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Tributes
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20/02/2012 11:14:27
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Dr. Shee
Hung Yu - 2008
I
got to know Shee Hung when we played Rugby under Shari Musafer
and Ramakrishna’s captainship in
1965 and 1966.
He
portrayed a hard and tough image mostly as a survival
technique so that he would not be bullied in the hostel, it
worked for him and most of his schoolmates would leave him
alone, as he was focused on his future and studied to get good
grades, Although at times he would pull some mischievous
stunts for the most part he kept out of trouble.
His prime
aim was to study to become a Doctor as his father worked hard
as a dental technician to provide a good education for his 6
kids, Shee Hung never forgot that and was driven to repay his
father and help the family attain the dreams of his
parents.
He and
several members’ of the rugby team who participated in Judo
came into conflict from time to time when he captained the
team in 1967. The reason was that we had Judo practice every
Monday, Wednesday and Friday at the YMCA Fort and if these
days coincided with our Rugby practice and we skipped it to
attend Judo practice as the YMCA Judo club rule was if you
miss 2 consecutive sessions of practice you would lose your
judo kit which was provided by the YMCA, this rule did not
apply to those who owned their kit (there were only 2 of us
who had our own kits). Shee hung would go ballistic on us but
he often skipped rugby practice himself to engage in his
studies.
He and I
got into it once when I gave my Dimbulla jersey I used for
practice to a newcomer, Leon Ingram and used my old college
jersey I had from a previous season. He did not want me to use
the old college jersey for practice; I asked him to piss off and continued
using the jersey. I was always recruiting new guys to play
rugby to increase attendance and the least I could do was give
up an extra jersey I had, Shee hung did not see it this way.
On one
occasion just before a match with Trinity he missed several
days of practice and picked a team he thought was suitable,
but Asoka Jayawardane who was
the vice captain, the Ahlip brothers and I who were senior
players thought the selected players were totally inadequate.
As soon as
I walked in through the college gates, Asoka approached me and
said that Shee hung had picked a real weak team and it was
posted on the notice board, I went with him to take a look, we
then went to LAFA and said that we refuse to play with such a
weak team and that Shee hung had missed practice’s and had no
right to pick this team.
Asoka & I
got caned for refusing to play but LAFA asked us to pick the
team that was capable of playing a high profile game with
Trinity. When Shee hung found out what we had done he went
ballistic saying he was the captain and he picks the team. But
he was overruled.
We
usually lose by cricket scores when we play Trinity, but on
this occasion we lost by 3 points which was a foul try scored
by Glen Van Langenberg who ran outside the side line to score,
I was closest to him and did not tackle him as I would have
given away a penalty,
Jaytheran
who was our own touch judge did not raise his flag to indicate
that Glen ran outside the sideline, hence a try was given but
he failed to convert it.
After the
match Shee Hung thanked Asoka & I for overriding his decision,
He was a gentleman in the sense that he knew that we did what
was right for the team and it had nothing to do with
personalities. After that incident we all treated each other
with respect and got on well.
Then one
day I was in the milk bar behind the pavilion having my usual
vanilla milk after practices when I observed 4 Mount Mary boys
with a hulking big bloke (who was a railway fireman)
discussing how they were going to attack a Chinese guy and
beat him up so he would not try his luck with the Mount Mary
girls.
I knew
Shee Hung was interested in a Mount Mary girl called Susan
Dias, so I listened to the conversation. When I heard Susan’s
name mentioned I knew they were plotting to beat up Shee Hung.
Although I
was not a great fan of Shee Hung at the time, I could not
allow these guys to beat up a fellow Wesleyite and had to butt
into their conversation. I said “you guys will not touch a
Wesleyite as long as I am around’ Now I was just about to face
the wrath of this big guy.
He said
who the “F” are you and what has it got to do with you. I
replied ‘my name is Taylor and the guy you are planning to
beat up is a friend of mine and if you touch him you will not
set foot in Maradana” I knew the railway running shed was
based in Maradana, my home town.
