St. George's Institution, Malaysia

Infobox Malaysia School
name = Saint George's Institution
motto = Honor Virtutis Praemium


established = January 18, 1915
type = Government-Aided Non-Boarding all-boys secondary school
principal = Miss Yoong Yook Yam
founder = De La Salle Christian Brothers
chairman = Dato' Ong Chin Choon, DPMP, PMP, PJ
enrolment = 1410 (FY 2008)
employees = 83 teachers and 15 supportive workers
grades = 1-6
free_label_1 = Abbreviation
free_1 = SGI
district = Larut Matang & Selama
colours = Green and White
address = Station Road, 34000
city = Taiping
state = Perak
country = Malaysia
website = [http://sgi.edu.my/ Official web page]

Saint George's Institution ("Malay: Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Saint George") is a secondary school for boys (and girls for form 6) and one of the oldest schools in Taiping, Perak. The school is widely known as SGI and the students of St. George's Institution are called Georgians for boys and Georgianas for girls.

It was originally founded by a group of La Salle brothers from Penang as a Catholic boys' school. The school is surrounded by four roads, Station Road (front), Barrack Road (behind), Cross Street No. 9 and Cross Street No. 10.

chool Motto

The school motto bearing its Latin, Honor Virtutis Praemium which means honour is the reward of virtue. Honor in Latin means, esteem or respectful. Virtutis means, excellent or courage. Praemium means reward or prize.

History

On 4 March 1914, Brother James Byrne visited the town Taiping, Perak. He suggested to the then British Resident of Perak, Sir Reginald George Watson (1913–1919), for the establishment of a Catholic boys school. His request was soon approved by the Perak State Government, and piece of land nearby the hospital was granted to him. The land was donated by the Kwa Family, one of the wealthy Chinese families of the town. The aim of the school is to provide education to boys of all religions, races and social classes, which still the main philosophy of the school. On 20 June 1914, the foundation stone was laid by the then Acting Resident of Perak, Mr Oliver Marks, and the opening ceremony was attended by prominent European families and prominent Malay rulers where most of them comprised from the State Council Members.

The school was completed on 18 January 1915, with 7 teachers, 49 students and 6 classes, housed together in the original three-storey building. The St. George's main building was designed by a colonial architect from Penang, in the mixture of Neo-Grec and Neo-Romanesque architecture, with two wings and a main porch in front (facing the Station Road). The charming building is still standing proudly today and serves as the school's front facade. The first Director of the school was Brother James Gilbert who served as the director and principal in the first year of its establishment (He later returned to served another term in 1923). The school was run by La Sallian missionaries from all around the world, however it received partial financial assistance from the State Government. After Malaya gained independence from the British Government in 1957, the school continued on as a missionary school with limited funding from the government though it was staffed with teachers from the Education Department. As from 2006, the school is funded 95% by the Ministry of Education of Malaysia.

During World War II, along with other schools in the town, St. George's was closed down. It was converted into the headquarters for the Kempetai. The rumoured brutality and torture committed by the Japanese military police during the tenure of the school is a source of ghostly legends commonly circulated by the students even till today. While the Lassalian brothers were then placed under house detention. Old boys of the school during this period time risked their lives to assist the detained missionaries. The school reopened at the end of the war along with other schools, such as SMK King Edward VII, St. John's Institution, SMK Victoria Institution and SMK St. Michael's. The school also produced significant number of prominent leaders, politicians, educationist and businessmen.

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The Alma Mater

When the school was established in 1915, it consist of the school hall, the school offices, and six classrooms. The school was extended in the 1920s by adding a library, with books donated from the Penang missionaries and the brothers itselves. While, four classrooms were annexed and the Brothers' quarters were extended to include more living space. A small wooden building was erected behind the school compound, and was fondly known as "The Matchbox" by the students during the heyday. The "Matchbox" housed two science laboratories and four classrooms. Beside the wooden building, there was a small garden, on which the Brothers grew vegetables and fruits. Today, the wooden building is replaced with a three-storey brick building which consists of eleven classrooms, two canteens; on the other hand, the old laboratories were replaced by a two-storey building with additional four laboratories added and the tiny garden was converted into the students' washroom and further extended to include a living sciences workshop. Today the premises still belong to the La Sallian Brothers and not the Government of Malaysia.

