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By Mihar Dias October 2024
“You have to share your success with your classmates,” urged Tan Sri Abdul Razak Ramli when he learned of my recent recognition by Newswav. It was early October, and the awards night was still fresh in memory.
Tan Sri Razak and I go back a long way – Sultan Abdul Hamid College, 6th Form, 1966-67 in Alor Setar. Our cohort was a small, tightly-knit bunch, bound by shared memories and the occasional (and growing) aches of old age.
With most of us now past 75, it seems fewer and fewer old friends remain. Those of us still in Kuala Lumpur or Klang Valley cling to the tradition of gathering for one another, honoring the years that bind us together.
Tan Sri Razak didn’t let the moment pass without fanfare. He sent word to everyone, inviting them to a lunch in my honour but, of course, with a touch of humour: “You’ll have to foot the bill for this honour.” After all, winners must pay – especially among friends.
The Bunga Raya restaurant at Lake Club was an option, but tastes had become eclectic over the years; some wanted Western, while others craved a hearty fish head curry. So we settled on The Buttery, a spot that might satisfy our mixed preferences.
In all, ten friends arrived – men and women now, but boys and girls at heart, eager to celebrate and share their stories.
Over plates of food, we wove together jokes and war stories of life’s twists and turns. Aches and ailments crept into the conversation; these were inevitable now, in our late seventies.
But there was no bitterness. Instead, the mood was buoyant, perhaps fueled by a feeling that we’re in our twilight years and should be making them count.
My own writing, which Newswav had recognised with four awards (Creator of the Year being the most surprising among them), sparked some inspiration. A few even mused about writing something of their own, but most of them insisted that I had found my calling. I like to think of it as my Ikigai – that sweet spot of purpose and passion.
When the meal ended and our laughter had quieted down, the goodbyes lingered. We exchanged hundreds of kind words, snapped photos, and some of us even hugged like old friends in a Simon & Garfunkel song. It was a gathering filled with shared pride and nostalgia – old friends like bookends, as they say.
And with a firm shake of hands and promises to meet again, we left, vowing to come together soon to mark another milestone.
"Old Friends/Bookends"By Simon & Garfunkel Album:" Old Friends"Track Number: 2
Lyrics:
Old friends/Old friends/Sat on their park bench/Like bookends/A newspaper blown through the grass/Falls on the round toes/On the high shoes/Of the old friends/Old friends/Winter companions/The old men/Lost in their overcoats/Waiting for the sunset/The sounds of the city/Sifting through trees/Settle like dust/On the shoulders/Of the old friends/Can you imagine us/Years from today/Sharing a park bench quietly?/How terribly strange/To be seventy/Old friends/Memory brushes the same years/Silently sharing the same fear/Time it was,/And what a time it was/It was . . ./A time of innocence/A time of confidences/Long ago . . . it must be . . ./I have a photograph/Preserve your memories/They’re all that’s left you
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