Old Josephians reminisce school days at The Junk

February 20, 2016

Abdul Karim (seated second from right, second row) having a field day with his former classmates.

KUCHING: Assistant Minister for Housing, Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah and his former classmates at St Joseph’s Kuching reminisced their good school days at their reunion held at The Junk here recently.

Karim, who is Asajaya assemblyman, said they never failed to make the reunion annually.

“It is always a good feeling meeting former classmates and reminiscing our good old days in St Joseph’s secondary school in Kuching then. It is so nostalgic. I am happy to see fellow classmates doing well in their respective careers and I hope we can meet more often,” he said.

“Some of us have not met each other for almost 40 years, since we parted ways in 1977 (when we were in Form 5) or in 1979 (when we were in Form 6),” said Karim who is also Assistant Minister for Youth Development (Urban).

This time round, it was a special reunion for him and his classmates, because the current school principal Thomas Law showed them some of the physical developments that the school went through.

“It brought us down memory lane,” he said.

The reunion committee was chaired by Dr Dennis Kong, who is an eye specialist in one of the private hospitals in the city.

Alumni collect RM8,300 in memory of Brother Columba

February 17, 2016

Kong (fourth right) handing over the cheque to Lau while Abdul Karim (second left) and others look on.

KUCHING: Members of St Joseph’s Class of 1977 (Form 5) successfully raised a total of RM8,300 during their recent reunion gathering in memory of Brother Columba Gleeson.

The donation will be distributed to charitable bodies associated with the late Brother Columba, including La Salle Foundation and Miguel House as well as any organisation linked to SMB St Joseph.

Assistant Housing Minister Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, who is a former student of the school, said the money was raised from the auction of paintings of one of his classmates apart from other donation drives.

“This is the gesture in memory of Brother Columba who was our former principal,” said Abdul Karim, who is also Asajaya assemblyman.

“The school had produced many prominent figures including State Public Works director Zuraimi Sabki, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) vice-chancellor Datuk Prof Mohd Kadim Suaidi to name a few from Class of 1977,” he said after witnessing the handing over of the cheque to the school principal Thomas Lau by Dr Dennis Kong, an alumnus.

The alumni also recorded their condolence in memory of Brother Columba during the visit.

Meanwhile, Lau expressed his gratitude for the gesture by the alumni.