A BRIEF HISTORY OF

DAMANSARA HASH HOUSE HARRIERS

As time passes by, the past gets dimmer….what with all that beer drinking and never ending partying!!! But now having past the 25th Anniversary, and looking forward to the next anniversary, I have decided to look back into the past and record our history by some reading, talking to some of the old-er members which I had to do while in their sober state of course.

The story goes that a few, having left some other chapter, joined up with some other wait-listers and decided to form another chapter. The name Damansara was selected because one of the convenors, Mary Ooi, lived in Damansara. Amother important convemor, Tractor Chew, lived not far in SS2. They decided to run on Fridays because this was their free day. But it was really Rosli Zain (not to be confused with Rosely Fuckawee) who finally got the legal details of the registration done. The birth certificate indicates that Rosli was the GM, Mary Ooi was the On-Sec and Tractor Chew was the On-Cash. John Duncan was nominated for the position of the InterHash Sec, but the Registrar of Societies excluded him from holding office. It must be placed on record that it was nothing personal. It is just that the constitution allows only Malaysians to hold office.

The first run was in mid-February 1985 somewhere in the Klang area. This was attended by the following:

- Mary Ooi
- Tractor Chew
- Bull Ong
- Allan Tan
- Kirby
- Rosli
- Stewart Forbes
- Goh

With that, the runs carried on and in time, more and more members joined in slowly, such as Ng Chee Heng and the Ling family. It is interesting to note that Ng Chee Heng, though on a wheelchair, has just returned form a trip to Kenyir. True hashing spirit !!! His daughter Maxine now comes to the runs sometimes.

These names were pulled out of Bull Ong one evening while his memory was lubricated with a mixture of beer and stout.

The chapter has had its ups and downs for the first year, about 10 or so each week and at one time the membership was so low that it nearly died a premature death. But I was told, that thanks only to Bull Ong's famous fried Char Kway Teow, the membership slowly increased from 1986 onwards. Bull nowadays walks and can still keep a good table, cutting a superb roast or serving a great Bak Kut Teh at a runsite on on, not to mention his fish n' chips.

Some of the early members include the Ling family i.e. Victor, Halo, Karen, Linny and Cheryl with their husbands Heng and Behold. Halo was quite a guy bringing in a few pretty things such as Magic Wendy, Debrine and Artiste. Other popular members are Dennis Khoo, Margaret, Soraya and the late Coke and the late Phua Boon Lay.

Then there were the Teledynamic girls led by one Gretchen. With a faraway look and knowing smile on his lips, an anonymous member told me that this was the turning point for DHHH. Fridays were the day members looked forward to. Friday Fairies (no names mentioned) flit their wings and enchanted many a member. Then from about 1987, triple On became a standard at the now defunct Much More pub, an appropriately named place to go to!!! Because of this, the DHHH took the slogan "Never Ending Hash". Those were clearly good times for the DHHH.

But there have been bad times and lean times too. Jostling for Committee positions was rife and this made stalwarts leave the chapter. Some did not like the Mismanagement Committee claming that it was really a mismanaged committee. So they left. Some came to conquer, did so and left, thereby taking a member away. Then there were some wives who heard about the 'hashing' after the runs and stopped their husbands from joining. And some left to have a baby and never came back.

But luckily, there were many members who remained all the way and many more have joined in the years past. The numbers have remained constant in the last few years. Many members are active members in other chapters but still remain loyal members in DHHH.

DHHH became a popular chapter with a healthy membership and members who added character. Many members also belonged to the KL Full Moon and Petaling HHH. Each chapter events were supported by the others and there were many events held. If you went to a Hash event overseas, chances were that you would meet someone who was a member or ran with DHHH and they would always say it was something to remember.

These days we have good and dedicated members in DHHH. Attendance is usually 80% and 60% at the On On. A new set of characters are now evident and wholeheartedly carry on the DHHH flag.

Members may come and go for various reasons, but one thing for sure, DHHH will always be the "Never Ending Hash".

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

©2005