The annual sports meet of our school, was always one that could not be surpassed by any school in Klang, except may be High School, Klang, our rival school. The sports meet was a grand affair, not to be seen today. It was like a fun fare, with loud speakers and music being played loudly. Races during those days were started by guns. I clearly remember one well known “starter”, a Mr. Koh Teck Chong, dressed in “white”, starting most of the races.

Many secondary schools, especially in Klang, even from as far as Kuala Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, and even at times far as Ipoh, coming for our 4 X 400m relay race. Believe me, this event was a major attraction of our annual sports meet.

One other major attraction of our annual sports meet I remember, was the “tug of war” contest between “present pupils” and “past pupils” or old boy’s team. This was usually the last event of the day.

Pupils, I remember would encroach round the main guest tent to witness this interesting event. Old boys, being adults, were mostly big sized and pot bellied. Their combined weight alone was good enough to ensure their success.

The school team, which was made up of current students were nowhere compared to the old boys’ team. Without a doubt, the old boys’ team would usually land up as the eventual “winners” of the day.

Besides the many events available during the sports day, were events such as 100m, 200m, relay races for 4 X 100, 4 X 400 open school relay events, high jump, long jump, officials race, shot putt and javelin.

The A.C.S. annual sports, which is normally held from May to July, must surely be a grand event, never to be seen again by the folks of Klang town. As an ex A.C.S. pupil, I really miss it a lot. With the tents of the participating houses beautifully decorated for the “Decorations Cup”, and with all sorts of drinks, cakes and ice cream stocked in them, the atmosphere of our annual sports meet wax one that should not be missed by the pupils of the school.

Besides the annual sports meet, A.C.S. Klang is a venue for important football games. I once remember the Selangor Malays team in which “football king” Abdul Ghani plays for, once met another famous and well known team, Selangor Rangers represented by famous stars as Lourdes and Govindaraju.

This exciting game was held at our school padang. Tickets were sold. Black cloth was installed all around our school perimeter fence as high up as 6 or 7 feet high, to prevent spectators from looking into the padang or field. The entire bamboo fence which enclosed our school, was completed patched up to prevent our boys from trying to enter the school premise without playing.

Being an ardent fan of football, but unfortunately, unable to purchase the tickets to the Selangor Malays vs Selangor Rangers match, I finally had to climb up a nearby tree to witness the game. I just could not let the chance of seeing famous football stars such as Abdul Ghani Mirhat, Govindaraju, Lourdes and Arthur Koh, playing at our own A.C.S. field.

And finally, when talking about my secondary school days, which were from 1958 to 1962, as an A.C.S. boy, I feel I should talk about our school fun fare which is called the A.C.S. Carnival.

Most schools raise funds for school projects such as buildings and libraries, our school, A.C.S. Klang, is no exception. Under the principalship of Mr. D.R. Daniel, A.C.S. once every few years will hold a carnival or fun fare called the “A.C.S. Carnival”.

The A.C.S. Carnival is a big fun fare, unlike other fun fare, games and competitions are abundance. Every class was responsible to put up a stall, be it a stall for games, or a food stall. There were lots of fun and food around.

Months before the carnival arrived, art teachers such as Mr. James Pandian and Mr. Koh Yan Hoe, were busy getting students to draw up “posters”, which were to be put up all around arches that were built to surround our entire school. Beautiful “neon” lights decorated our school premise. A.C.S. was like a fairy land, believe me.

Tickets will be printed. And pupils obviously will be responsible to sell as many tickets as possible. Many competitions to sell tickets were organized.

All types of games and competitions were set up. Food stalls of every type, catering for food and drinks were also set up. Popiah stalls, stalls selling bubur chacha, rojak, drinks such as red beans and so on will be set up when the “Carnival” Day arrives. Tickets, normally be made up of 20 cents, 50 cents, and one dollar, will be printed to allow as many students as possible to partake in this interesting carnival.

Sometimes, the committee that organizes the A.C.S. Carnival will even launch a competition to select a “carnival queen” for our carnival. Handsome prizes were sometimes given to the lucky winner.

It is hoped that this article on my Alma Mater, A.C.S. (secondary) will bring back fond memories of your younger days when you were studying in it many years ago.

I hope you have enjoyed reading about A.C.S. secondary school, as much as I have enjoyed writing it for you! “Sapientia Potentsia Est” or “Knowledge is Power”. Long live A.C.S. Klang! I’m extremely proud to be a student of this school.

