Chapter 35: Cycling Back into Memory - Old Lok Yuk School Basketball Court

Our Saturday morning cycling routine often becomes a journey through memory as much as through the familiar routes. Each ride gives us the chance to rediscover familiar streets and occasionally stumble upon places we had long forgotten.

On 20.01.2024, after conquering the climbs of Signal Hill, Jalan Istana and Jalan Tuaran near Sunny Garden, we veered off toward Jalan Pencetakan Baru, a turn that eventually led us to Taman Fantasi. There, after a short uphill ride, we paused in front of the STS Students’ Hotel Block.

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Standing at that spot stirred a rush of memories. This was once the concrete-lined basketball court of the old Lok Yuk School.

Perched atop a hill with scarcely any level ground, the school depended on this court as its central activity space. It hosted spirited basketball matches, physical education lessons, and even athletics activities such as running drills and relays. On cooler days, it became a favorite gathering spot during recess, where students lingered to chat and unwind.

In the 1960s, when the old Lok Yuk School had a unicorn dance troupe, a small hill beside the basketball court served as the site of the blessing ceremony held on Chinese New Year’s Eve before the troupe began its performances and duties (Read here).

I remember clearly that one side of the court was fringed with dense growth of nibong palms - tall, slender trees with single trunks covered in hard, sharp black spines. Whenever a stray ball landed among them, retrieving it often meant enduring a painful prick or two from those unforgiving spikes.

The greenery around the court formed such a picturesque backdrop that the school management frequently chose this spot for class photographs, capturing generations of students against a natural forest setting.

When Sabah Theological Seminary later took over the old Lok Yuk School premises, the basketball court inevitably gave way to the construction of the multi-storey students’ hotel block. What stands there now is a modern structure, but beneath it lies a space once filled with the energy, laughter, and memories of countless school days.

Old photo of the basketball court.

Colourized photo.
Below the basketball goal support frame was a favorite gathering
place during recess, where students lingered to chat and unwind.

Colourized photo.

In the late 1960s, lantern processions through the town of Jesselton (now Kota Kinabalu) were occasionally held in conjunction with Malaysia Day, .

For the Lok Yuk School contingent, students first assembled at the basketball court before walking down the hill track to join the main procession in town.

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Bridge Class and teaching staff photos taken at the basketball court in 1964.

Colourized photo.

Class Photo of Bridge Class in 1964.

I am at 4th from right in the front  squatting row.

Form teacher is Mr. Chang from Hawaii sent

by Lutheran Church of America. 

Teaching staff and school principal

(Rev. Donald E Nelson, 1st at right in front row) of 1964.