The Keat Hwa St. John's History
St. John Ambulance Malaysia Keat Hwa High School Division started in October 1960, it was established successfully and was first named First Aid Team. At the beginning of its establishment, the team was led by Mr. Khoo Kok Hong and there were only about 50 members joining it. Well, it faced many problems such as insufficient site for meeting usage. Due to this, the time of meeting was temporarily fixed to be from 8pm to 9pm in every Thursday and was located in the science lab. Mr. Khoo Kok Hong and Dr. Lim Joo Hai gave lectures voluntarily whereas Mr. Khoo himself was in charge in the practical section.
Our First Aid Team began to join Malaysian St. John Ambulance Society in 1963. Starting from that moment, it has been called St.. John Ambulance Malaysia Team. The team members were divided into two major groups. Each team comprised six groups and led by a leader. At that time, there were two types of practice provided, one was first aid knowledge and the other was first aid technique. Lectures as well as notes were given by Dr. Lim to all members and the syllabus was based on the book 'First Aid' written by Mr R. Krishnan, former Corps Superintendent of Northern Kedah Area. Practical training was guided by Mr. Lew Yong Foa. At the same year, Mr. Yeoh Poh Huan was appointed to be the teacher advisor of St. John Ambulance Malaysia, Keat Hwa High School Division, replacing Mr. Khoo Kok Hong. After this, several changes were made. There were 33 members taking part in a test prepared by authority concerned at 10 April 1963. Apart from that, every member was made compulsory to start on their duties in the St. John room during recess.
A few years later, our St. John team showed good prestige because of the guidance from Mr. Yeoh ( the teacher advisor), Mr. Chong Ah Hoe, Mr. Bon Lua and Mr. Tham Kam Choy from General Hospital. Due to the factor above our team had sent a Cadet team to participate in the North Kedah First Aid Competition in 1975. What can be proud of was, the team became the champion! This meaningful event then enhanced the high spirits among our members and became an incentive for members to put much more efforts in it. In 1976, our division sent the first Ambulance team to participate in another competition and it ended up with pride as both the Ambulance team and Cadet team won the champion ! ! As a result, both teams entered the final level of the competition ( represented Kedah ). All these achievements were lasting for a few years continuously. At late 1970s, the activities of our division were varied. For instance, camping was initially held in 1977 and it is still an important activity until today. Since 1978, several trips have been made to enable all the members to visit some places of interest. Besides that, Intersquad Competition and Farewell Ceremony were also regarded as compulsory events of a year. The aim of doing this was to achieve our objectives such as to improve knowledge among members.
In 1981, the members of our division were grouped into recruit, Cadet Nursing, Cadet Ambulance, Adult Nursing and Adult Ambulance. Weekly meeting was held every Saturday, 8.30am to 11.00am While meeting, members were given useful lectures about first aid, marching training, stretcher drill training or home nursing training. At that time, there were approximately 150 members and this figure rose till 342 members in 5 years time. In 1980s, our division developed distinctively when being led by Mr. Wong Ah See. Since 1988, it was under the lead of Mr. Lee Siak Chai. Because of Mr. Lee's wise thought and leadership, our division became highly respected in community. Our financial and administration system were changed and rearranged systematically.
Not only achieving good results in national level, our division also broke the record and participated in the international level. It consisted of Cadet Ambulance team, Cadet Nursing team, Adult Ambulance team and Adult Nursing team. The competition was held in Singapore. Cadet Nursing team won the first place after all and Kedah Contingent obtained NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP award that year. The same thing happened in 1993 and it was really cheerful. The time of meeting had been lengthen until 12.30pm. In 1993, it was then fixed to hold from 9a.m until 12.30pm after considering some problems occurred. New Year Gathering and Telematch were added to our annual routine to vary the activities.
1994, again we show the good results in International First Aid Competition, our senior Heng Tian Poh won The Best Leader and his team won in stretcher drill. In 1996, under the guidance of senior Yew Tong Wei, the first time this division formed Kawalan Kehormatan Perbarisan in the Annual Inspection Parade and Enrollment Ceremony. The team trained by Rejimen Askar who from Bukit Pinang. 1999, another history that members were proud of which is our members won as Champion in the 1st Kota Setar Students Uniform Units Marching Competition and senior Oh Kuan Siong won as The Best Commander!
After 1999, weekly meeting starts 8.00am to 11.30 am every Saturday while in 2002, either Friday or Saturday weekly meeting will have. Started in 1999 also, New Year Gathering and Farewell Gathering was cancelled by school because of school's problems.
As our division continues obtaining aids from school authority, communities, members and other authorities concerned, it is still slowly progressing until a higher level which can admittedly proud of.
The St. John Ambulance Malaysia's History
The St. John Ambulance Association was started in Malaya as Malaysia was then known in 1908 and up to 1938, the movement was confined to activities in the Army and the Railways. When the war clouds began to gather in 1938, the St. John Ambulance Brigade was formed in all the large States. In September 1941, the Government introduced the Medical Auxiliary service and all Brigade Members were mobilized to serve in this service. When the Japanese declared war on 8th December 1941, the brigade members received their baptism of fire and they did magnificent work in all the First Aid posts. Many retreated to the South together with the Armed Forces and saw active service in the battle of Singapore and several of them lost their lives in the service of Mankind. When the British Military forces reoccupied Malaya in 1945, the St. John Ambulance started reorganising from early 1946. From then on, there has been no turning back and the movement has been functioning in all the States and a branch was formed in Malayan Railways and treated as a separate area. Due to the rapid expansion of the movement, the work in forming the St. John Council started in 1955. Many meetings were held and the Constitution in its final form was duly signed by the Countess Mountbatten of Burma on 2nd February 1960. In 1971, preparatory work for the merger of the Association and the Brigade started and culminated with the passing of the St. John Ambulance of Malaysia (Incorporation) Act, 1971 by the country's Parliament and the gazetting of the St. John Ambulance Rules in 1973. Today, the St. John Ambulance of Malaysia actively functions in all the 13 States of Malaysia as well as in the Federal territory of Kuala Lumpur and in the Malayan Railways, each of which has been given the status of a Region. In every sense, the period after the merger has been momentous for the organisation and it serves as a fitting benchmark as we approach the closing years of the 20th century. The activities of the former association are now carried by the Chief of Staff (Training) and his training Committee which has revised the syllabuses of the various First Aid and Caring for the Sick Courses as well as modified the question papers for the various Examinations. Training the Trainers Courses have also been organised to upgrade the skills of the Trainers and Examiners. The work of the former Brigade is carried out by the Chief of Staff (Operations) and his Operations Committee which organises annual National First Aid and Home Nursing Competitions, Officers' and N.C.O.'s Training Courses, Officers' Conferences, Cadet Camps, Inspections and a host of other Brigade activities. The St. John Ambulance of Malaysia is not only helping to bring the people of different races, colours and regions together in helping to build up a strong and united Malaysia but also providing a much-needed essential service to the public besides helping to keep our members usefully engaged in healthy activities. The tasks we face ahead are monumental but we shall overcome them and we assure all delegates that in the years to come, the Sun will continue to shine on the St. John Ambulance of Malaysia.
The St. John Ambulance Malaysia's actual logo/emblem
All official use of the SJAM device is stated in the General Regulations of the St. John Ambulance of Malaysia, 1996 and should be accurately represented in the following manner:
