Proposal of School Hall Name

Background
·        Rev. Father G.C.E. Rottinghuis
·        1917 - Rev Father Rottinghuis was borned on 9th Nov in Groningen, Holland.
·        1939 - He entered Mill Hill College, Haelen, to study Philosophy.
·        1941 - He studied Theology in St. Joseph's College, Roosendal.
·        1945 - On completion of his studies, he was ordained as a priest on 9th Dec.
·        1946 - Oct 1947. He worked as Curate in a diocese in Holland. He was in charge of Youth movement, Scouts, Guides and Sports.
·        1947 - He arrived in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. Later he taught at Papar, KK and Sandakan mission schools.
·        1950 - Transferred to Seria oilfields, Brunei. Became principal of Seria English School.

·        On 1956, Rev G. C.M. Rottinghuis took over as principal in St. Anthony’s Secondary School.

·        1958, a new Junior Secondary block was built. (Recently replaced by the  New 4-Storey Block St. Christopher)

·        In 1960, Father Rottinghuis built a Double-Storey’s Senior Secondary building. (Recently named as Block St. Francis) The Building was built using money of Father Rottinghuis got from his late mother.

·        In 1961 the first SAS form 4 started in that building. At that time there were no other schools in Sarikei with form 4 and in 1962, the first batch of students offered the Senior Cambridge Examination (SCE).

·        As the demand for education rose, Father Rottinghuis, built a new primary school to over come the crowded problem as primary and secondary students shared the same buildings. This new building was completed in1967 in the same premise with St. Anthony Secondary School at that time and called St. Anthony Primary school which handed over to “Little Sisters of Sarawak” in 1970.

·        Rev father Rottinghuis heeded to the request of the Chinese Community to build a St. Anthony’s Branch school. (At 5 miles, Repok Rd). (Somewhere near the junction to Sibu and Kuching) The St. Anthony’s branch school was built in 1967.

·        In 1968 also, the school badge was introduced by Father Rottinghuis.

·        He was also chairman of these:

1.)         Lions club,
2.)         Sarawak Secondary Schools,
3.)         Red Cross Association
4.)         Basketball Association,
5.)         Youth Group,
6.)         Hospital Visitors group and
7.)         Charity group (member).

·        Principal of St. Anthony’s school from 1956 to 1972.

·        He was awarded P.B.S. by the Governor of Sarawak for his excellent contribution to the Education and Social fields in Sarawak in general and Sarikei in particular.

A.)Remember this is SAS school hall, not just a memorial building. "Oldies" of SAS including myself agreed with the suggestion of naming it "Father Rottinghuis Hall" not just because he was a former principal & has passed away, but because he had contributed a lot in building up SAS.  (Mr. K.A. Titus- Ex Principal of SAS, & Mr. Celestine Olaprath-Ex Teacher of SAS) 21 Oct 2011

B.) To all those younger ones, Fr Rottinghuis used to be SAS principal in the early 60s and 70s...just mentioning his name still send shivers among our parents who were alumni of SAS. (Maxwell Sim)
& also
C.)65 others Ex-Anthonian support this proposal. (Source: St. Anthony’s facebook account)

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