ex-Highian

Assalamualaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh,

I am an ex-Highian. What does that mean? I was a student of SMK (or back then SMB) Kuching High, or in English - Kuching High School, class of 98. After leaving the school for uni and start my career and then continue my study, I have since then lost contact with many of my friends there. Kuching High is a venue for me to learn and grow up. Those buddies at the schools are like my siblings. We grow up together, from Transition year to Form 5 - good six years of my early adolescence were spent in one of the most prestigious secondary schools at my home town. It is at least the most prestigious one for non-bumiputra because there is no way that a school like mine will have endless resources and funding from the government to those boarding schools in the country yet we still stand out among the rest of the students in my state where one of my friends was awarded the best student of whole Sarawak in 1998. We are called 'Bantuan' because we are not subsidised by the government, only a few percent of the budget is supported by the government. The rest is from school fees and sponsorships. We are lucky that this secondary school is funded by the Sarawakian Teochew Association. It is not a racist school as there are several Indians, Malays and Ibans in the school though 90% of the students are chinese from all dialect groups. It is open to everyone but due to the dominant Chinese population in this area and inside the school inself, the Chinese is still the majority.

This school promises a sense of Chinese-ness and cultures but at the same time offers the same national curriculum and not demanding tuition fees as expensive as the private Chinese schools which follows the Chinese curriculum. This school also gives me the opportunity to learn, not just learning in the classroom and extra-curriculum but more than that. We have the freedom to do a lot of things in the school, based on our creativity and courage. Clubs and societies are mainly managed by students, the teachers only sit there watching. We designed T-shirts, printed, sold; we wrote letters to companies, organised trips, booked buses; we published magazine, talked to shops managers for sponsorships, distributed it; we decided the programme we wanted for a camping trip, where, how, budget, etc. We didn't trouble teacher for a lot of things. That's what makes the sense of belongingness at the school. That's what makes us tied to each other so close. Because we basically build the school together with the teachers and the management side. We always took the task to raise money for the school because the government did not give us enough as what they give to other malay-populated schools and boarding schools.

That makes us such a strong bunch. Beside championing the league table of the state, we also have lots of students who achieved exceptional performance in academic and non-academic, national and international competitions. It proves to be right when I just being re-connected with my long-lost friends!

Surprisingly, two days ago, I received an email from a friend (she is very dear to me but then moved to New Zealand) from my other facebook account which I named it using my Chinese name. Through her, I found the rest of my ex-Highians. When I thought that they must have forgotten me since we have not communicated for nearly 10 years, they actually have been trying to look for me, especially when they were getting married. Ah! I missed their weddings. Some tried to phone my old Malaysian mobile number. I honestly cannot believe what is happening now. I felt like finding back my long-lost family.

Throughout my years in UK, actually some of them have been here too! We missed each other. We are so close yet so far, I just can't believe this. Alhamdulillah, I still manage to find one who I will meet this Saturday, inshaALLAH. She live in London and I was there last Saturday. The tube station where I got off to meet my friends when I visited London was just 2 stations away from her! Qadrullah, truly I submit to ALLAH's will and destiny. How much this has proved the will and power of ALLAH. I just talked to an ex-Highian and that she will being moving to Taiwan soon after her wedding. That is for good and we don't know if we can meet each other again.

My life on this world isn't that long but enough to let me open and close different chapters of my life. I thought the secondary school chapter is close but suddenly, it is open again. I thank ALLAH for this and thank HIM more that my friends still can accept me even I am not the same name and same faith again. Alhamdulillah.

Wassalam.

School song:

We are students of Kuching High;
We are builders of Malaysia;
Glory to our Kuching High;
Glory to our country.

Be sound in knowledge, be kind in nature;
We are students of the school;
Be healthy in mind, be healthy in body;
We are citizens of Malaysia.

Glory to our Kuching High;
Glory to our country.