FMC, the continuing story.

Sat 19 Jan 2019.

The FMC college gates in PD closed 57 long years ago. But the young boys, now old and many less than robust, remain in numbers, and the memories linger. Friends who got together to collect jottings of the years gone by surely are not penning the epilogue of Old Puteras of old ? For the journey continues. We were merely holding up the torch  for those coming after us.

Being the one premier education experiment for the nascent nation, FMC and its subsequent successor RMC didn't fail in producing champions in all fields as was expected of it. The heavy mixture of British staff that inevitably gave way to a fully Malaysian one did not lessen the sowing of the national spirit beating in the hearts of the boys. We were proudly multi-racial.  A few have even left our shores following destiny.  But the spirit of comradeship and the bond of nationalism have never lessen with time. Something was right in the approach to the education system  then. Or maybe it was us, the raw material. It's sad to see that the educational experimentation that continues to this day has not produced a stronger, more cohesive youth to take over the management of our beloved but often unnecessarily divided nation.

From champions in all kinds of sports at national and international levels, to prominence in the many fields of medicine,  in all  disciplines of engineering, in the teaching in, and  managing of, universities, in the practice of law, both on the bench, before the bench, as well as in teaching it,  in company management, in the Civil Service and, of course, in the Armed Forces and the Police, our OP's contribute a sizeable number of the personalities. And that number is not lacking in politics, either, though with varying shades of colours and degrees of success. The Cabinet has a very young OP, the Speaker of Parliament is a not-so-young OP, the Secretary-General of the rejected UMNO is an OP, many of the counsels for the different and opposing litigants in the flux of investigations by the authorities are OP's - even one of the prominent counsels now finding himself the subject of legal scrutiny of his own is an OP, plus that 1MDB guy. And the President of MUBARAK, the Former Legislative Members Association of Malaysia, of course, has to be an OP.

To tarry a bit on the subject of politics, maybe OP's don't make good  MP's and State Assemblymen, and by that I mean the quiet and obedient ones. I've seen enough examples, and that includes yours truly, where when it comes to the question of principles, perhaps the OP's upbringing puts him in a bind. Politics requires flexibilty. Principles are not so flexible. And I know principle has also kept my Terengganu "socialist" OP friend from entering the gory  party politicking. Maybe that's why his head is still full of black hair.

There's also "office politics". But it's still politics, and OP's, in my mind, also don't always do well here. I had my problems with one of my bosses, and I can assure you that it was about principles. We had a large number of  Chief Secretaries to the different Ministries, and some Chief Secretaries to the Government from among OP's. But there are also cases where OP's assigned to State bodies don't last long because they cannot align their styles with the MB's style. 

In my less-than-starry career, I'd move to Melaka, to KL, to Seremban,  to Port Kelang, to PJ, and finally Seremban again, and met many OP's at work or play.  When "The Weld" first opened, I bumped into Gnanalingam, who was with MTC, Kuantan. When I was in Port Kelang decades later, I bumped into him again. This time he'd move to West Port, although he didn't tell me then that he owns it (I believe another OP helped). In Felda there were several of us. Attending various conferences locally and abroad over the years, lo and behold, OP's were there. Why, one OP even managed to marry into my large extended Kuala Pilah family, and he all the way from Kedah. They had to marry in London, of course. 

Then of course there is my golf.  OP's are responsible.  

All these have kept my OP's memories fresh.

We've been through 14 GE's. That, and  60 years of  politics mean many changes.  Bigger political changes have taken place around us - Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, even India.  Our own changes have been influenced by the scholastic background of the leaders. Maybe a  bit of military training in the schooling would have done  a world of good. 

Now they are changing the method of selection for boarding schools again, weighing in favour of the so-called "B 40" group. Which is honourable. But I hope quality is not spared. School  is the place to nurture the nation. 

I don't know how many more reunions we can attend. Time is  unrelenting. But we have our families and our memories.We can only hold on to these two for dear life. One sustains our worldly needs. The other sustains our spiritual needs.

They say we should look to the future. But shouldn't we learn from the past? My FMC days have long gone. But one or two lessons learned, and one or two friendships made, still bring a smile to my old lips.  And  light  up my old heart. 

 No, my FMC story is a continuing story, not an epitaph.

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