Monday, April 27, 2009

Kanowit revisited

The last time I came to Kanowit was in 2003 when I was invited as guest speaker in a parenting program jointly organised by Sarawak Foundation and Kanowit District Office. I spoke to about 300 parents from various villages in the district.

SK St Francis Xavier is listed for Program Memperkasa Sekolah Kebangsaan this year along with 82 other elementary schools in Sarawak. My first communication with Andrew Mail, the principal, about two months ago, was proven fruitful as my visit to the school today, 27 April 2009, is well received. Thanks to Tinggom, the assistant PPD who was kind enough to give me a lift from Sibu and return.

St. Francis Xavier is one of the oldest schools in Sarawak. Opened in 1883, it served as the main schooling system for the district and feeding two secondary schools in Kanowit town. Today it has a new building with almost 500 students with 35 teachers. I recognised a few faces around and one of them was the PK1, Tasiah Wen who was my college mate way back 1977 at STTC Sibu; Rosalind reminded our meeting at Berjaya Palace Kota Kinabalu 2007 during the National Seminar on Action Research.

I proudly share here that the principal, Andrew has just completed his Masters from OUM; one of the few Sarawak elementary school heads to have such qualification so far. Congratulation, Andrew and thanks for an excellent ride in the brand new Toyota-Innova.

After a briefing with the senior teachers, I was invited for lunch at a restaurant beneath Harbour View Inn. I was greeted by the co-owner of the Restaurant, Zainab Tambi who happened to remember and recognise me after I conducted a staff development program for SeDidik last year in Sibu. She served as Kanowit SeDidik Coordinator and opted for retirement recently. The lunch was her treat, terima kasih Zainab.
Having Lunch with Andrew and Tinggom