In 1962, I sat for my Overseas Cambridge Examination and obtained a 2^nd grade certificate. With a heart as “heavy as lead”, I finally had to bid farewell to my school teachers like Mr. S.P Subramaniam, Mr. Rathi Chandran, Mr. A.R Muthiah, Mr. K.O Chandy, Mr. and Mrs. T.O George, Mr. Sonny Tan, Mr. Kao Yan Hoe, Mr. James Pandian, Mr. Muthulingam, (the 6.6 feet tall) teacher from Kuala Lumpur and finally to Mr. D.R. Daniel who was my principal for many, many years.

God bless you all. Take care!

When I first decided to write about “My Alma Mater – Anglo Chinese Primary School, Klang A.C.S“, little did I realize that it might one day be read by readers who, once a upon a time, like me studied at the above school.

Even classmates of mine, whom I have since lost touch with years ago, have written into this blog, to relate about their childhood experiences they had while they were there in the 1950’s and 60’s. Their comments on this blog, has once again led me to decide to write a follow up article on my alma mater, that is the school I love so immensely.

It is hoped that, with this 2nd article on A.C.S Klang (Secondary), ex-students of this well known secondary school in Klang will go on to enjoy more memories of our old school.

A.C.S. primary school and A.C.S secondary school are infact situated in one and the same location. Both share a common ground. And also a common “tuckshop” or “canteen” in the early days of 1950’s and 60’s.

However, the A.C.S. primary school has its own toilet facilities though. So does the A.C.S secondary school. Today however, things regarding the two schools are a little bit different. The A.C.S. primary school of today has its own entrance at the back of the school in Jalan Melawis while the A.C.S. secondary school has its entrance and exit gates in front.

Although many years have since gone by, both my “Alma Maters”, have not undergone much alteration. The buildings and classes still remain the same. Only maybe the students are different.

I attended the A.C.S. secondary school in my younger days, from 1958 to 1962. The A.C.S. secondary school was located at Jalan Raya Barat, Klang. In those days, this road was also known as “Jalan Raya West”.

Coming out from the entrance of the school, one faces the well known “Fort Hill”. On top of this hill, is the famous private school called the Convent Girls School of Klang.

Some three to four hundred yards away from our alma mater, lies the Methodist Girls Secondary School (M.G.S), Klang. As a young secondary school boy, I still recall very vividly, M.G.S. being called the “Monkey Girls School” and what did the girls of M.G.S. nick name our school? They call us “American Cock Suckers”. Another famous and well known school in Klang, the famous High School, Klang its pupils were labeled as “Hungry Soldiers”.

To those ex A.C.S. students, like myself, who may have forgotten how our alma mater school looked like in the 1950’s and early 60’s, a huge field lies strategically in front of it. It was in this field, that interesting football games and our Annual Sports were held.

If I remember clearly, there were a few huge “raintrees” surrounding our school padang then I remember playing marbles underneath those big, shady raintrees. Sad to note that today, such massive beautiful raintrees are no more to be found in Klang.

However, I read with immense joy when reading about the Ipoh Municipal Council’s decision to insure “raintrees” in Ipoh for a few million dollars. I think it’s a wise decision after all. Syabas, to the Ipoh Municipal Council.
Talking about the time I was in A.C.S. secondary school, I think I should make mention of our school caretaker, I’m certain any A.C.S. boy will surely remember a small sized Indian man called Vijandran. Naughty students like myself, used to nickname him “Kapar Road”. Nothing makes Vijandran angrier than being called such name.

You see, Kapar Road, in those days was famous for its many “brothels” and the presence of “prostitutes” along that road. This would make anyone associated with it “flare” up, like poor Vijandran did.
In a twinkling of an eye, 50 years have since gone by. Is Vijandran still around today? I really don’t know!

To talk about my alma mater, A.C.S. (secondary), mention I think should be made of its headmasters. Earlier on, when I was 13 while I was in form 1, we had a G.S. Arumugam as our headmaster. Then came a Chinese man, from Kuala Lumpur, a Mr. Tan Teik Beng, I think.

Mr. Tan as I reiterated earlier in my article on A.C.S. primary school, was a bespectacled and likeable old man, not strict all. He is very much loved by us students.

Naughty students, when found “fighting” along the school corridors will be asked by Mr. Tan not to fight. Mr. Tan would normally give students a dollar each to go to the school canteen for meals and assorted drinks.

