There are people that you cross path with for a period of your life and then part way and never to meet again. But by divine intervention or whatever you may call it, there are incidences that parted individuals may cross path again in a totally different environment.
I met EP Tay, a Sarawakian in 1973 when we both stayed in the Fifth Residential College, University of Malaya. He was studying for his Science degree in MU while I was studying for a Civil Engineering degree. In fact we were staying in the same block, Block D. He is one of those individuals that you find it difficult to forget because of certain unique ability in him. He has this exceptional ability in picking up foreign languages. Barely a year in the university, his Japanese language skill which he learnt in the university for interest was so good that he was one of the five selected for students exchange to Japan. Since I left the 5th College in 1974, I had not seen or heard from him.
When I was in Perth recently, a uni-course mate also from Sarawak asked me whether I knew one Tay fellow who did his study in MU but has migrated and now works in the Kings Park Botanical Garden as a Botanist. I just could not recall someone by the name of EP Tay whom I knew in MU. He then added that EP Tay was from Sarawak and had stayed in the 5th College. Only then, the surname Tay clicked and this language specialist re-surfaced in my memory.
After a lapse of more than 42 years, we finally met in Lau HW's house on 16 July 2016. There was not a shadow of doubt that my guess was correct because he has hardly changed after all these years. The only obvious difference is that his hair has now turned white, much like all our peers! Incredibly, he remembers my Chinese name but has no re-collection of my English name. This is understandable because I started off with my Chinese name in my initial years in the University before switching to using the English name later on.
He now even speaks French! After working for a couple of years in Malaysia upon graduation, he then moved to Singapore working as a Botanist in the Singapore Botanical Garden. Later on, he was offered a scholarship to do post-graduate study in France. For the course, he had to learn French which he picked up in 6 months instead of the normal one years! His language skill is truly incredible.
After a lapse of more than 42 years, we finally met in Lau HW's house on 16 July 2016. There was not a shadow of doubt that my guess was correct because he has hardly changed after all these years. The only obvious difference is that his hair has now turned white, much like all our peers! Incredibly, he remembers my Chinese name but has no re-collection of my English name. This is understandable because I started off with my Chinese name in my initial years in the University before switching to using the English name later on.
He now even speaks French! After working for a couple of years in Malaysia upon graduation, he then moved to Singapore working as a Botanist in the Singapore Botanical Garden. Later on, he was offered a scholarship to do post-graduate study in France. For the course, he had to learn French which he picked up in 6 months instead of the normal one years! His language skill is truly incredible.
At the Dragon Palace Cockburn Gateway, a kind lady offered to take a photo for us. The chap in the middle is the classmate of EP Tay in St. Thomas Secondary School, Sarawak, Lau HW. He pursued his civil engineering degree in UWA and after graduation somehow ended in KK, Sabah. He married a Sabahan and worked in the Drainage & Irrigation Department before switching to practice as a consulting engineer. He too migrated to Perth after giving up his consulting practice more than ten years ago (Read here).
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