He
replied, “you can’t do that as I live in Maradana too” (which
was not a 100% true as he had only just moved to Maradana from
Galle). When I asked him where in Maradana did he live as I
have never seen him in the neighbourhood, he mentioned second
Maligakande lane where I knew everyone, all my Muslim friend’s
lived there and a solitary Singhalese family.
He said
that he had a room at Ganasiri’s house that was the only
non-Muslim family that lived on that street. When I said I
knew Ganasiri and that I would get him tonight if he got tough
with me. Suddenly he changed his tune and introduced himself
as Randolph Crutchley, (He and I became fast friends and was
inseparable until I immigrated to the UK) I then found out
that he had only just moved into Ganasiri’s house.
He
immediately turned against the 4 Mt Mary guys and asked them
to “f” off and not try to get him involved in what he called
“any jabber nonsense” I then invited him to take a walk toward
Karlshrew gardens where I was to meet Shanthi & Carder by
Ganasinghe’s house.
When we
got there I introduced him to my friends and at that moment
Shee Hung was walking home to Katawellamulla where he & Ma
hung had a room.
I stopped
Shee Hung and told him what had just transpired and introduces
Rando to him and everything was ironed out and everyone became
inseparable friends from that day on, But Rando could never
pronounce Shee Hung and Ma Hung’s names, he called them
“Shuwing” and “Mong” and to this date that’s what I call them.
It so
happened that Rando was an old Wesleyite and has lost his
hearing while boxing in college. So as Wesleyites we (Shanthi,
Carder, Shee Hung, Ma Hung, Rando and myself) got on like a
house on fire we also teamed up with two brothers Lucien &
Newton Peterson who attended St Benedicts College and lived
opposite the Ingram’s house. That was our little gang and we
met every evening in Mount Mary, we got up to all kinds of
mischief. Shee Hung & Ma Hung would leave early, as they had
to study for exams, they were on a mission.
The rest
of us would hang around chatting up the girls and having fun
and at the end of the day we would all walk down to Maradana
as far as Maligakande road, Rando would say goodbye at second
Maligakande lane, Carder would catch his bus to Fort at
Maligakande road I would head off home and Shanthi would walk
back to Punchi Borella. This was our daily ritual.
One day Ma
Hung came to my house panic stricken, he said Shee Hung was
trapped in their boarding house and that there was a growing
mob outside waiting to go and get him.
Apparently
there was an altercation in the boarding house where another
tenant had tried to have a go at the landlady and Shee Hung
had intervened and during this altercation Shee Hung had
kicked the other lodger and Shee Hung’s foot had swelled to
the size of a small rugby ball.
I quickly
went with Ma Hung only to find a huge mob outside the boarding
house and it was only a matter of time before they plucked up
enough courage to go in and get Shee Hung and that would spell
disaster.
I went
inside and got Shee Hung out, I knew no one would touch them
as long as Shee Hung & Ma Hung was with me, I asked them to
ignore the crowd and walk with me as we headed toward my home.
I knew some people who lived in that Katawellamulla
neighbourhood and some of them knew my brother.
I could
hear them saying in Singhalese, leave him alone, he’s Carlo’s
brother, It was a nervous walk till we approached the turn by
the temple and was heading toward White park when a guy
approached us and in an aggressive tone asked if we were tough
guys to which I replied we are not tough guys but we don’t run
away from a fight.
He then
invited us to his house which was right beside the road we
were on, as he had observed the swelling on Shee Hung’s foot.
He said that his grandfather could fix it.
Both Shee
Hung & Ma Hung were concerned and did not want to accept this
guys help. I had to ask them to trust me and don’t show any
fear as I got them so far without endangering them.
As we
entered this guy’s house he introduced himself as Siri and he
woke his grandfather up and asked him to attend to Shee Hung’s
foot. The old man heated up some special oil and applied it on
Shee Hung’s foot and to our amasement the swelling went down
almost immediately, I was totally amazed and asked Siri what
was that special oil.
