SMK Bandar Kuching No.1: May 2012

Friday, 25 May 2012

Wednesday, 23 May 2012

Both the personnel from JKR and the appointed contractor came to school for the kickoff meeting on rebuilding the long lost Block C of the school. The project will start very soon and projected to be fully completed before June 2013.

ON TARGET: Wong (fifth left) and others witness the handing over of contract documents between JKR superintendent Vivian Wee and the contractor Syed Rosley Wan Hashim.

New block to consist of seven classrooms and three science laboratories, says Wong KUCHING: A three-storey classroom block of SMK Bandar Kuching No. 1 will be rebuilt soon, six years after a fire outbreak damaged the building.

Second Finance Minister Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh who visited the school yesterday, said the new block would consist of seven classrooms and three science laboratories. It is expected to be completed in May next year. “I have spoken to Education Minister who is also Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and we have managed to secure an allocation for the project, which is RM3,313,028. “Although I am a senior minister tasked to look after Chinese schools, I am also obliged to do something extra because of my strong sentiment to education. So, I decided to do a follow-up on this rebuilding project after the school’s parent -teacher association chairman sought my help. “I managed to talk to Tan Sri Muhyiddin and he agreed to give the fund for the project,” he told the press yesterday.

The contractor, Perusahaan Al-Yahya Sdn Bhd, would have to complete the project within a year with the Public Works Department playing the supervisory role. The school’s PTA chairman Chong Nam Fah said with the completion of the new building next year, they were hoping to accommodate more students to meet the rising demand.

“The school has a student population of about 1,600. We have received many applications from parents wanting to enrol their children at the school but due to limited spaces, we have to turn them down. “SMK Bandar Kuching No 1 is the only secondary school in the greater Kenyalang Park area. The nearest one is SMK Pending where many students turn to after being refused entry at SMK Bandar Kuching No 1,” he said.

Read more: Borneopost

Thursday, 17 May 2012

Teacher's Day 2012

In many countries, Teachers' Days are intended to be special days for the appreciation of teachers; World Teachers' Day is celebrated across the world on October 5. Ever since the importance of teachers has been recognized by UNESCO, by adopting the “Recommendation concerning the status of teachers”, World Teachers' Day has been celebrated annually. This includes celebrations to honor the teachers for their special contribution in a particular field area or the community in general.

The idea of celebrating Teachers' Day took ground independently in many countries during the 20th century; in most cases, they celebrate a local educator or an important milestone in education (for example, Argentina commemorates Domingo Faustino Sarmiento's death on September 11 since 1915, while India celebrates Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan's birthday on September 5 since 1962). These two factors explain why almost all countries celebrate this day on different dates, unlike many other International Days.

In Malaysia, we celebrate our teacher's day on Malaysia 16th May. This date was chosen because on the same day in 1956, the Federal Legislative Council of the Federation of Malaya endorsed the Razak Report, one of four reports of the Education Committee regarding education in Malaysia. The document, known as the Razak Report after Tun Abdul Razak who was Education Minister at the time, has been the basis of education in Malaysia ever since. Although it is not an official school holiday, celebrations are usually held on May 16, or earlier, if it falls on a Saturday or Sunday.

As for our school, this was what we had!

Friday, 11 May 2012

News Release for Townian's Gala Night

Web article: BorneoPost - Townians' Gala Reunion

Wednesday, 9 May 2012

TOWNIAN GALA NIGHT - A REUNION

Kuching Town Government Secondary School (KTGSS) was establish in 1970 under the First Malaysian Plan. Under the watchful eyes of Mrs. Ngiam Eng Chiaw, the first principal, and seven other teachers, the school first open its doors to students from the nearby districts on the 12th January 1970. Enrolment for the first year was 171 students. Since then, enrolment increased rapidly.

KTGSS started with four classes- Form 1 Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. Subjects offered included all core subjects and Industrial Arts. Industrial Arts, at that time, was a new subject in Sarawak. In fact, our school was the first school in Sarawak to introduce such subject.

The First Annual Publication of the school magazine was introduced in the third year since the school was established, that is 1972. The school magazine “Bujangga” was named by the Former Director of Education, Mr. Tan Seng Chye. The first issue of Bujangga magazine was a combination of the first three years of the school.

The school started with three blocks of buildings and a hall.The three blocks are Block A, B and an Industrial Arts block (now known as Block D). In late 1971, constructional work on the extensions of the school blocks (Block A and B) began. A new block, Block C, was then constructed in the late seventies and Block E was added in the mid eighties.

In 1972, the third year of the school, a very important milestone in the history of our school took place. That was the school’s Official Opening which was held on the 22nd July 1972. In conjunction with this, there was an exhibition on the work of the students throughout the school life since day one. The School was officially declared open by the Honourable Chief Minister of that time, Datuk Haji Abdul Rahman Ya’Kub. Since then, the school was officially known as Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Bandar Kuching. But to this day it has always been better known as Kuching Town.

In 1974, the first form four classes started with one Form 4 Science and Form 4 Arts each. The first bach of Form 3 graduated in 1972 and the first batch of Form 5 graduated in 1975.Besides that, our school also established its very own Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) or better known now as Persatuan Ibu Bapa dan Guru (PIBG) in the same year. SMK Bandar Kuching was the very first institution in the whole of Sarawak to form a PTA. It was officially declared open by former Director of Education, Mr. Mohd. Diah Bin Haji Nordin on the 11th November 1974. The first meeting was held to discuss the formation of this association was held on the 9th October, 1974. Since its establishment, this association has given much assistance to the students in their pursuit of the school curriculum.

A year later, our school’s name was changed from SMK Bandar Kuching to SMK Bandar Kuching No. 1. This was due to the establishment of a second SMK Bandar Kuching, SMK Bandar Kuching No 2.

Townians now live and work in various places throughout Sarawak, some have moved to live in Sabah, West Malaysia and overseas; many are connected through the Townian network on Facebook while often, down memory lane of their beloved alma mater floods their Facebook pages.

The Townian reunion dinner is the harmonious efforts of a team of dedicated teachers and a group of enthusiastic Townians who are passionate about their school where they had spent most of their teenage days, nurtured with care and guidance from teachers and warm friendship.

"Despite the thought that Kuching Town school has always been perceived as a school with poor learning environment associated with misbehaved students, we take pride in being a graduate of Kuching Town School that has developed many students who are now successful business people and professionals."

This reunion dinner provides an opportunity for Townians to get together and mingle around, foster networking; and an opportunity to honour our teachers and reciprocate our appreciation to our beloved alma mater by making a contribution. The surplus from the dinner will be contributed to the school's PIBG for the various students programmes and activities.

Attention all Townians! Townian Gala Night - A Reunion