The Tiger Spirit roars
Saturday, August 21, 2010
6:28 PM
Posted by
AZNAN
I am proud to be an old Edwardian. I started going to King Edward VII School in 1962 when I joined Special Malay Class 1 (SMC1) after 4 years in Malay primary school in Taiping.
Located in the mining and heritage town of Taiping, the school has long years of history. It first began as a Central School in 1883. The traces of history can still be seen in some of the school buildings in Upper Stephen Road which reflect colonial architecture. In fact, the present primary school along Station Road was a former railway station. Opened by the then Sultan of Perak in 1906, the school was named after King Edward VII who succeeded to the throne of England in 1901. When I was in London in mid 1990s I realized that some public schools in England resembled that of my school in terms of their architecture.
In the past since its beginning, the headmasters of the school used to be British. The first headmaster was R.F. Stainer. When I went to secondary school in 1965, the school was already headed by a Malaysian, Mr. Long Heng Hua. A graduate of the University of Malaya, he was in fact, the first local to be appointed as its principal. The school prides itself of the Tiger logo and its motto, Magni Nominis Umbra, which means under the Shadow of the Great.
The thing I remember most about my school is the quality of its teachers. They were not only dedicated and committed to teaching but were also real sources of inspiration and motivation. Most of them were strict disciplinarians, which explained why we, students, had no choice but to focus attention in our studies.Of course, there was also time to play and to run around in the field. Many of the teachers, particularly the English language teachers were trained in Kerby or Brinsford Lodge in England. We also had British volunteers directly imported from United Kingdom. Others were trained in Raffles College in Singapore and University of Malaya (in Singapore then).
Some of my favorite teachers were Miss Khoo (unfortunately I could not remember her full name) who was my form teacher in SMC1 and SMC2 , and Mr. Rahmat Ali who taught me English language when I was in forms1 and 2. Mr.Lim Swee Chin (whose brother was a popular politician of the day Mr. Lim Swee Aun) taught me Geography in forms 4 and 5 but he was such a fierce-looking teacher that most of my classmates were so scared of him. Our History master was known by the nick name "Junjong", a Punjabi, who was also the school's senior assistant.
My other favorite teacher was Raja Mahtra Raja Kamaralzaman (the daughter of the Raja Di Hilir of Perak then) who taught me English Literature in form five. She was my form teacher later when I went to form six. She too was an old Edwardian who earned both bachelor's and master's degree from Victoria University, New Zealand. Two other teachers who taught me Malay language and Malay literature in forms 5 and 6 were Miss Rabitah and Miss Arfah Aziz respectively. Miss Rabitah was a graduate of University of Malaya and Miss Arfah graduated from Toronto University, Canada. Miss Arfah later on acquired her doctorate and left the school to join the Ministry of Education.
My interest to go into communication field later in my life was actually inspired by all these teachers.
The unique thing about my school was the multiracial character. This was not surprising because of its location in Taiping, a multiracial town itself. Being a multiracial school we have learned to tolerate among various races at young age. The multiracial nature gave us the atmosphere of a healthy competition in our class. I remember those days having to compete with some of the bright Chinese students from wealthy background. If you are talking about "1Malaysia concept" it was in fact there already in the 1960s.
We also had students from the rural areas outside Taiping who were housed in the school's hostel. I remember some of my classmates who hailed from as far as Batu Kurau and Selama. These were bright students who later on went to university and became engineers, doctors, lawyers and professionals. The school was popular for rugby and our rival in the game was Malay College Kuala Kangsar, a boarding school mainly populated by the elites.
Indeed, the past headmasters or principals, teachers and students had all contributed to making King Edward VII School or KEVII for what it had proudly stood... Today the Tiger spirit still roars...
Located in the mining and heritage town of Taiping, the school has long years of history. It first began as a Central School in 1883. The traces of history can still be seen in some of the school buildings in Upper Stephen Road which reflect colonial architecture. In fact, the present primary school along Station Road was a former railway station. Opened by the then Sultan of Perak in 1906, the school was named after King Edward VII who succeeded to the throne of England in 1901. When I was in London in mid 1990s I realized that some public schools in England resembled that of my school in terms of their architecture.
In the past since its beginning, the headmasters of the school used to be British. The first headmaster was R.F. Stainer. When I went to secondary school in 1965, the school was already headed by a Malaysian, Mr. Long Heng Hua. A graduate of the University of Malaya, he was in fact, the first local to be appointed as its principal. The school prides itself of the Tiger logo and its motto, Magni Nominis Umbra, which means under the Shadow of the Great.
The thing I remember most about my school is the quality of its teachers. They were not only dedicated and committed to teaching but were also real sources of inspiration and motivation. Most of them were strict disciplinarians, which explained why we, students, had no choice but to focus attention in our studies.Of course, there was also time to play and to run around in the field. Many of the teachers, particularly the English language teachers were trained in Kerby or Brinsford Lodge in England. We also had British volunteers directly imported from United Kingdom. Others were trained in Raffles College in Singapore and University of Malaya (in Singapore then).
Some of my favorite teachers were Miss Khoo (unfortunately I could not remember her full name) who was my form teacher in SMC1 and SMC2 , and Mr. Rahmat Ali who taught me English language when I was in forms1 and 2. Mr.Lim Swee Chin (whose brother was a popular politician of the day Mr. Lim Swee Aun) taught me Geography in forms 4 and 5 but he was such a fierce-looking teacher that most of my classmates were so scared of him. Our History master was known by the nick name "Junjong", a Punjabi, who was also the school's senior assistant.
My other favorite teacher was Raja Mahtra Raja Kamaralzaman (the daughter of the Raja Di Hilir of Perak then) who taught me English Literature in form five. She was my form teacher later when I went to form six. She too was an old Edwardian who earned both bachelor's and master's degree from Victoria University, New Zealand. Two other teachers who taught me Malay language and Malay literature in forms 5 and 6 were Miss Rabitah and Miss Arfah Aziz respectively. Miss Rabitah was a graduate of University of Malaya and Miss Arfah graduated from Toronto University, Canada. Miss Arfah later on acquired her doctorate and left the school to join the Ministry of Education.
My interest to go into communication field later in my life was actually inspired by all these teachers.
The unique thing about my school was the multiracial character. This was not surprising because of its location in Taiping, a multiracial town itself. Being a multiracial school we have learned to tolerate among various races at young age. The multiracial nature gave us the atmosphere of a healthy competition in our class. I remember those days having to compete with some of the bright Chinese students from wealthy background. If you are talking about "1Malaysia concept" it was in fact there already in the 1960s.
We also had students from the rural areas outside Taiping who were housed in the school's hostel. I remember some of my classmates who hailed from as far as Batu Kurau and Selama. These were bright students who later on went to university and became engineers, doctors, lawyers and professionals. The school was popular for rugby and our rival in the game was Malay College Kuala Kangsar, a boarding school mainly populated by the elites.
Indeed, the past headmasters or principals, teachers and students had all contributed to making King Edward VII School or KEVII for what it had proudly stood... Today the Tiger spirit still roars...
Hello Tiger,
Nama saya Adnan Haris, from Taiping and used to be an old edwardian.
my blog: http://nandros.blogspot.com