He then
proceed to tell me that they practice a Martial art called
“China Adi” as it’s known in Ceylon (better known as Kalari an
Indian martial art) I have always been interested in this art
but it is usually handed down from father to son and no
outsiders.
I asked
the guy if he would teach me this art as I did Judo & Karate,
he agreed as long as I would teach his sister English, that
was a small price to pay and eventually we (Shee Hung, Ma
Hung, Shanthi Carder and I) became his students. Practicing at
Campbell Park and White Park when it got dark, as it was a
secretive art.
Indran
Niles used to tell us that he sees some guys out at Campbell
park doing some crazy stuff and that we should hang around one
evening to witness this, he had no idea it was us, obviously
we never took up his invitation, eventually Shee Hung & Ma
Hung dropped out due to their studies. Rando too was unable to
attend as his early morning shifts meant that he had to have
early nights. Cassim Carder, Shanthi and I continued with our
lessons although Shanthi only participated to keep us company
but had no interest.
I
immigrated to the UK in 1967 and had to say goodbye to Shee
Hung the day before I left as he was going back home to
Trincomalee, We said our goodbyes at my house when he broke
down and started to cry, I gave him a walking stick and trilby
hat that he always admired, just to stop him crying. I said
goodbye to the rest of my friends (Donald De Silva, Shanthi,
Carder and Rando) the next morning at around 5am at Ratmalana
airport.
Then in
1978 (I think) Shee hung came to the UK and lived with me and
my wife Aloma in Manor House North London until our second son
was born, Although he was a practicing doctor in Ceylon he had
to study in England so he was cramming once again, after
dinner he would go into his room to study. He stayed with me
until he got a job in Essex in the mean time Ma Hung also came
to the UK and my late brother Oswin put him up.
Soon afterwards I moved to Hayes in
Middlesex for a few years and then to Milton Keynes in
Buckinghamshire before immigrating to Canada, unfortunately I
lost contact with my old friends as I was out working in
Holland and would only come home at the weekend.
I
eventually made contact with Shee hung and was in daily
correspondence with him, sharing jokes and talking about
Wesley affaires. Suddenly in the early morning hours of
6th
October 2008, I received a shocking phone call from my younger
brother to say that Shee Hung had passed away; I did not
believe him as I met Shee Hung in September the previous year
in the UK and he was healthy. I asked my brother to check and
get back to me.
In the
meantime I phoned Ma Hung and found out the awful truth. When
I attended his funeral I met his wife and family for the first
time and they seem to know who I was as Shee hung always
talked about me and my family as was always grateful for the
help and support he received when he first got to the UK, Shee
Hung & Ma Hung will always be part of our family.
I was a
bit disappointed with my late brother Oswin and when I heard
he was ill, I refused to cast my disappointment & hurt aside
and visit him, although my son’s tried their best to make me
visit him before he got too ill, they even wanted to pay for
my trip to the UK. But I was stubborn and refused. Then Shee
Hung phoned me and asked me to get my arse over there quickly
and said my brother did not have much time left, As soon as I
got off the phone with him, I booked my fare to London, then
called my son’s and said we were all leaving later that day. I
managed to get a seat on the same flight as they were on.
To this
date I don’t know why Shee Hung’s call made me change my mind
and catch the next flight to London, I am glad I did make that
trip. He, Peter Casie Chetty (AKA Peter Christy) and I had
dinner just before I returned to Canada and that was the last
time I saw Shee Hung. Life can be so short, one never knows
when one will be taken away from us.
While I
was at the funeral home paying my respects to Shee Hung. I met
his younger brother who lives in the US and when we were
introduced he said, “I remember you” when I asked him how as I
had never met him. He said that when I immigrated to the UK
and Shee Hung was still at Wesley college, Shee Hung on one of
his trips home had asked his Dad’s permission to go to the UK
and join me and his Dad said, sure after you pass your exams
and become a doctor.
