Great Michaelian Teachers
“
All the Brothers’ schools owed a great
deal of their success to the long service
of their loyal lay teachers, but in the story of St.Michael’s
Institution this was a particularly marked characteristic.At one time all the
lay staff at St Michael’s were connected by marriage.This is how the family
spirit grew!
In illustrating briefly the careers of four of them we shall make a point
that was valid everywhere. All were Old
Boys’ of the Brothers’ schools.
Mr.Lip Seng Onn
Mr
Lip Seng Onn was in 1913 one of the very earliest pupils at St>Michael’s. He
joined the staff as a student teacher in 1920 and remained on the staff until
1956, in which year he died. He was a particularly dedicated teacher, and his
pupils used to gain excellent exam results in Geography. So outstanding were
they that the Cambridge examiners made an enquiry about how he achieved these
results.It appears that every Saturday he would take the boys out on a hike, up
the river, showing them the different geographical features to be found in
Ipoh. He would arrange for excursions, one of which was concerned with the
local tin-mining industry,He was also one of the first editors of “The Michaelian” , whose second,1949,
edition contained a series of excellent
articles on all aspects of this subject. He was a very strict teacher, but he
took care to look out for boys who were poor. One such boy, who had been unable
to gain entry to any other school in Ipoh in the late 1940s , was able to come
to St.Michael’s because Mr Lip prevailed on the Director to let him in. This
boy later became a millionaire, and he was very generous to his alma mater. (
This old boy – Tan Sri Dato’ Lee Loy Seng – remains to this day one the most
illustrious sons of St Michael’s – valiant and true.) – from Francis Brown
“LBMS”
Mr Tan Boon Kwee
Mr
Tan Boon Kwee also joined the staff in 1918, and he was on the staff until
1960.Both he and Mr Lip Seng Onn were generous in giving up a lot of their free
time to assisting the Director in collecting funds for building projects. He
acted as school clerk for nineteen years, because until the enrolment reached 500 in 1939 the school
did not quality for a clerk. He also
used to run the school bookshp. Then, in 1950, he became the Supervisor of the
Primary School.He started the Kindergarten in 1952, and supervised the new
school in Canning Garden during the first years of its existence. He had three
daughters and one son, all of whom went through the school either as teachers
or pupils. He became an affiliated Member of the Order of Christian Brothers. –
Mr Chye Kah Loke
Another
teacher of the same vintage was Mr Chye Kah Loke. He joined the staff in 1918,
taught and studied as all these student-teachers did, and passed his Final
Normal ClassExamination in 1920, when he was paid the usual bonus of $200 for
having done so. He was a gifted teacher with a flair for art and craft. He
taught in the Primary Department until 1954. After his retirement he was
re-employed and became the first headmaster of La Salle School,Kampar. He
remained until 1964. He was school Scoutmaster and Sports Secretary for many
years.- From Francis Brown, LBMS
Mr
Lim Guan Choe
“Mr
Lim Guan Choe joined the staff in 1928, and he taught at St.Michael’s
Institution for thirty years. As School
Librarian he did much to encourage the boys to use the facilities of the Library. He was
Headmaster of Primary School One for
fourteen years. For his public services
he was awarded two State decorations (AMN and PJK). He had a lifelong
association with the work of the St.John’s Ambulance. He retired from teaching
in 1971. He was an important figure in the English School Teachers’
Cooperative Society, which originally
consisted of teachers from
St>Michael’s Institution and the Anglo-Chinese School, Ipoh. This
society did very well because its pioneers were men of such integrity, and it
is still flourishing long after many another cooperative has fallen by the
wayside.
Mr
Lim Guan Choe came from Penang, where he was educated at St/.Xavier’s
Institution. His salutation to those who knew him well was “God bless you and
be happy”. ”- Francis Brown, LBMS
Mr Lim Kean Hooi
Mr Lim Kean Hooi
was the doyen of the Michaelian teaching
staff during his years on the staff. He made a strong impression on school life
especially in his mentoring spirit as a staff leader of great devotion and solicitude
for his fellow-teachers. As President of the Badminton Association of Perak, he
was instrumental in the promotion of badminton at SMI and was a key player in the grooming of Ng Boon Bee and Tan Yee Khan for their
future stature as Thomas Cup and All England Champions in badminton. Mr Lim
gave the best years of his life towards the development of SMI.His sons studied
at St Michael’s and have gone on to achieve great corporate fame for the
family,school and country.
· - from "Valiant & True" -the Michaelian Centennial Magazine
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