IMR455FindingAids

UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA
CAWANGAN NEGERI SEMBILAN KAMPUS REMBAU

BACHELOR OF INFORMATION SCIENCE (HONS) LIBRARY
MANAGEMENT

IMR 455: ADMINISTRATION OF ARCHIVES

TOPIC: SCHOOL ARCHIVE (VICTORIA INSTITUTION)

NAME OF STUDENT:

NAME NO MATRIC CARD
AIN FARAHANIM BT YUSREE 2018657634
2018698634
ANIM AYUNI BT MUZLI 2018262768
FATIMAH AZZAHRA BT MOHD NOHOR 2019593735
ASYAHIMA SYABNUM BINTI MOHD NOR

GROUP: N5IM2446A

SUBMITTED TO: SIR AHMAD AZMAN B MOHAMMAD RAMLI
DATE OF SUBMISSION:
29th June 2020

UNIVERSIY TEKNOLOGY MARA CAWANGAN NEGERI SEMBILAN
KAMPUS REMBAU

THEMATIC FINDING AIDS PROJECT (SCHOOL ARCHIVES)

VICTORIA INSTITUTION

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

In The Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

There are many people we would like to thank you for their continuous support in completing
this assignment. First and foremost, we would like to say thank you to my lecturer Sir Ahmad Azman
Bin Mohammad Ramli for guiding us through this process with tireless support feedback constructive
criticism and infinite patience.

We are also grateful to MARA University of Technology, Malaysia which provided the
opportunity for us to further my studies in Bachelor of Information Science (Hons.) Library
Management, Faculty of Information Management.

We sincere appreciation goes to our family, for their encouragement and support that enable we
to complete this assignment. Finally most thanks to Allah, the most gracious, the most merciful for
giving us an opportunity to continue our study and pursue our dream, In Sha Allah.Lastly, we would
like to thank all those who helped us throughout the process of this assignment.

Table of Contents
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ......................................................................................................................3
EXPLANATORY NOTES ...................................................................................................................1
LIST OF ABBREVIATION ...................................................................................................................2
1.0 INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
2.0 CHAPTER .......................................................................................................................................4

CHAPTER 1: SCHOOL BUILDING .........................................................................................5
CHAPTER 2: TRADITION & HERITAGE............................................................................71
CHAPTER 3: STUDENT LIFE ................................................................................................93
CHAPTER 4: ALUMNI ASSOCIATION ..............................................................................109
CHAPTER 5: NOTABLE ALUMNI ......................................................................................120
3.0 CONCLUSION ...........................................................................................................................143
REFERENCES..................................................................................................................................144

EXPLANATORY NOTES
This finding aids is prepared for searching and retrieving the record and information of the old school
in Malaysia which is Victoria Institution and it’s history. This finding aids provided variety of
information from a number of accurate sources such as on National Archive of Malaysia. The form of
collection was in document, picture, letter, and many more. The major aimed of this finding aids was
to help researcher and student to enhance their knowledge, find and obtained the right information
easily. This is also one of the method to avoid researcher from having information overload.
Additionally, the description and also accession number of archival material are provided to make them
quickly retrieved the material. Most important, the content of the material that provided in this finding
aids was based on National Archive of Malaysia.
This finding aids also offered description information about the archival collection. Most of the
researcher are using finding aids to:
 Finding aids enable researcher to locate information in a particular documentation community,

series, or archival materials
 Finding aids are more easier to use and comprehend
 As a accurate references for researcher to find the right information

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LIST OF ABBREVIATION EXPLANATION
ABBREVIATION Victoria Institution
V.I. Yang Teramat Mulia
YTM Victoria Institution Old Boy’s Association
V.I.O.B.A

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1.0 INTRODUCTION

The first school in Malaysia, Victoria Institution, has a rich past and glorious history. It opened in High
Street at Kuala Lumpur at the side of the Klang River 106 years ago. It is Malaysia's oldest English
school. At first, it was taught by kids aged 6 to 19 years. It was first established in the Federated Malay
States and moved to its current site, at Petaling Hille, in 1929. In all fieThe Victoria Institution is a
memorial school, as its name suggests. By the end of the nineteenth century, the public actually realised
that the schoolchildren in the state of Selangor needed better and more efficient education. Yap Kwan
Seng, Loke Yew and Thamboosamy Pillay are among those who are worried about this social problem.
They expressed their views to the British resident W.H. Treacher in the hope of using the excess
funding raised in 1887 for Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee.lds, planting, mining and the more modest
life, over 10,000 children have been educated in college. On 14 August 1893 Lady Treacher laid the
foundation stone for a Victoria institution. V.I. History History. On 15 January 1894, eight students
and four teachers including a temporary director began accepting, Rev. Haines. All the students were
originally stationed in a bungalow, waiting for the Victoria Institution to finish. It then became a larger
building with an adjacent roof and a board wall at the intersection between Foch Avenue and High
Street (now called Jalan Bandar).