Funny
thing is that’s exactly what he did!
He was
successful in achieving his goal and he got his family out of
Ceylon. He has 3 siblings living in the UK, 1 in Canada and 1
in the US.
Gosh! I
wonder what would have become of him if he followed me to the
UK in the 60’s without finishing his studies,
I remember
he wanted to obtain a Ceylon passport around the time I got
mine but for some strange reason, Ceylonese of Chinese decent
were not classified as citizens and could not apply for a
passport, I told my uncle who was in the Navy to help him as I
was about to leave the Country.
My uncle
jokingly said “give me all his details I can get 50 bucks for
each Kalla-thony we catch”; the navy was involved in
repatriating illegal Indian immigrants living in Ceylon at the
time. I got scared and told Shee Hung what my uncle had said
and that I could not get my uncle to help him, eventually when
I returned to Ceylon in 1970, he said that there was a loop
hole, and that he could obtain a British passport as he was
born before Ceylon gained independence. And that’s how he
traveled to London.
I am
extremely honoured to be his friend and I miss him dearly.
May his soul rest in peace
Bunny (Sextus) Taylor
Michael
Kreltzhiem - 2010
Michael my classmate
Michael was a gentle giant indeed, when we were in the
second or third form many of us started to display our
personalities, some quiet and docile, some studious,
some active in sports and some rough and tumble, like
myself. Michael fitted in the middle somewhere. Although
he was a big and strong guy, he was quiet and docile.
The rough and tumble guys would try to take him on
because of his size. He was not agile but for his build,
was very quick in reacting. If he sensed someone was
behind him he would turn around like a bear ready to
strike. But when someone tried to have a go at him, he
would walk away. However if they persisted he would turn
around and grab them, shake them twice and drop them and
that would be the end of the challenge. Ray DeRun,
Fredrick Forster and I thought this was hilarious and
would have a good laugh; Michael would put on his stern
face and walk away. He was so gentle that he could not
bring himself to punching anyone’s lights out although
he easily could. He carried this attitude on to the
rugby field, which did not help. So I devised a plan
that would make him aggressive on the rugby field.
Michael my Rugby Team-mate
I recruited Michael into the Rugby team as a prop
forward for his strength and size. I was the hooker with
Roger Koch the other prop. But I had a hell of a job
trying to hold on to these props as they would pull away
and the scrum would collapse or we would get pushed
back.
I thought of a plan to get the front row to be more
aggressive as both props were very gentle guys. I had to
get them angry enough so they would go in hard and push
the other team and that was to punch my own props as we
went down. After a few punches Michael would say to me
“Secky, someone punched me” I would encourage them to go
in hard and push the buggers … By now they were angry
enough they could push a freight train, and we won every
scrum.
One day we were playing at Campbell Park and Michael
caught me punching him. He felt so betrayed that he
walked away from the game, when Bentley Barsenbach and
LAFA asked him what the hell he was doing walking away
from the game while it was still in progress, He said…
“I can’t play anymore, Taylor is hitting me”. Needless
to say they chased him back on to the field.
At half time Michael and I were pulled out by Bentley
Barsenbach and LAFA. When I told them the reason for my
actions, LAFA was not amused and I was marked for a
caning after the game. Bentley Barsenbach on the other
hand thought it was a cleaver plan although he
reprimanded me and I had to apologise to Michael and
when I explained why I did what I did, he too
understood. He was as aggressive as he could possibly be
after that.
Michael Never backed down when he was right.
Michael Kreltzhiem, Fredrick Forster, Ray DeRun, Adrian
Parsons, Derrick Schokman, Quyn (never knew his first
name), Derendran Perera, Mickey Kitchilan, Azahim
Mohamed, Brian Batstone and myself were all in the arts
class located in the tower room (opposite the library).
