Bells continue to ring at St Columba’s Miri

THE history of St Columba’s Anglican Church dates back to 1923, when Miri was just a fledgling oil town then. At the time, the majority of Miri residents were foreigners, comprising the white Europeans as well as migrants from China and other Asiatic regions.

The locals were mostly the fishermen living in the Piasau peninsula (probably it was not even named as such back then) and along the coast of Bakam.

The foreigners involved in oil-drilling operations in Miri, which then was still under ‘The White Rajah’ Brooke’s administration, were Anglicans. With the help of then-Resident, RS Douglas, a church was built on land donated by the oil field company.

This was the description of the new church, extracted from the August 1932 issue of ‘Borneo Chronicle’, an Anglican Church bulletin: “It (St Columba’s Church) is an airy and light building, and is a distinct acquisition to the town; it was opened and first used for service on Sept 3rd 1922, when Mr Douglas officiated as a lay reader.”

Douglas, Resident of the Fourth Division of Sarawak during that Brooke era, was the first lay reader of the church, and continued to serve for a few years.

Church’s history

According to ‘A Brief History of Anglican Mission in Miri and Lutong’ write-up on the website of The Good Shepherd Church (anglicanlutong.wordpress.com), an Anglican church in Lutong, the founding of the Anglican mission in Miri Division could be traced back to 1910, when an oil company employed 60 Europeans to work in the oil fields following the oil discovery in Miri.

Not long after that, throngs of local labourers descended on Miri to help. By 1920, there were already 120 Europeans and 3,000 local labourers working in the oil industry, majority of whom were Anglicans.

In 1918, Bishop Logie Danson visited Miri and seeing the large number of Anglicans in the town, went out to identify a site for the building of a church.

He had also decided that it must be built in 1919. However, the church was only consecrated on March 18, 1923, with Bishop Noel Hudson officiating at the ceremony, accompanied by Reverent F.S. Hollis with 59 members of then-congregation.

In his book ‘The Anglican Church in Borneo 1848-1962’, Brian Taylor described St Columba’s Church as being ‘57 feet long and 41 feet broad, with 75 sitting capacity’.

It was designed by P M Otway, chief of the construction staff of the Sarawak Oilfields Company, who did all the work in his spare time.

The company had donated $5,000 to help in its construction and pledged $150 per month as stipend for the resident priest.

World War II

The church was closed during the early years of the Japanese Occupation, which began right after the Japanese forces’ landing on Miri on Dec 16, 1941. The priest, Reverend Lim Siong Teck, then held the mass at the garden house of one Michael Chu, attended by just a small group.

In 1942, the church was reopened for Sunday service, but in the later part of 1944, the Japanese army took over the building to serve as the storage for their military provisions.

When the Allied Forces came over in June 1945, the Japanese army went all out to burn down all their supplies, but the church withstood it all.

Unfortunately, Revd Lim never got to see that. He and fellow church staff members Chong En Fui and Joel Paul were arrested and imprisoned by the Japanese army, and executed together with a number of civilians a few days before the landing of the Allied forces in Miri – June 13, 1945 to be exact.

Nevertheless, the plight and sacrifices of these innocent souls are forever commemorated on the World War II Memorial, which stands between the old St Columba’s Church building and Gymkhana Club. Every year, on June 13, the church holds a memorial service dedicated to these individuals.

Post-war years

Indeed, the Japanese army had burned down many buildings in Miri just prior to the arrival of the Allied Forces. As stated earlier, St Columba’s Church building remained intact, but the same could not be said about its rectory and most parts of its school.

Fundraising activities were carried out, but this took years.

Still, the church continued on providing service to the local parishioners, being under many resident priests throughout the 1950s up to the 1960s, the early years that led to the formation of Malaysia.

St Columba’s Miri is indebted to these individuals, who had served faithfully the church and its congregation in Miri from the beginning up to the late 1970s.

• Rev F W Synott (1925)
• Rev B Mercer (1940)
• Rev Lim Siong Teck (1942-1945)
• Rev E A Peach (1949)
• Rev C J Alliston (1950)
• Rev F W Bowler (1952)
• Rev P H Clough (1955)
• Rev H Rogers (1956)
• Rev O J Holt (1961)
• Rev D R Capes (1966)
• Rev N Mai (1969)
• Rev A Chabu (1972)
• Rev Lee Khi Liak (1975)
• Rev A Perry (1976)
• Rev L Melling (1978)
• Rev D R Evans 1979

Establishment of school

In writing about St Columba’s Church’s history, it is also important to write about its school, which was established by then Revd Paul Chong En Siong in 1929.

Regarded then as among the earliest schools built in Northern Sarawak, it served to accommodate the increasing number of children that matched the incoming labour force.

The Sarawak Oil Fields Company donated the land for the school, with an old government’s quarters being used to house the classrooms and the office. The present school is still sited on this same land.

