THIRD PLANET: BMHS Boys Chinese New Year Gathering 2010

It's been two years since our last CNY gathering.

Unbelievable!

There was talk about having one in 2009 to mark our fifty years of existence on this earth but it all quickly fizzled out due in part to the social upheaval that followed the ‘March 8 Tsunami’ and partly to the world economy which took a plunge and affected everyone at varying degrees. The mood just wasn’t there, so to speak. And if you want to let your mood go further south, there are hundreds of blogs that specialise in such doom & gloom that you can visit. As for me, I’d rather write about things that bring cheer and a speck of hope to the weary souls than to put a damper on your spirits.

So, here goes.

Before that, I think apologies are in order for my equally long absence from this blog. Can I say I have been in hibernation or deep slumber? By the way, do hogs hibernate at all? Perhaps, if I were a Polar bear, it might have been possible. But at the rate the ice caps are melting, these animals are having their biological clock greatly altered.

Anyway, let’s get back to the gathering before I take another nonsensical detour. Having it a year later can just be as memorable. Why all the preoccupation with numbers anyway, as someone articulated.

So, once again it was Sunny Tan (you know, the whacky guy from California) who started the ball rolling. In fact, it was him who ‘woke’ me up from my ‘blissful slumber’ with his e-mail one day out of the blue. He put forth the proposal to have one this CNY to coincide with his return to Malaysia with his family to take care of some personal matters. Well, plans were rather hazy at first. Actually, it was more like there were none at all. Someone suggested having it at a restaurant and it seemed like a good idea at first. You could just turn up, have your food, chit chat some and leave all the clearing up to the staff. No hassle, no fuss, zilch. End of story. But wait, someone, while trying hard not be a wet blanket, had to open his big mouth. What? On the second day of CNY? You’re just stretching out your throats to be cut! Think – over-priced food where their freshness would be suspect. We do have some lawyers & bankers in our midst and this just would not go down well with these meticulous, hawk-eyed, half-centurions. And there are also some of us who have actually abstained from meat & alcohol for health reasons. The key word was inclusiveness and we wanted as many as possible to attend. Thus, a neutral venue seemed to be the obvious choice. So, when Sunny mentioned that he & his missus had recently renovated their residence in BM, the missing cog finally moved into place.

With the question of the venue being taken care of the next problem was food. However, it was pointed out that it should not be a priority. Look at the amount left over the last time. Furthermore, it could easily be overcome if everyone chipped in with something from home - both vegetarian & non-vegetarian. With that out of the way, everything just went full swing after that.

February 15 came, a day after Valentine’s Day. Hey, we are no longer spring chickens, so who cares about Valentine’s Day, anyway? As the guests slowly trickled in, effusive greetings were exchanged among the old familiar faces and some new faces plus a couple of surprise guests who were actually glad they had turned up. The accompanying videos will bear testimony to that.

On a final note, Sunny promised to organise another similar gathering the next time he comes back to Malaysia. But hey guys, why wait for him? How about taking turns? Just volunteer to be the host and the rest will fall into place. We do have some experienced people in catering among us and the drinks somehow always appear out of nowhere.

Ciao!