Friends Like These

I am reading Danny Wallace’s Friend Like These when all he writes struck all the right chords with me. I have written somewhere before as far as friends are concern I have a few classifications or groups of them that by themselves are special to me. The obvious first group is my childhood friends when I grew up in Bukit Galing Camp which includes my primary school mates at Sekolah Kebangsaan Galing, Kuantan. Second is my SDARAs, a residential school that I went, lived, grew up and learnt about life for seven good years of my growing up. The third my college mates and the fourth group of friends that I made during the many years I worked in at least 5 organizations. As I said all the four groups has it own specialty and peculiarity. If I were to rank their importance I could not be fair to all but probably one that stands out most is my SDARAs. Now without realizing it I am back tracking my life.

Slowly and without having specific plan I search and visit my friends to reconnect, especially my secondary school friends that once in my life I was willing to die for. My endeavor eventually went on to my childhood friends and finding and tracking them are really difficult. In my days growing up in Bukit Galing Camp there were the Kaliman’s Noi, Inang (arwah), Yah, Zaha, Ecah, and Alin. Their parents are residing in Kuantan now. Ecah and Alin are staying with them. I visited them few times already. The Wan Long’s sibling of Awie, Ama, and Tipah. I can’t remember I met them but I heard about them MA being a successful businessman. Ama from his early days had shown the entrepreneur side of him os I was not surprise. The Kusai’s Nor and Chik. Cik married and I was told living in Subang Jaya. I met Nor when we visited his hometown in Temerloh years ago. But he was a change man then hardly talking and non committal to my jokes and conversation. And many more that I have forgotten. The only person that I have been in touch all this while and closer than anyboy else is Zaha. From my primary school Tajuddin (a medical doctor now at Balok), Shamsuddin, Faridah, Nor Bainah… wow that’s all I could remember. Even sadder I do not have any old photos of them only powerful memories.

Current generation has all the technology in the world to remain connected. They could have a database full of stories, images and narratives. Me, I can only hope and my effort trying to create my virtual present and being a virtual resident wanabee is really just trying to reconnect most of the time. However, I would not expect my generation to be that IT literate to participate and create opportunity for them to be visible. Not once I met my old primary school and childhood friends through the Net. Still I am ‘virtual’y present most of the time and hoping.