It is much sadness to walk into my former school St John Institution last Saturday for the late Master Vincent Fernandez's memorial gathering and to seek the condition of the school.
First to catch my eyes was the plants growing out of the school established by the La Salle Brothers on Jan 18, 1904.
Then another shocker awaited me as I walked into the school to see the pride of the school - the field - like a desert. Seriously it was deplorable and to find a blade of green would have been hitting the jackpot!
This is the same school which produced hundreds of national athletes for almost all sports in the country.
The the school's scoreboard displaying all the "houses" (Claude,Stephen, Gilbert, Cornelious D'Joseph) and the scores during the Inter-House Games and run-up to the school's athletics meet, on the hill opposite the school field had dissapeared - hidden by a jungle in front of it!
Never mind all that.
It has produced outstanding Malaysians such as Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, cabinet ministers and corporate personalities.
It was chosen as one of the cluster schools of excellence by the Ministry of Education in 2007.
What are we talking about 1 student 1 sport, when a school does not even have a proper playing field.
Maybe, it is about time to address the issues at the grassroots - like proper playing fields - are not even in place.
Two years ago, the science laboratories were closed for more than six months for safety reasons - because the ceilings had developed cracks and pieces had started to fall. It was finally repaired after it was highlighted in the newspapers.
Indeed it is sad to see a Premier School like St John Institution falling apart.
I can bet my last ringgit there are schools in the outskirts which are better kept and maintained.
First to catch my eyes was the plants growing out of the school established by the La Salle Brothers on Jan 18, 1904.
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Plants and lalang growing out of the school building |
This is the same school which produced hundreds of national athletes for almost all sports in the country.
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THE FIELD...Once the pride of St John Institution |
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| The scoreboad hidden by the jungle |
This is the same school that was recognised as a national heritage building when Deputy Information Communication and Culture Minister Datuk Joseph Salang, who visited the school in 2010 May,and had said that the school building and other sites in Bukit Nanas would be preserved and protected by the Heritage Act.
The school is as famed for its distinctive Grecian-Spanish architecture with its red-and-white arches as it is for its academic excellence.It has produced outstanding Malaysians such as Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, cabinet ministers and corporate personalities.
It was chosen as one of the cluster schools of excellence by the Ministry of Education in 2007.
What are we talking about 1 student 1 sport, when a school does not even have a proper playing field.
Maybe, it is about time to address the issues at the grassroots - like proper playing fields - are not even in place.
Two years ago, the science laboratories were closed for more than six months for safety reasons - because the ceilings had developed cracks and pieces had started to fall. It was finally repaired after it was highlighted in the newspapers.
Indeed it is sad to see a Premier School like St John Institution falling apart.
I can bet my last ringgit there are schools in the outskirts which are better kept and maintained.
1 comment:
i think the scoreboard is no longer have there because of last soil erosion/tanah runtuh
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