S.K. Selama celebrated its Golden Jubilee or 50th Anniversary in October, 2004 in a grand scale. It had also won the Excellent School Award at the district level for a few times and at the state level too. Last year, it won the national award for the Excellent School For Rural Primary Schools as you can see in the photo on the first page of this blog.
Hopefully, the school will be able to maintain its excellence and bring back the glory of yesteryears too . Having been nominated for the Cluster School Award for the rural school category by the district education office, it is quite challenging for the whole administration and everyone involved. However, what is important at the end of the day is our core business, that is the pupils who will gain in terms of a wholistic education. Another being the teachers and staff will always be happy coming to school to work and are always healthy and not overstressed.
For more than 50 years this school had produced thousands of pupils who are now spread out all over the world living their own lives. Many of whom are very successful in their careers and professions and S.K. Selama is proud that it is part of their successful stories.
When these ex-pupils are relaxing, they could spare some thoughts for their alma mater. I am sure it is nostalgic to be able to return to this school one day and recall the happy school days they spent here long ago. Of course, years ago, the school looked different then. In fact, photos showed the school in poor condition and the wooden main block looked like a 'cowboy salon' . Pictures of the school then will be pasted in this blog soon and they will surely be a favourite among our ex pupils.
As years passed , S.K. Selama had been slowly transformed into how it looks today. Even now development of its infrastructure has not stopped. On the field, a new block of a four-storeyed building is going to be built. It would be noisy as piling work begins. However, parents, teachers and pupils have waited a long time for this development and they would not mind bearing the noise and discomfort. A little sacrifice won't matter as long as the building is up and end the double session. Studying in the hot afternoons is definately uncondusive.
S.K. Selama had excelled in the field of academic and co-curricular activities. Indeed this success would not have been achieved without the full-cooperation among parents, guardians, teachers, staff and the pupils themselves. Having taught here for 26 years , it is enough for me to proudly say that the school had managed to produce thousands of pupils. A good foundation in English had helped in a way to bring success in their life. So did they excel in Maths, Science , Bahasa Malaysia and other subjects.
Years ago, when S.K. Selama was known as the National Type Government School and when English was used as the medium of instruction, its pupils could speak and write better in English. Even pupils from the 'kampung' as far as Sg. Dendang , Sg Siputeh, Sg Bayor, Ldg Malaya, miles away would come to study here because it was the only English medium school in the Selama district. Many of whom are holding high posts in the government and private sector today.
In public exams like the Year 5 Assessment Test and UPSR or Year 6 Assessment, S.K. Selama still fair excellently beating even town schools in the Larut, Matang and Selama district and has won a placing among the top ten schools. Its position in the Perak state UPSR result analisis recently showed the school placed around the 70th position among 876 primary schools in the state.
All these years our ex pupils have done us proud and hopefully their younger brothers and sisters will follow in their footsteps in producing excellent results not only academically but also in co-curricular activities such as sports,uniformed units and academic supporting activities. We will not be left out in competitions such as choral speaking, story telling, action songs, the RHB-NST Spell-It-Right Challenge and others . Pupils in the past and present have always tried their best and won in the Islamic activities, Malay story-telling and others too. We believe in giving the pupils here opportunities to experience and stand tall among others when they compete with them in these competitions. They are trained to be sporting ,do their very best and present confidently in front of a crowd outside the school.
Don't be surprise, we even have a bowling star. Before it was her brother, Farhan but now 11-year old Nur Fadhlin Arisya bt Ariff has done us proud as the state bowling champ. Now, our darling Fadhlin is preparing for the national level in a centralised training session in Ipoh. Well, this year, even our 12-yr old Abu Ayub is representing Perak at the national level football under 12 competition in Kelantan. We have produced national stars too before. If you all could remember, our nasyid team once won the National Nasyid competition in 1994. If only all its members could return for a reunion , how nice it would be! We must remember our Ustazah Noraini who had passed away .
We have to pay tribute to our longest serving headmaster of 25 years, Mr Anthony Kanikasamy who too had passed away. He was a disciplinarian and had contributed a lot to the education of the pupils then. Another dear headmaster who had passed away was Tn Hj Azahari. Mr Letchumanan and En. Shamsudin Shaari had left the world but are still remembered. Today, we are able to keep in touch with two of our headmasters, Tn Hj Ahmad Isa and Tn Hj Ahmad Yahaya .
Our present headmistress, Pn Hjh Jamaiyah bt Hj Zakaria is doing a good job by continuing to lead the school to further success.
Throughout the years, teachers come and go but they are fondly remembered by their pupils. The school would like to thank them all for having contributed to the success of the school.
On top of all the achievements, we hope to develop pupils here who will grow into useful adults one day possessing good characters as well. Proper character building will help produce excellent pupils and a truly successful person.
Calling all ex -pupils back to the school this June, 13 at 3.00 p.m. is an effort to realise our dream to see the full functioning of the Alumni Committee. With the establishment of the Alumni, it will indeed be an excellent platform to gather all the ex pupils of S.K. Selama back to school or at least be connected to their alma mater again. We are trying to create a networking among the ex pupils wherever they are.
Thanks to the advancement of ICT that we can enjoy surfing the internet, the world of blogging, portals, websites and S.K. Selama now has its own official portal, http://www.skselama.net/. In fact, this blog is linked to it. Some ex pupils accidentally discovered the portal and were excited about it. Many have sent messages and joined the portal too. The alumni form is easily downloaded, filled and sent back to the administrator by email or post. Hopefully, more ex pupils will be able to get in touch with their alma mater. We also welcome all ex teachers to join in our forum and keep in touch with the school. At any time , ex teachers and pupils may visit the school by simply contacting the school authorities.
Well, as an ex-pupil , one should have that special nostalgic feeling and be able to return proudly to this primary school which had played an important role in one's childhood days. It is not much to return to the school for the benefits of the younger generation. One can contribute in all kinds including cash of course, but besides that, it may be in the form of sharing of expertise and training to name a few. Perhaps, ex pupils themselves are able to conduct motivation camps, run football clinics, organise seminars or workshops both for parents and pupils. When it comes to 'gotong-royong' or writing articles , ex pupils can chip in to help. Reunions can be held regularly and trips can be organised to visit beautiful Malaysia or other countries. Carnivals and lots of activities can be planned together and ex pupils far or near can get involved.
The Alumni and the Parent Teacher Association can work hand in hand to contribute to the success of this school and its pupils. Through this effort, we will be able to contribute to nation building. It is a dream to build the nation and society together and its fruits we plant will be enjoyed by all.
S.K. Selama, you are great! The spirit of 'System Is Power', its motto proudly lives on in the hearts of all who love the school.
Written by Oon Lay Wah
who started teaching in this school in 1983
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