SMJK Sam Tet

Infobox Malaysia School
name = SMJK Sam Tet
三德国民型中学
(Sāndé Guómínxíng Zhōngxué)


motto = 忠誠勤樸
established = September 1, 1934
type = National School
principal =Phang Yoon Ming
city = Ipoh, Perak
country = Malaysia
school code = AEB2053
enrollment = approx. 3000
homepage = [http://www.smjk.edu.my/school/index.php?schid=35 Link]

SMJK Sam Tet is a national-type boys' secondary school located in Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia. It is located side-by-side with its primary school, SRJK (C) Sam Tet. The founder of the school is Father Fourgs from the local St. Michael Catholic Church. The school has survived the many changes and hardships, including the Japanese Occupation, and appears to be one of the top schools in the Perak state. The school's Form 6 classes are available to both boys and girls, with former girls from SMJK Ave Maria Convent, Ipoh being the biggest population of girls.

The school has been recently nominated for School of Excellence in 2007.

History

chool planning

The history of SMJK Sam Tet is closely related to the progress of its primary school, SRJK Sam Tet, built in 1934. SMJK Sam Tet owes its existence to Father Fourgs from the local Catholic Church (St. Michael Church, Ipoh). Being displeased with the high percentage of illiteracy amongst the local populace, he organized a meeting with the parish community to discuss the issue at hand. The outcome of that meeting was a plan to construct a Chinese medium school for the predominantly Chinese community.

A committee was formed to collect donations and to look into other relevant matters pertaining to said plan. The people showed great interest and responded encouragingly to help in financial matters. Thus, an administrative board was appointed to register the school with the government. Father Fourgs was elected as the first school supervisor under the leadership of Mr. Wong Chin Sun as the headmaster.

Pre-WWII period

The first class started on September 1st 1934 with a total of 64 students in 2 classes. In the following year, with an increase in the number of students, the need for more educators increased in tandem. In view of this, the Board of Governors from the local Catholic Church decided to aid in the administration of the school by allocating funds annually.

At the end of the year 1935, Mr. Wong Chin Sun retired as the headmaster and was replaced by Mr. Phoong Tet Ching in 1936. In the same year, the school had a total of 160 students and 6 teachers sharing 4 classrooms. It was in this year, that Father Fourgs, the founder of the school, passed away. Father Francis took charge as the school’s new supervisor.

In 1940, SRJK Sam Tet decided to build an additional 6 classrooms but the grim grip of World War II on Malaysia forced the project to be put on-hold.

Post-WWII period

After the war ended in 1945, lessons resumed and the project took off the ground and saw its completion in 1947. The school underwent further expansion three years later with the help of a Catholic school in Singapore. Three Brothers were assigned to the school in 1950. A proper school building for SMJK Sam Tet was erected in 1951.

At the beginning of 1952, three Junior Middle I classes were started under the leadership of Brother Joseph Wong as the principal. An additional three classes started a year later and went into full operation. In 1954, Brother Joseph Wong was replaced by Brother Joche-Chanel Soon. It was also in this year that the first batch of Junior Middle III students graduated. A total of eight classes were in-service. In 1955, Brother Marcel was appointed principal of the school. Under his steady and diligent leadership, an additional 4 classrooms, a Science lab and a canteen were built. The school was upgraded to a National Type School in 1958 and the students sat for the L.C.E. examination. It was in this year that Brother Marcel left the school on a transfer.

SMJK Sam Tet continued to progress rapidly under the leadership of Brother John Moh who succeeded Brother Marcel in 1959. He organized several donation drives to extend the premises and purchase sports equipment. His effort paid off with the construction of a new 3-storey building. The school hall was erected in 1970 with the cost of RM200,000. Other facilities such as the library, the staff room and the administration office were included above the hall. The hall was officially opened by the Yang Mulia Raja Di Hilir Perak Darul Ridzuan on 5th June 1971. To celebrate this occasion, a Science, Education and handicraft fair was organized. A Talent Nite’ and a dinner were also part of the celebration.

