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S. Ulaganathan reminisces about his friendship with two Peace Corps teachers.
IT was a surprise to see the story on Peace Corps on Jan 20 because just a week before, I had spoken to my son about my old Peace Corps housemates.
My first contact with the Peace Corps movement was my former housemate Chester Bolay. We taught at Hamzah Secondary School in Machang, Kelantan from 1966 to 1967. We rented a one-room house and although we were roommates for less than a year, I found his company very stimulating and hilarious. He was jovial and got along with most of the employees.
Once, Chester invited a friend for lunch; he planned to cook spaghetti. But the friend, Sam, came about 6pm as we were about to go for dinner. Sam apologised but asked for his share of the Italian dish. Unfortunately there was nothing left. We had left the pan in the sink. The water from the tap was dripping into it.
Chester told Sam that we had cooked Italian tomato soup and asked me to heat it up and serve our guest. I was puzzled. Then I realised what I was to do. I heated what was in the pan and served it to Sam.
He said it was too light and tasteless. He didn’t eat it, concluding that Italian soup must be plain.
NEW FRIEND
Six months later, Robinson (I cannot recall his first name) joined the school as a Science teacher. He was looking for a place to stay and I wanted to shift out of the one-room house I had shared with Chester. So Robinson, art teacher Chee Yeow Seng and I found a much larger Malay-style wooden house along Tanah Merah Road in Machang.
It was a wonderful experience living together. We went to school together and drank coffee together. At night, our school principal would drop in to talk to Robinson. We joined in the conversation until past midnight. We would send signals to each other about dinner.
You see, we catered food from a local family. We would heat the food and add vegetables, eggs and tau foo. But when our principal was around, we could not eat as as the portions were too little to share.
PLAYING TRICKS
I remember one day we decided that we had had enough of his visits. As soon as we got home from school, we closed all the windows, locked the door and decided to remain quiet. The principal came in his Peugeot 504, called out our names a few times, and getting no response, reversed his car and went back. We waited for a while.
Robinson took a peep. Chee gave the clearance. I opened the windows and we shouted in jubilation. But our joy was short-lived.
Raj Kumar, the principal, had taken a detour and returned. We gave a long explanation as to why we had not answered his calls. He said he had seen Robinson’s bicycle under the house and had decided to return!
INFLUENTIAL PERSONA
Robinson had a great influence in my life. I was a 22-year-old teacher trainee then. I had completed my training but didn’t have the Higher School Certificate, a qualification that would have enabled me to enter university.
I had decided to sign up for the examination but there were no institutions in the district offering instruction. Robinson offered to help. He asked his father to send me the Cole guide books for English literature.
He’d insist that I complete reading the textbooks. At night, after our principal had left, he would ask me to narrate the story. It was this concern and motivation that kept me away from TV and in touch with all my books.
Robinson was adamant that I pass the examination. And for his trust and faith in me, I am eternally grateful.
SWEET SUCCESS
I can still remember the day. Those were the days when the public examination results were published in the national newspapers. My name was there. I had passed. Robinson was the first to congratulate me.
Later, I applied to study in University of Malaya. By the time I entered university, Robinson had left. At that time I considered him my colleague, my housemate and a friend. It took me nearly 45 years to realise the great influence and impact that these Peace Corps friends, especially Robinson, had on my life.
If their influence on one individual could be that great, can anyone imagine the effect they have had on the hundreds of students they came into contact with in their short stay as volunteers?
Gift of a lifetime New Straits Times reader - Showbiz - New Straits Time
ttp://www.nst.com.my/life-times/showbiz/gift-of-a-lifetime-new-straits-times-reader-1.57822#ixzz1oaiTrnJ3
S. Ulaganathan reminisces about his friendship with two Peace Corps teachers.
IT was a surprise to see the story on Peace Corps on Jan 20 because just a week before, I had spoken to my son about my old Peace Corps housemates.
My first contact with the Peace Corps movement was my former housemate Chester Bolay. We taught at Hamzah Secondary School in Machang, Kelantan from 1966 to 1967. We rented a one-room house and although we were roommates for less than a year, I found his company very stimulating and hilarious. He was jovial and got along with most of the employees.
Once, Chester invited a friend for lunch; he planned to cook spaghetti. But the friend, Sam, came about 6pm as we were about to go for dinner. Sam apologised but asked for his share of the Italian dish. Unfortunately there was nothing left. We had left the pan in the sink. The water from the tap was dripping into it.
Chester told Sam that we had cooked Italian tomato soup and asked me to heat it up and serve our guest. I was puzzled. Then I realised what I was to do. I heated what was in the pan and served it to Sam.
He said it was too light and tasteless. He didn’t eat it, concluding that Italian soup must be plain.
NEW FRIEND
Six months later, Robinson (I cannot recall his first name) joined the school as a Science teacher. He was looking for a place to stay and I wanted to shift out of the one-room house I had shared with Chester. So Robinson, art teacher Chee Yeow Seng and I found a much larger Malay-style wooden house along Tanah Merah Road in Machang.
It was a wonderful experience living together. We went to school together and drank coffee together. At night, our school principal would drop in to talk to Robinson. We joined in the conversation until past midnight. We would send signals to each other about dinner.
You see, we catered food from a local family. We would heat the food and add vegetables, eggs and tau foo. But when our principal was around, we could not eat as as the portions were too little to share.
PLAYING TRICKS
I remember one day we decided that we had had enough of his visits. As soon as we got home from school, we closed all the windows, locked the door and decided to remain quiet. The principal came in his Peugeot 504, called out our names a few times, and getting no response, reversed his car and went back. We waited for a while.
Robinson took a peep. Chee gave the clearance. I opened the windows and we shouted in jubilation. But our joy was short-lived.
Raj Kumar, the principal, had taken a detour and returned. We gave a long explanation as to why we had not answered his calls. He said he had seen Robinson’s bicycle under the house and had decided to return!
Robinson (seated, fourth from left) with his colleagues
Robinson had a great influence in my life. I was a 22-year-old teacher trainee then. I had completed my training but didn’t have the Higher School Certificate, a qualification that would have enabled me to enter university.
I had decided to sign up for the examination but there were no institutions in the district offering instruction. Robinson offered to help. He asked his father to send me the Cole guide books for English literature.
He’d insist that I complete reading the textbooks. At night, after our principal had left, he would ask me to narrate the story. It was this concern and motivation that kept me away from TV and in touch with all my books.
Robinson was adamant that I pass the examination. And for his trust and faith in me, I am eternally grateful.
SWEET SUCCESS
I can still remember the day. Those were the days when the public examination results were published in the national newspapers. My name was there. I had passed. Robinson was the first to congratulate me.
Later, I applied to study in University of Malaya. By the time I entered university, Robinson had left. At that time I considered him my colleague, my housemate and a friend. It took me nearly 45 years to realise the great influence and impact that these Peace Corps friends, especially Robinson, had on my life.
If their influence on one individual could be that great, can anyone imagine the effect they have had on the hundreds of students they came into contact with in their short stay as volunteers?
Gift of a lifetime New Straits Times reader - Showbiz - New Straits Time
ttp://www.nst.com.my/life-times/showbiz/gift-of-a-lifetime-new-straits-times-reader-1.57822#ixzz1oaiTrnJ3
