Lim Yee Ko

Mr Lim Yee Ko was the first headmaster of the government-run primary school, the Methodist English School, which used English as it's medium of instruction.

As students of the primary school progressed through the education system, Mr Lim saw the need for a secondary school. He lobbied the government of the day and thus was the founding headmaster of the new secondary school.

Together with some friends, he was also instrumental in the escape of several British soldiers who were trapped behind Japanese lines during the Second World War. One of these British soldiers, Bill Ball, went on to fight with the Chindits behind Japanese lines in Burma.

Mr Lim comes from one of the pioneering families in Sungai Pelek. His grandfather, Lim Sun Dai, migrated from the Chinese city of Foochow, the capital of Fujian Province, around 1890, bringing along his family. His grandfather came from "the street of tailors" in Foochow city.

His grandfather and some friends arrived in the Sepang district around 1900 and cleared some land around the town of Sepang, at Batu Dua, for settlement. Together they also built the first church, the Chinese Methodist Church.

Mr Lim was born in Sungai Pelek in 1922. He recalls hearing the roar of tigers in his early childhood.

Mr Lim had an elder brother who died early, 6 younger brothers and a younger sister.

The Japanese occupation of, the then Malaya, was a difficult period for Mr Lim who had to give up his studies to look after his siblings as his father was incapable of supporting the family. He collected dried coconut meat, copra, to be squeezed for oil, which the family subsequently resold. It was a meagre existence.

He married a locally-born Sungai Pelek girl, Siew Sok Eng, who also came from another pioneering family, the Siews. The Siew family came from a village on the outskirts of Foochow city.

Mr Lim is now retired and lives a quiet life in Sungai Pelek.