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VIOS Australia2010 Activities |
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VIOS MELBOURNE REUNION DINNER 27 AUGUST 2010
Apart from the Melbourne-based crowd, there was a sizeable contingent from Sydney, Perth and Brisbane. We were delighted to welcome VIOS overseas visitors who came all the way from Canada, Malaysia, Singapore and the United Kingdom. The Organising Committee undertook to provide a range of optional pre and post Reunion Dinner activities for visiting VIOS: Dinner at the Hakka Restaurant, Glen Waverley on 25 Aug; Golf at the Kingston Links and dinner at the Okra Restaurant, Hawthorn on 26 Aug; and visit to the Zen and Tea Exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria, followed by lunch at Red Emperor, Southgate on 27 August.
The 1960-62 VIOS and visitors enjoyed a full day of activities in the city on 28 August commencing with lunch at Margo's, Crown Entertainment Complex, an afternoon Yarra river cruise, and dinner at Kun Ming in Chinatown. In addition, there were smaller group celebrations organised by local hosts - it was truly a great Melbourne experience for visitors.
On Friday 27 August, the Reunion Dinner commenced at 6.30pm with pre-dinner drinks. By 7 pm. the restaurant was jam-packed and buzzing with activity as past students and friends arrived in a steady stream. The noise reached fever-pitch as old classmates greeted each other with gusto, amidst peals of laughter. 
The evening formally kicked off with a lusty rendition of the School Song. It was obvious that all VIOS shared a love of singing loudly together, albeit occasionally out of tune! David Yee Sek Kum, Chairman, Organising Committee gave the welcoming address and invited the following interstate and overseas visitors to provide a brief update of VIOS activities in their home state: Chiew Ah Kim (Brisbane), Low Yew Loon (Perth), Daniel Chan (Sydney), Chris Liew (Singapore), Khoo Khee Ming (Kuala Lumpur), Tom Yang Tai (Canada), and Alan Tan Woo Tee (UK) 
Other interstate and overseas visitors who attended were Tang Wing Chew (KL), Krishna Rajaratnam (Wollongong), Ambikapathy (Ballarat), Teh Pak Bee and Susie Lim (Perth). The update on VIOS activities was followed by a brief presentation by Chung Chee Min who flew in from Vancouver to attend the VIOS Melbourne reunion and to launch his book, "The VI Anthology" which was just hot off the presses. VIOS are indebted to Chee Min for his labour of love as the "VI Webmaster" and now, the publication of a book on the Old School. To capture the memories of old, there was a continuous slide presentation
of VI teachers and personalities and more recent reunions. This provided much amusement
to many
The evening saw a rare gathering of four ex-V.I. School Captains and one ex-Head girl - Krishna Rajaratnam, Choo Min Hsiung, Kuan Beng Teik, Phua Juay Chee and Teh Pak Bee. The theme of the evening was "Remembering Our House". The winning Champion House would be the one that was best represented by the colours worn by the attendees. It was a sight to behold as the room was bursting with rainbow colours - Old Victorians (and even their spouses!) very sportingly came dressed in their former House colours. Top marks to Lee Kok Leong, the Rodger House Old Boy who was decked up in bright orange "traffic alert road works" gear! There were rumours that another ex-Rodger House boy was coming dressed as a Buddhist monk but he must have run into some trouble getting his orange robe from a monastery! The competition was a close fight between the Reds and Purples and the two judges decided that Shaw House edged out Davidson by the narrowest of margins.
Budding photographers were kept very busy throughout the night capturing precious memories. Group photos were also taken by years - from the group of the 50s, the 60s, and the 70s. This would most certainly inspire VIOS to continue with future reunions, so that Old Victorians can continue to meet the old and the new. There was great interest in the dates of future VIOS reunions in KL (2011) and the UK (2012). Let's roll on the next VIOS reunion !
Report by Ho (Quah) Chooi Hon Organising Committee: VIOS SYDNEY EVENTS
The V.I. Web PageLast update: October 3, 2010. Page-Keeper: Chung Chee Min |
The VIOS Melbourne Reunion Dinner was held on Friday 27 August 2010 at the Treasure
Chinese Restaurant, Forest Hill, Victoria. A record number of VI past students and
spouses/partners registered for the dinner - a grand total of 123.
who could not recognise friends who had such innocent looks in their school days. We
recognised that the HOW factor was inevitable - Heavier, Older, Wiser. This was amply
demonstrated when two members of the 1961-1962 Netball Team Quah Chooi Hon (Netball
Captain) and Ma Sau Kwan (Centre Attack) took the opportunity to take a photo together!
