The first 10 years of Sabah College
Published on: Sunday, October 15, 2017
WHEN our Form 5 Class of 1964 organised our 44th Year Class Reunion in 2014, I was shocked and pained to find out that most, if not all, of our school's important and historical documents, including the many photos taken during the first 10 years since the establishment of our school had been lost or destroyed. This was, I was made to understand, a result of the construction of the Sembulan-Donggongon By-Pass that cut across the school campus, which necessitated the abandonment of the school's existing grounds and the construction of a new school campus at the former Trade School site. Even though most of those historical documents and the many photos of those early years were carefully packed and kept in the new school building, most were later destroyed by floods.
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I was also taken aback to learn that there was nothing ever written about the school even though it is such an important historical educational institution, established in 1957 during the pre-independence of the State, not to mention that it was also the first Government Secondary School to be established in Sabah. Having undertaken my Form 1 to Form 5 secondary education in Sabah College from 1960 to 1964, besides having the very good fortune and privilege of staying in the school's Hostel for the whole duration of my time at Sabah College, I feel a deep sense of love and attachment for the school. As a hosteller, and I am sure every hosteller of our days will agree with me, we actually felt ourselves entering more fully into the corporate life of the school. An esprit de corps is always stronger among us, in that there is a very much stronger feeling of pride and a greater sense of connection with the school. Indeed, I was one of the 30-odd plus ex-Sabah Collegians, who one Saturday afternoon in 1973, met in one of the classrooms of Sabah College, to discuss the formation of an Ex-Sabah Collegian Association.
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Tan Sri Datu Khalil Datu Jamalul was elected as the Protem Chairman and I was appointed as the Protem Secretary, and was delegated by the meeting to draft the first Constitution of OSCA. Yes, I am proud to be a founding member of OSCA and a Life Member.
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It was therefore a combination of the above reasons which motivated me to embark on this challenging and exciting journey to try to gather as much historical and related information on the early years of my school and to try to find and get hold of as many treasured old photos relating to its early history as I could. I consider this attempt to preserve Sabah College's proud early historical record over the years as something of great personal importance to me, not to mention its historical significance too – our school's history should and must be remembered, documented, recorded and archived for the future generations. I said to myself that unless something is done, no one will know anything of our school's early history. Once our generation is gone, all the history and the contributions of the early pioneering teachers, staff and students towards the early growth and development of our beloved high school would be lost forever and forgotten. We need to do something about this. I need to do something. I am neither a writer nor a historian, but I am an ex-Sabah Collegian. And like all my ex-Sabah Collegians, I have always been very proud to call myself a "Sabah Collegian". Yes, I always remember and indeed have always been very proud of my school's motto, "Dare to Stand Alone." It was then that I decided in August/September of 2014 that I need to and must do something to put the record right… to dare to stand alone if need be to start this most challenging assignment…to write and document the first 10 golden years of my beloved high school.With this in mind, I started my research about our school and photos search at the same time. My ex-classmates and those ex-schoolmates I know were the first people I contacted. They took the initiative to contact their own ex-classmates and other ex-schoolmates they know. I was also given the contacts of many ex-Collegians, many of whom I did not even know. News spread fast. All of a sudden, I was in touch with ex-Collegians and even some of our teachers living all over the world: from New Zealand to Australia, Hong Kong to China, and the UK and across the Atlantic to the USA and Canada and even to South Africa, from the Kingdom of Lesotho, and of course from within Sabah and other parts of Malaysia, not to mention Singapore. To all of you who have offered your encouragement, support and whole-hearted response to my call for assistance – my ex-classmates, the ex-Sabah Collegians I know, those who know me, those I do not know, and those who do not know me – and I also know that many of you even walked those extra miles to assist, I would like to express my total gratitude, sincere appreciation and heartfelt thanks. What started as difficult and challenging in the beginning has turned out to be a tremendously satisfying, fulfilling and rewarding endeavour for me. I am indeed deeply indebted to all of you in taking the time and effort to help making it possible for me to complete and publish this book. It has taken me three long years, but I can with sincerity and deep humbleness acknowledge that without all your encouragement, support and help, this book would never have been completed, let alone published. There is a saying that goes, "A Picture Generates a Thousand Memories" when you walk down memory lane. They capture moments in time and now will last a life time. They all have one thing in common – history. Hence, in this book, I have intentionally included as many photos as I could, in the hope of capturing a warm and friendly connotation of positive and sweet reminiscence of our high school years, memories we cherish. In all, within its 230 pages, the book contained more than 500 plus photos, from the formal group photos of our teachers and classes, athletics and sports, and some of the various school societies and clubs; as well as the informal snapshots of some of the school and class sponsored activities, excursions, picnics, island trips and camping and many others. I hope that each and every photo will take us back in time, allow us to stroll down memory lane, and reconnect us with an integral part of our past. Time will fly, things will change but memories will always stay.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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