LAST Tuesday's report, 'RI old boys catch up after 50 years', reminds me of my first reunion at a small Novena Square restaurant in early 2006 with more than half of my 27 classmates from Chong Cheng High School's Senior Middle Three Class A of 1954.

It was a different kind of gathering of old classmates. We had no keynote speech or VIPs. The feelings were beyond words when I saw my former classmates again, some after 57 years and a few, after 60 years. We were fortunate that we could meet up again after so long.

Most of us who came from poor families were average students due to the Japanese Occupation. This year, the youngest will be 72 and the oldest, 77. Most of us spent our lives serving the country. Among us are entrepreneurs, engineers, architects, accountants, school inspectors, principals and professors, and even well-known Chinese painters and calligraphers.

We talked and joked just like in our school days. Nothing seemed to have changed. We recalled fond memories of sharing our food and paying five cents for a bowl of wonton noodles, and kite-fighting and other games that we played. We remembered our English and Chinese literature teachers and laughed about their idiosyncrasies.

Old class photographs came back to life. None of us had forgotten our principal and our old school which had a large pond in the middle that was surrounded by trees, cluster of classrooms and boarding houses.

We cherished the rare occasion and enjoyed our gathering.

Paul Chan

This article was first published in The Straits Times on January 05, 2009.