Thursday, December 15, 2005

ETB-500


Later, in 1981 I moved into a larger house. It was a detached three bedrooms, elevated double storey, wooden bungalow, No. 500, near Lutong Bridge. My neighbours were Bong Kueh Lian, Alistair Aing, and Tan Boon Chiew. John Liaw, Yee Kow Tuck, Lau Sam Lee, Edward Lingan and Jeffrey Pasang were living in similar SSS quarters close by. When I first got married I was staying in a Shell quarter in Miri. John Liaw was my neighbour just across the road. After I moved out from Shell quarters into my own house in Pujut, John was again living across the road in his own house! Apparently we were destined to be neighbours for life! John is now helping me look after my house in Pujut, maintaining the house and looking for tenants, mowed the lawn, collecting the rents etc. I am very grateful to him. I wonder whether he has made plans to come to NZ and become my neighbour once again in Hamilton?!

896B, Lutong
During the early 60’s, there were not enough secondary schools in Sarawak and it was decided by the government that all 12 year olds should stop going to school if they were unable to pass the selection tests at the end of primary six! It was in fact a life sentence! It made the difference between wealth and a life of poverty: a steady job as a clerk with the government or working privately as a carpenter, painter, taxi driver or hawker. Many of my Pujut neighbours seem to do alright in spite of not having attended secondary school at all. This situation soon changed. Form 3 became the minimum requirement to get a job, and then form 5. Soon, every one was doing form 6 and trying to go overseas to get a university degree. Then a university degree was not quite enough. You need an MBA and a Ph. D[1]


However, a few Chinese businessmen in Miri town disagreed with this government policy which seemed like a very unfair life sentence for many people. They got together to form a committee and built the Miri Secondary School near Gilbert Estate.[2] This school was started especially to cater for the unselected pupils so that they too can continue secondary school after failing the primary six selection test. The project leader was a recent immigrant from Hong Kong. His name was Lau Siew Wai, the same contractor who planned and built Piasau Gardens and later, Hilltop Gardens and many other larger housing projects around Miri.
Kevin
The first headmaster of the school was Yee Seng Ching (lawyer Yee) He had just finished form 6 in Kuching and was doing a self study course for a law degree. He later went to England to read law and was called to the bar at Lincoln’s Inn after just 18 months there! He was a prominent lawyer in Miri for many years until he emigrated to Canada. Lawyer Yee had two brothers working in BSP, Sen Ching and Chip Heng. They both did very well in their careers with Shell. They retired JG4 and emigrated with fat pensions from Brunei Shell to Canada. There was also a Dr. Yee in the family and also Arthur working in accounts dept and Kit Heng, the youngest son, who also joined Shell.

I remember meeting Kit Heng on the jack-up rig Chris Segar when we were doing a well test in Central Luconia gas fields. He came on board as a new graduate, G group trainee working with the gas testers and instrument technicians from EMD/6. I was a trainee driller on the rig and I showed him around the shale shakers and the BOP stack in the moon pool. We had some trouble with the new Vam threads on the 7 inch tubings and his first job was to use a torch light and a rag to check the threads and the metal seal on every single piece of tubing before they go down the hole. Fancy studying for a degree just to operate a torch light!
Churchill memorial


2 comments:

  1. Hello Mr Chin (David),

    I'm a teacher/tutor for IGCSE. As part of a class exercise on biography/career portfolio (English Language), I was doing some research on Dato' Lau Siew Wai and chanced on your blog. It's admirably comprehensive and detailed. Narrative histories are a wonderful way to lock in our personal views on our social lives and regional economic development and I think you've produced a marvelous inventory of your precious Miri memories. Kudos!

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  2. Thank you for reading my blog and giving it such a generous comment.

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