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History of Malacca High School Date and Background of Establishment
On 7th. December 1826, Malacca High School (MHS) was officially established. Her establishment took place just after Malacca was made an English colony on 17th. March 1824 after the Dutch ceded Malacca to the English after the Bencoolen Treaty in 1824. Malacca.
Malacca High School is the oldest government English school in Malaysia.
The establishment of the school was initiated by Mr. Thomas H. Moor who came to Malacca in 1825 on orders by Milne who was one of the educators at the Anglo Chinese College. In his letter dated 4th. January 1825, he stated his wishes to Arundel in London for establishing a school. The establishment of the school was also supported by some influential people including James Humphrey, a ‘Superintendent’ in the London Society’s Mission. With their assistance, Malacca High School was officially established. The background of the establishment of Malacca High School was directly related to the closing of the Dutch-Malay school which was established in January 1819 by Christian missionary during the Dutch reign. The school was closed when Malacca was handed over to the English by the Dutch.
History of Establishing the name of Malacca High School
Malacca High School began with the name ‘Malacca Free School’. On 1st. August 1878, the name of ‘Malacca Free School’ was changed to ‘Malacca High School’ when the government took over the school from the Christian Mission. The Christian Mission had to hand over ‘Malacca Free School’ to the government because of financial and administrative problems.
Malacca High School was open to all races and religious groups and education was free to all students – the reason why it was named ‘Free’. However, Malacca High School was different from Penang Free School (1816) and Singapore Free School (1823) because these two schools only allow free selection of students but collected fees from the students. On the other hand, Malacca High School’s main objectives was to provide free education to students irrespective of their race, religious backgrounds, colour or creed.
Locations of Malacca High School
After the establishment of Malacca High School on 7th. December 1826, the school was located at Personage House – The current Youth Museum of Malacca. In the history of the school, it moved twice i.e. in 1884 and 1931. The move was caused by the achievement of the school in increasing the students’ population in a relatively short period of time.
In 1884, the school shifted to a new building at the former High Court building as the old building was unsuitable for the growing student population. This building was built under the leadership of F.C. Shepberd since 1882 and but can only accommodate 200 students.
The idea of building Malacca High School at the Kubu field was cancelled when the late Tuan Haji Bachee bin Ahmad offered to sell a plot of land to the authorities on recognition of the importance of building the school for education.
In 1928, the new school premises at Jalan Chan Koon Cheng (the current location) was built at a cost of $170,000.00 which included the cost of land. The new building was equipped with teachers’ house, toilets and sewage system.
The 2 storey school was constructed by an engineer in the form of alphabet ‘E’ which symbolises an English School. In 1934, a few addition was added to the new building. The government spent about $5,000 in constructing the Quarters of the Boarding Master, car parks and an armoury for weapons storage and a cadet room.
Early Students at Malacca High School
Malacca High School began her history with 18 male students. By following the objectives of the school, it was opened to all races in Malacca. It was also opened to all students to all states in Malaya then.
In 1826, Malacca High School admitted girls’ students for the first time. Some 65 girls’ students were registered. However, in 1834, the admission of girls’ students had to be halted when Miss Wallaca who replaced Maria Newell left the school for Canton, China. Since that date, the school did not admit girls because of lack of teaching facilities and the cold reception by girls’ students.
Most of the students originated from Malacca Town and her surrounding areas such as Klebang, Limbongan, Bukit Rambai, Ujong Pasir, Masjid Tanah, Alor Gajah and other districts. Since 1826 until the 2nd. World War, students’ intake seldom reach 500 students except in 1907 when the students’ population reached 505 students. After the war, the school expanded. Today, Malacca High School has a student enrolment of 2000 students.
The Hostels
The hostels of Malacca High School was built in 1924 and the principal was Mr. C.G. Coleman. The hostels could only accommodate 60 students only. In 1972, the Ministry of Education had introduced the Student's Special Programme (Pelajar Rancangan Khas). Students in Malacca that achieved good results in the Standard Five Evaluation Test (Penilaian Darjah Lima) were placed in Malacca High School. There were 80 students who were placed in this programme.
In 1975, the school's old hostels were demolished to make way for the building of the school's hall. The new hostels were built at the back of the school compound and it was named Special Programme Hostels (Asrama Rancangan Khas). The hostel's population was 118 students at that time. Another new additional hostel building was built in 1983. The students who enrolled in the hostels at that time numbered 300 students. The facilities of the hostels include the mosque, rest room, clinic, air - conditioned library, AV room and were decortated with a man - made waterfall and a fish pool.
The hostels were named Malacca High School Boys' Hostels (Asrama Putera Sekolah Tinggi Melaka) in 1985 and was named Tan Sri Datuk Wira Abdul Rahman Arshad Hostels, after the former Director - General of Education, who was the school's former student from 1948 until 1956.
The School Field
For the sake of development of sports, especially athletics, and tremendous supports from both students and teachers, the school had decided to expand the school field to be used during Physical Education lessons. From 1975 until 1979, the school field expansion project was undertaken by the Public Works Department (Jabatan Kerja Raya) to an area covering about 5 acres. This expansion has made this school field the largest school field in Malacca until today. Currently, it has 2 football and rugby fields, running track, an indoor hockey turf, a basketball court and a tennis court.
The School Hall
In 1974, the school hall project was approved by the Ministry of Education, but with a budget of RM 150 000 only. It was cancelled then the school authorities appealed for extra budget because the school needed a larger hall to accommodate the increasing amount of students.
With the initiative taken by the school's Board of Governors, teachers and the Parents - Teachers Association (PTA), the school had organized a "Walkathon" on the 25th September 1977 to get donations from the public. From the donations incurred from the event, the PTA, Board of Governors as well as Malacca High School Old Boys' Association (MAHSOBA), had launched the Malacca High School Hall Bulding Fund. From the efforts from various walks of life, the school hall was built and it was completed and launched by the former Governor of Malacca, Tun Syed Zahiruddin bin Syed Hassan al - Haj on 7th March 1981. The hall currently has 4 badminton courts.
The Mosque
The school mosque project was initiated in 1982, after the completion of the school hall. The former PTA chairman, Datuk Idris Abdul Ghani, with the help of other committee members, Muslim parents, teachers and students, as well as the public had contributed towards the mosque project, totalling RM 74 000. With the addition of RM 10 000 from the School Development Fund, the mosque was completed in October 1984 and used by Muslim students for worship as well as religious activities.
Later Development
Other projects that were done to develop the school were done from time to time. These projects include the renovation of the Drawing Room into Professional Room (1988), the building of the Wawasan and Budi block, the school gateway arch (1995), the renovation of a part of the library into Staff Room B (1998), the building of the Pintar block (2000), the additional building on the canteen, the podium (Astaka) at the school field, the repair works on the west wing on the Warisan block that was damaged in a fire in June 2000, as well as the new, two - storey computer lab on the former volleyball and basketball court.
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