PETALING JAYA: Two former international hockey stalwarts are expected to add plenty of colour to their former school's 91st anniversary.
The alumni duo of St Anthony's School (primary and secondary) in Teluk Intan, Perak, are R. Ramakrishnan and Shanker Ramu Andy, who will join 500 former pupils and teachers at the reunion dinner scheduled for Sept 10 at Hee Lai Ton Restaurant in Section 13, Petaling Jaya.
A third hockey great, A. Francis, is unable to attend as he is now settled in Germany. The trio have between them played in dozens of World Cups, Olympics, Asian Games and Sea Games during their prime.
Reunion dinner organising chairman Paramjothy Kandiah said that the event would be the largest gathering ever and many are looking forward to it.
"Our school has also produced many other talents in sports, academics, religious officials and professionals. Some of them have excelled in various sport to represent the state, while others went on to carve a name in other fields.
"With age catching up, we hope to renew our acquaintances and camaraderie in the Lasallian spirit," said Paramjothy during a committee meeting at the PJ Club in Lorong Sultan.
Present were Malaysian Federation of Lasallian Alumni Associations secretary James Sia, school alumni president Professor Selvaraj Oyyan, its secretary Samuel Selvaraj and alumni council members David Mohan Raj, Joseph Berine Rozario, S. Andrew Francis and P. Pathamanaban.
Paramjothy revealed that among the prominent guests for the dinner would be former teacher and Lasallian Brother Augustine Julian, former student and school principal Louis Rozario Doss and the school's first principal Toh Soon Guan.
"We had produced a coffee table book entitled I Am Anthonian in conjunction with the school's 88th anniversary. The book's editor Andrew Francis and his team did a marvelous job, tracing back the school's early years.
"Copies of the book are still available at RM100 each, and will help raise funds for the alumni's activities," said Paramjothy.
He added that the dinner would see the launch of the Anthonian Alumni Fund for projects related to students welfare and academic excellence.
For the record, A. Francis was capped 75 times for Malaysia, playing in the 1968 Mexico, 1972 Munich and 1976 Montreal Olympics.
He teamed up with Ramakrishnan at the 1975 Kuala Lumpur World Cup, where Malaysia had the best ever fourth finish.
Ramakrishnan, who was capped 100 times, played in the 1972 Munich Olympics, 1973 Amsterdam and 1978 Buenos Aires World Cups, 1974 Teheran and 1978 Bangkok Asian Games, and was selected for the 1974 Asian All-Stars team against Europe All-Stars.
Shanker began with a 1989 Junior World Cup; 1992 Barcelona, 1996 Atlanta Olympics; 1998 Utrecht World Cup; 1998 KL Commonwealth Games; and 1990 Beijing and 1994 Hiroshima Asian Games.
Other alumni greats are Paralympian S. Balasingam, Penang diocese Roman Catholic bishop Antony Selvanayagam, former Malaysian Medical Association president Dr Ravindran Naidu, prominent criminal lawyer Hisyam Teh Poh Teik and former TV3 news presenter Datuk Karam Singh Walia.
