A Step Back in Time

This coming Friday, June 19, 2009 my alma mater will begin its 80th anniversary celebration. There would be an opening ceremony, as usual, by a distinguished guest of honor. This person could be anyone from the ruling political coalition party's highest person such as the Chief Minister down to an ordinary elected representative.

The guest of honor could also be the bishop of the Anglican Church as Mission schools were founded by Christian missionaries through much blood, sweat and tears throughout Malaysia.

In East Malaysia, that is, Sabah and Sarawak, missionaries courageously with the grace of God, endured much hardship in the old days when all all countries were in a stage of development which needed implementation of good infrastructure, better economical and political policies. It was a time when malaria, tuberculosis and fever took the lives of many, most of whom were infants. There was a low cure rate with inadequate medical facilities, a sorry state of affairs that amny countries faced.

Despite the many barriers that missionaries faced, they reached out to the spiritually hungry folks. Living extremely difficult lives like those who were native in the areas deep in the interior of the rainforest and even less developed urban areas, these People of Faith never weavered in comforting the sick and needy and sharing the gospel of love.

In Malaysia, specifically East Malaysia, these godly persons founded academic institutions everywhere. From northern to southern Borneo, they sought the financial assistance of overseas Christians and friends. Millions of dollars were poured into the establishment of these important institutions of learning. The lips of many Malaysians would utter with utmost respect and pride the names of saints from "Saint Luke" to "Saint Mary". Year after year, with fail, thousands of graduates were churned out from these Mission schools.

In Sarawak, the Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Ministers, House Speaker and many other ministers and elected representatives experienced the multi-racial sharing that marked, and continues to do so, the important existence of these schools.

My alma mater, St. Columba's School has always faithfully carried out its educational mission. Thousands of Columbans like us are most grateful to the missionaries, Church, school, principal, teachers and the government for their roles in shaping the direction of our lives and instilling the spirit in us to live harmoniously with Malaysians of various races, color and creed.

To all of my fellow Columbans in present day St. Columba, including the principal, teachers and administrative staff, even though I may not know you well, I salute you in your dedication and love for the school. May our school ever progress and its students learn to love it and hold fond memories of their time spent there.

Above are a few pics from the past...

Should Auld Acquaintance be Forgot...

As the last strains of that haunting song fades...Columbans! Faithful souls of our old school with its Irish saint, Saint Columba! It's time again to come together to celebrate the 80th anniversary of our alma mater!

The tentative date is Saturday, 8th August, 2009 (That's right-8/8/09!) at a leading restaurant-either Eastwood Valley Country Club Restaurant, Imperial Ballroom or Mega Hotel Restaurant.

The ticket will cost RM50.

Oh yes, I'm making arrangements to fly out our beloved Aussie principal, Ms. Leonie Armour from Down under. I'm going to be honored to have her as our guest in my home for the duration of her stay here with us.

Don't miss this big event, folks! Be there or be square!

Here's a joke for old buddies... By the way, bet you never knew-Ms. Armour's Irish!

Two men were sitting next to each other at a bar. After awhile, one guy looks at the other and says, "I can't help but think, from listening to you, that you're from Ireland."

The other guy responds proudly, "Yes, I am!"

The first guy says, "So am I! And where about from Ireland might you be?"

The other guy answers, "I'm from Dublin, I am."

The first guy responds, "So am I!"

"Sure and beggorra. And what street did you live in Dublin?"

The other guy says, "A lovely little area it was. I lived on McCleary Street in the old central part of town."

The first guy says, "Faith and it's a small world. So did I! So did I! And to what school would you be going?"

The other guy answers, "Well now, I went to St. Mary's, of course."

The first guy gets really excited and says, "And so did I. Tell me, what year did you graduate?"

The other guy answers, "Well, now, let's see. I graduated in 1964."

The first guy exclaims,"The good Lord must be smiling down upon us! I can hardly believe our good luck at winding up in the same bar tonight. Can you believe it? I graduated from St. Mary's in 1964 my own self!"

About this time, Vicky walks into the bar, sits down and orders a beer.

Brian, the bartender, walks over to Vicky, shaking his head and mutters, "It's going to be a long night tonight."

Vicky asks,"Why do you say that, Brian?"

"The Murphy twins are drunk again."

We were Teachers

It wasn't too long ago-20 years ago to be exact-when there were four of us cool buddies having a good time in a sleepy hollow called Miri town....

There was Nicholas Bawin (far left), Mike Lo (next to him) and Ng Choon Onn (far right).

Nicholas is the present Man in Action or shall we say the man in hot action as he is so much up to his neck into politics. Here's a decent Iban who will be remembered by many of us teachers in St. Columba's Secondary School as the best "monkey-style" climber of coconut trees, graciously tossing coconuts down to the ground for the rest of us awe-struck nut- loving thirsty urban eaters.

Then other memories of this fella crab-hunting with us and having an encounter with a sting-ray... catching a trophy mouse at his teachers' quarters....

By the way, Ng Choon Onn is now a successful headmaster somewhere in Miri division... Sarawakians should never forget he helped trained the Columban, The Flying Dayak, Watson Nyambek up to first class standards.

Mike is a successful real estate agent.

Regrettably, we have not been constantly in touch as some of us old buddies are scattered in the far-flung outreaches of the planet as distant as Canada and New Zealand.

Oh yeah, there's this '60s style in our posture, don't you think?

Just an old School Pic

Here's the Form 5 class of 1968, snapped in Saint Columba's School. I wasn't in this class ... these folks are way too old.! I just happened to come across this old pic and decided to share it here. If I'm mistaken with the details, please feel free to correct me.

I do recognise an outstanding female athlete here by the name of Ruby Choo. She's the warm, friendly girl who's sitting on the table talking to two boys. Do click to enlarge pic.

Down Miri's Memory Lane...

YES! YES! You're looking at some cool pics by a well-known photographer, Francis Liew, of old and quite new Miri places. These pics came out in the Miri Daily News (Now known as The United Daily News) sometime ago.

I regret I do not have the actual date of its publication. If you do, please let me know and I'll add it in.

A few comments from yours truly here:
a) Even as an old Mirian, frankly, I haven't the foggiest idea where the heck Jalan
Unku is! Typically, the local Authority makes changes to road names with little
notification! Miri would be a greater tourist attraction if we follow our beautiful capital city, historic Kuching and give names to streets and roads that reflect truly our gratitude to our past historical personalities such as Chong En Siong, Malaysian founder of the OLDEST northern region educational institution, St. Columba's School in replacement of an unknown Abang Indeh who has no connection whatsoever to the school! What about Jalan Chong En Siong instead of Jalan Abang Indeh for the road that runs through between St. Columba's Primary and St. Columba's Secondary School??? Before Jalan Abang Indeh it was Jalan Kubu.
b) The present Taman Selera was a popular spot for picnics in the early '70s.
The pic with the coconut palms was where the present food stores began. There
were a few (2 or 3) hawker-style stores selling rojak, food and drinks at first. Mirians
could park vehicles wherever.
c) The 3rd row pics show Miri town as it was then-just some shops with hardly any
tall buildings. The tallest and oldest in the '70s was 7-floor-Park Hotel!
d) The Hock Hua Bank pic would now be considered as really out-dated-Hock Hua
Bank doesn't exist any more and today, Public Bank occupies the old building.

I hope you've enjoyed your view of our past Miri...I have lots more in store, including a rare pre-World War 2 SHELL wharf pic which I may show here.