1971 marked another memorable day – the official opening of the Form 6 classes with an enrolment of 37 students. Further additions were made to the school in 1973. A 3-storey Science block was constructed. The building was named after the late Mr Ng Song Teik, the brother of Dato’ Ng Song Choon. The ground floor of the building comprises the school canteen. The opening of this building was officiated by the Yang Berhormat Haji Mohamed bin Yaacob, Minister of Education, on 11th May 1974. In the year 1976, SMJK Sam Tet, celebrated her 25th anniversary with grandeur. The occasion was officiated by Mr Chan Siang Sun J.P., J.S.M., Deputy Minister of Education. There on, there was no turning back for SMJK Sam Tet as its student population increased steadily. All its land was exhausted and the facilities were inadequate to accommodate the increasing populace. To meet the growing demands, Brother John Moh, with the aid of the Administrative Board was able to purchase more land to erect yet another phase of buildings. This new phase was completed in 1985. In the year 1992, Brother John Moh retired after 34 years of service as Principal of the school. In honour of his services, the school hall was named after him. Upon his retirement at the end of 1992, Mr Yu Cheng Sun was assigned to take his office. The school continued to expand rapidly with a total of 66 classes, enrolment of 2,423 students and a 137 strong staff.

ymbols

chool emblem

The school emblem above was used effective 1961.

* The emblem is designed by the 4th headmaster of SMJK Sam Tet, Rev. Bro. John Moh.
* The S and T on top of the logo represents "Sam" and "Tet" respectively.
* The stars all around the emblem represents improvement.
* 三德 represents Trust, Hope and Love.

Name explanation

The Chinese name of Sam Tet is 三德, which literally means "Three Moral Values". The three moral values mentioned are:

* 信 (xìng) - Faith
*望 (wàng) - Hope
*爱 (ài) - Charity

chool flag

The colours of the school flag each represent a moral value as described in the name explanation section above.

Blue - Faith
Yellow - Hope
White - Charity

chool song

The school song was composed by Mr. Wong Ming Fah, and the song lyrics were done by Bro. Saw Fatt Lean. The song is fully in Chinese.

Lyrics:

伟哉三德 巍立锡城
堂堂校舍 朗朗书声
近打钟秀 恕我群英
唯信望爱 辅引前程
振兴教化 陶冶性情
阐扬学术 文质均衡
无荒无怠 精益求精
忠诚勤朴 校训是行
*repeat bold*

Achievements

Academical

The school climbed the pinnacle of success in 1987 when it achieved 100% passes in the STPM examinations. Out of the 13 students nation-wide who scored 5As, eight came from SMJK Sam Tet. The years 1991 and 1994, saw further success with 11 students scoring straight 5As in STPM. In 1996, 20 students achieved 5As and procured the school a national record. In the year 1998, 28 students scored 5As in STPM and SMJK Sam Tet entered the ‘Malaysian Book of Records’ for excellent academic achievement. The school celebrated her Golden Jubilee in 2002.

Celebrity Alumnis

Michael Wong (singer)
Rain Lam (dancer)
Nicholas Lam (comedian)

Main administration

Current school administration

These details are updated as of 30 August 2007.

*Principal / Headmaster: Mr Phang Yoon Ming
*Deputy Principal / Senior Assistant: Mr Hee Park Chee
*Deputy Principal / Senior Assistant of Student Affairs: Mdm Tsia Wai Kit
*Deputy Principal / Senior Assistant of Co-curricular Activities: Mr Wong Chin Choy

Former headmasters

The following people mentioned below are former headmasters of SMJK Sam Tet (in chronological order):

*Rev. Bro. Joseph Wong (1952-1954)
*Rev. Bro. Joche-Chanel Soon (1954-1955)
*Rev. Bro. Marcel Chong (1955-1959)
*Rev. Bro. John Moh (1959-1992)
*Mr. Yu Cheng Sun (1992-1998)
*Mr. Tor Siang Kang (1998-1999)
*Mr. Toh Ah Huat (1999-2001)
*Mr. Loh Ghee Juan (2001-2005)

References

* SMJK Sam Tet school prospectus

External links

* [http://www.smjk.edu.my/school/index.php?schid=35 School Portal offered by SMJK.edu.my]
* [http://pksamtet.schoolnet.com.my Online school management system of SMJK Sam Tet]