JEBI JACOB PHILIPS

30 March 99

Hi you all ,

Glad that this is all working out really well and everyone is experiencing what
Henry said when we met up " Wow , A Blast from the Past "

Well to update you on my whereabouts etc etc etc.
After Form 6 , I went back to India for my tertiary education.
I did an Engineering degree in Aerospace Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology - Kanpur.
India's an excellent place to visit around for those
interested in history , sight seeing , trekking etc but terrible for one from
Samoa to go to for further studies. It was so bloody tough because the school standard
here was pretty low when compared to the Indian one. I will never want to do that
again. I returned to Samoa in early 93 to work for Polynesian Airlines. I started with the
Engineering department, then was transferred to Flight Operations and as of a year back to
the Finance department to look after I.T. and the Y2K problem for Poly.

I finally tied the knot in India in Jan 97 and brought my wife Shaini to Samoa.
She teaches Maths at Samoa College. So my link with Samco continues. My mum is
still there but my Dad moved on to the National University. Yes , we still have
that lean mean green machine. It is still going strong after all these years ,
nothing like the original Jap technology and good car care i say.

I have a son called Vivek who turns one in a couple of weeks. He keeps Shaini and
I pretty much on our toes but it is great.

My official name by Indian custom and tradition is Jacob Philips and that is what
i have on all my official certificates etc. Jebi Jacob was my alias we used in
school here because my folks were always being questioned by the schools on why
their surname was Jacob and mine Philips. Hence the alias Jebi Jacob till i sat SC
and UE.

It does cause confusion as Pania will attest. When i joined Poly , I was
introduced to the new management and staff as Jacob Philips but friends from the
past already knew me as Jebi Jacob. At one meeting ,Pania kept referring to me as
Jebi , and the manager kept saying Jacob. I could see peoples faces looking really
puzzled as Pania kept saying Jebi until Mark Berking finally said 'Pania , Who is
Jebi ??' Then it was Pania's turn to look puzzled ' What do you mean who is Jebi ,
This is Jebi ?' pointing at me. Although i thought it was extremely hilarious I
realised it was best at that stage to explain the fundamentals of my name.
Whatever the case i have explained to each successive receptionist that my names
are Jebi Jacob and Jacob Philips. So they put through any phone calls with
permutation combination of those names. However they seem to put thru anything
that remotely sounds like it eg Jackie , sitte , Jay , Filipo , Jacy etc

Well that about sums up my story. Come on people follow suit and ante up. i for
one would love to hear about your history since leaving Samoa as would others.

Will try to organise some photos to be taken of the crowd in Apia , hopefully at
'Tavas reunion so we can all start comparing sizes :-))))

For Your Info Samoa is the last place on this planet to farewell this millenium
and although it is technically over on Dec 31st 2000 , the whole world seems to be
celebrating it this year. So if you want to be one of the few people with " the
last person to farewell " distinction Come to Samoa. Also i am sure it is much
safer here than anywhere else when the Y2K hits the fan. Tonga is claiming to be
the first place to see the new millenium and so a lot of people are planning to be
in tonga to be the First person and then fly to Apia and be the last person to
farewell the old millenium. Think about it.

Regards
Jeb