We had joint Art, English and Sinhalese with the
Sinhalese Arts students such as Asoka Jayawardane, Roger
Perera, Nimal Rodrigo and a few others. For our Art
class we had to come downstairs to a classroom beside
the College hall usually occupied by a Tamil class. One
day as usual we went down stairs for our Art lesson, it
was a Friday so Brian Batstone, Derrick Schokman, Mickey
Kitchilan were playing cricket (they were in the 1st
X1 team). Goodness knows where Azahim Mohamed was. On
that particular day the Sinhalese boys were also
missing. We finished our class and returned to our own
class room, when we were all summoned to LAFA’s office -
Michael Kreltzhiem, Fredrick Forster, Ray DeRun, Adrian
Parsons, Quyn, Derendran Perera an myself, as we were
accused of making a mess of the class we used for our
Art lesson, apparently there was water all over the
class. We did not cause any mess, but these Tamil boys
wanted to get us into trouble, maybe due an incident
with Ramanathan (the Maths teacher) and myself. The rest
of the class was just collateral damage. Although we
protested our innocence LAFA was not buying our story
and we all got caned, except when it came to Michael’s
turn, he would not accept the punishment. Although we
pleaded with him to take the punishment and we would
exact revenge on the Entire Tamil class for framing us,
he would not give in. Eventually LAFA let him go and was
going to investigate the matter further. A few days
later, Michael was vindicated, but the rest of us got
another caning for admitting to an offence we did not
commit. Needless to say the Tamil students paid for it.
Strangely enough when I was talking to Edmund
Dissanayake abut 4 years ago, he brought this subject up
and said how he admired Michael for standing up to his
rights.
Michael’s first Vesak
Michael lived a sheltered life and did not get up to any
mischief like the rest of us “hooligans”. As the time of
my immigration to the UK was fast approaching, I got up
to all kinds of mischief with my close friend Cassim
Cader and wanted to share the fun with Michael. I
remember the fun we (Shanthi Mclelland, Cassim Cader,
myself and the late Rando Cruthley and Shee Hung) had
with him, taking him on his first Vesak jaunt and
visiting that posh Dansala by Liptons, where food was
served on plates and not the traditional banana leaf. We
all started eating and enjoying the food when I noticed
that Michael was not touching his food. I thought he did
not want to eat, as he might be worried about the
hygiene although this Dansala was like a posh cafe. When
I asked him what was wrong he said he was waiting for a
Fork & Spoon. I replied in traditional foul language
..“eat with your fingers”. He did not know how to. I was
not good at it either but I asked him to copy what I was
doing. He made a total mess and we had a great laugh.
We then went on our way to see the pandals, I somehow
had a safety pin with me, and while amidst the crowds I
would prick the females standing directly opposite Rando
(he was a huge guy that could not speak two words of
Sinhalese). They would turn around and scold him in
Sinhalese and all he could say was “mame ney”. Michael
would just smile and enjoy the fun of getting Rando in
to trouble, but was so nervous as it could have lead to
a fight.
Last contact with Michael
The last time I saw Michael was in December 1970 when I
was on holiday in Ceylon, I was at a dance, when I
bumped into Michael and Jeremy who were there with a
bunch of their friends, I think it was a farewell do for
a friend of theirs (I think her name was Ellis Solomon)
who was immigrating to Canada in a few weeks. I took to
the floor with this girl and wound up making out with
her for the best part of the evening and could not fully
enjoy Michael’s company. I telephoned him about 4 years
ago and gave him quite a shock. We were so happy to hear
each others voices and reminisced about many things and
the fun we had.
Shanthi McLelland, Cassim Cader and I were regular
visitors to his place behind the prisons. They had guava
trees with delicious fruit and his Mum would always have
passion fruit and meringues (we called them kisses in
Ceylon) that would melt in your mouth. We were such
greedy buggers; one could find us wherever there was
free food.
