Circular No 606

Newsletter for alumni of The Abbey School, Mt. St. Benedict, Trinidad and Tobago, W.I.

Caracas, 15 June 2013 No. 606

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Dear Friends,

Here is something to digest.

From the following articles I conclude that Mr. Yip Chuck and Mr. Chow Fat had similar characteristics, being small, thin, chain smokers and ping pong players.

I am adding the following information:

Mr. Yip Chuck lived (1960) in the house at the second bend of the road from the guest house down to the fields, we passed this house that still exist I am including a photo. I did it every day.

My Add Math teacher was Fr. Paul. I graduated in December 1960.

But I really do not recall the Chemistry or Biology teacher, either or both could have been “Mr. Yip Chuck”

Mrs. Kitty Marcus was in charge of the diatetics at the kitchen, but could have taught Chemistry?

Fr. Benedict was in charge of the in class room experiments at the study hall (Form I).

Sad to say that there no photo of Chow Fat.

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Date: Mon, 15 Jan 2007 11:58:37 -0800 (PST)

From: "Attila GYURIS" <gyuris@yahoo.com>  

Subject: Re: SOS Mayday from Ladislao Kertesz requesting any currently available update on Mr. Yip Chuck 

It occurs to me that maybe "Specs" in TT can try to find out for us.

He seems to be one of the most connected with the Mount right now.

Maybe he could ask around next time he visits there? 

Maybe Fr. Cuthbert knows?

Just a thought.

Attila Gyuris

MSB 1964-1969

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Lindsay John Moffat <l.john@hotmail.co.uk> wrote:

Wow, great to make contact...

Yes I remember Mr. Chow Fat very well.

Your description is accurate.

I also remember him as a good teacher who could control the class with a focused look silence and more than a few throbbing of the muscles of his cheekbones!

Algebra was not by best subject but Biology was and it was taught by Mr. Yip Chock who was my favourite teacher of all.

In fact the Chinese teachers there were the best.

Will never forget them and by strange coincidence was recently thinking of them with affection and wondering what happened to them and indeed if they were still alive.

I can't remember the frogs legs jumping and I never learned to spell!

Wondering who I am?

Though under the artistic name of Lindsay John now my full name:

Lindsay John Moffat. Now living in Glasgow, Scotland, UK and am a Fine Artist and Lecturer

Wonder how this got through to me?? Always glad to hear from 'Mountainsiders' after all this time.

Keep in touch and regards to all.

Lindsay

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Alrighty then, so we agree that:  

Yip Chuck: Biology

Chow Fat: Physics, Math, and Add Math

Kitty Marcus: Chemistry 

When I was in From IV and V, if you took Biology with Yip Chuck you couldn't take Physics with Chow Fat and vice versa.

There was no way you could take your GCE in all three sciences at the same time.

The choices were either: 

1) Chemistry and Biology or,  

2) Chemistry and Physics. 

You couldn't take Physics AND Biology because they were taught during the same time.

That's finally settled.

Now let's try to track down the two Chinese teachers.

Attila Gyuris

MSB 1964-1969 

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Happy new year for all of you,

I do remember Miss Kitty Chemistry, no question, and Mr. Chow in Advanced Math, but Mr. Yip I have no idea.

Do you remember ?

Alfredo.

-----Mensaje original---------------------------------------------------------------
Andres Larsen <andres_larsen@yahoo.com> wrote:

Hello everybody,

I just received this request below from Ladislao Kertesz, asking for any currently available update on Mr. Yip Chuck.

Best regards

Andrés Larsen

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ladislao kertesz <kertesz12@yahoo.com> wrote:

Dear Andres,

And what about Yip Chuck??

God Bless

Ladislao

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Hello Andrés,

I am scratching my memories and I did get lessons from a Chinese teacher, indeed his name could be Mr. Chow Fat, which was in the classroom below the small chapel later Prep-dormitories behind the chemistry laboratory.

I got chemistry from Mrs. Kitty Marcus and she made us do experiments in that laboratory.

What I remember of Mr. Chow Fat is that he was a science man in mathematics, differentials, numeric analyses, imaginary calculus, bolean mathematics.

During lessons he would refer to that, as we would have it maybe one day.

So I think he was our mathematics teacher.

I didn't get a full year lessons from him, for some reason we had to go to a different class and we got another teacher.

It looks like you were a murderous class of students, killing frogs in class, yikes, if I get chills from an animal it is a frog.

In this era of John F. Kennedy and Gemini an Apollo and moon travelling Mr. Chow Fat would refer to us about another kind of mathematics in which all lines are curved and you would have to do all mathematics over again.

He could tell about it in such a way that it impressed us so much that we took notes of it.

Something to keep in mind for future studies.

Greetings from Jan Koenraadt

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Attila GYURIS <gyuris@yahoo.com> wrote:

If I remember correctly, the skinny, chain-smoking, ping-pong playing Mr. Chow Fat was my Physics, Ordinary Math and Advanced Math class teacher in both Form IV and Form V. 

I thought he was the best teacher of the bunch.

He was allergic to chalk dust and he constantly had to go to the infirmary to see the nurse for treatment.

One time he even had to use latex gloves to teach the class. 

Somewhere in the MSB box I still have a copy of a letter of recommendation from him for my university applications.

