Iconic school raises funds for power bill
THE #SAVESJI Fund set up by the St John’s Institution Alumni Association to resolve the school’s outstanding electricity bill, has collected more than RM51,000 as of Friday.
Association president Isham Ishak said more donations are expected to be collected.
“The money will be disbursed to St John’s Board of Governors next week for the payment to Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), which is due by the end of the month.
“There has been immense support and contributions by Johannians from around the world,” he said.
The 114-year old iconic boys’ school went dark on Monday when its electricity was disconnected following its inability to pay its outstanding bill of RM245,348.54.
Following a meeting with TNB on Monday, he said the company waived the RM55,000 in interest, adding that this brought the total bill to about RM190,000.
“From the total of RM190,000 owed, it was proposed that the school pay RM50,000 by the end of this month.
“The outstanding balance would be paid over the next three years in instalments. This is on top of the school’s monthly bills,” said Isham at the school located in Bukit Nanas.
Isham who graduated in 1996, said the association then set up the #SAVESJI Fund on Monday to resolve the school’s outstanding electricity bill.
The proceeds of the fund, he added, would be used to settle the charges, as well as aid the school in subsequent payments.
While people have been generous in donating, Isham said the mission school, which receives an annual allocation of RM16,000 from the Government, did not always get all the funds it needed to cover operational and maintenance costs.
“This has been an ongoing matter for almost eight years. The school has been paying whatever it could every month to prevent the electricity from being disconnected,” he said.
Isham said that the monthly expenses at St John’s is almost RM20,000, out of which RM13,000 was on electricity consumption.
He said the school has come up with short, medium and long term plans to prevent similar issues from recurring.
“For the short term, we are raising funds to pay TNB. We will also conduct an audit into the school’s energy efficiency and manage the usage more effectively.
“For the medium term, the alumni is looking to set up an endowment project, which allows the public and alumni to contribute to the school. The fund would then be governed by its own trustees,” he said.
He added that the school is looking at monetising some of its facilities, streamlin- ing rental rates as well as looking into corporate partnership programmes with companies in need of training facilities in the city centre.
“For the long term, we are planning to meet Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik for an open dialogue on how we can resolve the status of government-aided schools,” he said.
He explained that the school’s alumni association was not asking for a change in its mission school status but to look into the available options to help such schools.
He hoped the Government would play a bigger role in mission schools.
As of Aug 24, Isham said more than RM51,000 has been collected for the fund.
Contributions to the school can be made to Persatuan Alumni Sekolah St John KL (1988), Maybank account 5140 5718 4577. —
This has been an ongoing matter for almost eight years. The school has as been pay ying whateve er it could eve ery month. Isham Ishak