy comprehension about tickling his wife’s b_ _ _ _ t…and how Mrs Arul aka cobra gets so upset with him), Moses, Selvarajah, Santira Mohan, Matthew Maranda, Phoon Weng Khong, Kingslee,Partiban, Prem Anand, T Kumar, Kumaren, Kuljit Singh, Mohd Ibrahim, William chow, Chong cheng I (Taiwanese boy…with a brother in my brother’s batch…Chong Cheng Wei) …all the same batch as myself.

    I see alot of guys from my brother’s (Christopher Jong) batch…all the names are so familiar!

    Some teacher’s…Mrs Wong(std 6 teacher who has a bun on her hair that likes to knock the knuckles with the side of the ruler), Pn Zakariah (Prefect teacher), Mr Arokiasamy(Ex Headmaster in primary school), Mrs Menasseh(I think that is how it is spelt…she used to teach religious education in std 5), Mrs H’ng, Mrs Khoo, Mrs Sivalingam (3 hijau…Jeyaraja’s Mum), Miss Wong (the pretty std 3 teacher who is every hot blooded male dream teacher)….does anyone remember the Iron Lady who used to be the assistant headmaster/mistress in primary school. White hair, with a mole…I think.Stern looking….Ms Ang…perhaps??? Master Anantha with his hilarious line when dusting the black board….”…I must, I must, I must work out my bust (whilst holding 2 dusters and erasing the blackboard in opposite circular motion)”, Maniam the skinny since lab assistant and Maniam the kacang puteh man, En Rahman the hulky PE teacher, Mr Velu and his orange little car (Someone once put chewing gum on his exhaust), Mr Kueh the ex HM of secondary school, can’t remember the primary Jawi teacher’s name, Mrs Loke Kwan San, Master Rajah..primary school PE teacher.

    Events I remember…..issues with “Todi”, the seniors who fell through the hall roof as Harjit mentioned, Scouts campfires and camping, soprt house training, canteen cold red syrup drink, buying exercise book from bookshop, playing ping pong and learing the “screw” service, anthonian store, prefect duties, walkathon, school bell…1st ring to freeze, 2nd ring to assemble, green uniforms for prefects, went to a home with the scouts to get thousands of stamps of envelopes for someone to raise fund for the scouts under Mr Anantha’s charge, raising the flag on assembly day, tried raising the flag when it was all rolled up and held in place by toothpick and at the end of the negaraku a tug unrolled the flag, school chior of std 5 vying for zone Bangsar, gangsterism as poitned out by Gerard, No 5 bus to Bangsar….that’s it for now…brain exhausted and have to sleep! It’s 12.30a in Brisbane, Oz.

  67. Master Anantha with his hilarious line when dusting the black board….”…I must, I must, I must work out my bust (whilst holding 2 dusters and erasing the blackboard in opposite circular motion)”

    Hahaha….that’s Master Anantha indeed!

  68. wow i m reading all the names and I m like..hey i dont recognize anyone from my year. I got out in 1988 in form 2…vaguely some of the names i can recall…Sayle Harun, Au Yong Leong hong, Tay Gim Soon, Kelvin, Marc…Ramna, Gopikrishna, Alphonse,

    Jitty

  69. Hey Basil,
    Wow! I can’t believe it. I remember you and I’m also amazed how much details you have jot down here. You definitely jump started the memory cells in my brain. I’ve been trying to find Adrian Ng but haven’t been successful. Hey, you on Facebook? Add me to your profile. How’s life treating ya in Down Under? My brother lives in Perth. I’m hoping to visit him within two years with an extended stay in Malaysia. Will do the tourist stuff. Hey, shoot me an email off list at harjit(at)gmail(dot)com. Did ya have to bring up Dhanaraj?? He was a character to remember for life!!
    Cheers!

  70. Hi Gerard, Yes that’s me the bassist from Sound Barriers. Remember Lionel Richie’s “Stuck on you”, Elvis’ “Jail house Rock” Jason Nathan our lead singer and Kamarul on the drums…………….the good old days…….

  71. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to All!

    My memory is actually pretty bad….think it goes with age (despite the saying that men are like wine, the more they age the better they are)! However after reading everything on this site, the dusty memory bank in that little corner in the left side of the brain tucked behind all the grey matter came to life…things you never thought you remember came back. Can write a book but no one will buy…bad ROI.

    No news of Adrain Ng. Will email you Harjit. Am going to Perth this Christmas. Let me know if you are planning to be in Brizzie when in Oz.

    I remember Andrew Soosai. Also remember Benjamin Soosai aka egg benjo (given by gerard I believe), Tiagu, Hamdan, Adrian Lim, Jeffrey Lim, Letchumanan (I am amaze I remember this spelling), Kamarul, Tan Weng Piow, Raviranath, Ng Weng Kee, Sri Nanga.

    Teachers….hmmm remember Mrs Seoni with her jotter. Can’t remember the indian librarian lady’s name, hmmm….the name of the chinese lady music teacher in primary school has slipped my mind.

