KOTA KINABALU – Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong took time to visit her former alma mater, the Kinabalu International School (KIS), today, as she spent time with students at the school.
She recalled the school was a lot smaller and noted she did not quite enjoy learning Bahasa Malaysia then.
“When I was here I remember the school was a lot smaller.
“There was no verandah and there was only one building. But it was fun, I remember it was a very diverse school,” she said, when asked what she can recall of her former school.
She also said her favourite activities were running and swimming then, and never quite got into her studies until moving to Australia some time in 1976.
“I was quite young and I remember doing Bahasa (Malaysia) and not enjoying it very much.
“Probably, at the time, we were already wanting to move, but there was a lot of old-style teaching back then,” she said when speaking on her favourite subjects while schooling in Sabah.
Wong further revealed that she had climbed Mount Kinabalu seven times before stating that her entry into politics gave her a sense of purpose.
“I think most of us must have a sense of purpose in our lives. I think coming from Malaysia to Australia in the 70s was quite hard...I think there was an experience of things being different and hard things happened and I tried to change these things.
“I think all of us need a sense of purpose like teaching or designing buildings,” she told the students.
Wong also said that she would love to visit Tg Aru Beach, where her old family home is situated if she had the time to do it.
Prior to her interview with the students, Wong also walked around her old school, where she visited the school’s library and greeted some of the students.
She spent her early years in Kota Kinabalu before moving to Adelaide in South Australia at the age of eight.
Earlier, Wong stopped to have breakfast at her favourite childhood restaurant, Restoran Kuo Man, located at Sunny Garden here in the morning.
She ordered congee, soup noodle, fish ball soup and Chinese tea while having breakfast with her brother James Wong, who works as an architect in Sabah.
Wong recalled that her father, Datuk Francis Wong, used to take her and her siblings for breakfast often at the restaurant.
Following her visit to the school, Wong later walked around the Foh Sang shoplots along with Luyang assemblyman Phoong Jin Zhe.
During her walkabout, she was briefed on the Foh Sang area, which according to Phoong is one of the oldest Chinese community spots in Sabah.
“It has a 40- or 50-year history of being frequented by the Chinese communities in the area, sharing the local Chinese culture,” said Phoong, adding that there were a lot of similarities in culture between the Chinese in Sabah and Australia.
The visits are part of Wong’s three-day working visit to Malaysia.
She also hosted a reception with government, business and civil society leaders last night, where she described her visit to Sabah as an act of homecoming, hope and respect.
Wong is Australia’s first foreign minister of Asian heritage. – The Vibes, June 30, 2022
