Just as we were

IN 1956, Miri saw the small beginning of a school using a Shell company quarters in an area near the present Mega Hotel. A  Shell rest house and a nurses’ quarters on the peninsula were used as hostels for the rural students.

It was not big news to the town, mainly dominated by the Chinese and Malay communities, who already had their own schools, the biggest being Chung Hua Middle School, and there were also two Mission schools.

The pioneer foreign, secular school started with 87 students and six teachers funded by the Colombo Plan and New Zealand government.

This is the story of the first 12 years of the school, based on the memories of some pioneer students.

A brief history

The students were collected from Limbang, Miri Division, and Bintulu. This little catalytic school was to change the fate of rural students like a fairytale. This pioneering school gathered momentum, due to the compassionate efforts of the then director of Education G Dickson, Robert Nicholl – Miri and Limbang education officer, first principal Rev Fr Rawlins, and then Shell managing director Capt DR Gribble, who purposefully executed the plans.

They believed that ‘No child should be left behind’ and as a response to the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1953, which includes that all children have the right to education.

In 1959, the school grounds were completed and it became known as Tanjong Lobang Secondary School because it was built on the cliff of Tanjung Lobang. It was officially declared open by the New Zealand High Commissioner Hutchen.

In 1963, the first Form 6 was added to the school. By 1969, there were only Forms 4, 5, and 6 classes, which changed its character and purpose. Thus the then Chief Minister of Sarawak Datuk Penghulu Tawi Sli officiated at the upgrading of the school name to Tanjong Lobang College.

In 1971 the school’s name was changed again to Kolej TDTH Bujang, naming it after the then ruling governor of Sarawak.

Remembering the Past Principals up to 1969

1.   Rev Father DR Rawlins (1957 to April 1958)

2.   AE Whiteman (May to  December 1958)

3.   EC Hicks (January to June 1961)

4.   CG Dearnley (June 1961 to December 1963)

5.   William Scott (acting for a few months)

6.   AD Ruthe (February 1962 to December 1963)

7.   HA Henderson (January 1964 to December 1965)

8.   Robert Nicholl (January 1966 to August 1969)

There were lots of legends built around the personalities of the principals. But the most famous legend is that of Robert Nicholl, who rode a horse every morning to wake his students up for a morning run. Many students can still imagine the clip-clop, clip-clop of the horse resounding on the gravel road of the school.

Lisa Tie remembers, “Mr Nicholl was kind when I asked for remission of fees and he halved the school fees for me, from $250 to $120 for the whole year – for food, lodging, and the fees. He and the other teachers made the school learning atmosphere good, so much so that as a struggling Maths student from Bintulu, I was encouraged by my classmates, who coached me during prep. I am forever grateful to them.”

Most boarders would remember their principals with great fondness because they lived in the school compound and often shared meals with them in the refectory.

 

Pioneer student from Sebauh, Bintulu

KY Ling, veteran lawyer of Miri, was in the second batch of Transition Class in the school in 1958. He and his seven Sebauh classmates lived in the dormitory across the Miri River. Every morning they used the ferry to go to school and they returned for lunch.

The whole boarding fee was $56 but Ling paid only $25 per month. Others were given more remission.

Out of 16 of the Sebauh Siong Boon Primary 6 class, eight were so good that they were selected to Tanjong Lobang. Out of these eight, seven went to university, with one graduating as a doctor.

Ling told thesundaypost that he and his friends waited more than 12 hours for the tide to rise so that they could board the cargo boat to sail to Miri. They slept on the deck. They all had their bedroll, with pillow and mat, ready for hostel life in school. The only plane available then was the Shell plane which was unaffordable. While he was in Transition class, Tan Sri Leo Moggie and Tan Sri Alfred Jabu were in Form 4.

 

From Limbang for Primary 5

Christopher Sawan Jiram started as a Primary 1 pupil at the Ulu Medamit Primary School, Limbang, a school the parents in the area helped to build.  Biji helmed the school and 12 little boys brought with them cooking pots for rice and soup that year.

In 1956, Sawan did two years’ syllabus in one year. When he was in Primary 4, in 1958, he was sent to Limbang to sit for a special test. There he met McCormick, who told him that he was going to “paradise”, a new school called Tanjong Lobang, if he passed the test. In December, Sawan’s father received the acceptance letter for Sawan to enter Tanjong Lobang School in 1959.

