2) Getting to know the guitar

This chance meeting with Michael Ho, also a Michaelian like me and Peter Goon who was an Andersonian was to start the ball rolling for my music career. As Michael and Peter were always getting together to jam, they invited me to over to Peter’s house aka “Blue Heaven” and there they showed me the basics of guitar playing. I was a greenhorn but they were kind enough to teach me from scratch. So it was then that I tried learning the chords and I practiced until my sore fingers didn’t hurt anymore as I got accustomed to the feel of the strings. We met often and jammed, with me still trying to master the chords but Michael and Peter were really patient with me and I am so grateful to them to have given me this boost to music in my life. I was also fascinated with talentimes as they were really popular then. I recall several popular contestants at each talentime contests in at YMCA, Ipoh. One of them was the late Danny Choo who accompanied himself on the guitar while he sang. He was really popular with the crowd. It was interesting watching guys playing the guitar and singing. Deep inside I was wishing that some day, I would also make it up there on the stage doing my thing.

Time flew by and I made the acquaintance with Roland Foong who used to be a bassist with a band from Kuala Lumpur called The Saints. He had left the band and was back in Ipoh staying with his family in Canning Garden. He used to jam with another guitarist from my same school, Jimmy Oliveiro. Jimmy had been a regular feature in the school talentime together with his cousins Brian and Derek Surin. I used to admire them as guitarists during the talentimes. We knew each other by sight as Jimmy and Brian were my seniors and Derek was my peer in SMI. Another personality that was hugely popular at Talentimes was Ernest Freeman I don’t recall when or how I got to know Roland Foong but somehow we got to know each other and Roland invited me to over to his house where he would teach the finer points of guitar playing. I was elated and happy to have made his acquaintance and lost no time at all. I used to cycle to Roland’s house regularly where I was exposed to much more than just simple chords. It was a learning experience as Roland showed me the correct way to use and apply chords to various songs. He was extremely patient and was a really good teacher and friend. Thank you Roland ! As I improved with Roland’s help, my interest in music grew. I was eager to form a band as was fashionable in the sixties and hoping to meet up with other guys who had the same interest and aspirations as me.