I have so many fond memories of Michael and our crazy
bunch of friends. His tragic passing has came as such a
shock. Rest in peace my friend and I will treasure the
fond memories of those happy times of our youth.
May his soul rest in peace
Bunny (Sextus) Taylor
Anver (Raj)
Samahon - 2011
He was a few years junior to me in
college; he was a classmate and close friend of Cassim
Carder who was my Judo Sparring partner in the YMCA and
a very close friend.
I got to know Raj through Cassim
(more fondly known as Kalu Carder), we used to hang out
after school, mostly to eat Mangnokka (tapioca) We used
to collect money in during the lunch interval for this
purpose and arrange to meet all the contributors at the
back gate after school where we would purchase, cook the
stuff and eat it.
None of the contributors ever
thought of how we were going to do this after school.
Anyway since the rendezvous was at the back gate, we
(Cassim, Raj, Akbar Musafer and myself) would sneak out
of the front gate with the funds.
Then we would hurry up to Borella
Junction where we would purchase the Mangnokka (tapioca)
and take it to Akbar Musafer’s house in Poulingham
place, which was just around the corner. His mother
would cook it and make a sambol while we waited outside
messing around.
On Occasion Mrs. De Jonk
(Fredrick Forester's Grandmother) would see me outside
and entice me with a barbath (tripe) curry and ask me to
get half a loaf of bread and she would have the curry
waiting for me when I got back.
I would temporarily ditch my
mangnokka gang and get the half loaf of bread and go to
Mrs. De Jonk's kitchen where she would have a bowl of
curry waiting for me, as I was tucking into the bread &
curry she would lecture me about hanging around
aimlessly and getting into trouble and of course the
religious lecture. I just agreed to what ever she was
saying
And as soon as I had finished I
would rejoin the mangnokka gang. By this time the
mangnokka was almost ready, we would eat the stuff and
have a good laugh about tricking all our contributors
and concoct a story that we waited for 15 minutes at the
front gate and since no one turned up we reluctantly
left without them.
Of course the next morning when
we were confronted by the contributors to our Mangnokka
fund as to what happened we all had the same (sort of
half believable story) and we got away with it, and of
course the next time we would switch gates and this scam
went on for a very long time. Raj was the initiator and
mastermind who organized the entire scam.
He would initiate spontaneous
scams like this and the rest of us went along with it if
it was not Mangnokka it was thosai where we would eat
and run off without paying, we would return to the same
restaurant a few days later and would not be recognized
by the staff and we would do it again, all this for a
good laugh, mind you we could eat a horse at that age
and still go home like angels and have our dinner.
Raj due to his spontaneous nature
would sometimes land him self in trouble and would be
under the threat of a good beating, Carder and I were
the muscle in the group and as soon as we showed up the
trouble was all over and everyone parted friends, we
almost never got into any physical altercations as our
reputation as Judokas frightened the would be
aggressors. This was also a chance for a good laugh, but
Raj would do it again as he knew he was protected and
would never get into any physical harm.
The Nawalapitiya saga, Raj invited
Akbar Musafer, Cassim Carder, Asoka Jayawardane and
myself to visit Nawalapitiya. Although we thought it was
an opportunity to have some fun, Asoka, Cassim and
myself could not make it as we had an upcoming Judo
exhibition and had a lot of training to do before the
event.
Raj nagged us daily and
convinced us that we could do our training at
Nawalapitiya, as there were judo mats available for our
use. This convinced us that it would be okay to make the
trip as we could train while up there.
When it was time to depart we all
met at the Fort railway station, except Asoka he did not
show up. Raj had gone ahead of us to prepare things for
our arrival, so Cassim Akbar and myself proceeded to
Nawalapitiya and was met by Raj who took us to his
sisters home where we were well looked after.
If memory serves me right the
following evening we (Cassim and myself) were going to
the railway institute to train our routines for the up
coming exhibition. We had a great day and when it was
time for our training session we proceeded to the
institute only to find the place full of people.