Sawan, according to the letter was to bring “a pillow, a mosquito net, a mat, a pair of canvas shoes”. His father did not know what canvas shoes were and a kind police man in Limbang suggested that they could be the Chinese kung fu velvet shoes.

His father thus bought a pair of black Chinese cloth shoes for him, one size bigger, so that he could grow into them.

He would always remember walking along the corridors of knowledge wearing a pair of outsized Chinese shoes, which made flapping and echoing sounds.

He grew up in the school, completing Form 6 in 1967.

From Long Lellang

In 1959, Toynbee, school group supervisor, felt sorry for the lonely Kelabit boy Agan Raja at Long Lama School, who threatened to walk home to Long Lellang from Long Lama (seven days or more). In response to this threat, Toynbee promised Agan that he would go to Long Lellang to find a suitable companion for him to cure his homesickness.

It was not difficult for Toynbee. He picked up (Freddie) Abun to study in Long Lama.

Abun was taken by boat on the Long Akah River, Long Lellang, past the treacherous Marigong Rapids and then to Long Lama.

As he joined the class four months late, in Primary 5, he burned his ‘midnight oil’ and came top of the class.

By the end of 1960, he knew that he would be going to Miri to study in Tanjong Lobang. That was his door to a bright future. He was in the first batch of Form 1 in TLS.

The Kelabit Pemancha told the writer, “I knew I had to study very hard. And I did. Now I am almost  80, I still burn my midnight oil.”

 

A day scholar’s memories

While most students were boarders from the rural regions of Sarawak, David Chin, a Mirian, wrote about how fortunate he was to be given a place in the boarding school in 1963. He almost missed the boat.

It was his sister, Rose Chin, who courageously took him to see the District Officer in Miri to arrange for him to study in Tanjong Lobang as a boarder. This was sort of like breaking the rules and regulations. All the other students came from remote parts of Sarawak and there were three day scholars from Miri in his class – Paul Lee, Hatta Solhi, and Lucas Chua.

With this lucky break, his sister was able to go and study in Australia as she had gained a Colombo Plan scholarship. And David Chin completed his Sixth Form.

He remembers his Kiwi teachers, Dewhurst and Wanty. Others were Cosby the matron, Lilian Loke (later Sargunam), George Ong, Lulu Ong, Philips, James Foh, Henderson taught GP and coached the students in rugby. The students learned to sing Maori songs and even performed the Hakka. T Sargunam was the chemistry teacher.

 

From Matu to Miri in 1968

Han Hipni, a retired police officer, from Kampung Semoreng, Matu in Mukah told of his first journey to Tanjong Lobang in 1968.

He had taken a small boat from his kampung to Mukah, and then by speedboat to Sibu, from where he took the ill-fated MV Pulau Kidjang to Kuching. And from Kuching, the tortuous sea journey was on the SS Kunak.

“It was difficult, but the education was so important to me that I had to bear everything, I returned home at the end of the year. I worked in construction sites during the holidays for pocket money. My teachers even helped me to look for work!”

From Pakan to Miri

Alexander Isut, from Pakan, went from Three Rivers’ School to Tanjong Lobang in 1968. He joined Han Hipni in Sarikei and they made their way to Kuching, where they had to wait for the Sarawak Steam ship, staying for free  at Batu Lintang Teacher’s college. He particularly remembered the food served in a tin bucket, with the server ringing a bell. However, he was lucky because a rich-looking woman was so seasick from the first day, that she gave him all the nice food in her basket. It was full of char siew, good vegetables, and cakes.

He remembers arriving early in the morning two days later, in high spirits. He was able to jump into the awaiting sampan, which was bobbing up and down on the water. In school, life was peaceful and they enjoyed guitar music and singing without any TV.

 

Formative years leading to retirement

Thus Tanjong Lobang school was home to so many ulu and town boys and girls during their formative years. Most of them remember their boarding life. The school indeed helped them become lifelong friends although most of them consider each other brothers and sisters. Those in Miri continue to come together often, to talk about old times.

A reunion will be held on Feb 29, at 6.30pm at Grand Palace.

Those who have signed up are looking forward to meeting friends, especially friends whom they have not met since leaving school about 60 years ago.

A pioneer student has a dream, “Our beloved school must gain back its original name, Tanjong Lobang School, to bear the name of the beautiful windswept cliff on which it is built, the first government school ever built in Sarawak in 1957.”

“Our school has prepared us to be global citizens of the highest calibre.”