Alumni group helps needy kids afford school shoes

Lau (third from left) hands over the vouchers for shoes to Suziana. To her left is Sim.

Ten pupils of SK Sacred Heart in Sibu, Sarawak, will now have new schoolshoes to wear, thanks to Malaysian Federation of LaSallian Associations (MFOLSA).

Sacred Heart Old Students Association (Shosa) secretary Ignatius Lau handed over RM50 vouchers to SK Sacred Heart student affairs senior assistant Suziana Basa.

The handover was witnessed by co-curricular senior assistant Sim Kwong Kui in the presence of five other senior Shosa office-bearers.

In thanking the federation, Lau said the vouchers would go a long way to help pupils in need.

“Assistance in any form is appreciated and needed,” he said, noting that Shosa joined MFOLSA in upholding John Baptist De La Salle’s life philosophy to serve the last, the lost and the least.

He said Shosa would do its part in providing additional funding for this project and other related needs.

“Shosa, which has mainly focused on the well-being of secondary school students, would like to take a closer look this year at primary schoolchildren as well.

“Funds permitting, we wish to do more,” said Lau.

He said four areas were identified where Shosa could provide further assistance for pupils, namely transport, spectacles, school uniforms and stationery.

He added that this would be included in Shosa’s agenda during the forthcoming quarterly meeting.

“I am optimistic that fellow office-bearers and members of the school alumni will rally in aid of their primary school too.

“In fact, when we posted this in our office-bearers’ chat group, an office-bearer immediately said he was ready to take up the challenge of providing spectacles to underprivileged pupils,” said Lau.

Shosa was formed in the late 1940s and is widely recognised among the active alumnis in Malaysia.

MFOLSA is the umbrella organisation of 19 La Salle Alumni Associations.