The Brothers' Quarters

The Brothers' Quarters were occupied at the first and second floor of the main building right wing. In the immediate post-war and pre-war the second floor was divided into three sections. Near to the chapel stairs was the largest section when the Brothers, numbering about a dozen, had their desks, with the Director's desk in the far centre. This was the study room for the Brothers.

The second section was the nicely fitted dining room for the Brothers. At the end was a narrow section were the table-boy (a Hainan) laid out the food, where the food brought up from the kitchen. The small kitchen was situated where the bicycle shed today. After the changes of Directorship, the large first section was sub-divided as the number of Brothers had decreased. The study room was split into a common recreation room.

During the Japanese Occupation in Malaya, the Japanese demolished the Brothers' dorms at the second floor. When the Japanese surrendered to the British in 1945, Brother Dennis and Brother Casimir rebuilt the cubicles, about 14 in numbers. Wash basins were provided for each room and gave some comfort to the new Brothers. Every rooms were furnished with a single bed, a small table and a cupboard. At the end of the second floor was the shower rooms and toilets.

After the end of the last school Director, Rev. Bro. Charles Levin, the Brothers' Quarters left vacant for years. In 2000, a green light was given to the school authorities to renovate the Brothers' Quarters for the purpose of expanding the number of classrooms. In 2001, the renovations were completed and ready to housed the Sixth Former students. While the first floor were transformed into computer rooms.

The Hall

When the school was established in 1915, there was no school hall for the students. It was 1930, when the school Deputy Director, Bro. Sylvester decided to enlarge the school by adding two wings. The extensions were carried out by a French-run architect firm, based in Singapore. The coolies were comprised from the Indian labourers from Pondicherry and they speak fluent French. At the beginning, the Brothers wanted the hall without pillars, with the excuse that would obstruct the view of the stage or limit its capacity. Then the architect said that the hall must have pillars to support the buildings, but Bro. Sylvester who had engineering knowledge and experience maintained that, works can still carry on without the supporting pillars, that is why the present hall have no pillars, and surprisingly the hall is still strong although it's located at the ground floor.

The School's Agenda

For years the school administrated by the La Sallian Brothers just like other missionaries-run schools. On 29 October 2007, during the policy debate on the 2008 Malaysia Budget, the Barisan Nasional Member of Parliament for Parit Sulong, Syed Hood bin Syed Edros, supported by the BN MP for Sri Gading, Datuk Haji Mohamad bin Haji Aziz called for the removal of the Christian cross and the demolition of Christian statues in the mission schools.

The loyalty of mission schools were questioned, with the baseless allegation that they refuse to observe Aidilfitri as public holiday and close the schools. There was even the preposterous accusation that the mission schools were administered by churches outside the country, including the Vatican.

The Member of Parliament also accused that the Muslims studying in mission schools are potential apostates, when mission schools had made great contributions in nation-building and produced many Malay leaders, including Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, the Education Minister himself, the Raja Muda of Perak, Raja Nazrin Shah and the Sultan of Selangor who had been products of mission schools, history had proved that the MPs statements was a mistake and may caused racial tension and harmony.

chool Rally

List of Brother Directors

The school has traditionally been headed by missionaries from the La Sallian order or commonly called Brothers, with a Brother Director in the position of the principal and a Brother Supervisor as the assistant. In recent years, the role of Brother Supervisor is replaced with two supervisors who are civil servants, each overseeing different school sessions.

The headship of the school has since passed on to the laity and is headed by a principal.

List of Former Georgian Teachers

*Brother James Macken who is an Irish now resides at Downpatrick, Ireland. Served at St. George's in November, 1949 until August 1965. He also served as a teacher at St. Xavier's and Director of St. Paul's in Seremban.

*Brother Cyrenius, formerly Bro Patrick, served St. George's in 1956 to 1959. He is currently live in La Salle Home in Belfast.

*Brother Columba, served SGI in 1956 to 1957. He is currently posted as Home Supervisor in La Salle Home in Belfast.

*Peter Reutens formerly Bro Matthew, served SGI 1958-1963 and 1968-1972. He is currently living in Perth, Australia.

*Brother John D'Cruz, taught in SGI 1965-1967, 1970, 1973-1974 and 1978-1982 as Director. He is presently in Rome on a 3 year contract.

*Brother Tiberius Lawrence Spitzig later posted as the Brother Director of St. John's Institution (1955 – 1961).

