BUTTERWORTH – As news on the imminent closure of Bagan Dalam’s SK Assumption went viral on social media, many former students have voiced their distress and offered to help rescue the 89-year-old former missionary school.
Several of its alumni spoke to The Vibes to express their shock, disappointment and unhappiness over the possible end of their alma mater.
Among them is a businessman who has now made it big in Singapore.
Dr Anthony Ng said the government and the Education Department should have taken measures to protect the school, as it has historical value.
He also asked what the department’s motive was in renaming the SJK Assumption to SK Assumption and why it is being treated as a national-type school when the school’s management continue to look for public funds and furniture from the elected representatives to run the institution.
It is inappropriate for the department to simply issue orders to close down the school. No element of religion should come into this issue, as the school had students of all races and religions.
“I had two Malay students sitting beside me. We had Chinese and Indian students in the class from Standard 1 until Standard 6.”
He recalled that the institution’s greatest lesson in his mind was how it successfully integrated students from multiple ethnic backgrounds – Malays, Chinese and Indians.
The entrepreneur said that as children, they had a lot of fun interacting with one another, unlike the current situation, where public schools are seen to be Islamising non-Muslim students, forcing non-Muslim parents to send their kids to private or vernacular institutions.
We all stuck together, ate together, swam together, and played together. We were very friendly (with each other), and no one told us not to mingle with other students (from different ethnic backgrounds), unlike the current situation where they are being segregated,” he said.
Meanwhile, 75-year-old Rachikatas Arulanthu said what he carried with him till today from his schooling days are lessons on qualities of a good citizen.
The retired Telekom Malaysia assistant manager attended classes at SK Assumption from 1956 to 1961.
Back then, instead of taking the bus to school, Rachikatas said his schoolmates had to take a sampan to cross the Prai River for their lessons.
Many parents preferred to send their kids to the missionary school, seeing that it produced high-achieving students who can contribute well to society at large.
Teachers from all races taught in the school. They treated us equally, and they cared for the welfare of the students. It is where I learnt the love, unity and tolerance needed in a multi-racial and multi-religious society,” he said.
Not giving up the good fight, SK Assumption PTA chairman Mohd Aminuddin Baqy Mohd Noor said he is committed to save the school, as it is close to his heart.
He said that his alma mater had taught him to be open-minded, to evaluate things and be up to date on global current affairs.
“It is sentimental for me that I attended SK Assumption, and I want my children and grandchildren to attend the school too.
I will do anything and everything to sustain the school in the area, as my love and commitment to the school cannot be expressed,” he said.
Only 11 years shy of being a century-old institution, SK Assumption had produced many luminaries over the past 90 years.
Among its most successful alumni is former Finance Minister II Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop, who served in public office from January 2004 to April 2009.
Nor, who lived in Bagan Dalam, attended SK Assumption before continuing his secondary education at St Xavier’s Institution in George Town.
He was also the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, responsible for the Economic Planning Unit, from May 2009 to May 2013.
Nor also served as special economic adviser to Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad when the latter served as prime minister, from May 2000 to the end of 2003.
One of Nor’s most significant achievements was assisting Dr Mahathir in the implementation of the Unorthodox Measures, including selective exchange control measures, to overcome the 1997-1998 Asian Financial Crisis.
To preserve the Malaysian currency and economy from tanking during that time, Dr Mahathir had pegged the ringgit to the US dollar after receiving a report from Nor. – The Vibes, January 11, 2022
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