In 1958, came Mr. D.R. Daniel, from Ipoh, I think. Mr. Daniel’s wife, Doris Daniel was also a teacher in the A.C.S. primary school, which is incidentally located directly behind our secondary school. The A.C.S primary school was then, if I’m not mistaken, under the head ship of Mr. Ng Moh Say, a bespectacled Chinese man.

Mr. D.R. Daniel arrived to become the headmaster of our A.C.S. secondary school, as I said around the years 1958 or 1959. Daniel was to hold on to the principalship of A.C.S Klang for many, many long years.
I remember Mr. Daniel arriving at our school with a great “impact”. He was around 35 years of age then. A dark, huge man with spectacles,
Mr. Daniel doesn’t laugh, he infact “guffaws”, like Englishman usually do. Mr. Daniel is a man with very strict discipline. He is very strict where discipline is concerned. I still remember how he used to cane undisciplined students in his principal’s office.

The echoes of his canings still rings in my ears even today, 50 years later. As an A.C.S. boy, I can safely say, that Mr. Daniel can be labeled as a leader by example person. For your information, Mr. Daniel in those days drove a black 180 Mercedes Benz.

The first thing Mr. Daniel did on his coming to A.C.S. secondary, Klang, was to be involved in a friendly cricket match between the school team and the staff. I remember him hitting a “sixes” from the centre of the pitch.
His “hit” or “strike”, as one calls it in cricket, went well over the 2 storey block building in front of our school and landed in the vicinity of the school canteen, a distance of at least 300 – 400 yards. It was indeed a fantastic performance by our new principal, Mr. D.R. Daniel. He had proven he was indeed a good sportsman.

Besides being a good cricketer, Mr. Daniel, was also rather good footballer as well. Although, he was a huge man, he was adept in playing football as well. At that time, I was representing the school football XI. I remember playing against the staff team many times, with Mr. Daniel playing as “goalkeeper”.

Frankly speaking, Mr. Daniel plays well at the goal. It was not easy at all to beat him, let me tell you. Trying to get a goal past Mr. Daniel, was not easy.
When I left the A.C.S secondary school, after taking my Overseas School Exams in 1962, Mr. D.R. Daniel still remained as A.C.S.’s principal for a few more years, until he finally retired later. A.C.S. Klang then came into the hands of another great principal, Mr. A.R. Peters, whom I understand, hails from nearby Taman Ardales, Klang. I personally know Mr. Peter, quite well.

Talking a little bit more about Mr. D.R. Daniel, I had the opportunity to work with his younger brother, a Mr. Vincent Daniel, in Methodist English School (M.E.S.) in Telok Datoh, Banting, way back in 1963, when I was roughly 17 years old then. I was a “double” partner of Mr. Daniel, in badminton in those days.

If you are an A.C.S. boy, you will surely know that the A.C.S. had a scout movement called the 5th Klang group at that time; it was one of Klang’s top scout movements. The 5th Klang group scout movement produced many “King” scouts in those days. Many of my uncles and cousins, were also old boys of A.C.S. my uncles, Boo Choo, and his brothers Boo Hock as well as Boo Huat, were excellent king scouts in those days. They were able to cook very well.

Even my cousin brothers, Henry Lim and Tony Lim were once “king” scouts who belonged to the 5th Klang group. All A.C.S. old boys should be proud of them. They had all brought “fame” to our Alma Mater!

The 5th Klang group, used to carry many scouting activities. They were extremely active, especially during our Annual Sports Day, which was a grand and special occasion for all A.C.S. students.

Sports houses, to which students were divided into, were all beautifully decorated with leaves, ferns and bunting papers and balloons during our sports day. How much I enjoyed our sports day then.

The “scouts” did yeoman services decorating the houses. Around 1959, our scouts organized a big “camp fire” around the school premises. For that event, the 5th Klang group of scouts invited a real Red Indian from America to perform at our school’s annual camp fire then. I still recall the Red Indian as “Tom Two Arrows”.

Tom Two Arrows’ apache rain dance and the “wigwams” that he built in the middle of our school field or padang, will always remain in our memories, even after many, many long years have come and gone.

After the visit of Tom Two Arrows, the interest in scouting activities in our school increased tremendously. Many pupils, including myself felt as students, we should join scouting activities. Without a doubt, Tom Two Arrows apache “calls” and the smoke signals he conducted at the camp fire that night, went a long way to creating a great interest amongst many A.C.S. pupils.

