The Spirit of Reunion

That just made the figure to 50!!

With that euphoric proclamation by Seah Yong Kwong, the dream behind the Dec 6 SSP76 Reunion Dinner theme 50-50: 50 classmates for having aged 50 has come true!

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Over the years, memories of our youthful days have always tugged at my heart. One morning five years ago during my stay at my sister's house near the back gate of SSP, I entered the school building which houses my fondest memories.It was a fine day; soft morning sun rays filtered through the fresh cool air, creating an ambiance of newness and hope which had once depicted the heart and spirit of youth in us when we were very young. My eyes fell lovingly upon the flowering plants nestling around the rock garden outside the common room. I sauntered down the corridor of the opposite block below my 5SE classroom toward the assembly hall, suddenly conscious of the lump in my throat. Expecting to recapture the mood which had evoked that sweet recollection, I was hit instead by a vast wave of emptiness! Astounded but undaunted, I climbed up the wooden platform where Mr. Laksman once stood and lectured us menacingly, daring us to defy his warning of disobedience with his huge piercing eyes. I still wonder how he managed to seem staring straight into each and every pair of his audience's eyes as if as Headmaster he had been bestowed with supernatural power.

Still, only forlorn desertion remained in the vast emptiness of the vacant hall. Trepidation crept inside me as I made another attempt in search of a fragment of time long gone. I climbed up the flight of stairs just as I must have done a hundred times thirty years ago. The door of 5SE was closed but not locked. I pushed it open gingerly, not daring to hope too much now, with a spirit dampened by my earlier disillusionment at the hall. With its rows of the same wooden desks and chairs the room seemed to remind me of something but mostly, 5SE was but another school classroom - indifferent and impersonal. Chagrin filled my heart. Nonetheless I made a final effort to relive my youth by sitting at my former place - third row front seat upon entering. There I remained and mused. My heart sank deeper down.

Without the rest of you SSP building is nothing but an anonymous building just like any others!

It is the people in our hearts that really matter to us. And here at SSP76, without steel and cement, the spirit of our youth comes flooding back to us all like a torrent as we celebrate friendship in the euphoric mood of reunion. Let this sense of elation explode and grow to imbue our sunset years with brilliance as bright as it had been in our golden youth!