97-year-old school in need of funds to build new block

KENINGAU: Who would have thought a dilapidated school with a history that has a close association with World War II (WWII), would actually fight the odds to become one of Sabah’s Grade A schools?

Founded in 1921, Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan (C) Yuk Yin Keningau, had to deal with the assault of allied forces closing in on Japanese troops on the school grounds in the mid 1940s, but all that changed as the school slowly but steadily built itself over the next decades.

It started off with just one teacher and a few students in what was just a store room, but it now sits on 2.45 heactares with 37 classes and 1,353 students. The school has 67 teachers with many other facilities.

“We built this school with great determination, just as how Japan rebuilt itself from scratch after WW11.

“Today, the people of Keningau, especially the Chinese should be proud of what its former leaders had fought for and their contribution to the community,” said Liew Ket Lim, chairman of the school board.

The school has both bitter and sweet experiences but the focus of the school’s founding fathers was for the future generation to acquire knowledge, said School Headmistress Thiam Sat Yang to Bernama here yesterday.

The school which turns 97 on August 3, 2018, had taught pupils from all walks of life including politicians, top civil servants and captains of Industry, she added.

Among them, the state’s former Deputy Chief Minister Dato Tham Yip Shim, Yap Yun Fook, the late Fung Tien Liang and Pan Hui Liang.

“In Keningau, whether we are Chinese, Kadazandusun, Murut or from any other race, we truly embrace all communities without favouritism,” said Thiam.

She added that the school with the 37 classes for pupils from Year 1 to Year 6, cannot accommodate the increasing number of pupils every year, especially from the bumiputra community.

Hence the school’s management has plans to build another new building with 16 classrooms that would cost about RM2 million, she said.

The school had collected RM1 million and needed another RM1 million for the building, she added.

Thiam said that in conjunction with the school’s 97th anniversary celebration, school authorities were appealing to former students and philanthropists in the state for contributions towards the building project.

“This school really needs support especially from its former students,” she reiterated.