Every place has stories. Free School has its fair share, given its history of over two centuries. Below are four that you can listen to. There is also a section on books on the school and Old Frees in the lower part of this page.
The feature picture of this section was taken in front of the school building on Centenary Day, 21st October 1916.
Press button to hear stories
Why the Centenary celebrations nearly didn’t happen…
Swimming pool versus the library
Roads named after Old Frees
School boy on Hargreaves, Pinhorn, Hamilton, Cheeseman, Wu Lien Teh, MacDonald… (Snippets from “School Days” by Lim Ewe Lee)
BOOKS ON FREE SCHOOL AND OLD FREES
Quah Seng Sun, 2016, © Yayasan Penang Free School (The Penang Free School Foundation), 341 pages, hard cover, ISBN 978-967-14415-0-3
Let the Aisles Proclaim commemorates the once-in-a-lifetime Bicentenary celebrations of the Penang Free School. The title was taken from one of the most recognisable lines of the PFS Rally, which was composed in time for the Sesquicentenary celebrations in 1966… For the Old Frees of either gender, the present generation of Free School pupils, the local historians and heritage conservationists and any reader with a more-than-casual interest in the school’s history, this tome represents the new point of reference for all future works. – Areca Books (Oct 2016)
Junie Ewe, 2017, 125 pages, soft cover
This book describes the Penang Free School Bicentenary Overland Drive from Penang to the village of Dittisham in England where the school’s founder Rev Robert Sparke Hutchings came from. The journey took more than two months, from 18th July to 28th September 2016. The six-vehicle convoy drove through mainland Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Russia and Europe, before they arrived in England.
Board of Prefects 150th Anniversary Committee, 48 pages, soft cover, May 2015
This is a publication of record and opinion about the Board of Prefects of Penang Free School, certainly one of the oldest, if not the oldest, such institution in Malaysia or South East Asia. It contains 69 photographs of the board from 1934 to 2014, and a paper by a former school captain.
Quah Seng Sun & Molly Ooi Siew Choo (eds), 2012, © The Old Frees’ Association, 206 pages, hard cover, ISBN 978-967-11031-0-4
Old Frees, in particular via the various Old Frees’ Associations (OFAs), have played vital roles in the development of the school, serving in their official capacities as members of the Board of Governors, Board of Trustees and the Penang Free School Foundation. The Old Frees’ Association in Penang is the mother of all the alumni clubs. It was formed in 1923. The next oldest body was the Old Frees Association Kuala Lumpur and Selangor which was set up in 1959. The Old Frees’ Association Singapore, registered in 1962, was in existence, although unofficially, since 1929. This book describes the OFAs’ history and their relationship with the school.
Tan Chung Lee, © The Old Frees’ Association, Singapore, 168 pages, hard cover, ISBN 978-981-09-4251-9 (E-book: ISBN 978-981-09-4252-6)
Live Free chronicles the history of Penang Free School, the founding of OFA Singapore and the personal experiences and lives of a large number of Old Frees who have found their home in Singapore. Apart from “reminiscences and recollections”, it profiled Old Frees who have served in following fields: the judiciary, the arts, public service, medicine, business, sports, architecture, education and others.
J.C. Rajarao (ed), 2011, 67 pages, soft cover
This book contains two parts. The first is on
the school’s early history with reminisces from Old Frees including the first Asian Headmaster, Tan Boon Lin. Part Two focuses on the evolution of the OFA Kuala Lumpur & Selangor from the time of the Tunku’s presidency (1959-early 1970s) through to the years under Tengku Tan
Sri Ahmad Rithauddeen (1970s-1986), Tan Sri Dato’ Elyas Omar (1987-92) and various other Presidents until 2011.
J.M.B. Hughes, 2014, © family of John Michael Broome Hughes, published in Malaysia by Areca Books, 292 pages, hard cover, ISBN 978-967-5719-12-7
These are the memoirs of J.M.B. Hughes (1917-2011), the last English Headmaster of Penang Free School. Born in Oxfordshire, England, he was an Oxford University graduate who became a celebrated teacher and headmaster in various schools in Malaya from 1948 to 1963. Apart from Penang Free School, his last posting in Malaysia, he also taught at the Malay College Kuala Kangsar and Ismail English College, Kelantan.
Wu Lien-Teh, 2014, © Areca Books, 668 pages, hard cover, ISBN 978-967-5719-14-1
Memories of Dr Wu Lien Teh: Plague Fighter is a pictorial biography of one of the most illustrious sons of Malaysia. Dr Wu Lien-teh (1879-1960) was a distinguished scientist and Cambridge-trained Chinese physician who, at the age of 31, was sent to Manchuria in the severe winter of 1910 to fight the terrifying pneumonic plague which then threatened the world and claimed a death-toll of 60,000 victims. The successful ending of this major plague epidemic, covering a distance of 2,000 miles from the north-west border of Siberia to Peking, within a short period of four months, brought him international fame and marked the beginning of almost thirty years of devoted humanitarian service to China.
Mohamed Hafiz Hashim, © Arkitek Urbanisma Sdn Bhd, 118 pages, hard cover
Written by a qualified architect, this book gives an alternate insight into Penang Free School, describing the past and present buildings from the architectural point of view. In particular, the descriptions of the early one-storey school buildings in Church Square and the double-storey building in Farquhar Street make for very interesting reading.