*Brother Stephen Edward Buckley later posted as the Brother Director of St. John's Institution from 1923 to 1924.

Notable Old Georgians

*Dr. Ang Kok Peng - Dean of Faculty of Science at the National University of Singapore. Elected member of the Singapore Legislative Assemblyman. He has been the Ambassador of Singapore to Japan for three years from February 1971 to 1974 and also the Minister of State for Communication of Singapore.

*Archbishop Emeritus Gregory Yong Sooi Ngean, Roman Catholic Archbishop Emeritus of Singapore. On April 2, 1977, he was officially installed as the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore. He was the second Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Singapore, which was formed in 1972 when the Archdiocese of Malacca-Singapore split and held the office until retiring on October 14, 2000.

*Goh Bean Sim - Vice Chairman MCA Sungai Petani, of Kedah Division. Legal Advisor to several associations and unions.

*Goh Chok Sam - Was a Political Chairman MCA Perak.

*Datuk Ismail Khan Ibrahim Khan - The First Chief Justice of the High Courts in Borneo States, he was the Chief Judge for Negri Sembilan and Malacca, Awarded Distinguished Service Medal. He was also the first Malay to study law overseas and received the prestigious Queen's Scholarship.

*Manecksha Rustim - A Merchant and Land Proprietor, Founder Member MIC Taiping and President of the political party since 1967. Director of Election for Larut Selatan 1969 (Alliance), Member of Town Board, Justice of Peace (JP), Member Licensing Board. A road in Taiping was named after him: Jalan Manecksha (formerly Cross Street No.3).

*Dato’ Ng Tieh Chuan is one of Malaysia’s leading personalities and has contributed significantly to the book industry. He is the CEO of the MPH Group of companies in Malaysia. MPH is the largest vertically integrated Malaysian entity in the book industry with its history dating back to more than 100 years. He was the Managing Director of Pelanduk Publications Malaysia & Asean Academic Press Limited, London. He possesses more than 30 years of experience in the Malaysian book industry, starting at the age of nineteen fresh from school working with a local publishing company, he worked his way up the industry. At the age of twenty–three, he was appointed to the board of directors to manage two of the largest British based book distribution and publishing companies in Malaysia.

His penchant for ‘thinking out of the box’, his love for books, and endless stream of new ideas makes him a tireless workaholic, always looking at opportunities to develop the Malaysian book industry even further.

In 1984, he founded Pelanduk Publications with the blessings of Malaysia’s first Prime Minister, YTM Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj, who named the company. The company became one of the largest publishers of general and academic books focusing on Malaysian subjects written by Malaysians.

His stewardship of the book publishing industry was duly recognized when he was elected the President of the Malaysian Book Publishers Association (MABOPA) in June 1999 and in June 2001. He was re-elected for a third term in 2003, but relinquish his post in September 2005 in accordance with the Association’s constitution on his appointment as CEO of the MPH Group of companies in Malaysia.

He was a Council Member of the National Book Council Malaysia, Malaysian Book Industry Council and a Council Member of the Malaysian Institute of Directors and was admitted into the Academy of Fellows of the Malaysian Institute of Directors in 1999.

He is currently the Vice Chairman of the Malaysian Institute of Management and a Member of the Court of Fellows. He is also Council Member of the Outward Bound Trust of Malaysia and Council Member of National Library of Malaysia.

He has attended numerous publishing courses locally and abroad, including the major Publishing Management course organised by UNESCO in 1982 and holds a Diploma in Company Directorship from the Institute of Directors. In 2005, he was invited to present a paper on “ASEAN Publishing Trend” at the Round Table Forum in conjunction with the Bangkok Book Fair in Thailand. In 2006, he was the first Malaysian book personality to be invited for a study tour of the Paju Bookcity in Seoul, Korea by the Asia Publication Culture and Information Center and to present a paper on “Book Publishing” at the Paju Bookcity Forum 2006.

In recognition of his achievements and contributions, he was conferred the Ahli Mangku Negara (AMN) by His Majesty the King of Malaysia in June 1992. In April 1999, he was conferred the Dato’ Paduka Mahkota Perak (DPMP) by His Royal Highness the Sultan of Perak, Sultan Azlan Shah. In April 2001, he was appointed a Justice of the Peace (JP) by His Royal Highness the Sultan of Perak, Sultan Azlan Shah.

