The Digital Dental Surgeon

10 years had passed since I left high school. I am a product of Sekolah Dato’ Abdul Razak, a fully residential school in Seremban. This Saturday will again unite the boys who graduated in 98 to recollect the glorious past, mingle around with former teachers and play football and volleyball with the new generation of SDARians. To top it off, the grand dinner at Royal Bintang Hotel.

Founding

SDAR was founded in Johor Bahru on 1 May 1956 with its first name as Sekolah Menengah Melayu or Malay Secondary School. The founding principles of this school were based on suggestions included in Penyata Razak 1956 or Razak Statement (of education) 1956, which was to give opportunities to young Malay students in primary schools to further their secondary studies.

When it was founded, there was no specific premise for the school. First group of 80 students and 3 teachers were temporarily housed at Sekolah Bukit Zaharah, Johor Bahru. In early 1957 the school was relocated to Ipoh, Perak. Half of the students (40 pupils) from the first group were re-enrolled to study at the new premises (which is now known as Sekolah Tuanku Abdul Rahman, STAR).

In May 1957, the school was once again moved and this time it was to Tanjung Malim, Perak and shared the campus of Maktab Perguruan Sultan Idris (MPSI). The remaining students from the first group was called back to study at the new premise. More students were admitted and the number of students increased to 119 pupils. Mr. R.A. Goodchild, the MPSI Principal was also assigned as a temporary Principal to this new school. However two months later, Mr R. A. Goodchild was replaced by Mr. C.F. Daniels. By this period there were 11 teaching staffs including 2 part time teachers posted at the school.

On 5 January 1958, the new buildings for the school were opened for use. These buildings were situated next to MPSI. En. Ariffin Mohd. Nam was appointed as the first Principal with 11 teachers served under him.

Renaming

On November 29th, 1958 a special event was held to rename the school. The Education Minister, En. Mohd Khir Johari officially announced the new name of the school as Sekolah Dato’ Abdul Razak. Allahyarham Tun Abdul Razak, the Deputy Prime Minister at the time, attended the event and even blessed the new school name. “Berilmu Untuk Berjasa” was chosen as the school motto.

Further Relocation

In 1971, the state government of Negeri Sembilan allocated an area of 16.36 acres in Jalan Sikamat, Seremban to build a new school complex. In January 1972, SDAR once again moved to a new location in Seremban. The principal, Tuan Syed Jaafar Al-Idrus remained as the principal in the early years of 1970s.

On November 3, 1973, SDAR premise in Seremban was officially opened. The official event was graced by Tun Hajjah Rahah bt. Tan Sri Haji Mohd Noah, the wife of the late Deputy Prime Minister Tun Hj Abdul Razak Hussein. Also present at the memorable ceremony was Dato’ Hj Murad Noor, the Director General of Education Malaysia and En Annuar Ayeob, Director General of Education Negeri Sembilan.

In view of its status as a premier school in Malaysia, the Government decided to equip the school with bigger and better facilities. In line with this plan, SDAR once again moved to a new campus with better, well-fitted facilities on February 2nd, 2002. The new campus occupies an area of approximately 40 acres located at Sg. Gadut, Seremban. The campus is comprised with buildings of the administration, school hall, academic building, four buildings of hostels, a mosque (masjid), a dining hall, the administrators’ house, apartments for teachers and staffs and sport fields. En Mohd. Rauhi b. Mohd Isa was appointed as the new Principal in 2001. He was a very ambitious and wise principal. SDAR attained some of its excellence achievement during his years as the principal.

From Wikipedia

Read more about SDAR in Wikipedia.
Read more about the upcoming 10 Year Return Gathering in www.sdar948.org

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