friends


i am blessed with good friends. sometimes one would do foolhardy things for a friend. i remember i was once locked out of our flat at hillview many years ago. at that time we were sharing the flat with lee chin. she had shared the terrace house that we rented at holland village prior to getting this 3-room flat.

this happened during the chinese new year. lee chin had gone back to kluang to celebrate the chinese new year with her parents. i cannot really recall how it happened. i seem to have vague memories of many past events. we could not get into the flat, so i drove to ghim moh to look for kok weng, my former colleague from balestier. he was then teaching at henderson sec and i was at ghim moh sec.

when i told him of my predicament, right away he got hold of a policeman friend of his and together they got into my car and i drove to them to hillview. he had a length of rope with him. securing the rope around his waist, he edged along the parapeet and lowered himself into the flat through an open window. once inside, he managed to release the catch and open the door.

that evening, another good friend of mine, james tan, also an ex-colleague from balestier, dropped in. when he heard about what happened earlier, he dismantled the door lock and took a look at it. he meddled with it and after that the key worked fine. one thing about technical teachers is that they are handy men. you can rely on them to do minor repairs in the house and outside. mc wong, who visited us on the same day as james, gave advice on how to prevent the lock getting jammed.

when my friends kwan and nah come to visit, i usually have some tasks for them. nah has helped me fix the leaking water faucet and the pipes under the sink. kwan has helped me with the re-cabling of my home theatre set.

another close friend of mine, kok tong, used to deliver jack fruit to my place each time he made a harvest in his own garden. he has been trying to get me to join him in running a tuition centre when i retire.

then there is soon boon eng who has been my travelling companion on our many trips in australia, malaysia, thailand and china. we still go on trips together; these days with his son, daughter-in-law and grandson in tow.

my makan kaki victor is another close friend. after checking out good food outlets, he would take me to his new finds. he is the one who introduced me to indian food, eating at places like iniavan, komala vilas and karus.

my good friends at ccab, chan jim kee and lam siew leng are a great resource. every time, i need information or help, i can always rely on them to provide. freddie, my ex-boss, is another person who will go out of his way to give me support and help. when mc wong was there, i would sometimes get to him for assistance.

i also still keep in touch with my former monk's hill colleagues. soo chin, norwita and i make it a point to meet at least once in a while, albeit, a long while. when ex-colleagues from monk's hill have a get-together, they always remember to include me.

members of 'table one' from ghim moh sec used to meet up at least once a year during the school holidays. 'table one' comprised seven chinese lady teachers, mrs lee and myself. i had to struggle with my mandarin to communicate with these members. nowadays, we keep in touch by phone.

there are some friends i have lost touch with and some whom i have not seen for quite some time. those who are contactable, i will make the effort to call them at least once a year, especially during the festive seasons.

when i leave admiralty, i am sure i can count some of my colleagues as my close friends.