IF your school-going children love badminton, swimming and martial arts, Northern Lights Private School (NLPS) in Simpang Ampat, mainland Penang, is perhaps an ideal school for them.
These three activities are all compulsory sports programmes for the current batch of 250 primary and secondary students at NLPS.
NLPS celebrated the grand opening of its school as well as its sports complex, called the Arena of Lights yesterday, with some of its students proudly presenting demonstrations of the three co-curricular activities.
Established by a team of passionate educationists, NLPS was first housed in a temporary site at Sunway Wellesley since 2016 before moving to its current site in 2020.
NLPS is expecting bigger enrolment to its four-storey building consisting of 22 classrooms and the adjoining 9,500sq ft sports complex.
The new sporting venue boosts a beautiful 25-metre and all-round four feet deep swimming pool at the lower level and a four-court badminton hall on the upper level.
The three co-curricular training programmes are conducted by qualified and experienced coaches, and trainers.
NLPS is collaborating with Duo Sparks Badminton Academy, Wahoo Swim School, an accredited swim school by SwimAmerica, and Tang Hup Mu Dwoo Kwan, a Malaysian-style combination of martial arts.
Duo Sparks was co-founded by former national players Daphne Ng and Sabrina Chong 10 years ago in Kuala Lumpur. They have inspired students and players who are currently in the national team and some who are still enjoying the game even after 10 years of training with them.
Under the guidance of Sabrina, the Malaysian deaf team won the women’s doubles gold medal in the Deaflympics 2022 in Brazil. Sabrina’s most notable achievement as a player herself was winning the team gold medal in the 2009 SEA Games in Vientiane.
“Our partnership with NLPS here marked an important milestone in the journey of Malaysian sports. We see there are a lot of talents in places like Nibong Tebal and Bukit Mertajam.
“We hope that everybody has the opportunity to enjoy this great sport. Which is why we started our base here in Penang, a state I am always proud of being a Penangite.
“In NLPS, we have four coaches conducting the badminton classes for all the students. That means all the students have the opportunity to learn badminton the right way, and on top of that, if they would like to have extra classes, they can sign up for more.
“But at the very basic, everybody has the opportunity to learn badminton the right way. That is what our mission is when we started Duo Sparks; we share the mission of inspiring every individual student to enjoy badminton for the rest of their life,” said Daphne, whose company started collaborating with NLPS sometime in the middle of last year.
Daphne represented the country from 2005 to 2008 before an Achilles tendon injury ended her career prematurely. She recalled that as a very young girl, she was inspired to excel in badminton after witnessing (Datuk) Nicol David win the world junior squash title in Bukit Dumbar.
Besides being the head coach of Duo Sparks, she is also a sports consultant. She obtained a Bachelor’s and Masters of Sports Science from Universiti Malaya. Through invitations to give talks locally and abroad, she has rubbed shoulders with a number of sports leaders across the world.
“From our sharing, we came to a similar conclusion that to build a world-class athlete, we need to have a sporting culture right from the school. This has to be nurtured along the way with proper guidance, and proper support, not only from the athlete himself, but also from parents, and from management.
“We need to have a strong ecosystem that will help Malaysia win our first Olympic gold medal. And we hope by setting this base, we can build a more sporting nation and also help to build and grow more champions from Penang.
“We really hope to realise this dream and aspiration in the near future. Thank you Northern Lights Private School for this collaboration and we will do our best to bring out the best in every single student in this school and also in Penang,” Daphne said in her speech.
For Thomas Lee, the chief coach of Wahoo Swim School, he said he was grateful to be collaborating with NLPS for more than five years now.
Back then, he said NLPS was only located in a shop lot without any sports facilities.
“Hence, swimming classes had to be conducted in the two available public pools in Bukit Mertajam and Jawi.
“I have to say that at that time I was truly inspired by the leadership, seeing the dedication of coach Michael and the team, leading the students out of the school to swimming classes early in the morning, twice a week consistently over the years without fail.
“If this is not passion and dedication, I do not know what is.
“We’re grateful to be standing in a compound with a well-equipped, self-owned sports complex that consists of not only a six-lane swimming pool, but also a 1,200-pax multipurpose hall with a performance stage, which is convertible to four badminton courts, a full-sized basketball court, a volleyball court and a netball court.
“My heart is so full seeing all this in front of my eyes. Dreams and hard work really pay off,” Thomas said.
Martial arts instructor Dennis Ng, speaking on behalf of Tang Hup Mu Doo Kwan, shared a bit of history about the sport.
He said the martial art was founded by great grandmaster C.K. Leong from Kajang, a professional body guard who had won numerous martial art competitions.
“We are collaborating with Northern Lights Private School to train our youngsters on three core values: discipline, health and protection.
“Without discipline, no matter how ambitious we are, we will face a lot of hardships and we won’t pull through.
“Without great health, we will not be fit to proceed and achieve our ambitions.
“Without protection through our martial arts, we will face a lot of dangers.
“Hence, the academy’s instructors and I are on a mission to train our younger generation to be prepared for the future,” said Dennis, a third-dan black belt holder.
South Seberang Perai district education director Mohamad Dzaiuddin Mat Saad congratulated NLPS on its success and grand opening ceremony.
He said the establishment of NLPS would further boost south Seberang Perai, which has a sports school in Simpang Ampat, namely SMK Mutiara Impian which is famous for its football, hockey and sepak takraw prowess.
NLPS principal Michael Ng said the school’s group of educators shared a common mission with a strong willingness, desire and enthusiasm to train human capital for the future.
“NLPS is English-based, using the Malaysian national curriculum leading to SPM. Our top priority is on attitude development and discipline.
“Our common goal is to produce all-rounded students who are adaptable to the demanding expectations of society.
“Other than academic achievements, life and success skills are emphasised,” Michael stressed in his speech.
NLPS executive director Lee Hong Lock said NLPS is embarking on a journey to be the leading school of choice in the region.
On the name of the school, he explained that northern lights, also known as Aurora Borealis, are beautiful dancing lights visible only in regions near the Artic circle.
He said its unique natural phenomenon gives us this beauty of nature.
“As we see the beauty of the northern lights is in its free-form and unpredictability, likewise we see the beauty and what makes a child special in his uniqueness like no others!
“That’s what NLPS is, the place that harnesses the potential, nurtures and produces the marvellous ‘Little Northern Lights,’” he explained.
Story by K.H. Ong
Pix by Muhamad Amir Irsyad Omar