This blog, the “Driving School Malaysia”, is a unique blog indeed. It is a blog written specially for people who are interested in “all things pertaining to the driving school industry in Malaysia today.” I have up till today written, very surprisingly though; well over more than 500 articles, both in Bahasa Malaysia and English. I am very glad to announce, the blog now has a readership of well over 700 people per day.

Do you know that this blog’s leading article entitles, “JPJ Undang-undang Test Passing Tips” was read by well over 30,000 readers? Well, I’m sure you’ll agree that this infact is indeed a fantastic achievement.

Amongst the many topics covered by this blog, include for cars covers 1st Party Insurance and 3rd Party Policies as well. Besides insurance, this blog also emphasizes upon subjects such as courses a potential student has to go through in his or her quest to obtain a driving license.

The 5 hour Kursus Pendidikan Pemandu and the 6 hour Theory Courses on engines are but some of the few courses breached upon by me in this blog.
To only talk about courses and spare parts in this blog alone, without making a mention about the “men” responsible for the maintenance of our second hand vehicles will be rather grossly unfair. What am I trying to imply is, what about trying to write an article specially on the “mechanics” whom I have known all these years.

To tell you the truth, I’ve driving for quite some years now. To be exact, since 1970. This morning, it dawned upon me that I should pay a small tribute to some of the many mechanics I know since I was a young lad.
In writing this article, specially for the mechanics I know it is done randomly. No special preference is accorded to any one mechanic whatsoever.

It should be made known to readers, since getting my driving license, at a young age 24, I have been driving mostly second hand vehicles, Volkswagens, old Datsuns, Marinas, Fiats and other famous continental models. Without a doubt, such cars, being old, required the services of many of my mechanic friends.

To tell you the truth, I feel I should quote you a famous quotation once made by the well known opposition political figure, Y.B. Lim Kit Siang, at the Letchuman Hall, Klang, after his party’s landslide victory, many years ago.

The above figure, who is a very famous orator said, and I quote: “without you, the electorates, there is no me. And without me, there is also no this party’s success.” Very powerful words, this writer feels.

So in fairness to my mechanic friends who years ago helped me, I feel I owe them a lot for the services they have rendered me all these years.
One of the mechanics I still remember even up till today must surely be “Wah Chye” who is now over 65 and still alive. The above mechanic, a personal friend of mine, likes to dabble in a few rounds of “mahjong” even today.

Wah Chye, was infact trained by the then “Champion” Motors group companies. Champion motors, was once the franchise holders for Volkswagen and Audi cars in Malaysia in those days. What I like about this mechanic, Wah Chye, is, he is ever ready to help whenever he can.
Even if one has some mechanical problems, at night, Wah Chye is sure to come to your assistance. His “charges” or “services” are reasonable.

Unlike other mechanics around, he is not a “cut throat”, so they say unfortunately what I know about Wah Chye is that this mechanic today, is currently suffering from acute “arthritis”. He now walks with a limp and his movements are restricted.

Other than that, I would say, Wah Chye, my mechanic friend, whom I’ve known for well 30 years, is still OK, god bless him! Incidentally, Wah Chye has 4 children, 2 boys and 2 girls in all. He is also a “datuk”, or grandfather.
The second mechanic, also a personal friend of mine, is none other than “Ah Lau”.

Infact, Ah Lau, was actually a friend of my father, Yap Thian Yew, or “Say Bah”, who was a lorry driver. Malay friends and fellow lorry drivers call my father “Abah” or in Bahasa Malaysia, “father”. Whenever his friends greet him “Abah”, my father would jokingly retort, “good son, you know how to accord your father the proper respect whenever you meet him. Good boy, keep up the good behaviour.” My father would usually say.

As Ah Lau is my father’s good friend, without a doubt whenever I was faced with some mechanical problems with my old “jalopy”, be it a Volkswagen 1200 or Fiat 600 second hand car, my father would, suggest that I seek Ah Lau’s expert services. To be fair to Ah Lau, he represents one of the best mechanics around. His knowledge about cars is very good. He is to me, the best there is.

Maticulate and careful, he takes his work seriously, washing the parts used carefully, his “forte”, I would say, is engine tuning and timing. In these days when computer tuning was yet to be heard of, Ah Lau’s ability to adjust your engine perfectly was reknowned. No one, can safely verify, can “time” an engine better than Ah Lau can.

