Riot visits alma mater, approves RM30,000 grant
SERIAN: It was a walk down memory lane for Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri Richard Riot when he made an hour-long surprise visit to SMK Serian yesterday morning.
The Serian MP was in fact in the first batch of Form 5 students of then-Serian Secondary School to sit for the overseas Senior Cambridge Examination in 1969.
“Many things have changed – the infrastructure, the landscape, the school system, including its name, from Serian Secondary School to SMK Serian, but this is the school that has helped make me.
“For a village boy coming from a poor family, this was where it all began; thus this school and its students are special to me because if I can be who I am today, there is no reason why you can’t,” he said when he visited one of the classes that was in session.
He said as a Bidayuh, he hoped to see more Bidayuhs in high positions in the government and in the corporate world.
He added that he felt proud to be a Bidayuh when he saw the growing number of Bidayuh professors, engineers, doctors and entrepreneurs.
“I want all of you to think big and aim high, stand on the same level with the rest of Malaysians and be counted,” he stressed.
He said he would like the students to know that now they had another option to furthering their study in universities if they failed to make the grade – technical vocational education.
He drew their attention to Malaysia’s aim of becoming a high income economy, saying this could only happen if more than 60 per cent of the country’s workforce came under the skilled category.
“I have been telling this over and over, especially to Bidayuh parents; therefore I want to see more Bidayuh children enrolling with the three technical and vocational schools in the state.
“I have even sought the agreement of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to get the academic entry requirements lowered in the hope that more Dayak Form 5 school-leavers can get accepted into these colleges,” Riot said.
Earlier at a reception organised by the staff members of the school and those from its parents-teachers association (PTA), Riot announced a grant of RM30,000 for the school.
His visit to the school was part of a video project that is being made in his preparation for the 14th general election (GE14). The camera was rolling throughout the hour-long visit.
His Friday itinerary actually began at 9am with a visit to the Serian vegetables-market where he sat down to sip coffee with friends and shoppers, shook hands with hawkers, bought some vegetables and cakes and also exchanged pleasantries.