Mrs Chew Lai Mun, Principal of the School

Mdm Tan Ai Lian, Chairman, and Members of School

Advisory Committee

Teachers, Parents and Pupils & Alumni of the school

I am delighted to join all of you this evening for the official opening of the new school building. This is a happy occasion.

We have come a long way as a school. Telok Kurau Primary first opened its doors as Telok Kurau English School back in 1926. 12 boys under the tutelage of its first teacher, Lim Lam San, received their education in a simple two-storey wooden structure set amidst a vast coconut plantation along Telok Kurau Road. It was a typical rural school in the early colonial days. There were twelve classrooms, a hall and a tuckshop.

We can be very proud that the school has produced very distinguished and eminent leaders. Among them our Senior Minister who was admitted as a student in 1930, and Malaysian Prime Minister Tun Hussien Onn a year later in 1931.

Today as we celebrate 76 years of history and the official opening of our beautiful new premises, we cherish the memories of how we got here and learn from the lessons of the past. What matters is not the name of the school but what the school represents. The continued good name of the school depends on what the school has done and what it stands for. The techniques of teaching are important. So too the provision of good facilities. But of far greater importance is the dedication of the teachers and the values they imbue in their students. Students learn from example and by doing, not by being filled with information. They must be prepared for the changes that are sweeping the world, changes brought about by globalization and by the new scientific revolution in IT, the life sciences, nanotechnology and other fields. Whatever we learn becomes obsolete very quickly. What is more difficult is to learn how to learn throughout life. Education does not end with the last school exam.

The most important aspect of education is moral education. Parents and teachers play a decisive role in inculcating the right values in children. No amount of book knowledge can substitute for the examples they set. Confucius taught us a long time ago that the individual must be properly cultivated, the family strongly established, the country well run, then everyone can live happily at peace with each other. This principle applies as much in the 21^st century in an age of globalization and rapid technological change. It is more important to have strict teachers upholding the right values than air-conditioned classrooms and computers.

Parents play a vital role in the life of a school. The school should involve parents in various activities and parents should support teachers. Together, we can make Telok Kurau Primary School an excellent school for the moulding of our children.

In our daily work, we must pay particular attention to the multi-racial and multi-religious aspects of our society. We must not only tolerate differences, we must respect them and, sometimes, even celebrate them. At home, some parents pass on their prejudices to their children. In school, we must temper these prejudices so that we mute them and not reinforce them. In the nature of things, misunderstandings occur from time to time. How we respond to problems calmly and fairly sends strong signals to our young.

I congratulate the teachers, parents and students of Telok Kurau Primary School on this happy day and wish you success in everything you do. It is nice to have new buildings but it is what is inside which is of far greater importance and which is what has made the school what it is today.