    Remember the fish ball and the chili sauce dip from canteen, Maniam kacang puteh man’s house besides the sports room, the sports room where all the sports equipments are kept, the sains pertanian room and also the area where we was the soiled changkul and rubber boots, remember collecting the register book for the teacher from the office, buying badges from the office, the cloth and the metal badge, Sports house Raphael, Anthony, Cashmier and Gaston sports house, “Tai-chi” game in the hall, the sinking school hall which was fixed up…I think. The River in front of the school and the flood during heavy down pour, think some kid fell in the drain and got swept away. The unique mural on the front of the school, some designs were made out of green and transparent bottles, the basket ball court where football with tennis balls were played, the long jump track, the 2 soccer fields 1 for primary and 1 for secondary kids, the milo truck that visit once or twice a year and some of us used to line up twice to get to drink the nice cold milo twice with the milo man giving the suspicious look, annual scouts camping by the end of the school field near the kebun, the ghost stories of LSB that the skinny maniam told. The ice kacang from the stall near the No 5 sri kota bus stop.

    Have a safe and joyous time fellow La Salle Brickfieldians!

  72. Those in scouts must also remember Mr Lawrence who contracted Hepities and we visited him in the hospital with Master Anantha.

  73. Andrew, Basil,

    Really good to hear from some of you.

    Andrew, for the record, the band we played in wasnt the sound barriers. Even in those days, we had ‘splinter groups’!

    We had jolly good blast with Jason and the rest and had some rock n rolling good times:)

    I cant for the life of me remember what we called ourselves though.

    Will be nice to stay in touch. My email is gerry_pillai@yahoo.com.

    Cheers

    p.s. Basil, I really cant take credit for the egg banjo stuff lah…and all the lawyers in the group: pls vet blog for any slander and libel issues!

  74. Hi Gerard, I remember the splinter group and I know we were the better band……… LOL. I am not sure who’s getting older faster but I am almost certain that we were called the Sound Barriers! Anyway’s its good hearing from you.

  75. Wishing everyone on this blog a VERY HAPPY AND BLESSED NEW YEAR. Hope that 2008 results in fantastic opportunities and wonderful events for you and the family.

    As for me, I will be waiting for the birth of my twins:)

    Onward to Victory mates!

  76. Hi Guys,

    Am writing in haste. Nice to see this blog and the one on facebook. Hope those of you not on facebook will sign up. Was looking thru old pics (don’t have a scanner) and remembered some of you. There was a time I sang together with Kuan, Seow, Gerard, (could not figure out the guy on drums as his face was hidden) and Lee Hock Seng. Happy New Year to all of you.

    Cheers,
    John

  77. John,

    If it’s a drummer, there could be 2 possibilities. Either Wan Kamarul or Mohd Zadar (or Mozad as he’s known in the industry these days).

  78. Gerry,

    Good to hear from you. Was probably Zadar. If i remember correctly, as early as std one, you started singing on stage. You played “Child” on one occasion. Take care.

  79. John,

    Yes, my first real guitar playing stage performance was a std 4 performance. and it was indeed ‘Child’.

    Great memory. Either my performance was really bad or ….

    Keep in touch mate.

  80. Hi Basil,

    I have a lousy memory and your notes are helping a lot with my recollection. Gerry and you should sign up at Facebook. We had another Adrian if I remember correctly who was great at grafitti right? He drew my name on a pencil box and I kept it for years! Good to hear from you Basil.

    Cheers,
    John

  81. Hi guys. I didn’t know that I would come to appreciate very much my old school LSB (Std 1 to Form 3). I’m an old school boy (Form 3, 1969). I noted that one of you guys commented about Mr. Yong. Is he Yong Hing Hong, teaches science and the football coach. Pls. let me know re. his status. Thxs.

  82. Eng Chai,

    We had Mr. Yong as our teacher btwn 1984-86. I can’t remember his full name but remember that he taught us science. He wasn’t coaching on us football then. He was a short man of about 5.2 to 5.4 and gave us swimming lessons at Chin Woo. He passed away a few years ago.

    Why don’t you join the La Salle Brickfields group on facebook and get your friends to do so too?

  83. Hi Guys,
    I stumble upon this site by accident while doing a search for LSB. I’m in the same batch with Zainal Zakaria, so must be in the same batch with gerard too… it has been more that 20 years now. I was in 3 Biru in 1986 and in Mr Low class.

    I remember mostly malay friends like Jasmi, Baha, Valentino, and others like Kingsley.

    LOL while reading this blog, it brings back the good old days…

    Zakri

  84. Zakri, glad to have you aboard…there is a bigger group in Facebook, please join us there. As at todate, we have 118 members and still counting on. There are old photos and discussions as well.

  85. I started school at La Salle Brickfields in 1957. ( Standard one ) Mr. Pak Eng was my teacher. Then we were the pioneers at La Salle PJ. Those were the days. Now I am 60 living in the US working with NASA in Huntsville AL. Guess I am too old to join the gang !! Write me: (shankar at hiwaay dot net)

  86. la salle Brickfields 2,saya pernah belajar disitu pada tahun 1984 darjah 1 hingga tingkatan 1.selepas tu bertukar sekolah.

  87. Gonna try to revive this thread now. Bloody hell! wonder what took me so long to stumble upon this blog. Bala, hey its me la who was your scout senior. Harvinder was the other fella who moved to Bentong in Form 3.

    Akash Lal was never quite a scouts. Maybe for a few days.

    Basil Jong, I was your junior in the scout troop but am sure you remember me. Anyways will try to catch you all up on facebook. look me up there.
    arvind..

  88. Hi Bala, my god.. So much of memories.. You used to sit next to me in Std 1 Biru, i think.. Was always amazed how you could draw a car so well then.. Jaya has a great memory.. At Std 4 we were called the superstars and given a seperate table and area in the classroom for the wrong reasons.. Lol

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