Video history of Penang Free School

My friend, Lim Siang Jin, and I have just released a PDF document entitled "History of Penang Free School: Ten narratives in mini-videos". This is my blog version of the same document.

The 10 videos were two years in the making, and the few of us in the project - Lim Siang Jin, Jim Lim Teik Wah, Kumaravelloo, Albert Quah Chei Jin and myself - were all from the Penang Free School Class of 70/72. I'm also proud to say that except for Albert, the other four also represent the Westlands Primary School Class of 65. These videos are being used for our "PFS Student Leadership Workshop: Developing a pool of talent" to inform participants about their School's rich history. The workshops were started in 2017 and as at 2019, we have conducted five sets involving about 100 students.

Please forward this blog link, https://ssquah.blogspot.com/2019/10/video-history-of-penang-free-school.html, to as many Old Frees as possible. They may want to tell their children and their spouse, relatives and friends about Penang Free School.

BEHIND THE VIDEOS

These videos on Penang Free School’s history were developed as narratives to support the “PFS Student Leadership Workshop: Developing a Pool of Talent”. Begun in 2017 by Loh Lean Kang and Lim Siang Jin, the series  of workshops is a follow-up to the 150th Anniversary of the school’s Board of Prefects (BOP).

The BOP anniversary was celebrated in May 2015 with a gala dinner at the school hall. Three commitments were made at the event:
•  Initiate research into the BOP (the initial product was a 48-page booklet with 69 photographs of the boards dating back to 1934 and an article on the traditions and raison d’etre of the BOP);
•  Renovate and upgrade the Prefects Room (this was completed in 2016); and
•  Conduct leadership training in the school not only for Prefects but also other school leaders.

As part of the training, the workshop organisers imparted narratives about the school’s history. These videos serve to enhance the stories in a more comprehensive manner. They are based on the book by Quah Seng Sun, Let the Aisles Proclaim: The First Two Hundred Years of Penang Free School 1816-2016. Published by the Yayasan Penang Free School, it was launched during the school’s Bicentenary in 2016.

Part 1 - The founding: Hutchings and the idea of a "free" school

Part 2 - Early years: Adaptations for a solid foundation

Part 3 - Hargreaves period: Scholarship and entrenchment of professional teaching

Part 4 - Days of Pinhorn: Building all-round students through extra-mural activities

Part 5 - War and post-war era: Shock, transition and Malaysianisation

Part 6 - Celebration of milestone: Centenary, sesquicentenary and bicentenary

Part 7 - Old Frees networks: A global diaspora

Part 8 - Traditions and school spirit: Living heritage that continues to inspire

Part 9 - Prefects and teachers: Two pillars of the school culture

Part 10 - Prominent Old Frees: Fortis atque Fidelis


ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
With thanks to the following for the use of their pictures and/or videos:
•  Aliran Monthly (Eusoffe Abdoolcader photo) •  Alpha Moments Photography (2016 Bicentenary photos) • Areca Books (early Penang postcards) • Arkitek Urbanisma Sdn Bhd (artist impression of PFS Church Sq building) • Australian War Memorial (WW2 material) • CapitaLand (Raffles Institution photo) • Channel News Asia (clips from The Plague Fighter Dr Wu Lien-teh) • David Loh (Komtar & Penang Bridge photos) • Facebook accounts of Old Frees and Free School students • Heritage Asia (early Penang photos) • John Hughes (JMB Hughes’ video on PFS school play in the 1950s) • Juni Ewe and friends (videos on the Penang-Dittisham overland drive) • Imperial War Museum (WW2 videos) • Marcus Langdon (George Porter photo) • The Old Frees’ Associations in Penang, Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, and Singapore (various photos) • Options, The Edge (P Ramlee photo) • Penang Free School Archives (various) • Penang Institute (historical drawings of Penang) • Penang Museum (esp early paintings donated by the Heah Joo Seang family) • Romano Archives (WW2 material) • Singapore Philatelic Museum (Raffles Institution photo) • The Straits Times (various clippings) • The Star Malaysia (especially photos and videos on the Bicentenary in 2016)

Wikimedia Commons 
• Allied prisoners in Changi Prison by unknown author • Christ Church by Toby Ord • Dittisham by PJ Marriott • Malay College Kuala Kangsar by Hafiz Noor Shams • Map of “Bengal” from Pope, GU (1880) Text-book of Indian History: Geographical Notes, Genealogical Tables, Examination Questions, London: W H Allen & Co • Map of the Malay Peninsula from A Dissertation on the Soil & Agriculture of the British Settlement of Penang (1836) by James Low • Merlion by fad3away Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/76425142@N07/12948445504/ • Moonrise over Kuala Lumpur by Naim Fadil https://www.flickr.com/photos/naimfadil/10121316715 • Trinity College photo by David Illiff • SS Emden, Bundesarchiv,  Bild 137-001329 / CC-BY-SA 3.0 Wikipedia • College of Medicine Building by Seng Kang • Frank Swettenham painting by John Singer Sargent • Lim Chong Eu by Parti Gerakan Malaysia • Old Supreme Court Building by Seng Kang

Epidemic Sound
• Almost there anytime now - Stationary Sign • Always remembering - Howard Harper Barnes • Bicycle built for two - Traditional • Classical light uptempo 3 - Magnus Ringblom • For your eyes only - Claude Signet • Prankster dreams - Arthur Benson • Run and hide - Philip Ayers • Violin concerto No 5 adagio - Traditional

Thanks to
• Dato’ Andrew Lim Tatt Keong • Other Old Frees especially from the years 1970-72 and 1971-73 for funding and helping out in this project
Special thanks to
• Headmaster Omar bin Abdul Rashid • Dato’ Seri Haji Abdul Rafique bin Abdul Karim • Other Penang Free School staff, especially Syed Sultan bin Shaik Oothman, Senior Assistant for Student Affairs • Prefects and other students

PRODUCER Lim Siang Jin • FILM CONSULTANT Kumaravelloo Thangiah • NARRATIVE Quah Seng Sun CAMERA Robin Dexter, Baptist Doss, Inesh Dhillon • VOICE-OVER Jimmy Lim Teik Wah, Quah Seng Sun, Brian Lomax • STUDIO PRODUCTION Appu Ramasamy SINGER FOR SCHOOL RALLY Albert Quah Chei Jin • MUSIC PRODUCTION FOR SCHOOL RALLY SR Studio • LICENSED MUSIC Epidemic Sound

© Lim Siang Jin (concept) and Quah Seng Sun (narrative and personal audio-visuals)