SS Quah's Anything Goes: The Hutchings commemoration services

With only days left before Penang Free School celebrates its 206th anniversary, I've been scouring through my computer for pictures of the Hutchings commemoration services at his grave in the Protestant cemetery at Northam Road. There aren't many.

In fact, prior to me getting interested in this service in 2012, the only two pictures I could find had appeared in the 1949 and 1967 issues of the school magazine. That was only because the 1949 magazine had chosen to record the very first service at Hutchings' grave which was initiated by the Headmaster of the day, JE Tod. And as for the 1967 magazine, it recorded the visit to Hutchings' grave as part of the Sesquicenternary celebrations the year earlier.

But in 2012, right after the kick-off dinner for the Free School's Bicentenary celebrations, I began wondering whether this tradition was still being observed by the Prefects Board. So when I was told yes, I decided to go and see it for myself. Ever since then, I've been going to Hutchings' grave annually on the 21st of October and I'm glad that more Old Frees, notably from The Old Frees' Association, have now made it a point to keep this tradition alive too. Here is a collection of pictures and images through the years.

(Note: The only year that I had missed this tradition was in 2018 when I was in Kuala Lumpur. I was supposed to attend the Convocation ceremony of one of my nephews but I ended up attending the pre-wake of Tan Chin Nam instead.)