Cassim and I were wondering how we
would train while there was a crowd gathered.
Unbeknownst to us Raj had organized a Judo exhibition
and did not tell us about it, that was his reason for
going ahead of us. When we found out we were mortified
and angry that we were deceived.
Had we had known his plan we would
have flatly refused as the YMCA was very strict, They
were so strict that if one missed 3 sessions of training
they would take the Judo kit away from you and you would
not be able to train without a kit, unless you had your
own kit. Only two people in the YMCA owned their own
kit, I was one of them.
Now we were terrified that if we go
along with Raj’s plan and the YMCA found out that we
performed an unauthorized exhibition we would be kicked
out for sure, kit or no kit. But Raj had this persuasive
nature about him that he guaranteed that no one in
Colombo would find out and that it was too late to back
down now as he had sold tickets.
We were faced with a huge dilemma,
what should we do, it was too late to catch a train back
to Colombo and get out of this mess, So we decided to go
ahead and practice our exhibition act, no one would know
that in reality we were not performing for the crowd but
just practicing in front of an audience.
Raj said that we should include him
in our practice as he had told everyone that he too was
a Judoka, because we were so mad at Raj we allowed him
so that we could inflict some pain on him and teach him
a lesson for getting us into this mess.
Instead of Judo mats he had a bunch
of mattress’s and they were too soft to move around on
but it helped Raj to lad softly each time we threw him,
He could have got hurt very badly as he did not know the
art of falling although we gave him a quick lesson.
I remember his sisters were sitting
in the front row and every time we threw him they would
gasp, feeling his pain; we just wanted to inflict a
little pain on him and hopefully not injure him. I think
we did this for about an hour and then ended the fake
show.
Now after the show was over, Raj
comes up with a bucket full of money, which were the
takings from the show. Cassim and I would dare not touch
that money as we believed that if cash passed through
our hands for this performance although it was a fake
one, we would become professionals, I guess we were too
naive to know any different.
We just wouldn’t even look at the
bucket full of cash we wanted Raj to hand it back to the
audience, but by now the hall had cleared and to be
honest we never knew what happened to all that cash.
While we were walking back home
cursing Raj for the position he had put us in and he was
profusely apologizing, we heard a bunch of big made guys
walking behind us.
We sensed that there was trouble
brewing and Cassim and I were planning to attack the
biggest guys in the crowd by mounting a surprise attack
and thereby hoping the others would back down and end
this situation.
Raj stops us and said he would
handle the situation, Cassim and I thought he was going
to get beaten up and foul our surprise attack and we
(Cassim and I) would have to fight this small gang.
Which would probably get us hurt, as we were well and
truly outnumbered.
Raj walks up to these guys and his
actions seem to be animated and we thought all hell is
going to break lose any minute now and we would have to
rush these guys and get Raj out. But suddenly they all
turned around and walked away. Cassim and I were really
surprised as we were expecting a confrontation of some
sort.
When Raj rejoined us we were
curious as to what had just happened. He then proceeded
to tell us that he told the guys that he was our
instructor and the he alone could take them all on and
beat them but if all three of us took them on he would
guarantee that all of them would wind up in hospital
with serious injuries. Once again he bluffed his way out
of a potentially violent and dangerous situation. He
just had the knack for it. Needless to say Cassim and I
were dumbfounded and had to admire his guts. That was
another good reason to have a laugh about that
situation.
The last time I met Raj was when I
was on a quick visit to Ceylon. I was in a taxi with my
cousin, snarled in traffic at Borella junction, suddenly
the door flung open and Raj hopped in. We were shocked
that someone got into our taxi. Lo and behold it was
Raj.
He had spotted me in the taxi and
got in. we just had a quick chat and I continued on my
journey. He sure was a spontaneous character.
