2011 September Monthly Article

Class 1964

During one of our reunion dinners, Miss Wong (黄瑶可) commented that, ”I have taught at St. Paul’s for many years, experienced quite a few graduating classes and have been invited to attend numerous reunion dinners. I must say that Class 1964 is by far the most gregarious with so many of you still stay connected long after graduation. This is a phenomenon and no other class can hold a candle to that.”

Indeed, following SPCC tradition, we had our first reunion in 1984 in Hong Kong, and once every five years since then until 2004. During the 2004 reunion, it was decided that a reunion every five years was not often enough, and reunions should not always be held in Hong Kong. Our 2007 reunion was held on an Alaskan cruise and was attend by 98 people, spouses included. The 2009 Mexican cruise reunion was attended by 70, and the 2010 New England cruise reunion attendance was similar. There were also “small group” (less than 30) activities frequently in between. The attendance rate was influenced by baby-sitting earlier on, and parents- and grandchildren-sitting more recently.

Pondering about why we are so “gregarious,” the reasons are many:

(1) We have a chat room type bulletin board on-line in operation with 95 members. Rarely has a day passed by with less than 10 entries.

(2) We have a few classmates who have been very active in pulling the group together and organizing activities. They have been actively searching for classmates who have lost contact and brought them back or at least kept them informed of our activities.

(3) Our spouses, fondly known as 新抱s and 姑爺s, integrated well into the group. Some of them are more enthusiastic than our own classmates in organizing and participating. Some of them are also SPCC alumni of a different vintage and they have attracted classmates of their own class to participate in our activities.

(4) We tried to get our children involved. The younger generation has now formed a network of their own.

Our gregariousness is not co-incidental.

Kim Cheng

DISCLAIMER

Contents under the Alumni Corner section are personal opinions and do not reflect the views of the Association.