The Spirit of the Bicentenary lives on

The Spirit of the Bicentenary lives on in those of us who attended the charity premiere of The School that Built a Nation at the GSC Queensbay Mall this morning at 11 o'clock. Not a full house, however, which must have been quite a disappointment for the co-organisers, The Old Frees' Association and the Yayasan Penang Free School. But for those of us who turned up for the screening, it was the Bicentenary all over again, although three years down the road.

The documentary film brought back many vivid memories for my wife and I because we were there in Dittisham in Sept 2016 to await the arrival of the convoy of 4WDs that had began a 15,000km overland journey from Penang three months earlier. Therefore, seeing images of the St George's Church in Dittisham as well as the stained glass windows bearing the name of Robert Sparke Hutchings really brought lumps to my throat. And to hear Helen Woodman interviewed brought back even more memories.

The documentary moved along at quite an even pace. Nary a dull moment. The interviews with Tan Boon Lin, Anwar Fazal and Marcus Langdon were absorbing, as also the interviews with John Hughes, the Saw brothers and others, which had been expertly crafted into the documentary to tell a very compelling story of Penang Free School. Tan talked about his experience while a pupil during the war years, Anwar spoke of his spectacles and more importantly, gave a brief background on Wu Lien-Teh, and Langdon spoke of his connection to the Free School through George Porter who was the third head teacher of the school.

To those who had not seen this film for whatever personal reason, I can only wish that they had seen it. I think it was a missed opportunity. They would have enjoyed it immensely. Really!

But like I told some people, this film is not wholly about Penang Free School nor is it wholly about Robert Sparke Hutchings and his vision. No, this film is more than that. To me, this film documents the history of education not only of Penang but of the country. And how education had spearheaded the country's march towards Independence and beyond. This should be a film for everyone to see, not only the Old Frees and the present Frees.

I'm surrounded by the School Prefects. Hope it's not detention class in their minds!

Sitting practically in the front row.

Mahyidin Mustakim giving his "brief" opening remarks before the start of the screening. He's wearing two hats as the President of the Old Frees Association Kuala Lumpur & Selangor and the President of the Yayasan Penang Free School.

The audience of Old Frees, teachers, present Frees and invited guests.

After the show. A group picture of most of us who were present.

The school that built a nation

Coming to a cinema near you in Kuala Lumpur and Penang, the screening of this documentary film, The School that Built A Nation, which commemorates the Bicentenary celebrations of Penang Free School in October 2016. 

The documentary in Kuala Lumpur on 1 July 2019 will be graced by the presence of the Raja of Perlis, Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Jamalullail who, like his father Tuanku Syed Putra Jamalullail, is an Old Boy of the School.

The tickets - priced at RM1,000 and RM100 - are already on sale and the monies collected will go to the Old Frees' Association Kuala Lumpur & Selangor's scholarship and association funds.

"This is a good opportunity to reconnect with school mates and to reminisce with old friends as well as to support the scholarship and association funds. Do get in touch with Melvyn, Adi or any of the committee members for your tickets!"

The date for the Penang screening has yet to be announced but it is also expected to be in July. An announcement by The Old Frees' Association is forthcoming.

The School that Built A Nation was commissioned by the OFA KLS to mark the Free School's 200th anniversary in 2016. The production team had even travelled to London and Dittisham. The latter was the birth place of the founder, Robert Sparke Hutchings. In London, the team met up with John Hughes, the son of the School's last British headmaster, JMB Hughes. John Hughes himself was born in Penang.

Here is the teaser trailer for anyone who haven't seen it.

Playing chess in Merry England

It's been a month today since I played chess with See Liang Teik against the Dittisham backdrop. Trust him to bring along a chess set - and a chess clock - all the way from home. But he really wanted to play against me. And what better place to play, he told me, than in Dittisham itself. The opportunity presented itself in the morning just as we were about to leave the Red Lion Inn for the long drive back to London. Might as well get it over with, I sighed to myself, or else I will not hear the end of it from him. And so, we set up the chess board at the Inn and with Saw See busily clicking away on the camera all around us, we played. He wanted me to give him the odds of a rook but no way lah, I told him, the most I can promise you is that I won't use my QR unless necessary. Ha ha...!!

