Abang Johari (third right) with recipients of the Sarawak government grant – Hii (fourth right) and his SCCCI committee members and Tiong (left) – after the cheque presentation at the new State Legislative Assembly building in Kuching.

KUCHING: SJK (C) Kiew Nang, Sibu and Sibu Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCCI) yesterday received a grant of RM1 million each from the Sarawak government.

The allocations to both bodies were announced by Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg during his official functions in Sibu in early May.

The allocations are for building a new academic block for SJK (C) Kiew Nang and Sibu Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s innovation hub.

The four-storey new building for SJK (C) Kiew Nang, which cost over RM5 million, will be constructed on a four-acre plot in two phases.

The school’s board of management chairman Tiong Hock Kieng when met after the cheque presentation said the first phase would involve the construction of two blocks of 32 rooms including staff and computer rooms.

He said the board had decided to expand the classrooms because the number of new students kept increasing due to rural-urban migration.

“As (the number of) our students keep increasing we want to provide the pupils in the school with a place conducive for learning,” he said.

Tiong said currently the school has 13 classrooms and about 400 pupils.

He said the project, which took off in early May, is expected to be completed in two years’ time.

On the other hand, the innovation hub is very important to SCCI for training young entrepreneurs in technology.
Receiving the cheque on the behalf of SCCCI was its president Dr Hii Sui Cheng.