Life rarely offers extra time. When it does, it reminds us where we began.
For the former pupils of Batu Pekaka English School (BPES), those beginnings lay in the small estate town of Kuala Ketil, Kedah.
Classrooms were basic, teachers carried immense influence, and friendships were stitched into everyday life.
Fifty-two years on, 31 former students and three teachers reunited — not just to see one another, but to honour the men and women who shaped their paths.
Among the class of 1968–73 was Windsor John, once a kampung boy with a football at his feet, now general secretary of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
For him, returning to the company of childhood teachers and classmates felt like stepping back onto his first pitch.
“BPES was where it all began. We had little, but we had each other,” John said.
The school, built in 1956 for the children of Kuala Ketil and nearby rubber estates, stood beside an abandoned World War II airstrip.
Today known as SK Batu Pekaka, it was once a place where teachers were feared and loved in equal measure, and dreams quietly took shape.
At the reunion, held in Sungai Petani on August 23, the attendees carried the weight of years, but their laughter was still that of schoolchildren.
The loudest ovation was for their teachers, Cheng Sew Yong, Asiah Zainal Abidin, and P Parasuraman.
When Cheng, now 82, walked to the stage, the room erupted in applause and playful shouts of “Cikgu cubit sakit!” — a nod to the pinches that once kept order in class.
“Having him here brought back everything we had long tucked away,” said geologist-turned-entrepreneur M Inbashekaran. “It meant the world to us.”
Each teacher received gifts, but the greater tribute was the warmth in the room — gratitude deepened by time.
Paths taken, roots remembered
BPES was never meant to produce headlines. Yet its classrooms instilled grit, humility, and the belief that small places could shape big lives.
From its grounds emerged men and women who went on to build careers, lead institutions, and touch communities across Malaysia.
“The reunion was proof that while years had scattered us, the ties of a small school still bind tightly,” said Inbashekaran.
Ibrahim Mydin left school at 17, starting as a money changer at Subang Airport before building the Kopatha Group of Companies, with interests in jewellery and food and beverage.
Shukor Zakaria studied in the United States before finding success in travel and hospitality, managing hotels and golf resorts.
Jaafar Mat served three decades in the police force before launching a security firm, now leading in the industry association.
Faudziah Zainal Abidin, who helped anchor the reunion, spent 30 years teaching at Universiti Utara Malaysia, remembered fondly by her students.
Alongside her, Noor Zainab Razak devoted four decades to social sciences at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.
And then there was John, the kampung boy whose love of football carried him from representing Kedah to coaching Selangor‘s President’s Cup team.
He later moved into administration with FAM, FIFA, and now the AFC, and deputy chairman of Malaysia Stadiums Board.
His journey shows that even from a tiny schoolyard, one can reach the global stage.
For many, the reunion was long overdue. “We had kept in touch in small groups,” said Inbashekaran. “But after losing a few batchmates, we realised it was time.
“Age is catching up, and it felt right to bring as many of us together as possible.”
The gathering, he said, showed that friendships forged in small schools can outlast time, distance, and differences.
“The love for teachers and alma mater can bind Malaysians in ways no history book can fully capture.”
For one evening, BPES was alive again. And just as John has shown on the continental stage, sometimes the biggest victories begin on the smallest fields.