The Dittisham Church

The most prominent landmark in Dittisham must surely be the St George's Church. It stands tall over all the other buildings in the village. In the morning of 28th September, we went into the Church and looked around. Despite its simple magnificence, the Church's history is believed to have dated back to at least the early 14th Century.

We were told that the England flag is only flown during special occasions. If so, our visit to the Church - by all 40 of us from Malaysia - must indeed be a very special occasion. I'm sure Dittisham has never had such a large contingent of Malaysians visiting them before, all at the same time!

This is the main door into the St George's Church. We were told that the Church was already opened but try as we did, we could not get past this door and had to call for help. Help did come and with a turn of the door handle, it swung open! How embarrassing....

This little status of St George stood above the doorway

 At first, it was very unnerving to see gravestones all around the Church. I think almost all of them dated back to the 19th Century.

 This frame was located at the main porch. Robert Sparke Hutchings' name could be clearly seen. He was appointed Rector of this Church in 1805 until his death in 1827.

Looking towards the front of the Church. 

 A faint outline of a young cleric can be seen in this mural in the South wall of the chancel.

One of the windows in the North wall with its dedication to Robert Sparke Hutchings. 

The wineglass pulpit is clearly seen on the left.

That's us on top of the tower. We were invited to climb up the narrow spiral staircase - both interesting and a wee bit dangerous as it was almost pitch dark. But it was worth the effort as the view from the top was breath-taking. We were asked to remove our outer-wear for the climb or otherwise the clothes could get dirty from the cobbwebs and dust. That's why we were all in our T-shirts or polo shirts. The others weren't so lucky. By the time we went down, the rest of the convoy had already arrived and everyone was getting ready for the service. Still, some got the opportunity to ring the church bells.

The Church organist with some last-minute practices.

Father Will presenting his sermon at the Thanksgiving sermon. He stood on the carved stone wineglass pulpit which dates from the 15th Century.

Visitor's book in the Church. Glad to have recorded our presence there.

The Malaysian flag was provided by Dittisham. The text on the windows read; "To God and the Church in memory of John Hutchings and Robt Sparke Hutchings formerly Rectors of this Parish"

The stained glass window behind the altar.

Around Dittisham

A pictorial story of our three days in Dittisham. 

The four of us had travelled to Dittisham by car, a journey which took four hours on the highway from London before turning off at Totnes and continuing along narrow roads to our destination. Left to right, See Liang Teik, myself, Saw See and Allen Choong.

Here's where we stayed, at the Red Lion Inn, a bed and breakfast establishment which served as a grocery shop, post office and everything else you may think of.

 Breath-taking view of the River Dart in the distance from the Red Lion Inn. The car park is directly below.

 And this is the view from our bedroom, overlooking several noticeboards, including one from the Dittisham FC.

 The River Dart very late in the afternoon.

 That's how narrow most of the roads are in Dittisham. This one, directly outside the Red Lion Inn, sports a hairpin bend.

The St George's Church went well out of the way to welcome us Old Frees to their village.

The tower of the St George's Church, which we were lucky enough to ascend later.

Who would have thought that behind the church wall would be the cemetery? Who would have thought that we would be living practically next to a cemetery? Brrr.....

 The playing field of the local Dittisham Football Club.

Our morning walk took us past several beautiful cottages and houses.

The pub at the Red Lion Inn.

 Breakfast fare

After breakfast, we suddenly discovered that someone had raised the England flag on top the church tower. It wasn't there when we went for our walk earlier.

Down this road we would go for lunch at the Anchor Stone Cafe which was right beside the River Dart.

Fancy owning a house in rural Dittisham? It's only a cool STG500,000.