I went back to Taiping last weekend to attend a King Edward VII School's old boys gathering at the Taiping New Club. I don't really have much expectations going to the gathering except the hope of meeting some old friends which I had lost contact. I was a bit disappointed of not able to meet some old friends. Like i said before, I do not have any expectations. If the luck is with me, it will be an emotional bonus to meet them again. But I guess, luck is not my side this time. Well, I will let it be and look forward to another reunion gatherings.
However, I am glad I do have the opportunity to meet up with "old boys" from different generations. Looking at the faces of the "old boys" from different "passages of times", I guess, the only commonality is, we have all experienced the life of being educated in most colourful school in Malaysia. Those unique educational experiences during our formative years has shaped us to be man of principle and pride of the nations.
Funny, it seemed like not so long ago we said farewell to this famous school and parted way with school mates to seek our own destiny. But now, we are all living like salmon longing to be back to our places of origin. Looking at all the "old boys", some have gray hairs, some are on the verge of losing all their hairs, some have grown fatter, and some have became bespectacled..... Physically, we have all changed ! All the years that had passed, the only consolation is, we have all grown older, wiser, and are enriched with life experiences. But looking deep into our eyes and hearts, there is still a boy in all of us which we all still hold dear and refused to let go. We shared stories of our "glorious" pasts. We all remembered our pranks and misadventures. In a brief moment of looking back into those teenage years, maybe the boyish excitements did made me feel young again ....... I do hope, the next reunion gathering, I will still be around and hopefully, all of them will also be around to enjoy the brief moments of "forever young"
Magni Nominis Umbra.
