September 19, 2010

Disappearing Miri : St.John's Wood and St. Columba's Parish Church

 St. Columba's Primary and Secondary Schools were founded by the Anglican church about 50 years ago.

At first the English medium schools were opened for local Christians and government servants' children.Those who were not believers shied away and sent their children to Chinese medium schools.

I cannot agree more with a friend who said that we should be grateful that good teachers continue to be friends with their students and to support them until their dying days. As a mother I like meeting up with teachers who have been sincere and considerate. You know who the bad ones are. They avoid meeting your eye and have nothing good to say about anything or any one.

Our society needs good teachers who would keep the torch going and light up the world. They are the salt and the light of this world.

And so along this road which was once called St. John's Wood ran many children who were blessed by the presence of wonderful teachers who made education their vocation and helped lift  souls up to a higher level.






Besides  when we first moved to Miri this road was one of the really lovely and wooded roads in Miri. It was really very pleasant to walk along the road actually in the evenings. St. John's Wood in London is of course a very well known place (the Beatles' famous Abbey Road Studios is in St. John's Wood of London). And in fact we were told that St. John's Wood Miri was part of the land next to the Maritime Office which is situated a little further down Jalan Kubu. (Jalan Kubu however was never renamed.)

So parents who love the trees and the greenery would not mind spending long hours waiting for their children to come out from their Primary School. And I remember too that Miss Chan (one of the Principals of the Secondary School) said that schools  should be pleasant where teachers love their pupils and supporting staff should have hearts of gold. If those in the education do not love those who need education then what is the purpose of having a school? I would always remember Miss Chan telling me this when I went to see her to have a form signed. Many parents find it daunting when they have to ask favours from school principals.

More than 15 years have passed since and my children are all in their 20's. How time has passed and buildings are always being pulled down for new ones to go up. Disappearing Miri!!










6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Teacher
Thanks for writing about this one. Many people have forgotten or didn't know about this. My mum used to talk about it now it is gone we miss it. she passed on too a few years ago. Now visiting the church area and places I used to play I feel sad ..may be a bit like you.

Ensurai said...

Thanks for dropping by...I am sure good memories are always healthy to have....and May you be blessed always. Cheers.

Nur68 said...

I was a student in St Columba's Primary and Secondary School from 1980 till 1985. Though residing in Kuching now, Miri hold a very special place in my heart and I always get nostalgic about it.

Ensurai said...

Hi Nur68..nice of you to visit my blog..I came to Miri after you left and could have taught you at Kolej TDTHB if you had stayed on!!

Miri has a lot of nice people too.

Cheers.

Mark Liao said...

Hi..I was a student of St. Columba Primary and Secondary school. 1977-1982 & 1983 - 1987. In fact i stayed at St.John Wood road near the primary school. My dad works in JKR and we stayed there til 1986. Our house was just next to the Primary School. I remember there was palm trees along the road back then. I used to walk to school and the beach is jut 10mins walk away. I was a little sad when i came back from KL ..to see the Government Quarters no longer there. I had many pleasant memories living there. Ms. Chan was my principal back than too. Thank you for the blog...it brings backs much memory for me. Thank you

Anonymous said...

I was born at St John's wood, my family live there until I was primary 3 when we move to piasau. I remember hearing the bell of St Columba Church every sunday but always losing to my sleepy eyes as I fall back to sleep. My brothers and sister always play around the area even until the graveyard at the kindergarten. There is a stream at the foot of the RTM hill and we would sometime play there. Behind the Pusat Belia at that time was a play ground with swings and seesaw. I remember one afternoon when I was 4 or 5 yrs old, I walk over to the playground to play with the swing until evening. Everybody was looking for me and later had an earful of scolding by my parent. At that time, there was no television, so at evening time we would go out looking for grasshoppers and what ever peek our interest. Sometime we get firefly and we would put it in a glass jar and would fall asleep while watching it blink. Fun memories from when i was staying at St john;s wood. Thanks for bringing back memories. BTW my mother was a teacher in st columbas primary school.

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