Penang Free School... Let us march on to fame... [1996]

Whenever I think of my alma mater, Penang Free School, I can't help hearing in my head the PFS anthem which I last sang in 1976 !

Let us march on to fame
Let the ailes proclaim
Till the anthem will dare us to do
Let us onwards to win and new laurel gains
Frees School for the brave and the true.."

I had my primary education in Westlands Primary School ( now the Westlands Centre of Sports Excellence) from 1964 to 1969.

Based on the assessment exams for Standard 6, I was given a chance to enter Form I at PFS in 1970. I remember sitting for an open examination together with students from other feeder schools like Wellesley, Hutchings etc.

Based on the results, I was streamed into Form 1A. At that time, I was pretty proud of my achievement not knowing that I was soon to be demoted to Form 2C & Form 3D ! You see, my method for studying was to study just a few days before the exams. This used to work for me in primary school as I was always in the top 3 of my class.

Anyway, I finally woke up in Form 3 and managed to get two distinctions and the rest credits to enter Form 4 Science 2. As I recall, I was always at the bottom of my class as I was spending more time Scouting ! By a miracle and lots of common sense , I managed to pass my MCE again with 2 distinctions several credits and almost failed my Additional Maths & Bahasa Malaysia. As I recall we had to sit the BM paper twice due to the infamous leak !'

By the way, those days you had to get less than 8 points from 2 science & 1 maths subject to enter Lower Six. Again by some miracle, I gain entrance into Lower Six Science 2 with 8 points from 3 science subjects as compared to the 9 points gained from the best 2 science + 1 maths combination !

In lower & upper six, I was up to my old tricks i.e failing monthly exams, term examinations due to my interest in Scouting & other society activities. I was the Troop Leader for 1st Georgetown (S) Boy Scout in 1975 and the Assistant Senior Scout Leader of the Senior Troop in 1976 . I even managed to win prizes for my science projects at the State Science Exibitions.

The price I had to pay for the lack of attention was a mediocre HSC result ! That's how a science student became a Certified Public Accountant

Reminiscence: How did I get to become a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) ? [1996]

In 1974, I was a fifth-former at Penang Free School (PFS) in the Science Stream. At that time, one of my classmates, Ng Swee Weng (now Penang Partner, KPMG) was telling me about the CPA qualification and his plans to do it after our MCE. At that time, MCE was the minimum entry qualification. As fate would have it, when the MCE results were announced in 1975, the MACPA raised the minimum entry qualification to HSC !

I went on to study Biology also at PFS with no further thoughts of pursuing the CPA qualification. In the meantime, Ng Swee Weng then a Maths Student also at PFS took up the LCC Book-keeping Certificate and in 1977 signed up as an Article Clerk at Peat Marwick Mitchell & Co as KPMG was then known. At that point, he was already offered a place at University Malaya to study Engineering. I was in close touch with him at that point in time and that rekindled my interest in the CPA qualification.


In 1978, I wrote in to quite a few big firms in Penang without even eliciting a response from them. Sometime in Jan 1978, another of my schoolmate, Khoo Chee Eng (also a Primary Schoolmate and now a CPA) visited me and informed me of an advertistment in the Star for the position of "Audit Clerk" by an anonymous firm. I had missed that advertisement. I wrote in mechanically without expecting a reply.

Imagine my surprise, when I received an interview letter from M/s Ahmad Abdullah & Goh. On 19th Jan 1978, wearing a pink shirt and a maroon pants (it was the fashion then...), I went to Bangunan Elceetee and as I was going up the stairs, I met a gentleman with a tie who was staring at me. So as a 20 year, I stared back. I was met by a Miss Linda Choy and asked to take a seat. Guess what ? I was shocked when the interviewer, Mr. Michael Goh turned out to be the very same chap whom I was starrring back ! At that time, I was thinking to myself...Game Over !

The interview wasn't that bad ... At that point of time, I was crazy about getting a goverment job and I knew the scale very well. For example, a HSC holder would start at $485.00; MCE $405.00 and LCE $235.00. The interview went pretty well and Mr. Goh asked about my expectations. I said that since I'm a HSC holder with no experience and absolutely no accounting background, I was prepared to accept a LCE pay ie $235.00. I was stunned when he said that the pay was only $ 125.00 !

