United We Stand, Divided We Fall

Glad to hear that everyone was pleased and satisfied with the reunion with Mrs Muthu. Those who have taken so much trouble to come...Thank you so much for everything ! I considered myself very lucky indeed as I was with Azmah from the day before the reunion....right till it was over. I was the last to leave her house on the 8th August at 9.30 pm.

On Friday morning the 7th of August, Azmah n I went marketing. We bought 2 kg of mutton, herbs, veggies, spices, eggs, fish, pineapple etc. The rest of the day was spent mostly in the kitchen preparing the meals and also for the next day's Hi Tea. Azmah's children were also kept busy on their toes...willingly running errands n offering their hands. Very different from what we see in TV...so aloof n hopeless !!

It melted my heart to see Najiha and Alan co operatively making 2 dozens of shepherd's pies together. When Fitri arrived home from work..we had the hot steaming, freshly baked pies together for tea. Emm ...they were really delicious Najiha. How nice to have a daughter who is sweet, feminine n diligent in school n at home.

Later we went out again to survey the the cakes and to buy other stuff. In the evening the kitchen was alive with activities. The aroma of the Mutton Soup and the Shepherd's Pies snaked its way out of the kitchen and permeated right into the Guest Room where I was praying.

That night I joined Azmah n her family for dinner at her hubby's office functions. The dinner was to usher in the Merdeka month. It was fun to see the company's staff competing each other in the Karaoke contest ala Gangstarz style..This was something I did not expect but it was a nice treat n nice of Fitri to invite me though initially...I wanted to stay at home.

We had satay, nasi lemak, laksa asam n Yong taufoo. Sumptuous !

The next morning Azmah n I went to the market again to do some last minute shopping. We looked for some tapiocas, coconut, santan and so on while Aidil bought some seafood for his Barbeque with his friends. When we reached home Azmah, cooked the Asam Rebus ikan selar kuning with Nenas, Asam pedas ikan merah, pecal ayam and urap. This meal was specially prepared for those coming early for lunch n from outstations. But we had a surprise in store for us....

At 12 noon Azmah n hubby were supposed to attend a wedding reception. Azmah entrusted the duty of a host to me. Oh my goat ! Here Comes Trouble !. I was so damn nervous. Bila lagi nak menyamar jadi datin tapi saya panicked betul2 ni.

I begged Azmah earnestly not to leave me !! Glad Azmah was still around to welcome the the guys...Azmi, Amin n Zul. Not long after that, Roslina with her left hand in bandage ( what happened ? ) and her hubby dropped-by. The guys were just breaking the ice with Roslina when another batch of guests arrived...

It was a pleasant surprise to see our dear teacher Mrs Muthu being escorted by Peng Huat and Elaine. Well.. a teacher will always be a teacher. Ever punctual and right on the dot ! After that it became a mini photo-shoot session, storing-telling, reminiscing old times and getting to know each other and endless makan time. Everything happened in a single breath.. I could hardly catch up with what was happening.

More frenz started arriving after that... Midah, Muhaini, Hatim, Roslaili, Azie, Adie n her daughter, Faziah, Fauzia Salleh n Ismail Raus. Later Aya showed up..and then we were pleasantly surprised by the arrival of our ever popular TIGS frenz...Roseta Jaafar n NId. By this time my head was beginning to malfunction because I was trying to make sense of what everybody was talking about.

Everyone had some juicy story to tell. At the round table..the girls were giggling n laughing away cracking jokes while at the other end...Azmi, Zul, Aya, Peng Huat, Elaine n I were engrossed listening to Mrs Muthu reminiscing old time stories.

Looks like Azmi has got a rival now. Mrs Muthu's memory is still sharp. Most of Mrs Muthu's stories centred around school time, her family's life, about the late Yasmin Ahmad early life n even about Dato' Chua Soi Lek, Cikgu Mohd Said and so forth. So macam2 story ada... You missed that special moment lah Azmah.

As stories after stories were being unfolded, and jokes after jokes being cracked..we took our own sweet time to savour the delicious Hi Tea spread. The Soto was truly excellent, so was the roti jala, Azie's home-made chocolate muffins, cakes, banana fritters, Muhaini n Azmah's soya bean jelly n fruit cocktails, Hernie's prawn fritters and fruits brought by our frenz. Thank you so much for all the generous sponsors n host.

We had another round of photo-shoot session with Mrs Muthu. Then the finale to the reunion was the cake cutting by Adie, Amin n Aya to celebrate their birthdays in advance this month. The twins birthday falls on the 23 August while the monitor's birthday is on the 29th August 1961.

After that..Aya on behalf of the group presented Mrs Muthu with the lovely pitcher n bowl. Before the guests departed, Azmah also gave Mrs Muthu a pair of beautifully framed class n reunion photos. The rest did not leave empty handed as Azmah, Azmi, Zul, Fauziah Salleh n Faziah thoughtfully gave some souvenirs to all of us. Thanks a million buddies for your kindness.

In Mrs Muthu's farewell speech, she thanked everyone for inviting her to the reunion and expressed how happy she was. She was also looking forward to join us again in future reunions. I pray to God that Mrs Muthu will be blessed with optimum health , prosperity, longevity n happiness. And hope to see you again...

Written by Ainon