St. Paul’s School started its first secondary class in 1958. We were the first batch of Form 1 students. We had a class of about 20 students 40% of whom were female students. Many of us came from Kung Ming School which had closed down its English Section for lack of students.
Many of the students at that time were
children of rubber small-holders staying in the rural areas around Beaufort. Students
coming from across the Padas River as far as Padas Valley (“Api Chai”), Boon
Wah, and the area around Mile 18 would walk for miles along the old railway track
and cross the ferry (where the present Power Station is) to come to school.
Those coming from Api Chai and Boon Wah would return home by train in the
afternoon, while those staying nearer (like myself) would have to walk home because
the train would only stop at Boon Wah and not nearer. The present
Beaufort-Sipitang-Weston road was not built yet, so there was no bridge. Those staying
in rural areas on this side of the river (such as Sumin, Limbawang, Klias Baru,
Jempangah) were more lucky. For those who could afford it, they would come to
school on bicycles. No public transport was available then.
The School’s first building was built on a
hill-lock near the present St. Paul’s Church. It was a single-storey T-shaped
building. It was a single-session school with both the primary and secondary
classes. When we first started Form I, we had to share the School Hall as our
class-room with another class separated by a 6-foot high movable wooden partition.
Learning was difficult because we could hear everything going on in the class
next door. We had to bear with this for quite a while until we moved up to the
newly-built secondary school block situated on a higher level behind the
teachers’ quarters. The School Hall was also used as a church for Sunday
worship. The weekly school assembly had to be held in the open air in front of
the school. The school had no canteen. During recess time, a hawker would come
up the hill to sell only some small packets of fried mee or fried mee hoon
together with some soft drinks to those who could afford. Many of us who could
not afford had nothing for recess.
Before the arrival of Fr. Tudball as the
principal of the School, Mr. Kok Hon Siong, Vincent Kok’s father, a Kent
College-trained teacher, was in charge of the school on a temporary basis. Fr.
Tudball, a Mandarin-speaking priest, was a strict disciplinarian. He tolerated no
nonsense and everyone was afraid of him. On the other hand, he was also a very kind-hearted
person. During the time he was the principal, he took in a number of young
students from poor rural families to stay with him in the principal’s house
just below the hill. He looked after them by providing them with free lodging
and food. Of course, he also instilled into them the good value in life as well
as strict discipline. Many of them grew up to become good citizens and leading
members in our community. It was during Fr. Tudball’s term as the principal
that the present school badge and the present school motto were introduced. Fr.
Tudball was also very much concerned about the future of his students. After I
completed Form 2, he encouraged me to come down to Jesselton (as KK was known
then) to continue my Form 3 and helped to enrol me in Government Secondary
School (as Sabah College was known then) as he saw better prospect for my
future in a bigger school. I am forever grateful to him for his foresight!
The first school captain was Soo Mei Fatt
from our class. He was a sprinter and excelled in many sports. He now runs the
Diamond Restaurant in Luyang. In those days, the students were well-behaved.
Fighting in school was unheard of. In the morning, when the form teacher came
into the class-room to take roll-call, every one would stand up at the call of
“Stand Up” by the class-monitor followed by the greeting of “Good Morning, Sir”
or “Good Morning, Madam”, as the case may be.
After school, we would take turns to sweep the classroom following the
duty-roster arranged by the class-monitor. There was no complaint as every one accepted
this as part and parcel of education.
In our secondary classes, we were taught
English (Composition & Grammar) History, Geography, Mathematics, Scripture,
Health Science, and Book-keeping. Apart from Fr, Tudball, we were also taught
by Mr. Chong Cheng Chong and Mr. Bowman. In those days, children started their
education at different ages. Therefore, it was common to have students of
different ages in the same class. The difference in age could be as much as 3
to 4 years! Many of the younger students were smarter than the elder ones. But,
there was no jealousy as everyone accepted this anomaly as part of our school-life
at that time.
We had no sporting facilities, not even a padang
or a basketball court. We had to go to the town padang for sports. The only
cemented open-air basketball court available was at Kung Ming School. There was
no annual school sports so there were no houses. The only time when sporting
events were held between schools in Beaufort was during Queen’s Birthday on 2nd
June and Liberation Day on 9th September when we had the opportunity
to compete with Kung Ming School and St. John’s School for sporting supremacy
in the district.
On the whole, we are grateful to St. Paul’s
School for providing us with a sound foundation to compete with the best in
Sabah despite the lack of facilities and lack of qualified teachers at the
initial stage. It was later proven that many of our alumni have excelled
themselves in their respective fields and made valuable contributions to the
society at large even though many of us had come from humble beginnings in a
small town like Beaufort!
Datuk Stephen Foo (1958-59)
Sabah State Attorney-General, 1986-1999; Justice of Peace