Eventually, on 1st July 1894 the single building block of the school and the residential
headmaster was completed. It was situated on a one-acre land near High Street (Jalan Bandar) next to
the Klang River. Pending Mr. Bennett Eyre Shaw’s entry from England to assume the post, Mr
Hepponstall was acting headmaster. Mr. Bennett, the first 115 students in I-IV, was in charge of the
new school on 30 July 1894. The fee for education was $1 a month.

"Give me a wise instruction and he will be even wiser" is the motto of the school. It means that
learning is life-long and you learn to die until the day you die. This also means that in gaining expertise
there will be modesty and feelings of pride and discrimination relegated. G F. Jackson wrote the current
song of the school. The "V.I. blue" school is the colors of Oxford (dark blue) and Cambridge (light
blue), both of the two prestigious universities. It was the dream of VI founders that all Victorians in
one of those two great institutions were able to finish their tertiary education.

Moreover, Mr. G. Burgess, former teacher and art superintendent of the school, designed the
school emblem/badge. He belonged to 33 V.I. Teachers who fought and died as a prisoner of war during
the Japanese occupation of Malaya.

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2.0 CHAPTER
There are 5 chapters covering the history of the Victoria Institution, such as school, tradition and
patrimony, student life, alumni association and finally notable alumni. The relevant inforamtion and
detail about the school is stated in all chapters.

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CHAPTER 1:
SCHOOL BUILDING

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Victoria Institution, Kuala Lumpur
Accession No: 2001/0052732W

Victoria Institution, Kuala Lumpur, 1916-1917
Accession No: 2007/0051313W

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The Opening of the V.I.
July 1894

An amalgamation of reports from
The Selangor Journal

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The School at the River Bend

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Block 1

1. View of the north façade (the Infant School) with the Royal Coat of Arms and the year "1893"
on the gable.

2. Mr Chan Hung Chin with his wolf cubs at the High Street (east façade) entrance. (1926)
3. View of the south façade taken from High Street with a bit of Block 2 visible on the left.

(Early 1900s)

1. The west façade is background to a group photo of scouts in 1913.
2. The west façade is on the left as the photographer of this scout group faces southwards and

captures Block 3 in the background. Behind the scoutmaster is the stone staircase leading to
the upper floor of Block 1. In the background beyond this staircase may be seen a skywalk
linking Block 3 to Block 2. (1924)
3. Block 1 as seen from the Police Station on the other side of High Street. In this 1960s photo it
is now known as the Panggung Derama.

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Block 2 & 3

1. Block 2 (left) and Block 3 form the backdrop for a cadet parade. (1899)
2. The west façade of Block 1 is in the left foreground. The gap between Block 2 (left) and

Block 3 ends at a hedge beyond which is the Klang River. (1923)
3. The School Cricket team posing in front of the gymnasium.(1913)

1. The school staff in front of the entrance to Block 4, the High School. (1910s)
2. The cadets on the school field with Block 4 in the background. (1927)
3. An inter-school debate in the School Hall on the first floor. The top of the staircase can be seen

through the door on the left. (1924)

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The Tennis Courts

Located opposite the shop houses in Jalan Sekolah, this 1925 photo shows the tennis courts beside the
Klang River just north of the school field. Today this same spot is occupied by the Klang Bus Station.
The shop houses have gone but their façades have been preserved as part of the Uda-Ocean Shopping
Complex.

The Headmaster’s Bungalow

1. The map outline of the Bungalow with three sides surrounded by the Klang River. (1929)
2. The school's newly appointed prefects pose in front of the Bungalow. (1923)
3. Richard Sidney decides to sleep on the verandah of his Bungalow and converts his bedroom

into an office, thereby allowing his office in the school to be used as a staff room.

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1. This undated photo shows the principal room of the Bungalow after two smaller rooms were
remodelled with the removal of a dividing wall.

2. Prefects and their guests gather on the front entrance verandah for the Annual Prefects' Dinner.
(1926)

3. The Annual Prefects' Dinner in progress. (1926)
The River

1. No distinct photographs of the Klang River together with the school have been located. In this
1928 group photograph of prefects gathered between Block 4 (right) and the Klang River, the
glint of the river may be seen in the left background.

2. In this 1927 photo of Mahluddin, the School Football Captain, the Klang River is also visible
in the background on the right.

3. An undated photo of the confluence of the Klang and Gombak in the early days of Kuala
Lumpur. The V.I. is only 3/4 kilometre downstream.

4. A portion of either the Klang or the Gombak River in the 1880s. The early huts of Chinatown
may be seen in the background.

