AT THE EASTERN end of Northam Road (now Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah), within the weathered walls of the Old Protestant Cemetery, rests Captain Francis Light, who in 1786 established Britain’s first settlement in the Strait of Malacca on the jungle-clad island of Pulo Pinang. Although Thomas Stamford Raffles’ name is memorialised in many places and institutions in the younger sister settlement of Singapore, Francis Light’s legacy in Penang is more modest. His name only lives on in a street near Fort Cornwallis and in a school on Perak Road.

The Northam Road Government English School

The origins of Francis Light School—which hosted historical events leading to our country’s independence—lies not at Perak Road, but a minute’s walk west of his tomb. There, one can find the hulking carcass of what was once a magnificent building, No. 11, Northam Road, known in Hokkien as the goh chan lau (five storey mansion)—the residence of towkay Cheah Tek Soon.

By 1922, after changing hands many times having served as a boarding house then a luxury hotel, the building was leased to the Education Department to house the Government English School. The then owners, towkays Tye Chee Tean and Tye Shook Yuen also supported the school financially with a monthly contribution—a deed done in remembrance of their father Tye Kee Yoon from whom they inherited the property.

The first headmaster of the Government English School was Harold Ambrose Robinson Cheeseman, “formerly of the [Penang] Free School [PFS]... a fine disciplinarian, and keen sportsman and indefatigable volunteer [soldier]”.^[1] By December 1926, Edmund Thomas Mortlock Lias, another Free School teacher, “was appointed Headmaster of the Government English School”. The 29-year-old Lias came to Malaya in 1921. On 21 October that year, the Cambridge-educated teacher was assigned to the Penang Free School, then located at Farquhar Street.

The Perak Road New School

The Government English School at Northam Road was a stopgap measure as new schools were being built to accommodate the burgeoning student population of Penang. On 21 August 1929, Clifford George Sollis, Inspector of Schools, told the press that the “Perak Road new school”, built to replace the Northam Road school, was nearing completion, and will “hold 500 boys”. This was because the building at Northam Road,originally a residential mansion, “was not built for a school, and is, in some ways, very unsuitable”.

“Boys from the Farquhar Street School and some of the pupils in the Government English School, Northam Road, will be transferred to the new building. Mr. Lias, present Headmaster of the Government English School, will probably be in charge of the new school, while Mr. Hamid Khan, Headmaster of the Farquhar Street School, will take Mr. Lias’ place in the [Government English School],” explained Sollis. “The classes in the new school will include second, third and fourth standards. What remains of the [Government English School] at Northam will consist of a special Malay class, first standard and second standards,” he added. It would also act as a feeder school from which “the Penang Free School [would] ultimately absorb the boys” after they completed their primary schooling.

Luceo

The new school at Perak Road began operations on 20 January 1930, and was called the Francis Light School. Its motto was Luceo, light in Latin. According to a letter dated 16 July 1936 published by the Pinang Gazette a few years later, “A small measure of credit ... is due to Mr. E.T.M. Lias, at whose suggestion, the Government School in Perak Road was named the Francis Light School, and he was the first Head Master... While Mr. Lias was head of the [Northam Road] school, he took his pupils every year to Francis Light’s grave, on the anniversary of his birthday. Before this there was no proper memorial to the Founder of Penang except the Street that bears his name,” the letter revealed.

The first prize day was held on 10 December 1930. Lias told the audience that with the help of a loyal staff co-operating with him he was able to carry on the work of the school very smoothly. This was the first year of the school life and therefore there was not much to add. He also thanked “the Municipality for allowing the school to make use of the Dato Karamat padang [today’s Padang Brown]. The Scout movement of the school had also flourished during the year under Messrs. Mohummed Ali and Wong Ah Gnow and the Penang Scout Commissioner had sent a favourable report regarding the School’s Scouts”. An 11-year-old boy named Lim Kean Chye received the prize for reading and conversation.

By the school’s third “Speech-day and prize-giving day” in 1932, Lias was happy to report that “cricket, that king of games for boys, was an entirely new venture at the beginning of the year, but, thanks to the coaching of Mr. Saravanamuttu, a surprisingly high level of play was reached”. He also touched on the academic performance of the students: “The Standard Five examination results were somewhat disappointing, the boys failing to do themselves justice,” said Lias, “but I am not unduly disheartened. More years ago than I care to remember, when I was at school, a master, who I am glad to say is still going strong, used to ask us why we came to school, the answer he required being ‘To learn to think’.” Lias proceeded to invite the guest of honour, Lim Cheng Ean, a member of the Legislative Council member of the Straits Settlements to hand out the prizes.

“You may not think it to look at my grey hairs but your headmaster [Mr. Lias] and I were at the Varsity [at Cambridge] together, a place where, I hope, some of you will go and do yourselves and those who brought you up credit,” Lim encouraged the students. “Now why have I... come to address all of you young boys to-day? It is to tell you to use your brains and think,” the prominent Penang lawyer told the students before handling out the prizes. He presented the reading and conversation prize to a standard three boy named Lim Kean Siew, the younger brother of Kean Chye—the inaugural winner. Both boys—Lim’s sons—would indeed later go on to read law at the University of Cambridge.^[2]

On 9 March 1933, Hamid Khan,^[3] who years earlier had become the first Asian headmaster of a government English school, was appointed acting headmaster of the Francis Light School (probably in Lias’ absence). Lias would later be transferred to become the Headmaster of the Bukit Mertajam High School, a post he assumed on 22 November 1934.^[4] Tragically, on 7 June 1938, while on home leave, Lias suddenly died at a relatively young age of 46 years old “at The London Hospital Whitechapel” leaving behind his wife and young daughter.

The War Years

That same year, Zainul Abidin—better known as S.M. Zainul Abidin—became the second Malay to lead the school. Noor Mohamed Hashim, the first Malay Legislative Councillor who established the Malay Volunteers, told students at the school in 1940 as war edged closer to Malaya:

“I am glad to be able to say a few words to the boys of this school, Francis Light School. What a splendid name for a school... Under his guidance and government, people of all races were able to come here and trade peacefully... I am also glad to find that your Headmaster is Tuan Zainul Abidin. He is well-known throughout Malaya as the founder and president of the Brotherhood of the Pen—Sahabat Penner—a Malay organisation that encourages brotherhood among Malays throughout the Peninsula... He is a good example to you all and I hope there are boys in this school who will follow his example in years to come.”

His words, like Cheng Ean’s, would be prophetic; the school would indeed become a focal point of Malay political unity after the war, with S.M. Zainul Abidin playing a key role in Malay politics.

By the end of 1941, the full invasion of Malaya was underway by the Japanese forces. The school’s cricket coach and an Oxford-educated editor of the Straits Echo, Manicasothy Saravanamuttu—known to all as Sara—recounted that by 17 December 1941, the “Eurasian Volunteer [Troops] Company... made its headquarters at the Francis Light School... while the Chinese Company had moved to Ayer Itam... under the control of Lim Cheng Ean.” The Volunteer Police force was empowered to stop looting in George Town; any goods moved whose ownership was in doubt were confiscated and “stored at the Francis Light School Hall and soon there were large collections of motley goods”.

During the Japanese Occupation, it appeared that the school was repurposed to mostly teach Indian students, with lessons in Hindi, Japanese, culture and mathematics. Jeyaraj Christopher Rajarao recalled in his memoirs, “... by year end 1943, I had gained fluency in the Japanese language while studying in Azad Hind School, the one in Francis Light School Penang... I was selected to deliver the annual address [in Japanese] in the school grounds, in front of the students, public and invited distinguished guests.” The principal was Japanese, while “there were many former teachers of the pre-war English schools.”^[5]

During the Occupation, many students of Francis Light School had their education interrupted, including a Year 5 student named Teuku Zakaria bin Teuku Nyak Puteh. Going by the name of P. Ramlee, he would later go on to become an iconic figure in the entertainment industry.

United Malays

When the exhausted Great Britain—victorious but depleted both in reputation and wealth—resumed its rule of Malaya after the war, it sought to simplify the governance of Malaya. However, the ill-conceived “Malayan Union scheme introduced in 1946 by the Colonial Office” backfired spectacularly; it united the Malays politically against the colonial government, and protests quickly spread nationwide.

Malays felt the Union “stripped the powers of the Malay rulers and the Malay people over their own land, and as a result, sought to erase the name of the Malays from the face of the earth”—as one protestor put it. In Penang, opposition against the Union culminated in an unprecedented gathering at the grounds of the school on 1 June 1946, where even Malay “women and children took part in a political demonstration with the men.” At this time, S.M. Zainul Abidin had resumed his duty as headmaster.

