Definitely NOT a mission school

I received a short message from Anwar Fazal yesterday. "Was PFS started as a mission school?" he asked. And he sent me an accompanying story from a recent Aliran newsletter with the title Mission schools contributed immensely to Malaysia’s education system. Buried within the story was a paragraph that read: "One of the earliest mission schools in Malaya was the Penang Free School, established in 1816, by Rev Robert Hutchings of the Anglican Church." 

After some discussions with Anwar Fazal, I decided to write a response to the Aliran story with the intention of clearing the air about the original - and present - status of Penang Free School. My stand is that Penang Free School was never envisioned as a mission school in the eyes of the founder, Robert Sparke Hutchings. He was a clergyman from the Anglican Church, that was true, but there was as far as his clerical duties went. He never proposed the Prince of Wales' Island Free School to be part of the Anglican Church movement. In fact, he was not even on the island when the school opened in a Love Lane house on 21 Oct 1816.

My letter to Aliran appears below, addressed to their President, Anil Netto. My request is simple enough: either make the correction in their story to reflect the true status of Penang Free School as a public school or remove it entirely. I don't want people to make use of the Aliran story to perpetuate a wrong view of the school. Let's see how they respond.

[UPDATE: Before I proceed to my letter, let me insert this update to say that I got through to Anil himself today (21 May 2021). We spoke of many things but at the end of which the conversation turned back to their mission school story. He agreed to amend their story and I'm glad to say that the picture of the school gate and all references to Penang Free School have been removed. Thank you, Anil.]

Dear Anil Netto,

SS Quah here. I am glad to learn that you are now the President of Aliran. Congratulations! The reason for this email is to refer you to an Aliran story "Mission schools contributed immensely to Malaysia's education system," written by Mr Benedict Lopez and dated 15 May 2021.

When Penang Free School celebrated its Bicentenary in 2016, I was commissioned to research and write a book on the history of the school. This, I managed to complete in 30 months and the book, "Let the Aisles Proclaim," was subsequently launched by the Raja of Perlis on 21st October 2016.  

In the sixth paragraph of the Aliran story, the writer claimed that "one of the earliest mission schools in Malaya was the Penang Free School, established in 1816, by Rev Robert Hutchings of the Anglican Church."

Unless Mr Lopez has concrete proof that Penang Free School was a mission school, I would like to present you with some facts to show why his viewpoint is flawed. But first, some background information.

Hutchings arrived in the Prince of Wales' Island in 1814 and took it upon himself to propose at a Council meeting on 6th Jan 1816 to set up a Native School which would be "open to all children regardless of class or race." In response, Governor William Petrie appointed a committee consisting of Hutchings as chairman and proposer, Robert Ibbetson, Capt John Monckton Coombs, Capt John MacInnes, James Carnegy, David Brown and Richard Caunter. The committee's detailed report was subsequently incorporated into the document known as the Original Plan of the Establishment of Prince of Wales' Island Free School. (Please see the attachment which is reproduced from Let the Aisles Proclaim.)

• It is important to note that Point #3 of the Original Plan mentioned the first object of the school would include implanting in the children "the early habits of Industry, Order and Good Conduct."
• Point #7 said the children may be "instructed in reading and writing English, and in the common rules of Arithmetic."
• Point #8 further said that at a proper age, the children may be "instructed in useful Employments as Carpenters, Smiths, Shoe-makers, Taylors, Book-Binders, &c"
• But more importantly, Point #9 stressed that "great care be taken that the prejudices of Parents averse to the Christian Religion be not by any means violated."

It is quite clear from these four Points alone that Penang Free School was never meant to be a mission school. Indeed, at the school's first annual meeting on 22nd Oct 1817, Capt Coombs presented a report on behalf of the School Committee - comprising  the six abovenamed gentlemen - that described the Free School as a "Public School." (Penang: The Fourth Presidency of India, 1805-1830, Volume 2, pp 232-38, Marcus Langdon)

I can go on with more evidence but I wish to end by saying that right from the Free School's establishment in 1816, the headmasters had either been men of commerce, military men or (British or Malaysian) civil servants. No man of the cloth has ever been appointed to this important position in the school.

Anil, if you find my argument compelling enough, I hope you will take the effort to either correct the story by Mr Lopez or remove it entirely. I hope you can understand my reservation that if other people start quoting Aliran as a reference point, it may create more misinformation about the correct history of Penang Free School. 

By the way, if Aliran wants to purchase a copy of Let the Aisles Proclaim, the book is available from Areca Books, Gerakbudaya (in Beach Street) or the Penang House of Music.

Warm regards

SS Quah

Penang, Malaysia

P.S. This email is carbon-copied to Dato' Seri Anwar Fazal who first brought Mr Lopez's story to my attention and Mr Andrew Lim who is the President of The Old Frees' Association to keep them in the loop. Thank you.