Old Pictures

A friend, Zamri whom I seen face to face more than 10 years enquired about old photos recently. Photos from the days when we were room mates back in the Wellington days. Its still in good condition, thanks to temperate climate over here, even though the photos had lived several years in Malaysia's hot and humid. Some of my old photos turned brown in Malaysia. Even the album disintegrated in the heat.

I have the intention of saving the photos in digital form in the next week or so, if I have time.

Those pictures above are from 1983 and 1984 respectively. I arrived in Wellington back in January 1983 with a large group of Malaysian students.

see the brownish photo. That was from Zamri. I dont have that one.

We were housed in a Victoria Uni Hall for a week for orientation, being told and acclimatised to the Kiwi way of life. Even learned to eat using knife and fork. Knife on the right hand and fork on the left hand.

"Ish makan pakai tangan kiri.."

Then we were sent off to high school all over New Zealand, from Keri Keri in the north to Invercargill in the south. I didnt go that far from Wellington, just north a bit to a satellite city called Porirua. The kind of planning in the sixties where they build a township outside the main city to house the poorer section (ish, politically incorrect words, lower socio economic better) of the society. Just like Petaling Jaya and Cheras was to KL.
The school was called Mana College. So I attend Form 6 and Form 7 there, doing my A level. My 6 Form year was rather uneventful, I wasnt that confident in my English, luckily I was boarding with this English lady whose house was not far from the sea. Yeah she did came from England in the fifties. So everything was pretty much English style. I still remember her name was Ann Thompson, the house was in Paremata. These days Paremata is a chic neighbourhood, with Whitby around the corner is becoming millionaires' row, because of its closeness to the sea.

Form 7 year was much better, more Malaysian student coming to the school and I was more confident in my English. Being close to Wellington, a hop scotch away by train, we used to go to Wellington very often, almost every week. We often go to the Islamic Centre in Newtown for Friday prayer in my school holidays and during weekends in Ramadan. There were a few Malaysian students in Wellington back then, so we sometimes visit them.