Salam n Greetings
Meeting of Veterans
Wednesday, September 10 2014.
After a visit to the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) Museum at Jalan Sungei Besi, KL in the morning . . . yours sincerely decided to pay Mr M Sockalingam (MS) a long overdue visit at his Kampung Tunku residence.
Together with Lt Col Basri Omar PGB (rtd) we made our way to the location and reached our destination at about 4:45 pm.
The two of us were given a warm (nostalgic?) welcome by one personality we have both known and respected as teacher and boss respectively.
Basri was a former student of Sekolah Tuanku Abdul Rahman (STAR), Ipoh from 1965 to 1970 and had known Mr Sockalingam as a teacher at that particular school in between those years.
Yours sincerely was an editor at OUP/PFB since the early eighties . . . working under the leadership (watchful eyes?) of MS for over 22 years.
MS was the then Managing Director of that one famous publishing house in the country. (Those were d nostalgic years).
The three of us had a grand time talking about the good old days and the good old ways and never forgetting the good old friends we had and the special ones we were fortunate enough to have.
Basri reminisces some of his more 'infamous' STAR episodes (topping the bill must surely be d encounter with Master Khalid) and his association with ex-Starians who has now become well-known personalities in their own right (inclusive of many top brass politicians, army officers and high ranking police officers too).
Yours sincerely . . . practically had nothing glamorous to show except when sporadically making references to the 'fantastic' quarters n figures in d 'budget' ( fondly termed 'd bible' those days) . . . the expectations of which must be laboured and seen through to ensure publications target were ably met! ( . . . during that era we used to term 'making our targets meet' as something bearing much relevance to 'making our ends meet'.)
All said . . . during the visit we did have time to tanya khabar and cerita-cerita ( a popular practice among Malaysians when meeting each other after a long spell of time.)
It is very encouraging to see MS still physically and mentally fit and going on strong like during those OUP/PFB days.
One sure sign . . . He still speaks like a boss and carries himself as one. Bossy? He is not and for that matter he had never been!
I have been to this residence of MS on a number of occasions during my tenure as an editor and editorial manager with the Press.
On this special visit today with Basri . . . I could still see many paintings by selected local artists (MS favourites) spread on his wall. Awesome paintings indeed.
One notable missing link to my earlier visits (a feature I was familiar with then) . . . was perhaps the non-existence of MS 'Japanese Garden' with the fish pond and all in the front section (interior) of the premise.
I was made to understand that the project had to be stopped due to 'lack of maintenance manpower'.
None the less . . . a picture gallery pops up in its place. Very nicely thought of and a real treat to the eyes.
As MS had an earlier appointment to keep at 6:00 pm both Basri and I took our leave with much appreciation to the host M Sockalingam for amicably accommodating us on this our close to 'impromptu' visit.
May each day in the week be a good day . . . for one and all . . . for all of us.
Till we meet again . . . Terima kasih cikgu and thank you boss.
Basri reminisces some of his more 'infamous' STAR episodes (topping the bill must surely be d encounter with Master Khalid) and his association with ex-Starians who has now become well-known personalities in their own right (inclusive of many top brass politicians, army officers and high ranking police officers too).
All said . . . during the visit we did have time to tanya khabar and cerita-cerita ( a popular practice among Malaysians when meeting each other after a long spell of time.)
It is very encouraging to see MS still physically and mentally fit and going on strong like during those OUP/PFB days.
One sure sign . . . He still speaks like a boss and carries himself as one. Bossy? He is not and for that matter he had never been!
I have been to this residence of MS on a number of occasions during my tenure as an editor and editorial manager with the Press.
On this special visit today with Basri . . . I could still see many paintings by selected local artists (MS favourites) spread on his wall. Awesome paintings indeed.
Basri Omar with his ex-teacher M Sockalingam
. . . the writer with his ex-boss MS
I was made to understand that the project had to be stopped due to 'lack of maintenance manpower'.
None the less . . . a picture gallery pops up in its place. Very nicely thought of and a real treat to the eyes.
As MS had an earlier appointment to keep at 6:00 pm both Basri and I took our leave with much appreciation to the host M Sockalingam for amicably accommodating us on this our close to 'impromptu' visit.
May each day in the week be a good day . . . for one and all . . . for all of us.
Till we meet again . . . Terima kasih cikgu and thank you boss.
bamuda
dsuarang.blogspot.com
