Reunion - Always Something Missing

Pic taken probably in the 1950s showed part of the Holy Trinity Secondary School on the upper floor left hand side, the Boarding House, first floor and the Bridge (Remove) Classes, ground floor on the right hand side. Foreground, the playing field. Courtesy of Bryan Paul Lai.
Note: When I visited Tawau during the Reunion Dinner, these buildings no longer existed.


From right, me, Lawrence and Paul at his spacious residence within the vicinity of the Tawau Municipality



From left to right, Lilian, Paul's charming wife, me and Paul waiting for the reunion dinner to start.




Reunion is always a time of reflection or remembering the good old days when everything was simple. No computer no nothing. And travelling from house to school or from house to town was either by your two strong legs or on a bicycle. That was the in thing. But now, all has changed in our wired world. And events happening thousand of miles away can be viewed from the TV screen on our sitting room or from the computer.

What has this to do with reunion! And why is there a feeling always,of something missing? That was part of my emotion when I attended a recent reunion in the east coast of Sabah. It was held in the municipality of Tawau at the newly opened Promenade Hotel. On a Saturday evening, 3May 2009. Four hundred Trinitarians and Ursulites filled the hotel's banqueting hall. Exstudents of Holy Trinity and St. Ursula's Convent School respectively. I came, expecting to meet only one or two of my classmates. But it turned out, I met six of them(Trinitrians). That was indeed a real blessing! And of course, hearing of friends who has departed to the next world by the one way express brought a tinge of sadness.

My last visit to Tawau was in 1984, 25 years ago. In that time, a young boy would have matured into a man. And a small tree would have become a giant. Everything changed. I suddenly realised, what that missing feeling was all about? The Tawau of my school days. I was hoping that Tawau would remain the same. Slow and relaxful. Sitting on my bicycle and watching the sunset on the seafront near the district office. Eating turtle eggs and meehon. That was what I wanted Tawau to be.

Time moves on. Progress follow. And Tawau developes. My friend Lawrence and me would have been totally lost in this modern municipality if not for Bryan(our boarding mate in Holy Trinity-we stayed in his house, well looked after by him and his charming wife,Lilian)and his brother in-law Anderson. They brought us round. And I just couldn't make out the roads, the buildings and the places that I used to know. I completely lost my bearing.

I could have transmitted all these pictures of the reunion and of modern Tawau. But unfortunately, my digital camera had a glitch. So my wife, Irene who was in Kota Kinabalu did not see what I saw. Of the municipality still growing spur on by the oil palm plantation and industry. Otherwise, she could have seen all these views just a sitting room away. And this is all due to the power of being wired!