Teluk Intan

Last week we made a trip to attend one of my student's son's wedding.It was something special to be able to attend the wedding of a son of my student and I could not help but go back to my early days as a teacher in this little town which will forever be special to me.It was here that I met my wife ,married and raised our children.We had happy times here and the fellowship which started there still remains. My wife still has many of her friends and she would always make it a point to visit them or keep in touch with them and they always feel warm towards her.Sad to say many of my friends have moved out or passed away but we did visit a very good friend Dr.Roger Tan who gave my wife and Aaron free medical treatment when we visited him. Though small in size Teluk Intan is big ,bigger than any other place in terms of the sincerity of the people ,the friendship ties and the special little places that we used to go to. The restaurant where the wedding dinner " Pau Loong " is run by a person who used to sell fried noodles by the roadside.I remember his little stall was walking distance from where mum used to stay and I would walk there to ta pau koay teow for her at only 30 cents.From his little koay teow stall he started a shop in glutton square selling bak kut teh with steamed fish head as a side dish.From thence on it was success all the way and today he has three restaurants under his name in Teluk Intan a real rags to riches story.I would love to sit down with him and find out how he made it. What strikes me is that in small towns people are really sincere and and warm hearted ,something which you seldom find in big towns.They take you for what you are and friendship is not based on social status or what they can get out of you but on social bonds.We were just teachers then but we had friends from all classes of life.Even the late Raja Muda was my friend and he would fondly call me Cikgu. Being a teacher and still one at heart there is so much satisfaction to see your students succeed in life.We teachers those days taught our students not only the subject matter but in between also made it a point to EDUCATE them and it was not for the sake of money but as part of our social responsibility.Many people fail to realise that bringing up a child is not an easy task.Amongst other things you have to study the character of your child and build on his strengths and work on his weaknesses. Two of my students from the same family are Doctors and talking to them made me realise that they were not only professionals but fine upright young men.In a small way, knowing that as teachers we have contributed a little to this makes us feel really good .This is something which all the money in the world cannot buy. Yes Teluk Intan gives me many special memories.I started my adult life here ,found my wife here and raised my children here and on top of that I was given the opportunity to educate thousands of students whom I believe still have a little bit of respect and affection for me because they still call me "SIR".