As the saying goes, if you want the best mechanic around town, you must be ready to pay through your nose. Another popular saying reiterated, “gives peanuts and you’ll get monkeys”. Although Ah Lau is reputedly one of the mechanics available around the vicinity of Klang district, his charges, unfortunately will make your “knees” shiver or in layman language, “shock the lights out of you”. But as I said earlier, Ah Lau is the best around.

Ah Lau, I hear, is still working as a mechanic even today. Ah Lau should now be well over 70 years or more than today. According to Ah Lau’s younger brother, Lai Onn, 70, who happens to be a good friend of mine, Ah Lau, albeit his movements are restricted, still tinkles with minor repairs such as changing plugs, air filters and brakes from time to time.

One thing I should tell readers about mechanics is that most of them possess hobbies. The 1st mechanic, Wah Chye, whom I described earlier, was a “mahjong” kaki or “enthusiast”. Well, Ah Lau, was a “kaki pancing” or a “fishing” enthusiast?

Ah Lau likes nothing better than going fishing in places as far off as Perak, Johor and Negeri Sembilan on Sundays and public holidays. What type of fish does Ah Lau fancy angling? Well, the story goes that Ah Lau, does not go to the “seas”. He fishes in old tin mines. The fish that he is reputed to catch are “haruans” and “ikan keli” or “inspector’s” fish.

Well, so much about Ah Lau, my second mechanic friend whom I’ve decided to highlight today in my special articles on “mechanics” friends of mine.
One other mechanic friend of mine whom I feel I should make mention of would be a young mechanic, whom I made acquaintance with when he was then 16 years old. Our friendship has stretched well over 30 years now. To be exact, we know each other since 1970.

This young mechanic, Ah Keng is a Cantonese boy. His real name is Lum Wai Keng. Ah Keng today is well over 40 years. Ah Keng is a small, thin sized man, married and has a son about 12 years.

Ah Keng, married quite late. I know Ah Keng as a nice, young man with few bad qualities, such as heavy smoking and gambling. Ah Keng, is a responsible husband and a caring father. He likes no better than talking to me about his only son, who is now in standard two, I think.

Ah Keng, my mechanic friend is well known to his friends and colleagues as “The Snake”, or “Chuah” in Hokkien. “Snake” to the Chinese people, denotes “someone who is untrustworthy and therefore cannot be believed in.” but, Ah Keng, infact, is no such character or person.

Then why on earth do friends and business associates brand him as the “Snake”. You see, Ah Keng’s mobile phone happens to end with 9831. The number 9831 in Chinese gambling circles, is “snake”. What better way to remember a person, whatmore a mechanic, than to remember him via his mobile phone number 9831 or the “snake”. So, in short, Ah Keng my friend is called “The Snake” or “Chuah” in Hokkien dialect.

I was the one responsible for getting Ah Keng his driving license when he was 17 years old. I remember taking Ah Keng to Petaling Jaya for his practical test, way back in the 1960’s or 70’s. I was then not involved fully as yet as a driving instructor. I remember using a Volkswagen 1200 to teach this mechanic how to drive and do side parking.

As a mechanic, he was very adept in driving. I did not have to teach Ah Keng many lessons at all. He infact passed with “flying colours” in his the first attempt. I actually taught Ah Keng for free. I did not charge him anything at all.

Do you know why I have a very close relationship with Ah Keng, my mechanic friend? 24 hours a day or anytime at all, whenever I called or needed his mechanic assistance, Ah Keng, believe me, will without fail offer his services to me. That’s the kind of “bond” that exists between, this “instructor” and his mechanic, Ah Keng.

Ah Keng has been a mechanic for many years now. He is full of experience. He’s good at “modifying” parts which are sometimes not available. His “charges” maybe on the high side, but nevertheless, he is good at what he does. I for one, do not mind him charging higher fees on his services. I feel satisfied with the type of services he provides.

I have many more mechanic friends who have yet to be highlighted. It looks as if they will have to be talked about in another article some other time. Mechanics like part timers Abbas, who passed away just recently and Raman, from nearby Taman Sentosa, are but some of the many other mechanics who have provided me good services especially where repairs are concerned.

To all of them, I would like to extend to them my thanks and gratitude. As they say, without all of you (mechanics), I would be lost! You have all contributed a lot to the upkeeping of many of my second hand “jalopies” I used years ago. Once again, thank you all!