After the 2008 reunion party, it was almost destined that it’s going to be a yearly event as the organiser started planning for the 2009 reunion party. Earlier this year, drastic measures were taken to make the 2009 reunion party a vastly improved function. A ball room was booked, over 90 people were invited and money collection was in progress. When everyone else could not care less for the function to happen, one man stood from the beginning to make it happen. He is regarded as the organiser or the heart of the event. He took care of every single thing from the beginning including the finance, the hall, the people attending, the performances, the agenda, the internet publicity and everything to do with it. It’s never an exaggeration to say that the function was nothing without this man. He faced a lot of obstacles along the way which he handled ever so calmly when most of us would have gave up. Time flew by and the organiser and his allies started to feel the excitement and energy of this event. Quite a few of them were already at Sitiawan to handle a few undone jobs. They co-ordinated with the organiser and laid out a plan to execute once the organiser arrived at Sitiawan. The function was scheduled to go happen on the 21st of September 2009. The organiser planned to come back on the 19th and make final preparations with his allies for the function. On the 18th, the allies were excited to get the job done as the organiser was coming the next day. Energy was blasting all over and enthusiasm was over whelming. Some of them could not even sleep in excitement. Sometimes the most unexpected things can happen in life, and in this case, it did. The man which made all of this happen, the organiser was faced with the worst dilemma. He lost his father to a heart attack. He did come back on that day, 19th September as planned, ironically for the father’s death. We did go meet him, not for the reunion preparation but to be there for him during this period of grief for him and his family. It was a tough day for me and the others to see the man who raised my close friend laid to rest in a coffin. After a while, the organiser came out and the first few words he uttered was “Go on with the reunion”. We did not decide anything until late in the evening that day when things seemed a little bit toned down and when the organiser seemed normal. We sat down with the organiser and spoke about so many things. We even ended up joking and laughing that night. A few of us then excused ourselves to a nearby tree and sat under it to start a discussion on whether or not to carry on with the reunion or to postpone it. There were a few of us who wanted to postpone it because the person who made this happen could not attend and another few said we had to go on because it involves 80 over people. It was an emotional few minutes for us but we ultimately came to a decision that we were going to go on with it. The most important thing at that point was to not let all of the organiser’s effort go to waste. The decision was made and we were once again pumped up to make all of it happen but we only had 2 days. We never panicked at any point even though there was less time, our aim was to make it happen. The next day, 20th September was the day the cremation took place. We took all our cars and motors to block the roads all the way to the cremation spot so that the funeral car would have an easy last ride for the organiser’s father. It was an interesting adventure for all of us involved. There was laughter and grief at the same time. On the way to the cremation spot in Pundut, we received another big blow. The hall we were supposed to use for the reunion function was cancelled and rescheduled to December because the previous day, some of us decided to postpone it and called the hotel management to postpone it. They said it was not possible to reschedule it to the initial date, 21st September as an agreement was made. Right after the emotional cremation where the organiser saw his fathers face for the last time, we rushed to the hotel to negotiate with the management and get the original date again because we really wanted to make it happen. Thank god, we managed to negotiate successfully and confirmed 21st September as the reunion date. The bad news was we only had one day to take care of everything which included finance, performances, agenda and confirmation to all attendees on the time and venue of the event. Considering all the things we had to handle, we were ever more determined to make the event happen. That night, we had a meeting in a hotel room to set the agenda and performances. There was also some practice that night. It was a long but fruitful night.
The next morning, 21st of September 2009, day of function, we started of by collecting the remaining money and we handled the performances and practice was going on. At the same time, we handled the projector, confirmation, food and hall. That was when we received another major blow. The hall we were using was empty without any deco, backdrops or banners. We had to gather a few other allies and get the decoration and the hall all set up for the function. Even the PA system was not fixed. The allies when through hell to get the banner, backdrop, PA system and hall ready for the function but they made it happen. Everything was set by 6.30 in the evening and the function was ready to go. The last thing to do was to talk to the organiser and make him attend the function which he gave birth to. That was the most important thing for us and the organiser agreed to come. The moment we knew he is coming, we knew we made it! After going through three tough days, it was finally happening. The show started a little late because people came in and settled down a little late but it started eventually. You were all there at the show and I do not need to tell you people about how the show went. It was something special and none of us will ever forget or neglect that amazing life changing event. New friendships were born, broken friendships were rekindled, an everlasting impact was created and most importantly, the event happened. What was a single man show in the beginning became a team game towards the end when it mattered the most. It would have been different without any one of you involved. For that, I give you my heartiest appreciation and love!!
Sitiawan and Havoc Inc for life!!!!
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