In one of the speeches given that day, Ibrahim bin Mahmood summed up the stance of the Malays:

“We, as the Malay people, together with our brothers and sisters throughout the Malay Peninsula, join and will stand together, living and dying in our struggle against the Malayan Union. This is because we remain determined to be Malays and are unwilling to become Malayan...”

He then welcomed the guest of honour:

“We express our deepest gratitude for your willingness, Dato’, to visit Penang, and we pray that Dato’ is granted a long life, good health, increasing strength and success in all your endeavours and ambitions. Wassalam. Hidup Melayu, hidup Dato’ Onn [Long live the Malays, long live Dato’ Onn].”

Onn Jaafar was the founder of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), which, at the time of the gathering, was less than a month old. The fledgling Malay organisation would hold its third General Assembly at Francis Light School the following month. On Thursday, 27 July 1946, before the official opening ceremony, Sultan Badlishah of Kedah presided over the flag-raising ceremony where the UMNO flag was unveiled to the world for the first time. During the meeting which lasted for two days, the organisation “demanded that the British grant full independence to Malaya”.

Epilogue

The school, through its 95-year history, had helped shape the nation’s future through its graduates. Other than those already mentioned, among its distinguished alumni were Sultan Yahya Petra ibni al-Marhum Sultan Ibrahim of Kelantan, the 6th Yang di-Pertuan Agong (1931 to 1934), former Foreign Minister Tengku Ahmad Rithauddeen, Azizan Zainul Abidin, former president of Petronas and Ahmad Murad Mohd Noor Merican, an essayist and scholar who spearheaded a critical re-evaluation of Francis Light’s legacy from a post-colonial perspective.

Footnotes

[1] Penang Free School’s Cheeseman (red) sports house and Jalan Cheeseman were named after him.

[2] Their sister Lim Phaik Gan (P.G. Lim) also read law at Cambridge, and later became the first female to obtain a Master’s in Law at the university.

[3] Hamid Khan bin Ibrahim Khan (1882–1960) is not to be mistaken with Abdul Hamid Khan bin Haji Sakhawat Ali Khan (1900-1972), known as Captain Hamid Khan, who was Education Minister from 1962-1964. The Hamid Khan secondary school, named so at the suggestion of UMNO, was most probably (but unconfirmed) in honour of the minister. The school’s own defunct website stated that the school was named after Captain Hamid Khan, but the biographical details provided are of I.K. Hamid Khan (who had no military title), indicating some level of confusion.

[4] E.T.M. Lias’ whereabouts from March 1933 until he started work at the high school in Bukit Mertajam remains unclear. He was likely on home leave, although he appeared to have still been in Malaya in December 1933.

[5] The Provisional Government of Free India or Azad Hind was established by Subhas Chandra Bose in Singapore with the goal to liberate India from Great Britain. [See When Penang was an Axis Submarine Base]

References

1. Md. Salleh bin Md. Gaus (2006), Politik Melayu Pulau Pinang 1945-1957, pg. 136-137

2. Mohamad Muzammil Mohamad Noor, “Guru Melayu dan politik di Kedah (1940-1960)”

3. Warta Negara. 3 June 1946

4. The Straits Echo - Mail Edition(1929) “Francis Light English School”, 21 August 1929, Page 850

5. Pinang Gazette and Straits Chronicle (1935), “New English School In Penang”, 22 January 1935, Page 11

6. Pinang Gazette and Straits Chronicle(1936), “Letter to the Editor”, 18 July 1936, Page 8

7. Straits Settlements Government (1934), “Blue Book for the Year 1933”

8. Straits Settlements Government (1934), “Blue Book for the Year 1934”

9. Straits Settlements Government (1934), “Blue Book for the Year 1936”

10. Manicasothy Saravanamuttu (2010), “The Sara Saga”, pg. 111

11. Abdul Rahman Aziz, Mustapa bin Kassim (2009), “Amanat presiden: Dato’ Onn Jaafar, 1946- 1951”

12. Dato’ Jeyaraj Christopher Rajarao (2022), “My Odyssey: Revolutionary & Evolutionary