"Iron Ladies" of SK Ulu Lubai

LIMBANG: One cannot help but feel awe and deep admiration for the six female teachers stationed at SK Ulu Lubai – Nor Liana Abdul Rahman, Nur Hafifah Johari, Stephanie Lim Leng, Mawas Seli, Penolong Kanan 1 Rita Rinai Maripa and Penolong Kanan Hal Ehwal Murid Marlina Zaini.

What these ‘iron ladies’ accomplish everyday would put many of us to shame.

And yet, all six are refreshingly down-to-earth about what they do and spoke very frankly with the BAT team about the many challenges of working in this rural school which was recently announced as one of the nation’s ‘top performing schools’.

Being a teacher is no easy task by any means, but the responsibility of imparting knowledge to students becomes that much more difficult and complicated in a rural school setting, where resources are limited and life can be difficult for those used to the comforts of home and the conveniences of modern living surrounded by family and loved ones. SK Ulu Lubai is the first posting for all six women.

Rita has been here the longest with 10 years under her belt while Stephanie is the most junior, having joined the school in January this year.

“We have to be flexible and just tackle every job that comes our way,” said Mawas who joined the school in August last year.

“We must have a positive attitude towards learning and trying out new things.”

All six teachers – who are also single – admit to experiencing culture shock when they arrived at the school, regardless of which state or hometown they originally came from.

Ipoh-born Nor Liana who has taught at the school for just over two years said that they had to learn very quickly to deal with the limitations of their environment as a matter of fact, whether it’s getting out to push the boat through low water or celebrating someone’s birthday with ‘ulam’ (raw salad) instead of a birthday cake.

“We have to let go of certain things and learn to live with less. It has been a humbling experience for me,” she said.

She added, “We are lucky to have very good relationships with our seniors. They are very friendly and willing to share their experiences and knowledge [with the junior teachers].”

The challenges they face have only brought them closer as colleagues and friends.

It is obvious that they share a close rapport with each other as they joke about their experiences at the school.

Without hesitation, they unanimously agreed that this strong bond as well as the support and encouragement of the school’s headmaster Jaul Bunyau has helped them to adapt to life here and focus on their responsibilities as teachers.

Said Marlina, “It feels like family here.”

Source: The Borneo Post

SMK Balai Ringin and SMK Sungai Tapang emerged as champions in public speaking contest

(Kimberly Kho receives her champion trophy from Mr Carter Ballang, the principal of SMK Tebakang)

Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Tebakang, Serian had successfully organised the 26th Samarahan inter-school public speaking competition. Nine schools from Samarahan division participated in the competition which was opened to the lower and upper secondary students. The principal of SMK Tebakang in his closing note stated that “In the UK and US, some schools set up a speakers’ corner to encourage their students to speak freely and a few of them are now speakers of the parliaments. Our students today struggle to learn English whereas during his time, they struggled to learn Bahasa Malaysia”. One of the participants, Chung Ming Hong from SMK Sadong Hilir, thinks that the impromptu speech was the most challenging task because it challenged his ability to think quickly and speak spontaneously. He hoped to participate in such an event again by next year. For the lower form, Anatasia Lynne Bong from SMK Balai Ringin merged as the champion meanwhile for the upper form, it was Kimberley Kho from SMK Sungai Tapang who merged as the champion.

SMK Sacred Heart wins in Solar Boat, Solar Car

SIBU: SMK Sacred Heart emerged champion in both the Solar Boat and Solar Car categories of design competition organised by SMK Chung Hua as an activity of the Sibu divisional level Science and Technology Education Carnival yesterday.

The Solar boat team of SMK team of Sacred Heart was made up of Mark Tiang, Arrish Nyaman and Jeffrey Ting.

"Our winning design is called "Solar Challenger" because the idea of our Solar boat design come from the aerodynamic physic concept".

"Apart from that, it is futuristic areodynamic design speaks for itself about its supersonic speed. It is actually more than just a design by itself as it resembles our team spirit and the idea that we have squeezed in to get this awesome work of art", said Mark.

Source: The Borneo Post.

Lodge International emerges Swinburne S'wak World School debate champion

(Happy Moment: Front row from left; lo, Chew and Ritchie happily hold their trophies)

KUCHING: The debating team of Lodge International School here have emerged as the champions of the senior category of the fifth Swinburne Sarawak World Schools Debating Championship. They defeated SMK Green Road's Team A in the finals of the championship held yesterday at the Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus here.

Lodge International School's lead debater, Rebekah Dawn Ba'o Ritchie, also grabbed herself two awards, namely the overall bast senior debater and the best debater in the senior final. Her other teammates were Kimberly Lo and Serena Chew.

In the junior category, the championship went to SM Lodge's Team D while SMK Green Road's team C were the runner up. Best debater in the junior final was Aaron Ling from SM Lodge.

Source: The Borneo Post