thank you for a lovely evening

From: ElaineWong

Date: Mon, 06 Apr 2009 

Hi Idris

Tx for a lovely evening of catching up with old friends from the good old days of IA. Even though I didnt spend that long a time in your office, I did get to experience a lot of 'firsts' when I was there. I got my first luxury of working with the mac which you had in your entire office. Took me a long time to get used to not having one anymore after leaving but now when my husband is contemplating changing our pc, we are buying a mac again which is bringing back memories! It was at IA that Su & Azru did a system to run the top 100 tv ratings and at that time, Nielsen did not even have that yet. You are indeed a man well ahead of the league. I remember the cafetaria meeting place on the ground floor complete with a few round glass coffee tables and a dart board for recreation (and how can I forget the lovely stair case with no banister) . A lot of offices followed that style after that. Many many fond memories include during the CID days and I met 2 Malays who can read chinese ie Dino (media manager who was a despatch whom you gave a chance of) & Faridah (media buyer) who could decipher the chinese daily titles of East Msia and their dates as we did tearsheets. I couldnt (still cant) read or write chinese so that put me to shame!! Till today, I still quote what happened to me to my friends. fyi, my current immediate boss- media director , Roslina is Ibrahim (your ex malay copy writer)'s wife.

The most memorable of my stay is the probably the Randy Crawford & Sheila Majid concert you had at Fairway for yearend party together with the 'dutch auction' to raise funds for the ophanages. That year , I remember outbidding others for a Sanyo Vacuum cleaner for a 'song' but at the same time, doing my bit for charity.

My 13 months as media planner (my first proper media job) in IA was indeed short but very meaningful. I got to know good friends like Ms Choo who is ever so good at keeping in touch. Unfortunately, I too lost touch with Swan and Shirley Sen whom I hope to locate and by the next gathering, they can be there.

I had a great time at IA (Jan 1990 - Jan 1991) and you made it all happen for me and last Saturday nite helped me recall your philanthropic character in you by starting the Idris Foundation. I couldnt agree more that the literary ability in the youth is dying / dead (tx to our  education system) and it should be revived and the Idris Foundation is a superb start.

Keep up the good work, Boss and may God Bless you and your family always.

Regards

Elaine Wong