The school started with 13 students, with English as the medium of instruction. After Revd Paul Chong left, Yeo Cheng Ho became the new principal in 1934.

He was later succeeded by Lee Kui Choi in 1937. By then, the school had 107 students, seven teachers, and four new classrooms. The Brooke government started to support the school financially.

During the Japanese Occupation (1941-1945), the school was used as storage by the Imperial Army. When the Japanese retreated, they destroyed most of the school buildings, together with all the records and belongings.

On Sept 14, 1945, Major Pollett of the British Borneo Civil Affairs Unit agreed to reopen St Columba’s School. At the time, there were only two teachers, Liew Kit Siong and Molly Leong, and 41 students.

Liew was made the principal. On the first day, several English-medium classes reopened, with 39 students in the morning; the afternoon session was for the Chinese-medium class, with 21 students.

By the end of the first week, the number of students had increased to 79 and 39 students for the English and Chinese classes, respectively.

Adding to this, more than 200 students from Miri enrolled. This, however, resulted in the shortage of classrooms and teachers.

Serendipitously enough, it was during this time that additional financial support had come in the form of monthly support of 100 dollars provided by the Sarawak Oilfields Limited and 80 dollars from the British Military Administration.

Due to the increasing number of students, additional classes were carried out at the Miri Gymkhana Club (GCM) storeroom.

The list below shows the former principals who had served at St Columba’s School. The present head is Subah Nyareng, who was appointed in 2016.

• Canon Paul Chong En Siong (1929-1935)
• Yeo Cheng Ho (1935-1937)
• Lee Kui Choi (1937-1945)
• Liew Kit Siong (1945-1946)
• Yeo Siew Ngo (1946-1948)
• Lim Choo Tiong (1948-1949)
• Tan Ah Beng (1949-1950)
• Yeo Ah Choo (1950-1957)
• Perry Clough (Temporary)
• Yeo Ah Choo (1956-1957)
• Father Harold Rogers (1958-1959)
• Father Peter Joliffe (1959-1961)
• Father Brian Taylor (1962-1965)
• Nigel Heyward (1965-1969)
• Leonie Armour (1970-1980)
• Chan Siew Ngo (1981-1996)
• Raymond Gai Panting @ Gaie (1997-2000)
• Richard Wong King Kui (2001-2009)
• Robinette Tiong Ai Giek (2009-January 2015)
• Meechang Tuie (2015-2016)

St Columba’s Kindergarten was opened in June 1962, with 34 children – each imposed a monthly fee of $2. However in April 1963, the kindergarten had to close down due to insufficient funding.

In 1967, it was reopened, and the fee was raised to $10 a month. The first two teachers were Miss Susie Sia and Miss Agnesia Senaun.

In 1968, the old house of worship was turned into a kindergarten following the completion of a new building for the church, which was dedicated on June 2 that year.

By 1979, it was housing more than 120 children.

The third church was completed in 2000, to accommodate a larger congregation.

After that, a new three-storey building was completed in 2022.

Centennial celebration

According to the young vicar-in-charge Revd Rodriguez Unak, the church will hold its ‘Centennial Celebration Dinner’ at Mega Hotel in Miri this June 24, with the ‘Centennial Sunday’ to be carried out on June 25, set to commence at 8am.

On June 26, a special event ‘St Columba’s School Patronal Day’ will take place at the school with the ceremony set to start at 7am.

“The history of St Columba’s Church in Miri reflects the history of Sarawak, Miri in particular.

“It was founded during the era of the Sarawak Oilfields, which marked the beginning of Miri as a town. Then came the disastrous Second World War, which almost destroyed and flattened Miri.

“After that, almost 20 years of British colonial rule.

“Miri has moved from being an oil town to a major city, and for St Columba’s Church, it began as an English-speaking Anglican church to a multi-lingual one, serving people of diverse cultures.

“In the last 100 years, by the Grace of God the church has slowly evolved, thanks to the support from various governments and also the local believers who have dug deep into their pockets to help in the fundraising,” said Father Rodriguez.

“A church can be said to be the cornerstone of a community,” said former church head boy Luke Chong Voon.

“And this church, and its school, definitely have the most challenging history and record.

“There have been many changes, but basically the church, the land and the school are still there. People must remember the pioneers’ sacrifices.”

Retired Bishop the Rt Revd Solomon Cheong remarked: “This centennial celebration offers a time to reflect on and honour the church’s story – one that extends beyond the name appearing on the building.

“It is hoped that in paying attention to what transpired in those 100 years, one can feel the hand of God at work and also emulate those faithful members in their struggles and endeavours.

“Much sweat, tears, and even blood have been shed. Their faith and obedience to God made what St Columba’s Church is today.

“I strongly urge the present members, both local and abroad, to carry on the good work started by our founding fathers.”