Adenan, accompanied by Ranum on his right, visits an exhibition booth displaying trophies and newspaper cuttings of the school’s achievements over the years.

Teacher Leila Nabizadeh who emerged champion in the Traditional Busana Competition for Female Teacher Category smiles after receiving her trophy from the chief minister.

LUNDU: SMK Lundu received RM500,000 grant from the state government during its 50th anniversary celebration held at the school’s Dewan Sri Gading yesterday.

The school celebrated its Golden Jubilee with a luncheon that was also attended by Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem.

After announcing the grant to equip the school with better facilities and infrastructure, Adenan also urged fellow former students to emulate his exemplary act to contribute to and support the development of the school.

“Half a century is a long time and during those years SMK Lundu has provided excellent service to the people of Lundu-Sematan,” he said when addressing the crowd at the ceremony.

“We understand that over the long years and with the growing population in the area, the school needs more money to improve its facilities and infrastructure. So I am giving RM500,000 grant to SMK Lundu,” he said to the cheering crowd.

Lundu Secondary School was built under the Colombo Plan through the Sarawak Education Department in 1965. It was declared open by the then governor the late Tun Abang Openg in 1966.

There were only 74 students, all boys, then with 11 of them living in boarding house.

Today, the school has 1,723 students. Nineteen of them are special needs students and 77 Form 6 students. It has 134 teachers and a support staff of 26.

The school was built to accommodate students who have passed their ‘Common Entrance’ Year 6 examination to pursue secondary education. Before 1965, they had go to schools outside Lundu District to pursue their studies.

The school changed its name to Sekolah Menengah Kerajaan Lundu and is now known as Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Lundu (SMK Lundu).

The school, Adenan said was a place of many sweet and warm memories and provided experiences that had helped individuals to grow and opened their eyes and minds beyond their little world.

“Past students who are successful today, therefore, should do their part in helping the school to develop and expand,” he added.

Reiterating the lack of infrastructure in and around Lundu-Sematan area, Adenan said there were plans in the pipelines to build another secondary school in the area to serve the growing population.

“You can rely on me in times of need like shortage of fund and insufficient infrastructure. As long as I am still the chief minister, I will not forget this school,” he said.
Other ongoing projects and development that will give a boost to this coastal town, he added, included the Pan Borneo Highway and Centre of Technical Excellence Sarawak (Centex), both of which have already started.

“I’ve also suggested that a matriculation institution be built here,” he said.

The chief minister also said Sematan-Lundu area could one day be one of the top attractions in Sarawak due to its natural surrounding and beautiful beaches.

“Sematan deserves to have a waterfront to make the area more beautiful. It will not only benefit the locals but also visitors from near and far who will contribute to the tourism industry in Sarawak.”

Later, Adenan accompanied by Opar assemblyman Ranum Mina, SMK Lundu principal Ismail Jaya, state Education Dept director Rakayah Madon as well as other guests cut the yellow glutinous rice cake to symbolically open the school’s golden jubilee celebration.

The chief minister also presented prizes and awards to winners of various competitions held in conjunction with the celebration.

Among the recipients for the international achievements were Chai Pey Fang (Form 4) who won third place in the 16th International Chinese Creative Writing Competition in China and Mohd Norhazim Ahmad (Form 2) who won second place in the 100m Hurdles Boy U14 and third in the 4x100m Relay Boys U14 for the 23rd MSSM-WALA-SSC-IPE International Athletics Championship 2015.

Chai (left) who won third place in the 16th International Chinese Creative Writing Competition in China, receives her prizes from Adenan.

Adenan (second right) reacts after unveiling SMK Lundu new badge witnessed by Ismail (right) and Ranum.