INTRODUCTION

The La Salle School Parliament ,is  truly the pride and joy of every true La Sallian. Our Parliament is a living body that reflects students power; but more importantly, collective responsibility on the part of each and every student of a school. The very fact that a student parliament exits here proves that La Salle is run on a democratic basis, a system whereby “ Decentralization of Power” are three all important words.

With our system, we should not be going overboard in saying that La Sallians have much say in the activities of their school, something not many schools can boast of. What take place in La Salle is the result of a clear ‘Aye’ from the majority of it’s students. This does not go to say that what the students wants, the student gets. On the contrary, there is high level of interaction, understanding and cooperation between teachers and students. As a brief opening for the year’s focus, it can be said that La Salle represents not the elite minority of teachers or students but the majority.

What you have read thus far is merely an introduction. The La Sallian has spared no effort in bringing the reader a detailed account of the Parliament’s beginning and it’s system. These segments are clearly explained in details in the pages that is to come. Read on to the historical developments and capture the glory of what makes La Salle “ something more”.

Down memory lane with the founder of the La Salle Parliament, Mr K J Joseph      
(summarized from an interview extract)

The whole idea of the Parliament co-curricular activity really began when Tunku Abdul Rahman announced the idea of forming Malaysia. Malaysia of course came about in 1963 and the year the colonials, then in Sabah were leaving. Sabah was going to have it’s own legislative assembly and quite, suddenly the idea of a Parliament for La Salle came up.

The students in La Salle may have had a very vague knowledge of democracy at that time, or some may even not know what democracy is all about. I felt that the only way to fully comprehend democracy is to experience it and be part of it. Since Sabah, at that time was about to experience democracy, I though it to be highly appropriate that students should have first hand experience within the school itself. I wanted the students to learn how bills were passed through Parliament and hoped that the process of democracy would be transmitted in the process.

As the Parliament was implemented, the students were quite taken aback, but, after the benefits of having such a Parliament were explained to them, they were all for it.  In 1963, the La Salle Parliament’s was formed. It functioned without a constitution because the future and direction of the Parliament was quite unclear. We were not sure of it would survive, but, from 1965 onwards, we knew that the Parliament was here to stay and I set about the task of drafting a constitution. I obtained a copy of the Sabah State Legislative assembly’s Standing Orders from the Ministry of Natural Resources the, Thomas Jayasuria (now Tan Sri). The La Salle Parliament Constitution was based on the Standing Orders I obtained from Tan Sri Thomas Jayasuria.

The functions of the cabinet back then basically took care of the school sports and debating and other matters to start with. Later, it was dedicated tnat money from the canteen rental would be given to the Parliament to enable them to carry out more projects. The Parliament as also responsible for having celebrations during Children’s Day. Such celebrations were not held in schools in Sabah until the Parliament set the ball rolling.

The Opposition Party of the other hand played an important role in Parliament. This is because there was no party system like there is today. After the Chief Minister and the class representatives were elected, we took it upon ourselves to divide the students into the Government and Opposition. This was done so that the Opposition was strong and would be able to keep the Government on their toes. However, we taught the Opposition not to oppose for the sake of opposing but should give their fullest co-operation to the Government. Another area we stressed on was Friendship. They could argue ferociously in Parliament, but, after that, they should be friends. We did not want any ill-feeling among the students.

The concept of Parliament has not widely been conceptualized by other schools because of the lack of effort. The Principal should give full backing to devote and nurture a Parliament. It can be likened to a young tree, at first a lot of care is needed, but, once it is older and stronger there is no need to pay as much attention to it. The students will be able to handle it by themselves. In fact, a Parliament was started about the same time as ours in St.Michael’s Penampang. Unfortunately, it died away due to the lack of interest. Fortunately, the La Salle Parliament is still standing strong due to the efforts of Principals, dedicated Teacher Advisors, students attitude and awareness till today.

The Parliament has proved to be useful to La Salle because it has managed to surface the true meaning of democracy. Students today are the future leaders of tomorrow, or rather the citizens of tomorrow. They will ultimately replace the present crop of leaders, so, you can understand why it should be continued. The Parliament concept will be excellent to other schools as well. But, it should not loose it’s true meaning. It should be a tool to nurture leadership, build- self esteem and remain as elite as possible.

I am happy to also note that the La Salle Parliament is 43 years old today (1963 – 2006). The past and reining Principals have managed to provide support in allowing the Parliament to be part of the co-curricular activity. With this many students will be able to benefit from the ideals and virtues of democracy. There are about 4 schools in the whole of Sabah with a Parliament, namely, Maktab National, Stella Maris, Shan Tao and of course La Salle. Hopefully, more schools will capture the interest in having a Parliament body.