Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud is confident that the St Joseph's private school in Kuching, which will be operational by January next year, will complement the national curriculum to produce quality students in Sarawak.

NONE Taib, who is one of the most illustrious old boys of the existing St Joseph's secondary school here, said he hoped the private school would be able to mould "young men with character" through quality education to meet the nation's future economic needs.

"The memory of St Joseph's is memories of growing up. In those days teachers treated us with respect, they studied our character and tried to deal with us individually," he said at the Old Josephians' reunion dinner here tonight.

Taib, who was accompanied by his wife, Ragad Kurdi Taib, also pledged a personal donation of a month's salary for the setting up of the private school, which costs about RM13 million, including an initial operating expenditure of RM3 million.

He was educated at St Joseph's secondary here before taking up law in Australia in the late 1950s.

The Mill Hill fathers

Earlier, Archbishop John Ha, who is in charge of Catholic mission schools in the Kuching archdiocese, said the private school would be a non-profit endeavour to complement St Joseph's school, which was first set up by the Mill Hill fathers, who arrived in Sarawak in 1881.

It was committed to meeting many challenges to the new wave of development in the state, he said.

The countless leaders and professionals who came from St Joseph was a testimony of its high standard of education with the motto "Ora Et Labora" which means prayers and labour in Latin, he added.

- Bernama