School gets ang pow from ex-student
Newly-wed gives ‘ang pow’ to former school
Malay man honours Chinese alma mater after tying the knot.
MALACCA: The first thing that bank officer Ali Arami did after tying the knot on Saturday was to present an ang pow to his former school.
The RM500 for the Pay Fong High School may not be huge, but the gesture was enough to make the school management respond in a special way.
Ali, 27, and his bride Rima Princess Dewi, 26, who also went to a Chinese school, have been made “Ambassadors of Unity” by the vernacular school.
“The experience of studying in a Chinese school has made me a more complete Malaysian. My teachers taught me to respect other races and see all of us as one.
“I am indebted to my school for what I am today,’’ said Ali of his six years at the school.
The special guests at the wedding ceremony, held at the Malacca library complex, were school principal Ng Swee Lai and its teachers.
Ali left the school in 2008. Rima studied at SMJK Yok Bin here.
The couple wore Chinese and Korean traditional wedding costumes. They also posed in their official Malay attire for their photo shoot.
Ng praised the couple for helping with the school’s initiative to promote unity.
“Ali has not forgotten his alma mater,” she said.
“He has come back to play basketball with the sports teacher and also kept in touch with the others.
“He has also been contributing financially to the school, and got his wife to help out,’’ said Ng, who was invited on stage to receive the couple’s ang pow.
She said the school’s policy was to get its students to live in harmony, adding that Ali had been “an inspiration”.
A wushu exponent, the Mandarinspeaking Ali went on to study at the Bukit Jalil Sports School to become a stunt artist.
He has appeared in Malay films and Hong Kong action movies, and was once a stunt double for actor Aaron Kwok.