Organising chairman Thomas Tiong (right) presents a souvenir to Wong.
SIBU: Minister of Local Government and Community Development and Second Finance Minister Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh said after his retirement, he would volunteer himself for administrative work in education to promote University College of Technology Sarawak (UCTS).
He said this at the Chung Hua Middle School (Form 5, year 1981) reunion dinner at a hotel here Saturday night.
“After I left the school, I joined the banking sector and later politics. But I never forget the importance of education,” Wong, the school’s principal, said.
“I continued to work hard for the past 10 years to set up Sarawak Maritime Academy, United College and Laila Taib College.”
Wong said the Laila Taib College had 1,300 students who received a free education under the school’s scholarship scheme.
He said he helped set up UCTS last year, with a campus that all Sibu people should be proud of.
“This is the only university not just in Malaysia but also throughout the world, achieving an environmental friendly design,” he said, hoping that the campus would become a renowned university in future.
He said UCTS was striving for Platinum grade of Green Building Index (GBI).
He said solar panels on the building could generate electricity and recycle the use of water.
Being the chairman for Laila Taib College and UCTS, Wong said Sibu had become an educational hub with the presence of UCTS, Laila Taib College and Woodlands International School from London.
He hoped students from all over the world would come to Sibu for education.
The UCTS had its first intake in September last year.
Wong said the campus, which sits on a 100-acre land, had its phase 1 completed and phase 2 would begin soon followed by phase 3.
Meanwhile, during the reunion dinner attended by 90 schoolmates, Wong said schoolmates should get together more often to treasure the times together.
He suggested a reunion to be held at least once in two years.