Mr. Ngoh's Lads

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This is a photo of my Standard 4 class in SRJK Inggeris (II), Simpang Lima, Kelang, when Simpang Lima was a much quieter part of Kelang, unlike what it is now. It was still surrounded by palm estates then, that is where the housing area Palm Garden got its name. It was an all boys school. It didn't matter much to us then, I guess when you are ten years old, girls do not matter much. There were two classes in each year, classes A and B. We were in Standard 4A. In Standard 4, the Standard 6 guys looked terribly clever, brave and grown up to us.

In the photo is Mr. Ngoh, my friends Ariffin, Wahab, Rauf a.k.a. Debok, Alias a.k.a. Cendol, Badrul, Khairi, Shanmugan, Tamilaresan, Kesava, Muhammad and the list goes on and on. Mr. Ngoh is a kids' dream teacher. He was stern but kind, taught us well and allowed us to play rugby during PE. Three of them in the photo, Zukiman, Owen and Bensy joined the class that year. In Zukiman we had our Pele, in Owen we had our Gordon Banks and in Bensy we had, well, Bensy.

To the left of Mr. Ngoh is Chin Hee, with Shamsuddin next to him. They were always together. For six years, they were always together. Badrul used to make fun of them being together during class, PE and recess. Manaf is sitting to the right of Mr. Ngoh. I was the class monitor for that year and when Mr. Ngoh became our class teacher again in Standard 6, I became the monitor, again. Becoming the monitor was a big thing then. Whenever the teacher is not around, you get to sit at his desk and write down the names on the blackboard of those who make too much noise, then negotiate with them on what will it take to get their names off the list and get to thump our resident gangsters.

At least three have passed on, Chin Hee, Khair and Manaf. I still talk to Wahab, Zukiman, Khairi, Debok frequently, while I have met Jayaraj, Seerajuddin, Tirath and Rajinder these last few years. For a few years I thought it was Khairi who had passed away until I met him one day and said that I was surprised to see him alive. He thumped me on the head. I got my Khair and Khairi mixed up.

I heard Mr Ngoh migrated to Australia, though I am not sure of it but I can always ask Alex, his nephew. Alex is sitting in the same row as I am but third from left, between Owen and Zukiman.

How I wish for those carefree days....

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