In January of 1974, while I was in Upper Six at Methodist Secondary School in Sibu, my classmate Joshua Panggau and I were called to the office of the school principal, Mr Lau Tieng Sing (now deceased). It was a Monday morning after the school assembly.
“Two of you are called to serve the school at night. Five of you boys from Saratok are requested to work as school guards from 7 pm to 10 pm. You will serve the entire week, pairing up in twos or threes. Create your schedule, alright?
“You will be paid RM30 each month starting from tomorrow. Is that clear? Your responsibility is to prevent outsiders or our students from using the classrooms in the evening.
“Only you boarders are allowed to use the classrooms for your night studies. Mr Ling has been informed about this (Mr. Ling was our boarding master).
“Inspector (later ACP) Sebastian Gaong, a former student here, will kindly assist with his team. I spoke to him a few days ago. Our teacher, Mr Felix Wong, will be assigned as your advisor. (Mr Felix was a Third Dan Black Belt Tang Soo Do exponent). Please inform your three friends, Darius, Enchana, and Nyallang, about your assignments,” Lau explained enthusiastically.
Joshua and I responded positively to Mr Lau’s offer and informed the other three boys about our new assignment. They were happy to join.
I led the guards and created a timetable for our guarding schedule from Monday to Sunday, ensuring that two or three of us were on duty each evening. The RM1 per day pay was a welcome change for us poor boys.
In the evenings, we patrolled the school grounds, including the long bicycle shed by the side of the school field. Our main focus was the classrooms, particularly those on the first and second floors.
There were occasions when we had to chase away couples who were using the classrooms. We also found condom wrappers on the second floor. Mr Felix Wong would join us for a stroll around once or twice a week.
He was close to me because he was courting one of my beautiful female classmates, and I was the only one who knew about it.
Inspector Gaong also visited us in the staffroom occasionally, where we stayed. Sometimes, my group would sleep in the conference room where all the school trophies were kept.
After dinner, we would take our mattresses, pillows, and blankets to our designated lodging areas—the school staffroom and conference room.
Then, we would go to our classroom for night studies while the two or three guards on duty checked the classrooms and bicycle shed for intruders. This routine was carried out every night.
There were instances when some intruders became stubborn but not aggressive. In those situations, all five of us would join forces and show some strength.
We had the telephone numbers of Inspector Gaong and Felix, and we were allowed to use the staffroom’s telephone. However, we never had to call them.
As our assignment as guards began in mid-January that year, the school became more peaceful in the evenings. Our fellow students became aware of our role as guards when they saw us carrying our bedding from the lodging areas early in the morning.
Our assignment ended in October of that year, and Mr. Lau organised a Thanksgiving dinner for us in the presence of Inspector Gaong, Mr Felix Wong, and Mr Ling, our boarding master. Both Gaong and Wong had positive feedback about our performance.
Our job of looking after the school in the evening was similar to our duty as vigilante corps members in SMK Saratok in 1971 and 1972 when we were in Form Four and Form Five.
The only difference was that our group was smaller than the larger group in SMK Saratok. Moreover, we did it voluntarily in our former school.
Now, Joshua Panggau, 68, is a retired college-trained teacher, and Darius Munang, 70, is also retired.
Both were trained at Batu Lintang Teachers Training College (now IPG Batu Lintang) in Kuching. Nyallang Bandar, 69, is also retired, with his last post being Principal Assistant Secretary in one of the government departments.
He graduated as an off-campus student from Universiti Sains Malaysia in Penang. I last met him in 1990 when he held the position of senior SAO in Julau.
Enchana Ato, 68, is also retired. He served as the Sabah Director of Labour and graduated in Economics from Universiti Malaya.
All of us are grateful for the RM30 monthly allowance we received as night guards at Methodist Secondary School in 1974.
The views expressed here are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of the New Sarawak Tribune.
