RECSAM 50th Anniversary Coffee Table Book

13 Looking Back 2 The Seventies From 8 to 12 October 1970, the fi rst meeting of the Governing Board of RECSAM was convened in Penang and the elected Chairman was Mr. Ishak bin Haji Pateh Akhir, then the Deputy Secretary General of the Ministry of Education, Malaysia. On 9 September 1971, the foundation stone for the construction of Phase I Building, consisting of two hostel blocks of 60 rooms, a dining hall, of fi ce accommodation and 6 classrooms, 5 units of staff quarters and 10 units of workers’ quarters was laid. The construction was completed in June 1972 at a cost of US$485,985.00. This gave RECSAM its fi rst permanent base with up-to-date facilities. December 1971 saw the formal signing of the RECSAM agreement between SEAMEO and the Government of Malaysia which gave the Centre its legal personality and also the privileges and immunities accorded by the host government. In January 1972, the Enabling Instrument of RECSAM was approved and adopted by the Council at their 7 th Ministerial Conference in Vientiane, Laos. It legalised the status of the Governing Board of RECSAM consisting of members representing their respective Ministers of Education, in its function as the policy- making body. On 8 September 1972, the Governing Board reviewed the phase II construction project and recommended the construction of another two hostel blocks of 60 rooms under phase IIA. The constructionwas completed in 12months in December 1973 at an estimated cost of US$230,000. On 29 June 1973, the Letter of Agreement for the construction of Phase IIB was