Speech Day 2021

This was a School Speech Day with a vast difference! On 21 October 2021, Penang Free School kept traditions alive by holding its annual Speech Day albeit in a different way. There were no physical gatherings in the Pinhorn Hall, no guard of honour for a visiting dignitary, no chairs for the parents and visitors, no gamelan orchestra to welcome guests into the hall, and no School Band to play the National and State anthems or even the School Rally.

Address by Mohd Mahyidin of the Penang Free School Foundation

Instead, the venue was switched to the Penang Digital Library with only a handful of guests in attendance. I was lucky to be one of them. The Penang Digital Library was chosen as the venue because they had all the ready facilities for a virtual telecast of the event. 

Andrew Lim addressing the Speech Day on behalf of the Old Boys

The two presenters were seated in separate areas of the library's top floor; each of them in front of a green screen which enabled various backgrounds to be shown for viewers tuning in on YouTube. Yes, that was correct too. In an unprecedented move, instead of guests in the school hall, people were invited to sign in electronically and witness the proceedings from their computers or mobile phones. Those of us who were already at the digital library were ushered into small break-out rooms where we could view Speech Day on YouTube while practicing social distancing at the same time.

Top was what viewers saw on YouTube while bottom was what viewers don't see

The annual speeches by the School Captain, Harish Jeyarishi, and the Headmaster, Shamsul Fairuz Mohd Nor, were telecast live from the digital library. As for the President of the PFS Foundation, Mohd Mahyidin Mustakim, and the Guest of Honour, Andrew Lim Tatt Keong, their speeches had been pre-recorded earlier. 

Like last year when the pandemic first hit our shores, prize-giving was reduced to a minimum. Only some essential prizes were given out. But I heard that this was also because the school had been closed for much of the year and there were no mid-term examinations. Without the examinations, it was not possible to have prize-winners and prize-giving like before.

This online version of the Speech Day at Penang Free School ended within an hour and we emerged from the rooms still thankful that this tradition of the School, together with the morning's commemorative service at the tomb of Robert Sparke Hutchings, was intact although in a different format. It would have been a shame if the pandemic had forced them to be cancelled.