SSP Party Planning

My primary school mates are planning for a party to celebrate a milestone in our lives. Scheduled for October, it will be an opportunity for all of us to get together again after having not done so as an entire group since 2003 or thereabouts. Some of us meet up every now and then to catch up, either over a meal or teh tarik, but it is always exciting when the prospect of having a large group turn up is about to be realised.

Planning for such a gathering is not easy. The last time we attempted it 7 years ago, it took about 12 of us 3 months to accomplish the task, and that involved phone calls, emails and going door-to-door every weekend trying to canvas support. In the end, we got approximately 150 to attend plus 10 or so teachers of ours. That's what I call commitment.

This time round, we are 2 weeks into the process and so far the effort has yielded 40 confirmations. We hope to get at least 100. Here's a photo of the 7 of us (including the photographer) who were at the 2nd committee meeting hosted by Shazlina and Nik Azhan last Friday. Airini, Thariq, Naguib, Nina and I made up the rest. Our friends who read this post, we hope you will confirm your attendance soon.

Photo shot by Nina on 6 August 2010.

SSP

I had a good time rekindling friendships with my primary school mates, all 30 or so of them, at Sekolah Sri Petaling's 40th anniversary alumni dinner last night. True, only a fraction of us from our batch turned up but it was nevertheless an opportune time to catch up on what's been happening in our lives and to reminisce over our antics during our childhood.

What I realised was that whilst many of us are in touch via Facebook, it never really is the same as meeting in person. The camaraderie is what endears us to one another, still very much so after all these years. Yes, we may have grown apart somewhat, but the bonds that we sowed so many years ago, decades actually, are there for us to rekindle, if we make the effort. The challenge really is to keep the momentum of keeping in contact going. So often, we rely on the enthusiastic few to encourage us to do so; it's time for the rest of us to step up to the plate.

We shared great experiences in our childhood - we embraced each other when we knew not of societal norms and boundaries, we threw caution to the wind when it came to co-curricular activities. Come to think of it, the latter still holds true for some .... didn't I read somewhere about Lionel and Monitar representing us in the inter-batch badminton competition, crooked knee, sore muscles and all? And Ritz relating how he pulled a muscle during warmup and ending up as linesman during the inter-batch football tournament? Instead of relying on these wonderful memories of the past, it's perhaps time to create new ones in the present. Dinner at Lionel's cafe anyone? Soon too!!!

Photo shot at Dewan Perdana Felda in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.