Goodbye St. Michael's.....

News Article from Borneo Bulletin

I am saddened to hear that my alma matter has finally succumbed to financial difficulties. This issue has been there for quite some time ever since I entered secondary. I had so many fond memories of the school. It used to be one of the most prestigious school in Brunei to study in. The boys of St. Michael's School winning academic and sport competitions over and over back in the 1980s and early 1990s. Those were the days when it was a very proud thing to say that I'm from St. Michael's. By the time I'm in Secondary 4, the student population has dropped so significantly that there were only about 25 students in my Sec 4 class - Arts & Science students combined. In addition to that, our school facililties have also deteriorated with lack of facilities. We had to borrow lab equipment from our sister school for normal practical sessions. At times, we had to "save" by having everyone watch the teacher perform the experiment and that's it. For the exams, we had to sit for it in our sister school as we did not have the necessary equipment.

It is quite strange that this all-boys school would suffer while the sister all-girls school is still flourishing. I suppose parents still prefer to send their daughters to all-girls school compared to their sons to an all-boys school. As the newspaper reported, some parents are clearly unhappy with the merger. I wonder if this merger would last or simply disappear after this current batch of students graduate. It makes me as an old boy (usual way of refering to SMS alumni), what should I be doing now? What can I do for the school or should I bother? It is a disturbing thought that I just acknowledge the school closure without feeling much sympathy. Perhaps, I'm just not sure what to feel at the moment.

I wonder what the other old boys think of this situation? Maybe they have no idea what is going on. I do know that alot of them are highly successful professionals in the US and UK. Before this newspaper report, I did not even know that Brunei has a high ranking Chinese 2nd Foreign Minister who is also an old boy. This makes me feel that I should do something to follow my fellow old boys in their glory ...... and more specifically for my own sake.

~ Veritas Vincit ~