All who knew him will sourly miss
him
May his soul rest in peace
Inna Lillahi Wa Inna Ilaihi Rajoon - (To Allah we belong
and to him is our return)
Bunny (Sextus) Taylor
The
Reverend Wilfrid Pile - 2012
Reverend Robert Wilfrid Pile
Patron Wesley College OBU UK
Born on 13th March 1915 passed away 6th February 2012
Rev Robert Wilfrid Pile, the only son of Robert Pile,
and an active Methodist was born on 13th March 1915 in
Plymouth Devon. He had his education at the Salisbury
Road, Primary school Plymouth where he successfully
obtained the school certificate at the age of fifteen.
In 1931 at the beginning of his first year in the sixth
form his father died after a short illness. As a result,
he had no alternative but to leave school on the day of
his father’s death in order to keep the family grocery
business in operation.
In 1932 the grocery business was sold and he gained
employment as a salesman in a furniture store for a
short time. Thereafter, he joined local government
service a s trainee inspector of weight and measures
where he remained until he secured the post of Wages
officer for the City engineers Department in 1936, a
change which brought more remuneration though with
limited prospects.
His father’s death resulted in a deepened personal
Christian faith mediated through the fellowship of the
Church and a call to the Ministry developed. In 1938 he
entered Richmond College, Surrey which was formed part
of London University as a Theological student. In 1942
due to the closure of Richmond College as a result of
the commencement of war, he was transferred to Wesley
house a part of the Cambridge University complex and
graduated a year later having passed the London Bachelor
of Divinity. In 1943 he was appointed as Assistant
manager, East Ham Central Hall, London with
responsibilities for youth work and officiating Chaplain
RAF to crew of 60 Barrage Balloons.
He married on 28th December 1944 to Joan Select (who had
served as a sister in the National Children home) in a
small Methodist church on the outskirts of Plymouth.
In 1945 he moved with his young wife to Hunan, China as
a missionary, where their first two daughters Dorothy
and Jenny were born. A period of intensifying civil war
from Kuok Min Tang to communist rule took place. His
wife Joan returned to the UK with their two young
daughters, leaving him behind under communist rule for a
further period of fifteen months. On his return to the
United Kingdom in 1950, he was based at the headquarters
of the Methodist Missionary society in London, where his
duties were to carry out deputation work and assist in
the preparation of education material for the church,
His daughter Hilary was born in September 1952.
He arrived with his wife and three daughters at Wesley
College Colombo in October 1952 and had to share the
bungalow occupied by the Principal Mr Cedric Orloff and
his wife. He was the college Chaplin and taught such
subjects as Christianity, English Language, English
Literature and Philosophy in the sixth form, gently
making us aware of the facts of life.
He revived the scouting movement and was Group Scout
Master, he also, headed the Student Christian Movement
activities in College. Dorothy and jenny attended the
lower school for three years. He and his family left
school in 1956 and moved to Wellawatte. He took up a
position of Secretary to the All Ceylon Methodist
Church. During his stay in Ceylon he also, was the
officiating Chaplin to the RAF from 1953 to 1958 both at
Katunayake and Colombo.
On his return to the UK. He was Secretary to the
Methodist Society responsible for home affairs from 1958
to 1965 and SE Asia and Pacific from 1965 to 1973. He
visited Ceylon in 1964 and again in 1969. His fourth and
the youngest daughter was born in March 1959. From 1973
until his retirement in 1980 he was the superintendent
Minister of the Cheltenham Methodist Circuit.
(Above article from Wesley OBU UK Double Blue Ball
souvenir 1996). Rev Pile his dear wife Joan and eldest
daughter Dorothy attended the 1996 Double Blue Ball as
our Chief Guests.
Rev Pile was the Vice patron of the Wesley College OBU
for many years and agreed to be the patron in November
2010, during the last ten years Rev. Pile lived in
a care home in Leamington Spa.
Rev Pile was 94 years, at the time of this death. Wesley
OBU UK conveys our deepest sympathies to his family. May
He Rest in Peace...Amen!
Ora et Labora!
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