Miss Kitty Marcus was our Chemistry teacher in both form IV and form V.

Attila

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Achong <hanlan@pathcom.com> wrote:

Hi everyone ....

Andres: I believe Mr. Chow Fat was in the Chemistry class, though I may be wrong.

Also recall one of the Fathers in our science class doing the experiment with the headless bull frog suspended by a spring and jumping when electricity was applied.

Was it Fr. Voosh?

See if we could get some help here....

Regards, Stan

----- Original Message -------------------------------------------------------

From: Andres Larsen

Sent: Monday, December 18, 2006 11:18 AM

Subject: Mr. Chow Fat

Hello Stanley and Jan:

A few questions on Mr. Chow Fat:

Was he our Biology or Chemistry teacher ?

If I remember correctly he was an excellent ping pong player but also a chain smoker.

If someone would curse in class, or speak when not spoken to, he would say something like:

Go wash out your mouth with soap and water.

Was it in his Biology class that we used to make headless toads jump with electric jolts and was it there that we drowned stray cats in order to make arrow quivers out of their furry skins ?

I remember there was a time when we all had this craze with bows and arrows.

Regards

Andrés Larsen

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Achong <hanlan@pathcom.com> wrote:

Forgot to give you my address

Stanley & Judy Achong

45 Supino Crescent

Brampton, Ontario

Canada L4L3T4

Home: 905-790-0101

Bus: 905-264-7278

Toll free North America: Bus 866-264-7278

E-mail: hanlan@pathcom.com

Skype: Stanley Achong

Regards, Stan

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MSB DataBase Update - as of May 19, 2013

Thanks, Esmond.

That's proof positive, if I ever needed it.

Please understand the way the dates as given on our MSBOB dataBase have been "determined".

The fault is entirely mine.

I have no way of knowing when everyone had left the Abbey School, since it's hard enough to get any kind of feedback from the fellas.

So, I had decided long ago to take a good guess as to when one or other OB might have left the school, publish it, and hopefully, get someone (like you've now done) stirred up to help me to correct it.

So, to be quite honest, I sincerely appreciate your intervention and input, to try to get Brian's dates straightened out.

So, where has this now brought us to?

Well, I've adjusted Brian's last year at MSB as 1959, and I'm guessing that he left in Form 3, finishing his secondary education at Douay in 1962.

BUT, here's the bonus. I see from the Douay list that you also were there from 1959-1963, and therefore, i guess that you might have been a year behind Brian.

If I'm wrong, do correct me again, but I wonder whether you left the Mount when you had completed Form 2.

In any case, this has given us a chance to communicate and I appreciate it.

Keep in touch.

Nigel

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On 2013-05-26, at 9:23 AM, Esmond Lange wrote:

Nigel,

Here is the listing of Douai (http://www.douaiabbey.org.uk/HistSchool.pdf) and it confirms Brian from 1959-1962...

Esmond Lange

319 Riverton Drive,  

Shelley, WA 6148

Email: esfran@poppie.com.au

Mobile: +61414711082

Phone & Fax: +61894579570 

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On 26/05/2013, at 9:12 PM, Esmond Lange <esfran@poppie.com.au> wrote:

Nigel,

If you revert to my original email you will see I indicated both the school and dates I was in England and I am pretty certain Brian was there with me for the full time....

If I am wrong then it would, at most have been 1960 when he came to Douai as he and I were on the swimming team together and Lange and Lewis are two names that come very close on the roll!!!

Cheers,

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On 26/05/2013, at 9:03 PM, Nigel Boos <nigelboos@eagles-wings.ca> wrote:

Brian,

With all due respect, I seem to recall that you are a little younger than I, and I also remember that you war an excellent swimmer, a sprinter if my memory is correct, and that you were a year of two behind me.

But then I left MSB and lost touch, and I wonder about 2 things.

1.         How old are you? I am now 69 and will turn 70 in October.

2.         When you left MSB, what form were you in, and where did you then go to school?

I'm trying to solve this puzzle.

Nigel

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On 2013-05-22, at 10:54 PM, Brian Lewis wrote:

Esmond may well be correct as I have never taken an interest in dates so please make the correction.

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On May 21, 2013, at 10:35 PM,

Nigel Boos <nigelboos@eagles-wings.ca> wrote:

Thanks, Esmond, for the observation. Let's ask Brian to comment / clarify for us.

Hope you're keeping well.

Best wishes.

Nigel

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On 2013-05-21, at 10:27 PM, Esmond Lange wrote:

Nigel

I was browsing through this very large spread sheet (boy you must have spent many, many hours on it) and in the interest of accuracy, I believe Brian Lewis left MSB before the year stated.

We both started at Douai in England in 1959 consequently his entry (below) as 62 cannot be correct, but you best check with him.....

Best regards,

Esmond

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Ladislao Kertesz at kertesz11@yahoo.com,

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Photos:

09LK0100EDIMSB, the teacher´s house on the downhill path to the sports field.

60LK0001LKEMAR, Ladislao Kertesz and Kitty Marcus near the kitchen.

60LK0001FPETAS, Fr. Paul, the only photo that I have.

62LK0001FBUGRP, Fr. Bernard, Ladislao Kertesz and Mr. Yip Chuck