Alumni SSI JB celebrates with Golden Moments

A recent reunion dinner brought together some 100 alumni of SMK Sultan Ismail (SSI) Johor Baru who renewed their acquaintance, some for the very first time since they left secondary school.

Members of the Alumni Committee with their certificates
of appointment at the recent reunion event

This inaugural reunion event was organized by a committee of members from the SSI alumni of year 2018 – 2019. In a short space of time, this hardworking committee managed to organize the event and gathered alumni from various years to meet again.

Aptly dubbed, Golden Moments, the event was a precious time shared over a hotel banquet meal with entertainment provided by their own alumni members.

“The main objective of the movement is to gather as many alumni as possible under one official association. This will enable us to be a strong association with various skills, expertise and knowledge in one group to benefit the current SSI students and other alumni,” said the newly-elected Chairman of SSI Alumni, Hj Yazid Mohamed.

SSI JB headmaster, Hj Abdul Halil Abu Bakar,
 was a guest at the alumni event

“One of our much-celebrated alumni, Professor Datuk Dr Awang Sarian, could not be with us tonight, but we will read a poem that he composed, specially dedicated to SSI JB,” he added. This poem was later recited by three alumni members.

During the dinner, the alumni members were encouraged to mingle and catch up with each other. As they got connected again, name cards were exchanged.

The Alumni Committee was pleased to announce that they have embarked on an ambitious project to document and preserve their activities online.

Taking advantage of modern technology, the alumni will stay connected using social media sites for the association.

In a simple ceremony, their official Facebook page – Alumni SSI Johor Bahru – and Instagram account – alumnissijb – were launched.

Led by chairman of the SSI JB Alumni, Hj Yazid Mohamed [3rd from Right] the committee launched the
official SSI JB Facebook page and their Instagram account

In addition, alumni members were encouraged to register themselves with the association to receive their own SSI Alumni KA$H debit card.

This KA$H card is a prepared Mastercard with worldwide ATM facilities.

Chairman of SSI JB Alumni, Hj Yazid Mohamed,
 presenting his welcome speech at the reunion event

It is also a cashless payment system that offers KA$H Rewards with discounts and cash-back privileges when used at participating outlets like KFC, Ayamas, Metrojaya, Mydin, Zalora, Sephora, Lazada, Uniglo, Agoda, just to name a few.

This event kicked off the campaign to encourage alumni to register themselves for a lifetime membership at a fee of RM150 only.

Among the attendees were several alumni who have established themselves in various illustrious roles and careers.

They include Dato’ Abd Latiff Yusof who was Mayor of Johor Baru and Johor State Secretary, DJ Dave Madhavan, a radio personality with JohorFM, Executive Chef with GBW Hotel Johor Baru, Abd Karim Md Salleh and Daeng Ahmad Salim Bachok, who recently retired from the editorial helm at Harian Metro newspapers.

All smiles as old friends meet again -
Hj Salleh Sadijo [Left] with Dr Aziz Ishak

SSI has a long list of talented students who have become national entertainers. One of them, Hj Salleh Sadijo, better known by his stage name, SADJ, graciously provided music entertainment during the dinner.

Salleh is also the executive producer of Johor’s famous production house, JOJO’s Productions that nurtured EXIST and shot this Johor-born group to stardom.

Also present was the current headmaster of SSI JB, Hj Abdul Halil Abu Bakar, who congratulated the alumni for their initiatives.

He shared that since SSI JB was opened in 1960, it has developed into a Cluster School of Excellence or Sekolah Kluster Kecemerlangan.

Hj Salleh, better known as SADJ, and his band
entertained the audience at the event

He said the school has a long history and as its 15^th headmaster, he was happy to announce that SSI JB is now recognized as a High Performance School or Sekolah Berprestasi Tinggi.

Hj Abdul Halil commended the Alumni Committee for connecting with the school again and was pleased that they have already discussed how the alumni may provide practical support to the school.

He also expressed his appreciation to the alumni for showing interest in the needs of their former school and in helping students make better progress in their education.

The SSI Committee is made up of 19 volunteers who have formed six autonomous bureaus to run the association more effectively. They include Information Technology and Multimedia, Public Relations, Economic, Religious and Charity Services, Youth, Sports and Recreation, and Education, Motivation and Counselling.

The event continued well into the evening in a convivial mood, with music entertainment provided by SADJ and his band.

For more info on Alumni SSI JB, please visit: https://www.facebook.com/TheOfficialAlumniSSIJB/