*Dr. Ng Kam Poh - Member of the Parliament 1965, Dr. Ng also the Deputy Minister of Finance in July 1965 later Minister of Health. He was the Minister of Welfare Services just before general elections in May 1969 when he lost his Parliamentary seat.

*Ong Chee Suan - Town Councilor of Taiping, 1965,and was Tresurer for MCA Central Welfare Council.

*Tan Sri Ong H. T. - Receipent of Queen Scholarship in 1931 to study Law in London, he was Federal Counsel in Kuala Lumpur, and later posted as the Chief Federal Judge of Malaya.

* [http://infopedia.nlb.gov.sg/articles/SIP_647_2005-01-11.html Dr. Toh Chin Chye] - He was the co-founder and the Chairman of the People's Action Party (PAP) and served as the Member of Parliament for Rochore since 1959, Deputy Prime Minister when Singapore attained independence in 1965, Minister for Science and Technology and Minister for Health, Singapore. He was also the Chairman of Singapore Polytechnic and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Singapore.

*Dato' Yeap Kee Aik - Graduated lawyer and was member of Malaysian Bar. He served the Home and Foreign Service, Malaysia. In 1967 he resigned from Government post as the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Labour.

Official Homepage

The school's first official homepage was built by Ramon P. Raj and K. Arvindra in 1998, under the supervision of Sujatha Vasanthan who was the principal then. Link at the bottom of this page.

Affliations

SGI is affiliated to other La Sallian Educational Institutions such as:
* La Salle School, in Air Itam, Penang
* La Salle School, in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur
* La Salle School, in Jinjang, Kuala Lumpur
* La Salle School, in Ipoh, Perak
* La Salle School, in Kampar, Perak
* La Salle School, Klang, Selangor
* La Salle School, in Kota Kinabalu
* La Salle School, in Peel Road, Kuala Lumpur
* La Salle School, in Petaling Jaya
* La Salle School, in Sentul, Kuala Lumpur
* Sacred Heart School in Sibu, Sarawak
* St. Andrew's School, in Muar, Johor
* St. Anthony's Institution, Teluk Intan, Perak
* St. Francis Institution in Melaka
* St. Francis Institution in Sitiawan
* St. George's School in Balik Pulau, Penang
* St. John's Institution, Kuala Lumpur
* St. Joseph's School in Kuching
* St. Martin's School in Tambunan, Sabah
* St. Mary's Institution in Sandakan, Sabah
* St. Michael's Institution in Alor Star, Kedah
* St. Michael's Institution in Ipoh, Perak
* St. Paul's Institution, Seremban in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan
* St. Patrick's Institution in Kuching, Sarawak
* St. Patrick's Institution in Kulim
* St. Theresa's Institution, Sungai Petani, Kedah
* St. Xavier's Institution in Penang

St. Michael's Institution and St. George's Institution were founded by Bro. James Byrne.

*International
** De La Salle School, (Singapore)
** St. Joseph's Institution (Singapore).
** St. Patrick's School (Singapore).
** St Anthony's Institution, Singapore (Singapore).
** Saint Joseph's Institution Junior formerly St. Michael's Institution (Singapore).
** St. Stephen's School (Singapore).
** St. Joseph's Institution International (Singapore)
** St. Joseph's College (Hong Kong).
** La Salle College, Hong Kong (Hong Kong)
** De La Salle, Hong Kong New Territories, Hong Kong
** Chan Sui Ki College, Hong Kong (Hong Kong)
** Chong Gene Hang College (Hong Kong)

** La Salle Kagoshima, Kagoshima, Japan

**St. Brigid's Primary school, Downpatrick, Ireland
**St. Colmcille's Primary school Downpatrick, Ireland
**St. Patrick's Boys Primary school Downpatrick, Ireland
**St.Patrick's Grammar School (known locally as "The Red High") - Boys grammar school (mixed in upper school)Downpatrick, Ireland
**De la Salle High school - Boys high school Downpatrick, Ireland
**St. Mary's High school - Girls high school Downpatrick, Ireland

ee also

* Lasallian educational institutions

References

* [http://sgi.edu.my/ Official web page of St. George's]
* [http://home.taipingoga.com/index.htm Official web page of Old Georgians' Association]
* [http://members.tripod.com/old_georgians/OGbody.html Old Georgians]
* [http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Classroom/8373/ Reunion Classes]
* [http://www.e-lasallian.org/index.php E-Lasallian]