Fri. July, 14, 2023.
In 1957, we were classmates in Std. 6, Tuanku Muhamad School, Kuala Pilah, one of the earliest English schools in NS, built in 1930. Our class teacher was Mr. D'Cruz. Mr. D'Cruz later left to join the School for the Blind in Johor Baru. I never met Mr. D'Cruz again, but Aziz Hitam said he met him once in the train somewhere. In 1956 I was in SMC II in Tanjung Malim.
Gnana ( he told us to pronouce it "Nya-na" - nobody in FMC got it right up to today) was actually only 3 months older than me.
We also stayed in the same area, the Government quarters in the "Residential Area", Jalan Tunku Burhanudin, Kuala Pilah. My father was a teacher at the Sekolah Kebangsaan "A". Gnana's father was with the PWD (JKR now).
There were 2 younger brothers - Param and Siva, who used to kick a ball around with us, brothers, in the field next to the Tamil primary school in front of our house - 142 Jalan Tunku Burhanuddin, Siva, the younger one, became a university lecturer. I don't know what happened to Param. Gnana never joined us.
This JKR connection continued right up to university 1965-68, because when Gnana and I bumped into each other at 'varsity he would say "your uncle said..." this and that. That uncle, Abdul Rahman, of Jalan Raja Ali, Kampong Baru, KL, was also in the JKR. He must have been talking to Gnana's dad and the talks were passed on. Jalan Raja Ali was notorious for the Kampong Baru regular floods before the authorities finally fixed the Sg. Bonus problem.
We were together often in TMS, because both of us classmates joined the Scouts, the Scout teacher being Mr. D'Cruz himself. Many afternoons and some weekends saw us in our grey Scout uniforms together doing the usual activities those days. I don't know what they do now, but we had to work for our badges in "tie the knots", hiking, camping, cooking, first aid etc. I remember we once had a district level Scout "Campfire" at the Lake Gardens (yes, we had a Kuala Pilah Lake Gardens) and one of the Indian boys sang the Tamil song that went "....dingra ding gale, meenachi, dingra ding gale ...", that part of it I remember to this day. I sang it to an Indian Civil Servant (from India) who was with me in Birmingham, England, for a Rural Development course in 1974 and gave him a surprise.
Then of course both of us went to FMC, Port Dickson, with others. When we moved to Sungai Besi in 1961, Gnana was on top of me in "A" coy, and I was below in "B". That's how Gnana got to visit Burkhan in Nyalas, because Burkhan was also "A" coy. This visit I learned later when I went to Nyalas and also saw the photo.
At university we would occasionally meet each other at the Arts Concourse. The student population was small then, although UM was the sole university in the country.
I knew Gnana was with MTC, because I would meet him at the Weld Supermarket, KL, the first and only supermarket at that time. He drove a red sports car, then.
I learned that he got married to the Chinese girl from MAS. I also learned much later that his son married a Malay girl, and has given himself a Muslim name.
When I left Felda and moved to the North Port, Port Kelang, I ran into Gnana again, at a gathering there. I can't remember what the function was. I was surprised, because although I know he had left MTC, it was to join up with a Malay entrepreneur doing some advertising, and surely not involved in any port business. He came alone, tie-less in long sleeves and slacks. "What are you doing here?" was my surprised greeting. "I'm with West Port". I knew there was a West Port. But I thought he was employed as an executive there. Gnana didn't elaborate. I didn't know he owned West Port ! I'd ask him for a job if I knew ! The rest of my career would have been different !
What I learned later was that the West Port concession, like Air Asia later, was up for grabs. An OP, Ling Liong Sik, was the Minister of Transport. The KSU was a Kuala Pilah boy. It was all completely above board, for sure, but things can certainly become smoothly-handled when we deal with people we know.
Forbes listed Gnana as the 13th richest Malaysian recently. He was worth US1.4 billion (RM6.52 billion). Not bad for an OP !
When my daughter got married, Gnana sent me some cash in the ordinary mail ! I suppose when you have 1 billion, you can afford to lose 1 thousand in the mail.
We had a session at the auditorium at RMC Bukit Belimbing yesterday, with the whole teaching staff, on the topic of the history of the College. As one of the speakers, I mentioned about the passing of Gnana on the afternoon of 11th July - 2 days earlier. I said "sadly, 2 days ago Gnanalingam passed away."
Gnana, I'm proud to have known you.
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