WHERE ARE YOU TIM LINCOLN/

WHERE ARE YOU TIM LINCOLN?

Tim Lincoln came to STAR as another British Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) volunteer in the third term of 1960. I was then in Form 5 Arts. Tim taught Physics. My Science class friends told me he would always ask the class to take out their Nelson & Parker. Most did not know that he was referring to the text book on Physics. Tim was very active in the Boys Scout movement when he was in STAR. He would always be taking the scouts camping in Herslet Camp next door to the School. I was told he was very keen on bananas. However some of the mischievous scouts introduced him to another Malaysian fruit called “Chilly”. Tim had not seen any chilly before this and decided to try them. He would yell and had to ask for a lot of bananas to neutralise  the hot taste.

 Tim used to borrow my bicycle to cycle to town. This gave us the opportunity to know each other better. (When I was in the Sixth Form my sister presented with a bicycle. The reason for this was to allow me to cycle to Ipoh so that I can visit the Ipoh Library, the Courts to observe trials being conducted and other useful purposes. I am sure if she did not know that the bicycle was also used for other less useful purposes as going on dates and go to the cinemas from time to time). Tim told me he came from Surrey, a county just outside London. He had obtained his A Levels the previous summer and hoped to go to the University in October the following year after spending a year or so with us. He hoped during the School vacations to see as much of Malaya (as the country was then known. Malaysia was officially formed on the 16^th September 1963). Under the VSO scheme he was paid an allowance of RM 20 a month with free accommodation in the school. Nowadays students in Europe, America and Japan like to spend a year before or after going to University to see the world. They will offer to do some voluntary work in return for a small allowance and free accommodation. However they pay their own travel. It is hugely popular. There are now commercial organizations offering services to plan the students’ travels and attachments. Tim also told me that he was keen to visit interesting places in Perak. He said we could hitch hike. This he was very popular in England. I too had done some hitchhiking when I was in primary school during the Scouts Job Weeks. I would hitchhike to neighbouring towns to find jobs to do and get some donation for the Scout movement. It was great fun. We decided one week end to hitchhike to Taiping and stay up at Maxwell Hills (now known as Bukit Larut).

So one Friday afternoon Tim, another Sixth former whose name if I remember correctly is Akbar and I set off to hitchhike to Taiping from Jalan Kuala Kangsar just outside Ipoh. We were extremely lucky. Before long a car stopped and the gentleman driving the car asked us where we were heading. When told that we were going to Taiping, he said he was also returning to Taiping and gave us a lift. What luck! During the pleasant drive he introduced himself as Mr Saw Huat Lye (now Tan Sri), a name I remember to this day. He asked us which school we came from. When I told him (with great pride) that we studied in STAR he said he knew STAR and had visited the School and even played Tennis with some of the teachers in our School. I told him I happened to play Tennis and had seen him playing with the late Enchik Latiff. A small world! He then asked us what we wanted to do in Taiping. Tim told him we intended to up to Maxwell Hills and spend a night up there. He was surprised as it was already getting late in the day. Mr Saw then asked if we had made reservation for accommodation. We had not. He was aghast. He told us were foolhardy. We cannot get any accommodation because there were only Government bungalows up there and you must make prior reservation for it. Then he said “You are very lucky indeed. I happen to be the President of the Taiping Town Council and Maxwell Hills come under my jurisdiction. You get a lift from one the Land Rover jeeps at the foot of the Hills and when you reach the top ask to see the Superintendent (I think he said his name was Mr Phillip Shanky (?). Tell him you are the guests of the President of the Town Council and you are to be provided with a room in one of the bungalows.” We could not be more delighted with such a kind man. He duly delivered us to one of the Town Council jeeps at the foot of the Hills with instruction to the driver to deliver us to the Superintendent’s office. I thanked Mr Saw profusely. Do you think that was the last time I met the good Mr Saw?

 When I was the  Magistrate in Parit Buntar in 1969 a kind old gentleman and I soon became friends. He baptised into fishing and we had glorious fishing trips in Sungai Krian, at Tasik Merah and many other places around Parit Buntar. He even promised to take me to Tasik Kenyir in Terengganu to do “real fishing” Who is this gentleman? He was Mr Saw Senior, the father of Tan Sri Saw Huat Lye.

 Later in life I became the Personnel Services Manager of Malaysia Airlines System (MAS). And who was my boss? None other than Tan Sri Saw. Originally we got along very well. He had hope that I would go to sales department after  some business education at Harvard. Unfortunately id did not work out as we later had serious work differences. Furthermore I was at that time keen to try my luck in legal practice. So I left MAS.

Back to what happened to the trip to Maxwell Hills. We duly reported to the Superintendent’s office and were provided accommodation in a colonial bungalow. We had an elderly Dutch couple as fellow guests in the bungalow. They were delighted to speak to me in flawless Bahasa Iindonesia. The Dutch gentleman had served in the Dutch Government in Indonesia before the country became independent. The view from Maxwell Hills at night was magnificent. We could see the lights not only of Taiping but as far as Penang. Another new experience for me was to sit by an English fireplace with burning logs. We also got a lift back to School the next day but the trip was uneventful. When I was in the United Kingdom I  managed to do some hitchhiking and youth hostelling in England and Europe. The best trip Shukor and I had was hitchhiking from Amsterdam to The Hague and back. Were given lifts both ways by the same person.

When Shukor and I were at King’s College we participated in some students’ activities. I played Tennis and Table Tennis. Shukor played hockey and Table Tennis. One day Shukor and I played Table Tennis for King’s against Queen Marry College, also one of the University of London’s main Colleges. Guess who one of Queen Mary’s players was. I could not believe my eyes. He was none other than Tim Lincoln, my lost friend. That evening Tim followed us back to our flat in Fulham. He was so pleased when we cooked rice and chicken curry for him. We spent almost the whole night chatting away updating each other with what had happened after Tim left STAR. Briefly as far as I can remember Tim told us he was in second or third year at Queen Mary. I cannot now remember what subject he studied. However he had an interesting story. During the previous summer vacation he went to the United States.  What impressed him then was that US   was a rich country and the people had a higher standard of living compared to the British people. But he said they were not very smart! And they valued everything about old England. So what he did was he brought to the States some sketches and tracings of old English churches and the designs of some important parts of the churches and they sold like hot cakes there. He had made up his mind by then that after graduation he would migrate to the States to make his fortune. The only problem he said was he would not know how to break the decision to his elderly widowed mother who depended on him. We met a few more times followed by Malaysian meals at our flat. It is unfortunate that neither Shukor nor I kept in touch with him after we returned home after our studies. Even Brian the other VSO volunteer did not know the current whereabouts of Tim Lincoln. Probably he had migrated to the States.

I tried searching for Tim in Facebook. I found a Tim Lincoln in the States. Very excited I sent him a message asking if he was Tim Lincoln formerly a VSO volunteer who had been to STAR. A reply fro Tim Lincoln  said he was Vietamese who had bmigrated to the States.

Where are you the real Tim Licoln?