Snow

Look it is snowing!
Their first sight of snow.

 

How we got around

Hitching was fun and what made it so popular was because it was easy and safe. Don’t forget this was in the early fifties. All we had to do was to get to the road that would take us towards our destination and start hitching. Before long someone would turn up. He would lean forward and beckon you to hop in before even finding out where you were heading for. If you were lucky he would even drive you to your destination if it was not too far out of his way. It was easy because they were curious and would like to find out where you were from.
It was quite common for some to insist that you share their lunch with them while they enjoyed a conversation with you. It happened to many of us. Those were the days when people felt safe. Things like robbery and drugs were not common. Nobody expected to be robbed by the people they had picked up.
This was not only true in the British Isles but in the continent as well. I hitch hiked most of the time when I was alone or travelling with someone else. We hitched hiked through Holland, Belgium, Germany, and Switzerland on one of our summer holidays. We took the train from Geneva to Paris because the French were not too happy to stop for strangers.
We had had lifts in cars, trucks, and at one stage a friend of mine accepted a lift on a motorbike as a pillion. It took him from the Belgium border to some small town inside Germany. We met later that evening at the appointed youth hostel.
I did try cycling once but the wind was so strong it blew me over the kerb and that as the end of my cycling experience.
The other mode of transportation was by coach. Coaches were mostly used for group travels. Trains were also popular.
Youth hostelling helped to keep our cost down.
The good thing about Youth Hostels was their locations. They were usually found in the pristine countryside within walking distance from the main roads. They were places where the young people met and exchanged ideas.
The present day breed of youth hostellers are the backpackers.

Dancing away the saturday evenings

Dancing was a social event on most Saturdays unless the hall was reserved for some other activities such as the rehersal of a play.
It was always formal.
It was also very popular. The music came from records.
On occasions, like Christmas, we had life bands

At times we would volunteer to coach the beginners to get into the swing of 'polishing the floor' as it was sometimes referred to.

Looking at the montage of photos you, the reader, might think that we had a really good time. It is true in a sense. Not going anywhere during the holidays would put you among the most unimaginative people ever existed. We had the usual number of summer and winter vacations plus mid-term breaks. We took every opportunity to educated overselves informally
Soon after getting to know the place we settled down for the real stint. Besides lectures we had teaching practices in the local schools. Before long the ones with talents took over the organisation of student activities around the place. We had ballroom dancing, sports, student union activities, drama groups, language learning sessions to name just a few. Some of the more musically minded students provided musical entertainment during the tea breaks.
We had other things to look after such as our own laundry. Much time was spent on communication with parents and loved ones back home. Some spent time and effort to do their own cooking to make up for the bland food that we had to live on. No one complained. We did what we had to do. The one thing everyone did in their spare time was planning for their holidays.

Time well spent during the holidays:
Relaxing in Venice and Youth Hostelling in Southern England

On our way to our first assignment: teaching prac.

It was my first experience and I undertook to teach PE. The lesson was about to start. The students had changed and were waiting for their first command. I blew the whistle to get the attention of the students and called out "Free running go". Guess what happened? They ran and disappeared from sight.
What a disaster! I had to blast the whistle twice to get them back to the yard.
Lesson one: make sure you give the right command 

B.M. High School products:

Mohd Rejab, Bill Dielenberg, and Azis Sultan
Sorry I can't remember the fourt gentleman 

Folk Festival in Northern Wales. Most of these folks have never seen anyone in Cheongsam (worn by Peggy)
It was a very successful trip from Kirkby. 

Our first dance at the first meeting 

First teaching practice in one of the schools in the surrounding region.

One of the questions we were often asked was whether we lived up on trees?
The kids were well behaved and very cooperative. No one experienced any difficult moments. 

Soon after arriving at the college we were told by the seniors to prepare ourselves for a three day ragging session under the pretext of making ourselves known to them. Most of us sumbitted ourselves willingly. We joined in the fun. It acted as a catylist to bring about a more cohesive student body. This picture shows a group of us, juniors, dressed up for the occasion.
Throughout the time of our stay in Kirkby we were a cohesive community not of Malays, Chinese, Indians and others but of Malaysians. There was no discrimination or division among us. Our time in Kirkby will always be remembered as a time of close relationship. We qualified as ambassadors of Malaysia

A mixture of students from the 2nd and 3rd batches on an excursion to one of the factories in the Liverpool area 

Some of the more fortunate students selected for training at the Malaysian Teachers' Training College, Kirkby, England 1953 -- 1955. The total number selected for this batch (the third) was 150.

Left: Peggy with her friend from the same state of Johore
Right: Some of the third batch students before leaving for Kirkby. (Peggy standing in the middle)