KUALA LUMPUR: With a theme which plays on the word "History", five artists have joined hands to showcase an art exhibition entitled "Take 5: The Rest Is (His)tory" at the RA Fine Arts Gallery.

The exhibition features the works of Kamal Mustafa, Datuk Mahsun Taib, Zainol Abidin Ahmad Shariff (popularly known as Zabas) and Zainuddin Jamil, whose common bond, apart from art, is Malay College Kuala Kangsar where they studied.

Also included are paintings by Syed Bakar Syed Salim, their college art teacher, who is now 73.

It could very well have been titled "To Sir With Love" because the exhibition is also a tribute to the late historian Desmond Muzaffar Tate who was their history teacher.

Tate remained a close friend long after they left school.

In picture: Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad launching the art exhibition ‘Take 5 The Rest Is (His)tory’ at the RA Fine Arts Gallery in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. On his left is artist Kamal Mustafa.

2009/12/14

KUALA LUMPUR: The perception that racism rules the daily lives of Malaysians was quashed on Saturday when a retired police officer was given the rare distinction of being the first non-Malay to be inducted as a member of the Malay College Old Boys Association (MCOBA), an exclusive all-Malay alumni group.

Liew Yong Choon coached basketball at the residential school for more than 20 years and brought big successes along the way to Malay students in the Chinese-dominated sport.

Apart from voluntarily coaching the Malay College Kuala Kangsar (MCKK) basketball team to become school champions in the late 1970s and 1980s, Liew spent a lot of his free time with the students, acting as a counsellor.

He also gave his charges tuition in English, Maths and Science and would set academic targets for them, failing which they would be suspended and not able to train with the team for several days.

Liew took pride in bringing an all-Malay basketball team to play in Chinese tournaments and made the team a crowd favourite.

He was named honorary member at the Macoba annual dinner in front of royalty and luminaries who included the Sultan Perak Sultan Azlan Shah, the Raja Muda of Perak Raja Dr Nazrin Shah, Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and former national police chief Tun Hanif Omar.