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Benchmarking Visit to La Salle, Tanjung Aru






My schoolteachers and I went on a benchmarking visit to La Salle Secondary School in Tanjung Aru today. And it was great.

Since I left in 1999, it has changed almost beyond all recognition. The basic buildings are still there but...

The principal's parking spot has been replaced by a corridor of benches and noticeboards of information. Looks so good...and I could've spent hours just reading all the info about the school displayed there.

The old teachers' resource centre has been transformed into a 'bilik gerakan' (activity/meeting room).

The documentation room was full of faux leather-bound volumes. One of the teachers who walked into the room blurted out,"Wow, theses!" I was very quick to power up my camera and begin clicking.

There is an impressive-looking Wall of Fame along the fencing where the Junior Block hostel used to be. Shiny big stars..:)

The computer lab no longer looks like a science lab being used as a computer room. Sexy flat panel LCDs and minimalist decor ...ha ha ha. I particularly liked the partitioned server room.

The old wooden buildings that were wings of the main admin block in the Junior Campus (yep, they call it a CAMPUS now!) are gone. Replaced by concrete buildings with lots of space. I was struck dumb by the student activity hall. I asked Mariana if she could think of any other school that had TWO halls. Well, not in Kota Kinabalu, that's for sure. And I'm not talking about a great hall plus a dinky open space carved out in some corner of the school. Wanted to drool but that would've been unseemly.

The small open space (with skylight) outside Jr Block staffroom (didn't check to see whether it was STILL Jr Campus staffroom) no longer had rows of portraits...but was hung with banners.

The archive display room was where the treasures were. All those pictures and old trophies... Wan Suryani grabbed my arm and dragged me over to a wall of photos. "Look at us!" she proclaimed.

Oh yeah...look at us. All those staff photos... I don't know where I put MY copies of the pics but there they were blown up and displayed for posterity. There was my 24-yr-old self...and my 26-yr-old self... they probably had pics of me doing the chicken dance somewhere...:) No lah...I only ever did the chicken dance in university.

Nostalgia...;)

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Anonymous said…
yes u did do chicken dance b4...

luke
K3,class of '97
1:48 pm
RoslynCT said…
When when when???? In class?? Even if I did do it, only possible in your class - Year of the Monkey kids!
2:57 pm
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