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Klang Valley Panorama

This early 1900s view was taken from the hilly Belfield Road area overlooking the Kampong Attap
shop houses which face the Klang River. The scope of the photograph is marked in gray in a
superimposed 1889 map of Kuala Lumpur. The Klang River's wildly meandering course is clearly seen
on the map and indicated in the photo. The sunlit façade of Block 1 marks the V.I.'s location in the
middle of the town but, unfortunately, the many trees in the school compound serve to obscure the
other school buildings. That portion of the Klang River which skirts the V. I. is also not visible.

The 1999 Fire

1. The skeletal remains of the porch facing High Street
2. The southern façade with its small wooden porch.

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3. The northern façade with part of the long curving porch most of which has been spared. The
gable above, inscribed with "1893" - the year of the school's foundation - is gone along with
the fronds of the nearby palm trees.

4. The southern façade from the top of the stairs.
5. Collapsed rafters on the first floor beams.
6. The ground floor with the some of the ubiquitous gothic arches in the background.
7. The ground floor with remains of partitioning that were probably of post-1960 vintage

The old V.I. gable with the historic year, shortly before it was destroyed by fire (1999)

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V.I. Headmaster's Bungalow, early 1920s, looking towards the front porch in the background. The
site of the shooting death in April 1911 of a European by the wife of the acting headmaster
Demolished in 1930s when the Klang River was straightened.

Victorians assemble in the brand new School Hall (1929).

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The old Geography Room, 1929.
School Frontage

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One of the brand new labs in the V. I. science wing (1930)

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The School at night (1930s).
School Frontage

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Canteens were known as tuck shops in the old days. This was located in the refectory, the present day
Audio-visual room.

The old Library in the present building. After the war, the library moved to its present location in the
Science Wing while this room became the Staff Room. It is now the School Office.

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The School Frontage (early 1950s).

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The recess is over and Victorians return to their classrooms (1958).

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The Old V.I. Block 1 in the sixties. After housing the Technical College in the thirties and High Street School
from 1954 to 1957, it became the home of the Malaysian Drama Council.

VI Canteen built 1959/1960 (c. 1960s)

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One of the school corridors

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Its lustre long faded, the Bell from the HMS Malaya hangs forlornly and forgotten by all (1999).
Clock Tower Perspective (1999)

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Wall Patterns (1999)
Pavilion Silhouette.

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The Second Pavilion (left) was built for the 1998 Commonwealth Games in K.L., when the school was a back-
up venue for the cricket competition. A couple of matches were played at the V.I. (1999).

Pavilion Frontage (1999).

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Mr B. E. Shaw once walked along these corridors and steps. 8 months after the fire that destroyed it, the
building that once housed the old V.I. in High Street from 1894 to 1929, stands alone and forgotten. (March

2000)

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The School Front Gate (2000)

Front Grille gate (2000)

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Back Grille gate (2000)

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Portico (2000)

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VI Tower (2003)

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V.I. panorama with new 400-place hostel complex under construction (August 2003)
V.I. (August 2003)

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V.I. Clock Tower perspective (August 2003)
School Assembly (2003)

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School Frontage ('04
)

Main entrance with new hostel near completion (2004)

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Mini V.I. Tower (2003)

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VI Canteen, August 2007

School frontage from KL Monorail, 2007

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The School Pavilion with its new coat of paint. (2007)

The School's changing neighbourhood: In the centre foreground is the new school hostel beside the VIOBA
Clubhouse (blue roof). The old adjoining muslim burial ground has been replaced by a mosque. In the distance

is the Berjaya Times Square shopping mall.

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Panoramic View (2018)

The Library (2019)

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School Tower 2019

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The Basketball Court, 2018.

The Renovated Basketball Court, 2019.

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The Science Wing (2019)
Aerial view of school, 1937 (courtesy National Archives).

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The school and its brand new neighbor, the Merdeka Stadium (1958).

Aerial view of school, 1960s, with the newly built Stadium Negara in the foreground.

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Aerial view of school, 1990s.

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Block 1 - the first and the barely surviving block - of the old V.I. complex is in the middle of this aerial view
looking northwards. Surrounded by trees, it sits facing High Street (now Jalan Tun H.S. Lee) and is just a stone's
throw from the roundabout which construction in the early sixties saw the demolition of most of the other V.I.
buildings.
North of Block 1 are the Traffic Headquarters sitting on what used to be the V.I. field. Next to it, with the blue
roof, is the Klang bus station where the V.I. tennis courts used to be. To the east of this station is the facade of
what used to be shop houses built in the late 19th century. Today's Plaza Warisan has now integrated the facade
into its architecture.
The Klang River once twisted and turned through K.L. and surrounded the school on three sides, causing bad
floods during the monsoons. After the V.I. moved out in 1929, the river was straightened and finally tamed.

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