School buddies, 24 years later

About a month ago, five school buddies - some of whom have not met each other since 1985 - were reunited.

From left: Shazali (the engineer), Norizuddin (the businessman), Wan Alimi (the corporate figure), Yusrin (the lawyer), Shaikh (the academic)

I don't know about the others, but it didn't feel like we haven't met in nearly a quarter of a century. Our paths may have diverged and our thoughts may have matured differently, but we still share a special bond in the form of a mutual past.

Flashback 1985: Shazali (back row, extreme right), Norizuddin (sitting, extreme right), Yusrin (sitting, second from right), Wan Alimi (sitting, fourth from right), Shaikh (sitting, fifth from right).

I would say that all of us have certainly went a long way since our schooling days in the 1980s. I am very happy that my friends have found success in their lives today. Then again, we are talking about some of the brightest students I have ever known. Shazali is an engineer with an oil and gas consultant. Norizuddin has his own business. Wan Alimi is the vice president of a well-known investment bank. Yusrin is the senior partner of his own law firm.

I am indeed proud to have made the acquaintance of these friends of mine long before they are "somebody". Someone once remarked to me that friends whom you make during your school days would last longer because the friendship is not built upon what you have become, but rather, who you really are.