30 years of silence, 50 years of
existence
by Lee Chin Keong
I locked eyes with this hefty man in a batik shirt standing
right in front of me and pondered for a few moments. Gosh, I could hardly put a
name on to this familiar face! He
smiled, chuckled a little and uttered a few words, as if he was making an effort
to trigger my memory. It was not long
before I gave up. When he finally
identified himself, I just couldn’t help but cracked up.
Scores of people with beaming faces streamed into the cocktail
room abuzz with noises. The room decor
was just right for the mood. The quality
of the finger food and the warmth of the waiters had somehow surpassed
everyone’s expectation. While digital
photography took the centre stage, exchange of name cards was a common scene.
Everyone in the room had a common interest. The
tremendous sense of camaraderie got all of us hyped up. It was an eventful night for all the Sam Tet
secondary alumni to get together. It was
a night where most of us had not met for a good 30 years. It was also a night where we shared the
reflection on our 50 years of journey in life.
30 years of silence is non-trivial. Back in the 70’s and 80’s, internet was
non-existent and mobile
phone was a novelty gadget. Of course, there were some diligent ones who
resorted to the traditional letter writing as a means of staying in touch, but
that did not sustain very long either. Blame
it on the technology or the human behaviour, but the gospel truth is right after
year 1974, some of us left the country in pursuit of tertiary education. Others were anxiously joining the workforce,
be it employed or self-employed. Hardly
anyone was in the right frame of mind to keep the social network alive. As one decade after another went past, a long
total silence set in.
The turning point came in the mid 90’s when the
pervasive use of mobile phones and internet had helped bridge the communication
gap for most of us. We began to make
time to chat, meet and gather. Small
group gathering sprouted.
It was indeed a gratifying feeling to see some of my
ex-classmates doing so well on their own hook.
And what really amazed me was a handful of them who did not excel in
school turned out to be presently living high on the hog. More often than not, such remarkable life
achievements can well be attributed to one’s blood, sweat and tears. So much for the materialistic side of the story. When I gazed at the huge throng, it was a
disturbing sight to behold. There were
those overweight ones who could have been leading a sedentary lifestyle by
design or by choice. By design, I mean
the nature of the work has somehow dictated their lifestyle. By choice, I am talking about their die-hard habits
and behaviour that has an adverse impact on their health. It is
high time for us to take stock of our life and get our
priorities right by bolstering lifelong conviction on health matters
taking precedence over wealth matters.
Getting back to basics will be a tall order but it is worth our while.
Hitting the 50-year milestone is quite an achievement. Some wonder how many of us will remain alive
and kicking after the next decade. But I
would prefer to focus on the journey (or the process) rather than the
destination (or the longevity). It is
important to constantly remind ourselves to relish every single moment, to
cherish every sweet memory and to count our blessings. As long as we have memories, yesterday
remains. As long as we have hope,
tomorrow awaits.
Come what may, life goes on.
The article was written
in May 2006 in
The writer left