Malaysia Boy's Town Bagus!

1. Visit to Malaysia, 4th May to 6th May.

Key Personnel from the School's School Executive Committee (SEC) visited Kuala Lumpur and Kluang, Johor (Mr Simen's hometown).

Led by Mr Simen, the team of Mr Adrian Leow; Mr Wu Tian Hwee, Ms Cassandra Foo, Ms Seah Bee Leng, Mr Lloyd Yeo and Mrs and Mrs Faizan visited several places.

a. Sekolah Wawasan, Subang Jaya

This is a school is on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur. It is a government school aimed at racial integration in line with the Malaysian vision set for 2020. There are 3 separate Malay, Chinese and Tamil schools which share the same premises. Guru Besar or Principal Kamaruzzaman Yahya was on hand to show us around the school and give us a warm presentation.

b. Montfort Boy's Town and Montfort Girls Centre at Shah Alam, Kuala Lumpur

Set up in 1959 by our very owen Bro. Elzear (Bertrand Roberge), an old teacher of Montfort Secondary, Boy's Town grew to serve the needs of the underprivileged. Operating like Boy's Town in Singapore, "He Ain't Heavy, He's my Brother" was the motto.

The humble hospitality displayed to us by the Brothers of St Gabriels, the staff and students there was most memorable and warm.

www.montfort.org.my - Montfort Boys Town in Shah Alam, KL.
www.boystown.org.sg - Boys Town in Singapore

There was a quote which struck many of us there, "Those whom the world rejects must move you the most".

Another was: "For the Youth, By the Youth, With the Youth"

c. Kluang, Johor

We visited Mr Simen's old primary school and secondary school. We also meet his brothers, sisters and mother who cooked a hearty meal to welcome us. We also attended Tamil mass in the church where he was raised.

We visited his old home, paid homage to Brother Mango and Brother coconut, scuttled along the railroad tracks behind the house, ran across to the Hindu Temple nearby and sat along the railway tracks 'shooting the breeze'.

Reliving his youth, Mr Simen also ran down a 25m steep slope, sprinted 100m like he was finishing a race yet unfinished.

The team arrived back at Singapore 2:30am, Monday morning.

Assembly Talk - 7 May 2007

Mr Simen spoke about his trip to Malaysia in brief and spoke about his sprint. He spoke about how discipline and focus were key elements to success.