Digging deeper into the past...

This is the man I owe my life to, my eldest brother 'Spike' as he was known among close friends. My brother brought life to the School where I spent my secondary education  at the Sultan Sulaiman Secondar School located on the East Coast of the State of Terengganu. He was well feared and respected by  most as he held no holds barred when it came to punishment. 

I ended up at Sultan Sulaiman Secondary school for my  secondary education sometime in 1962? It was not the best times of my life as i had my eldest brother as the disciplinary teacher as well as my English teacher. he was a dominating figure feared by all and this made me and my twin brother revenge targets. The above pics were of the school when I was a student there. The school is located right close to the South China Sea with its long sandy beaches.

I was fortunate as a teenager to have been taken under the wings of  men like  the late  Dato' Ariffin Zakaria who was at one time or another the District officer for several locations in the state off and on. As he loved hunting and fishing i was one of those who he would take along these adventurous trips. The picture above was taken on one of the islands off the Terengganu coast, possibly Pulau Yu where we had been hunting Rock Pidgeons. 

One of my art teacher at Sultan Sulaiman was Mr. Redza Piyadasa, he was  Pia to us before he was converted ti Islam by marriage. Here we were taking a break from working on his 'Boxes". Sitting in the middle was my math teacher Mr. Ong Them Loon, a man I had great love and respect for in those days. 

I was in the Boys Scout Troop while in school and the most unforgettable moments of  my days with the First Trengganu Boys Scout troop was being a part of the Ist. Malaysian Jamboree which was held in Teluk Bahang., Penang.
Here I met with scouts and girls scout from several other participating countries like Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand.

These were the highlights of my teenage years and iconsider myself more than blessed to have been able to be a part of many extraordinary activities that most teenagers of my time were not exposed to.  I have my eldest brother "Spike' to thank for as he made it all possible for me and my twin to taste life with a little more gusto.

Here I was entering the 'Sekayu Waterfalls' located in Hulu Terengganu, when it was first discovered back in the sixties. With my backpack and a few extra clothing My friend and entered the forest and spent the night there. It was a big mistake in my life as I later discovered that my whole face was swollen from mosquito bites and i ended up with four months of Malaria spent in the Penang General Hospital. Everytime I am remonded of the ordeal I can feel the bitter taste of Quinine pills in my mouth and how i would throw up yellow stuff immediately after I am forced to swallow the 8 or 10 different pills at a time.  

Even in the early years when everyone else were enjoying their own thing  I was more into sketching what I saw.