Ninetyniners' 10th Year Reunion Dinner - the REPORT

Ninetyniners' 10th Year Reunion Dinner - the REPORT

On Saturday, May 2nd 2009, about 90 Ninetyniners (Victorians of Batch 1999) from all over the country and some from as far as Vietnam and Singapore were reunited at the Ninetyniners' 10th Year Reunion Dinner. The event was held at the VIOBA Clubhouse in Victoria Institution school compound at Jalan Hang Tuah, Kuala Lumpur. Besides spouses, 3 babies and girlfriends, 5 special individuals who have helped mould the Ninetyniners were also present, viz. Ms. Shanty, Cikgu Rozina, Puan Rohana, Puan Aminah and Ustaz Shuhaimi.

After the distribution of door gifts, the event started at 8:30 pm with everyone on their feet, patriotically singing the school song, guided by Sharel on the keyboard. The traditional “VI Clap” led by Yap Kok Hoong followed right after that. After KamalIzzati (the 99 AJK Surau of Asrama Victoria) recited the doa, the President of Ninetyniners, Sharel gave a short opening speech. This was followed by Ms. Shanty, the representative of the VIPs, with another speech.

Just before dinner, everyone was entertained to a short movie, wrote and directed by our very own professional scriptwriter, Shamsul Haszraei. Among the stars of the movie were Ramdhan, Khairil, Azri, Kamal, Hafiz, Izziddin, Kamal, Khairul Syazwan, Dhiya, Aktar, Sharel and a special appearance by Cikgu Rozina. The clip depicts the life and activities of the Victorians during year 1999. Sadly, due to his shooting commitments, Shamsul could not make it to watch how much we enjoyed his work. After a good laugh, the MC of the night, Ravinderjit Singh kicked off the dinner with “makanlaaah! jangan malu-malu”. Our dinner was prepared by Beringin Garden Restaurant Seafood & Ikan Bakar owned by Khairil Anuar of 5 Jingga.


During the dinner, everyone was entertained to an open jam session, led by Kama Raiz on lead guitar, Odham on rhythm, Iskandar on Drums and vocals, Nicholas on Bass and Ravinderjit Singh on Didgeridoo and percussion. What started with an open, jazzy number was followed by Radiohead’s Creep and a few hits numbers from the 90’s. Most of the music equipment like mixer, speakers, etc. were supplied by Studio 51 owned by Azri Effendi of 5 Coklat.

From 99ers.reunion

The performance was put on hold to give way to next on the agenda - "Ninetyniners of The Year Award". Four individuals were chosen by the Reunion Committee based on their achievements during and after school, their contributions to school, and those who have not only made the batch or the school proud, but also the nation proud.

The 4 Ninetyniners of the Year are:

1. Ravinderjit Singh
-Played at various music festivals around the world, such as Glastonbury, Cambridge Folk Festival, WOMAD, Rainforest and Brazil’s Perc-Pan Festival with own band, and as a backing musician for other artists.
-First Malaysian to endorse Contemporeana (pronounced KON-TEMPO-RIHANNA) Brazilian Drums, Gon Bops Latin Percussion and Australian Slide Didgeridoos
-Co-Founder of Rhythm Rascals – program to help those with learning disabilities cope with studies via working with drums to enhance understanding

2. Muhammad Johari b Rahmad
- Special Mention in World Summit Award 2007 E-Culture Category in Venice, Italy.
- Finalist MSC APICTA 2008 e-community category
- Speaker for Young Guns - Global Enterprenuer Week 2008 at Red Bungalow.

3. Muhammad Ramdhan Susami
-active in VIOBA matters
- revived the PKBM infantry Cadet Coprs, VIPB,

4. Dr. Benjamin Lim Tao Xiung
- VI Hockey team coach – under 18 team Bangsar Zone runners up.
- Manipal Medical College hockey captain
- Victorian of the Year - 2001
- VI School Captain 2001

The second part of the open jam session continued with another 3 hits from the 90’s. Irwan took the Rhythm and Sharel on bass to complete the session’s line up.


Next on the agenda was the Class Pictures. All 177+ Ninetyniners' names were called out that night according to their classes. 5 Ungu led and ended their photo session with a “birthday song” for their class monitor, Khairil Amir Nordin; not to forget, the memorable “gift”. Then the photo session continued on with 5 Merah, 5 Hijau, 5 Kuning, 5 Biru, 5 Coklat, 5 Jingga and the 99X group. The finale was of course, the Ninetyniners' Group photo. At the end of the session, Lauk King, Omar Abbas gentlemanly “offered” to be “Lauk” and I guess most of the Ninetyniners were overjoyed to have finally been able to give him a payback!


To sum up, although there were minor hiccups, the Ninetyniners 10th Year Reunion was a success! The attendance was higher than we expected. The function did not just went according to the plan, but incorporated an extra program - the Lucky Prizes! More than 20 Victoria Institution’s memorabilia were given out in between programs.



A very big "THANK YOU" to VIOBA for the support and providing us the space, the teachers who came and supported the event, and of course, the Ninetyniners who took the trouble to come and support the Reunion Dinner. Thank you! Thank you Ravinder for your brilliant MC-ing and the beat, Kama Raiz for the guitars and skills, the other band members for the entertainment and jamming memories, the “movie stars” for the award winning performance and Mohd Zafry for the sponsorship. Lastly, special thanks to the individuals who have worked and sacrificed their time and money to make this event successful, my committee members, Ramdhan – Location, Aktar – Invitation and Finance, Dhiya – Food and Beverage and Shamsul Haszraei – Entertainment. Thank you so much! I really salute you!

Let’s hope that there will be another one maybe in the next 5 or 10 years!! VI Clap, 3. 4!!!

p/s: thanks Dhiya for the pictures!

Sharel Abdul Wahid
President of Ninetyniners 07-09
www.vioba99.com