Sensei's Big Bash

Sensei's Big 50 Bash

18th February 2008



It was still CNY. Yet everyone was so excited about this much awaited dinner that the days preceding had seen more than the usual flurry of phone calls and sms-es among the Purpleians.


I reminded myself to text Sensei to see what he cake wanted. Cheese cake, quickly came the reply.


Dinner was 7.30pm. Traffic would be bad. Time to leave the office. Must remember to take the cakes out of the fridge.


Stuck at the lights, Sensei called. Have you reached? Soon, I said. There will be two others from Red class, he said. Ok, a nice surprise.


Yoke Chen and Bee Li were already there, seated with the two newcomers. I recognized them but didn't know their names. One stood up and said, Hi, I'm Mosquito. It wasn't difficult to recognize this now grown-up version of that tiny kid with the fair face and light hair from long ago.


The other one looked like a distinguished academician, with his silver mane. I mentally dyed his hair colour black and recognized the face without trouble. Liew Fook Sin. As the night wore on, I remembered that I often saw him in the bus to school and he stayed near Pui Lin's house. Another Chan Sow Lin kid.


Sensei's drawing power cannot be underestimated - when the tables were filled, it was another fantastic turnout.


Bee Li.

Yoke Chen.

Loong Tung Fook alias Mosquito.

Leong Fook Sin

Myself.

Florence.

Tuck Weng.

Yuet Ho.

QiGong Master

Chew Hong

Choon Kit & Bee Bee

Taiko & Tai Sow

Mun Fai & Karen

And of course,

Birthday Boy, B K and son.

Siew Lee was in Singapore. Cinderella Connie was sick. In her call to me earlier she was rasping badly and I vaguely made out "Tell Weng Choon sorry I can't make it".She didn't call him herself because she was worried that he might hear the message to mean making something else.


Two good things about Hai Peng:


One: the food.

Two: the crowd (or lack of, that night)


Because, if it was full, we might have been evicted. With two new faces and four wives, plus an ever-ready bunny of a 6-year old kid our two tables were the most boisterous half-a-century-young people you have ever seen.


I lost count of the number of bottles. Or the number of toasts. From Siew Lee's vintage reds to Rick's Chivas, it seemed like an unending supply. In any case, no birthday boy was toasted so many times as our beloved Sensei. Mind you, my hands ached from just raising the glass each time we sang the last line of "happy birthday to you".


And no birthday boy I know had a wider smile the whole night.


I know I'm speaking for all of us when I say we had the greatest time. It was not the crabs prawns, chicken, lala, glass noodle or the dessert.


It was the camaraderie, again.