Wong poses inside the control cabin of an excavator prior to performing the earth-breaking ceremony for SM Guong Ming’s new hostel block project.
SIBU: Parents here, especially those at and near Sungei Bidut, are encouraged to enrol their children at SM Guong Ming.
According Second Finance Minister Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh, the school – being a Chinese independent school – has all the facilities that the students need in their learning.
“On top of that, the area around the school is free from traffic congestion, and its locality on the ‘West Bank’ (of Sungei Bidut) is another reason why parents should consider sending their children there to complete their secondary education. As you can see, the West Bank has been experiencing a boom over the past several years,” he said at the earthbreaking of SM Guong Ming’s new hostel block project yesterday, which coincided with the school’s annual prize presentation ceremony which also hosted the school management board chairman Datuk Tiong Thai King, principal Tan Hock San and its old students association president Yong Lik Yien.
Wong, who is Bawang Assan assemblyman, said the West Bank was a satellite town in the making.
Back on SM Guong Ming, the minister said the school was a government-aided facility before the change of its status as a private school in 1964.
“In 1967, the school’s student population peaked at 386. However during the 1970s – the period of communist insurgency – many villagers settled to the urban areas and as a result, the population of the school dropped.
“Despite this, many villagers continued to work together in helping the school to pull through the difficult period. Today, SM Guong Ming has a hall, a teacher’s office block and enough classrooms to accommodate the students.
“A roofed basketball court is in the offing, with construction work expected to commence next year.”
Later, Wong pledged a contribution of RM100,000 for the construction of the school’s hostel block.