A BIG family of 1,500 alumni and current Xaverians came together to take part in the annual St Xavier’s Institution (SXI) Run in Farquhar Street, George Town to raise money for the school today.
Besides the charity SXI Run, a Canteen Day was also held at the school premises to celebrate the school’s 170th anniversary.
Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow, who flagged off the three categories of the run, praised the many old boys and girls of the school for stepping forward to help their alma mater as a means of giving back to St Xavier’s.
“This is the community spirit that we are looking for in our schools and I am very glad St Xavier’s is taking the lead in showing the way.
“Besides concern for the poor, having an event like the Charity Drive would also inculcate an inclusive community amongst the students in this school. Such values will stay on with them when they step into the real working world.
“And today, they are the Xaverian alumni in the industry from Motorola Solutions Malaysia (500 participants) and Jabil Penang (100 participants) who are back in the school with us this morning. Well done to all of you!
“I hope more industries in Penang will come forward to celebrate with your old schools so that students in schools will know that our much beloved Penang is an advance and vibrant place not only for study but a place for work as well.
“LovePENANG like how you Love SXI,” Chow said in his speech.
Chow said concern for the poor and social justice are among the five core LaSallian principles and the SXI Run clearly defined the principles as practised by the Xaverian family.
The tradition, he said, has been carried out for the past 70 years by SXI. It started in the beginning to help raise funds for the needy, such as the Little Sisters of the Poor. Now, it is an annual Charity Drive event which is carried out not only to help the poor NGOs but also to assist needy students as well.
“We hope to raise RM80,000 to RM90,000 from this SXI Run and Canteen Day,” SXI board chairman Victor Tan said.
Earlier before the flag-off, the SXI Marching Band kept up the excitement with several tunes, including ‘When The Saints Go Marching In’.
Chow later met the band and had a group photograph taken with them, including SXI board chairman Bro Jason Blakie, who was dressed in a Scottish kilt.
Tan later showed Chow the Hall of Gratitude that was created in the school building in April this year and also the Canteen Day setup.
The Hall of Gratitude contains the names of 35,000 students from 1879 until today. It is a space dedicated to them because the Brothers and the school are grateful to them for choosing to study at SXI.
Interestingly, Adrian Rajamoney, who was the starter of the SXI Run, is himself a former Xaverian. His 84-year-old father, Lionel, a noted athletics coach in the 70s to 90s, and his 22-year-old daughter, Casandra, studied in SXI too.
Lionel was in the Class of 1955, Adrian in the Class of 1987 and Casandra in the Class of 2019.
Lionel later was on stage in the school hall to represent former Finance Minister Tun Daim Zainuddin, his classmate, to give out the Tun Daim Scholarships. Also present was Pulau Tikus assemblyman Chris Lee.
You can see several alumni beaming with pride when they saw their names in the Hall of Gratitude.
Like Adrian, Victor Seow, the special officer to the Chief Minister of Penang, and businessman Narinder Singh were also at the Hall of Gratitude looking for their names. Seow and Narinder were in the Class of 1999 and 1992 respectively. Even Narinder’s nephew, Kisanpal Singh, is studying in Form One in SXI.
On the run proper, Ow Yang Jin Kuang and Yee Pei Yi won the Men’s Open (33:56.0) and Women’s Open (42:06.00) respectively. Bernd Echmann took the Men’s Veteran title (37:44.0) and Jeremy Tan emerged the SXI Charity Run winner (47:11.0).
Story by K.H. Ong
Pix by Siew Chia En