In 1957, English was the medium of instruction but students were encouraged to learn a second language. They could choose to attend either Malay, Mandarin, Tamil or Punjabi classes after school hours.

One day, Mohaideen skipped Tamil class to see a movie with a friend. Unfortunately for him, principal JEB Ambrose decided to do a round of spot checks that day.

The following day, Mohaideen had to explain his absence to Ambrose in the latter’s office. The student told the principal he could not attend Tamil class the previous day because it was raining.

To Mohaideen’s relief, Ambrose didn’t punish him. However, at the next school assembly, Ambrose invited Mohaideen to the front and then related what had transpired to the assembled students.

Mohaideen recalls vividly what Ambrose said that day: “I can accept any excuse but I can’t accept the excuse that it was raining because it always rains in Taiping.”

With that, he gave Mohaideen a public caning.

The young student learned a lesson in honesty that has served him well over the years, including in his business and as the president of the King Edward VII Old Boys Association of Malaysia (KE7OBA).

The director of grocer-wholesaler Syarikat S A Mohamed Ishack Sdn Bhd is now serving as KE7OBA president for the 38th consecutive year.

He’s believed to be the longest-serving president of a voluntary organisation, or at least an old boys’ association, in the country.

It reflects well on not just his popularity but the respect and confidence with which ex-students – known as Old Tigers – regard him that he has won without contest all these years.

Mohaideen, who entered KE7 in 1947 and completed his Senior Cambridge in 1959, joined the police force as an inspector in 1960 and served two years in Kota Bharu.

However, when his father fell ill, he resigned to return home and help with their sundry and wholesale business which remains one of the oldest such businesses in Taiping. And that has turned out to be the association’s gain.

The KE7OBA itself is probably the oldest old boys’ association in the country, having begun in 1914. Although Penang Free School and St Xavier’s Institution started earlier, their OBAs were established in 1923 and 1924 respectively.

KE7, of course, is one of the oldest schools in the country. It started off as the Central School in 1883 before moving to a new location and being renamed King Edward VII School in 1905. Students of the school are known as Tigers or Edwardians.

On Oct 17, 1914, a Saturday, 70 old boys and teachers of the school gathered to form the KE7OBA. The first president was the then school principal, the legendary RF Stainer.

The first vice-president was Toh Eng Swee, a towkay, with S Rajarethnam as secretary and Ng Ann Thye as treasurer. Raja Abdul Aziz, DG Doral, PG Lesslar, Lim Hoe Ann and PE Navarednam were elected committee members. The membership fee was $1 a year.

Subsequently, however, the KE7OBA went through ups and downs, lying dormant a couple of times – including during World War II – before being revived again.

The association was only officially registered in 1965.

In 1978, Mohaideen took over the presidency from Lee Soo, who had been preceded by Toh Theam Hock.

But in 1955 itself, while the association was dormant, Theam Hock’s father Toh Eng Hoe and others organised the school’s golden jubilee celebration.

Mohaideen said: “They managed to raise some money but as there was no official organisation then, they handed the money over to the Perak state government, urging it to invest the money and run a golden jubilee scholarship fund for KE7 students.

“When I took over in 1978, I asked Lee Soo where the money had gone and he said the state had invested it in the Singapore share market. I met the then menteri besar Ghazali Jawi to see how we could get back the money.

“Ghazali said he did not know about this money but would look into it. Soon, the state government took back the money from Singapore and gave me a cheque for $50,000.”

The KE7OBA then established the Golden Jubilee Scholarship Fund, which pays the public examination fees of poor students.

Over the years, Old Tigers have contributed money to set up scholarship funds, and this includes the Faujar Singh Bhagwan Singh Scholarship Fund and the Shukor Abdullah Scholarship Fund.

Goh Boon Teik and Tan Thean Hoo collected RM100,000 to start a scholarship fund named after a former principal of KE7 Secondary School – the famous Long Heng Hua. Each year, between 10 and 15 students entering university benefit from this fund.

Importantly, the KE7OBA committee under Mohaideen managed to procure a building for the association next to the KE7 primary school. The building, which earlier belonged to the education department, was alienated to the association in May 2002.

Mohaideen said the KE7OBA and Old Tigers always answered the call of the school when it needed help. For instance, the association collected RM60,000 to help renovate the school hall which was in poor condition. And very recently, it raised RM40,000 to renovate the surau.

Under Mohaideen’s presidentship, the association also started various golf and rugby competitions. The school is known for its rugby prowess.

Every year after the school sports, Old Tigers gather for the KE7OBA dinner. This year’s dinner on Oct 1 at a hotel in Taiping, saw a packed hall as the Old Tigers had missed meeting at the reunion dinner for two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.