THE National Day weekend was extra special for a group of former Bukit Bintang Boys Secondary School students as they celebrated their 50th graduation anniversary in Kuala Lumpur.
Twenty-six 5 Science II Class of 1975 students from the school in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, reunited to rekindle friendships and share memories.
Some even travelled from as far away as Australia to join in.
The school, now known as SMK (L) Bukit Bintang, remains a point of pride for the alumni who fondly recall their years there.
Among them was Chris Hoe, who said this was their ninth reunion since the group first reconnected in 2003.
“It all started when a few of us were having lunch in Melbourne, Australia,” said Hoe, who had travelled from Singapore for the reunion.
“That was when our classmate Francis Tan, who lives in Melbourne, created an online chat room to connect with more of our old friends.
“The effort resulted in our first official gathering in Bandar Sunway, Petaling Jaya, in 2005.
“We had so much fun catching up that we decided to make it a regular event,” said Hoe.
Seven further meetups were held until 2019 before the Covid-19 pandemic brought the tradition to a halt, he said.
With this year marking their golden graduation anniversary, Hoe said they felt it was the perfect time to meet again, with a reunion dinner at Royal Selangor Club Kiara Sports Annexe.
He said the organising team managed to contact all living former classmates except for one, Soh Chin Siew, whom they hope to reconnect with in future.
“There were 46 of us originally, but four have passed away.
“We are grateful to see so many attend this reunion, including those that came despite their mobility issues.”
He added that three classmates joined virtually from Seoul, London and Melbourne.
Now in their mid-60s, the alumni found themselves transported back in time as they recalled their school days filled with youthful mischief and camaraderie.
As with many all-boys schools, pranks and playful antics often revolved around the teachers.
One topic of conversation was their English teacher.
“We managed to track her down and invited her, but unfortunately she could not attend,” said Hoe.
Meanwhile Tan, who flew back from Australia, said there were many amusing memories from their school days.
One such memory he recalled was how the class banded together to prevent their classmates from becoming school prefects.
Back then, he said, prefects were elected by their classmates.
“Our class monitor and assistant monitor wanted the role, but the rest of us refused to vote for them.
“In the end, we were the only class without a prefect, something that did not sit well with the principal.
“Since it was a democratic process, there was not much that the principal could do,” Tan said with a grin.
The reunion was filled with laughter and lively conversations as the old boys caught up over food, drinks and entertainment.
The evening carried an extra layer of meaning when Singapore-based artist and alumnus Liew Beng Keong auctioned one of his paintings to raise RM5,000 to support better medical services for the poor in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.
