PETALING JAYA: A group of former students of the Technical College Kuala Lumpur, the precursor to present-day Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), gathered today to pay tribute to their old school whose products include those who were behind the construction of famous Malaysian icons including the historic Stadium Merdeka.
Their stories are now told in “Remembering The Golden Era, Technical College Kuala Lumpur 1940-1970”, a 300-page book launched today by philanthropist Koon Yew Yin, the co-founder of construction giant IJM Corporation.
“Without these graduates, you would not see all these buildings and infrastructure in every town or city. If you look around KL, Penang or any big city, the buildings and the bridges there, the KL Tech graduates have contributed a lot,” Koon said in his speech today.
The book, spanning some 300 pages, is the brainchild of Peter Ng. He died early this year while working to compile articles and photographs for the book. It was later completed by his son, Danny, who worked with other alumni.
Danny said the individuals in the book played a significant role in developing the country at a time when it relied a lot on British expertise.
“They were the first generation to help the country stand on its own two feet, by building roads, bridges, irrigation, and highways,” he said.
Danny said not many Malaysians knew about TCKL and the individuals it produced.
“They are great people. Business owners, leaders in government agencies and departments.
“We ask ourselves, who built the Merdeka Stadium? We don’t know. Who built the North-South Highway? We don’t know. We know it is the government.
“These are the faces you will see, the ones who were there, planned, designed and implemented the projects,” he said.
TCKL began in 1904 as the Treacher Technical School, named after British resident-general Sir William Treacher.
It was set up to train experts in the development of major infrastructure during the era, involving departments like the Railways, Survey and Public Works.
It was later upgraded to a college, which conducted courses such as engineering, architecture and quantity surveying.
It soon offered degree level courses, and became a popular destination as the government focussed more on technology-oriented industries.
In 1971, it was upgraded to university status, giving birth to Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM).
In his speech today, Koon, 85, said he was proud to be a graduate of TCKL in 1957, the year Malaya achieved independence from Britain.
“I was there for four years, and a year of practical training. I am very proud to be one of the graduates,” he said.