History Lesson - 3
“SES Kluang forever, towards the left (or was it right) we swerve…” part of the lyrics of the school anthem that we used to sing in unison at every Sunday morning assembly, under the conductorship of Mr Anthony, and when he passed away at the age of 32, the baton was handed over to the unsmiling Mr Selvaraj.
While surfing the internet looking for the remaining part of the anthem, I stumbled upon a site displaying the front cover of Kluang High School magazine from the 90s, which prompted me to scan and upload the same, albeit from another era. Why only three? I suppose, at that time, I did not have the budget to buy the rest…5 dollars (it wasn’t Ringgit yet) was a hell of a lot then.
1960…Secondary and Primary school shared the same magazine.
As with the 1961 issue.
In 1963, Kluang Primary English School, which was located behind the secondary school main building, had moved out to another location and rightly, decided to have its own magazine. That separation prompted our editors to relate a brief history of GES/SES Kluang.
Events at the school that evoked memories which the present generation may not be aware of:
1948 - 80 boys and girls from the Malay schools admitted to Special Malay Class (SMC)…beginning of the ‘tongkat’ syndrome?
1961 - Form 1 in Malay medium was started…beginning of the end for English medium school.
1977 - Last intake for English medium Remove class…final nail in the coffin & death knell for English language.
2010 @ 33 years later - the education policy has backfired…the number of Malays capable of communicating effectively, not only in English but also in Malay, are dwindling by the day. Today, English is in deep coma, and the Malay language…aaaaahhh ”hidup segan mati tak mau”.
The experiment goes on and on, and a bunch of creatures called Malaysians become the guinea pigs.
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