School Assembly

Ok .........let's begin this blog with a ......Once upon a time , there was a school in my neighborhood . It was made of bricks ..........( hehehe........very hard for sly fox to huff and puff and blow the school down .....story of the three little pigs ) and was about 4 kilometers from my house .


It was in 1968 , the year I entered this school and it was here I was introduced to the term " school assembly " . I can't remember if it was held daily but the activity existed . All the pupils of the school were assembled in the school compound . Class by class , with all the pupils standing in a row .....preferably with the shortest in front and the tallest at the back . I don't know why , but the boys tend to stand at the back .


I liked to stand in the front ....if I could but I can't as there were two other shorter girls and of course I had to make way for them . Another reason was because I wanted to stand in the shadow of the school building and avoid the hot sun rays shining in my eyes . Can you imagine , about 100 - 150 pupils standing in the hot morning sun while the headmaster ( a term we used then ) and the other 6 to 7 teachers standing in the shed ? Come to think of it , the school administrators should have stood in the hot sun as well ........at least they felt and understood how uncomfortable it was to be there and shortened the duration of the assembly . Of course , they would not do so .......they had gone thru the same thing too ....and said .......good for you .....extra vitamin D ....and perhaps in a little corner of their minds .....its payback time , served you right .......for being naughty !!! I'm glad all of us had a pretty thick skull and thick black hair .........to cover our brains from being cooked and fried dry !!


The assembly began with all of us singing the " Negara Ku " then followed with Sarawak's state anthem . Everybody had to stand at attention while singing these songs .......why ? To show our respect to our country . As well as to instill the love and patriotic feelings towards our country . Of course yours truly really , really stood at attention , hands at her sides , shoulders back and did not move !! She would sing in her loudest voice as she loved to sing ...early in the morning as she felt energetic and its a way to allow her croaky voice to wake up . She opened her mouth and jaw wide ........to exercise those muscles . Hehehe......all those singing had done me good . When I talked the words are audible and clear .


I wondered how many of us remembered the state anthem . Here's the lyrics ......hum and sing if

you could .

FAIR LAND SARAWAK


Fair land Sarawak we will never cease to honour thee
And with our Loyal Sons defend your Liberty
From your high forst hills down to the open sea
May freedome ever reign, men live in unity
Proudly our flag flies high above our Country strong and free
Long may our people live in peace and Harmony.

I found out that the lyrics was written by F.C. Ogden and the music revised and arranged by GRK Freeth.

I could be wrong , but our flag at that time was like this :













Then sometimes in 1972 or 1973 , the Sarawak flag was changed to look like this :















And the Sarawak state anthem was like this :


Sarawak Bahagia


Sarawak negeriku berdaulat merdeka
Rakyatnya hidup teguh bersatu padu
Semua berazam terus berkhidmat pada negara
Sentiasa maju pertiwi
Bahagialah tanahairku
Sarawak negeri yang ku cinta ku puja
Untuk mu ku rela korban jiwa raga
Abadikan Sarawak ya Tuhan dalam Malaysia


Then it changed and transformed to look like this again .......and till now it looks like this .

Our state anthem goes like this now :

Sarawak tanah airku
Negeriku tanah air ku Sarawak
Engkau lah tanah pusakaku
Tanah tumpah darahku
Ibu Pertiwiku…

Rakyat hidup mesra dan bahagia
Damai muhibah sentiasa
Bersatu Berusaha Berbakti
Untuk Sarawak ku cintai

Sarawak dalam Malaysia
Aman Makmur rahmat Tuhan Maha Esa
Kekallah Sarawak bertuah
Teras perjuangan rakyat
Berjaya berdaulat

Peace to you , Sarawak . Come what may ..........I love you and will always do !