In his speech, Anwar paid tribute to renowned Chinese educationist Sim Mow Yu, who passed away recently, and the late Goh Cheng Chew, a coffee stall owner and key figure in resuscitating the school in 1986.

Anwar said Sim was his friend during his activist days with the Malaysian Muslim Youth Movement (Abim) in the 1970s and had once shared the same stage during a ceramah in Klang over language issues.

He asked the crowd, comprising of parents and students, to observe a one-minute silence in Sims memory as the rain poured on.

sin ming school 220209 anwar caligraphyThough occasionally venturing into highly political topics, Anwar ended his speech calling for racial unity by quoting famous Chinese proverb si hai ji nei chie xiong di (all men are brothers).

Later, Anwar was asked to write the proverb in Chinese calligraphy which was auctioned off to a sum of RM150,000 to school board advisor Yan Khoon Yin, after a fierce auction following an opening bid of RM18,000.