On accepting the offer, he said that I could start straightaway and before I could say anything, he introduced me to the staff ( at that time less than 9 staff) and asked me to start work !
I went home at lunch-time and told my mum that I'm going back to work. She was shocked and said "but.. you just went for the interview this morning..." Sadly, my mum passed way on 16 Feb 1978 but I was able to give her some money from my first meagre pay of $95. BTW, Mr. Goh forgot to tell me that $30 was to be retained for 3 months. I can still remember my sister, Alice laughing at me for getting such a low pay for HSC holder compared to the $ 300 which she was getting as a MCE holder.

Sadhu... Sahdhu ... Sahdhu [1996]

Born as a BuddhistI was born as a buddhist...so says my birth certificate !

However, I don't know much about buddhism except the concept of karma, action & reaction, living in moderation etc. To be honest, what little I know are from my Form 1-3 history books !

Linking to Buddhist Sites

Anyway, a client who I consider to be a friend, C.H. Lee suggests a link to the YBAM home page.

The other link is from a vistor to this home page, Tan Kian Khoon

As suggested by TS Lai in his comments on my guest book, I am adding as many links as possible to other buddhist related sites.. If you know of a buddhist related site particularly in Malaysia, please don't hesitate to let me know by e-mail or by signing my guestbook
Just received an e-mail from C.H. Lee that Mr. TS Lai is currently an Economics Lecturer in Universiti Utara Malaysia, YBAM Vice President and the Chairman of YBAM Kedah State Liaison Committee.

Mr. Lee Chin Soo wrote on 14 April 1997 as follows :
"Just to let you know I have created a homepage called Singapore DharmaNet at http://www.cyberway.com.sg/~chinsoo/dharma.htm . It has all the information you want to know about Buddhism . It has a fantastic homepage by Tan Chade-Meng ( under email address of Buddhist friends ) on Buddhism too . Check it out .
Regards
Chin Soo"

Francis Phoon
By the way, my brother-in-law, Francis Phoon helped in the selection of the sites listed below. Francis is pretty knowledgeable in buddhism and you may see some of buddhism related writings here in the near future.

Saddhu Saddhu Saddhu...With Metta

I notice that most buddhists use the terms Saddhu Saddhu Saddhu & With Metta as part of their greetings. Again, C.H. Lee came to my rescue and explained that :
Saddhu, Saddhu, Saddhu are Sanskrit / Pali words literally translated as " Excellence, Excellence, Excellence" and are uttered when the person learnt something good and benefit himself and others from a teacher. It shows the joy /happiness of the person as well, when he heard somethings good has happened.
Metta means compassion, loving-kindness.

Wheel of Dharma
The turning wheel of Dharma ( also known as Dhammachakka in Pali) is the animated graphic image that I have chosen to represent buddhism. The eight pillars in the wheel represent the Noble Eight Fold Path (The Middle Path) as taught by the Buddha The Noble Eight Fold Path are, in sequence :
Right Understanding
Right Thoughts
Right Speech
Right Action
Right Livelihood
Right Effort
Right Mindfulness
Right Concentration

Jayanto, IndonesiaJayanto, a visitor on 8 July 1996 to this home page, was invited by me to contribute his buddhism based articles which were published by Indonesian magazines. Click here to view his Guestbook entry.
His first contribution ( and I hope not his last) is in Indonesian and is called Idola
Let's get started...

Astronomy : Seeing Stars [1996]

I am a backyard astronomer who :

1. owns a 8-inch Schimdt-Cassegrain telescope
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. owns a 2 inch refractor telescope
3. owns a poweful binoculars
4. have witness the total eclipse of the sun in 1995 at USM, Penang
5. have actually seen Comet Hayakute on 25/3/96 at Telok Bahang at 2.00 am & in front of my house in Prai at 4.00am
6. have seen a number of Messiers objects including the Great Orion nebula
7. reads monthly astronomy magazines like Astronomy, Sky & Telescope
8. surfs the Internet for astronomy related sites have wriiten a software called the Celestial Tracker to track the Moon, Comets, Asrteriods, Planets & Star constellations