, motto_translation = Strong and Faithful , streetaddress = Green Lane, , city = George Town , state =

Penang Penang ( ms, Pulau Pinang, is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the M ...

, postcode = 11600 , country =

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...

, coordinates = , type = National secondary school , religion =

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

, denomination =

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Brit ...

, established = , founder = Rev. Robert Sparke Hutchings , district = Northeast Penang Island , educational_authority = PPD Timur Laut , session = Morning , school_code = PEB1094 , principal = Syed Sultan bin Syed Oothuman , teaching_staff = 85 , grades_label = Forms , grades = 1-6 , gender =

Male Male (symbol: ♂) is the sex of an organism that produces the gamete (sex cell) known as sperm, which fuses with the larger female gamete, or ovum, in the process of fertilization. A male organism cannot reproduce sexually without access to ...

Co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...

( Form 6) , colours =

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

and Azure , website = , logo_size = 200px , students = 914 , enrollment_as_of = 2022 , free_text = PFS , pushpin_map_caption = Location within George Town. The purple zone denotes the city's

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

. Penang Free School (PFS), located at Green Lane in George Town,

, is the oldest English-medium school in

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...

. Founded in 1816, its academic achievements lead to its inclusion in the Malaysian Ministry of Education's

Cluster School The Cluster School of Excellence is a merit system implemented in Malaysia granted to high achieving schools which are in turn given wider autonomy in administration and additional allocation for advancement of specific fields like academics, spo ...

and High Performance School systems. This

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

has been an

all-boys school Single-sex education, also known as single-gender education and gender-isolated education, is the practice of conducting education with male and female students attending separate classes, perhaps in separate buildings or schools. The practice of ...

since its inception, although girls are now admitted for Form 6. In addition, the school has produced several notable Malaysian and

Singaporean Singaporeans, or the Singaporean people, refers to citizens or people who identify with the sovereign island city-state of Singapore. Singapore is a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-lingual country. Singaporeans of Chinese, Malay, Ind ...

personalities, including

Tunku Abdul Rahman Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj ibni Almarhum Sultan Abdul Hamid Halim Shah ( ms, ‏تونكو عبد الرحمن ڤوترا الحاج ابن سلطان عبد الحميد حليم شاه, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; 8 Febru ...

, P. Ramlee, Wu Lien-teh and

Wee Chong Jin Wee Chong Jin (; 28 September 1917 – 5 June 2005) was a Malayan-born Singaporean judge who served as the first chief justice of Singapore between 1963 and 1990, appointed by President Yusof Ishak. Born in Penang, Malaysia, he was the firs ...

; its alumni are known as the 'Old Frees'. Penang Free School maintains its historical rivalry with

St. Xavier's Institution , motto_translation = Labour Conquers All , streetaddress = Farquhar Street, , city = George Town , state = Penang , postcode = 10200 , country = Ma ...

, another school in George Town which also claims the honour of being Malaysia's oldest school.

History

The establishment of a free school''' that was open to all ethnicities was first mooted by a committee led by Rev. Robert Sparke Hutchings in 1816. It was initially proposed that a boarding school would be built to provide education and daily care for orphans and the poor, and that the boarding school would consist of two blocks, one for male students and another for girls. Local Asian children would be taught in their mother tongues, while

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

would only be taught for those who desired it. Penang Free School came into being on 21 October that year, with William Cox as its first principal, and was originally housed at Love Lane. This was a temporary arrangement, as the new school building at the adjoining Farquhar Street was still under construction. The building, situated next to St. George's Church, was completed in 1821. Penang State Museum

By the 1890s, as the school building became overcrowded, a tender was called for the construction of a new wing. The new wing, funded mainly by Chinese philanthropists such as

Chung Keng Quee Kapitan China Chung Keng Quee (; Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: Chhang Kín-kui, 182713 December1901) was the founder and administrator of modern Taiping in Perak, Malaysia. Appointed "Capitan China" by the British in 1877, he was a millionaire philanthropi ...

, was completed in 1896. Another wing was also built in 1906. In addition, English was made the standard medium of instruction within the school. By the 1920s, the building was also reaching its maximum capacity. Therefore, plans were drawn up for the relocation of Penang Free School to a suburban site further inland, while the school premises at Farquhar Street was to be turned into a primary school. In 1928, Penang Free School was officially moved to a site at Green Lane, where it remains to this day. The old school building was turned into Hutchings School; today, this particular building houses the Penang State Museum. In 1958, the then Prime Minister of Malaya and an alumnus of Penang Free School,

, opened the school's Form 6 block, making it the first school in northern Malaya to offer secondary education up to Form 6. More school blocks were added over the years, enabling it to switch to a single-session school system by 1992.

List of principals

The following is a list of principals of Penang Free School.

Notable alumni

* Ahmad Ibrahim **Singapore's Minister for Health (1959–1961) ** Minister for Labour (1961–1962) *

Cheah Cheng Hye Cheah Cheng Hye (; born 18 March 1954) is a fund manager and the Co-Chairman and Co-CIO of Value Partners, a Hong Kong-based listed asset management company with a Greater China focus. In 2010, it was the second biggest private fund managing co ...

**Co-founder, Chairman and Co-Chief Investment Officer of Hong Kong's Value Partners Group Limited *

Danny Quah Danny Quah () is Li Ka Shing Professor in Economics at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore. Quah's work includes contributions to the fields of economic growth, development economics, monetary economics, ...

**Li Ka Shing Professor of Economics at the

Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy The Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKY School) is an autonomous postgraduate school of the National University of Singapore (NUS), named after the late former Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew. History The Lee Kuan Yew School o ...

National University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national public research university in Singapore. Founded in 1905 as the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States Government Medical School, NUS is the oldest autonomous university in th ...

* Dennis Lee **Pianist * Eusoff Abdoolcadeer **Former

Malaysian Supreme Court The Federal Court of Malaysia ( ms, Mahkamah Persekutuan Malaysia) is the highest court and the final appellate court in Malaysia. It is housed in the Palace of Justice in Putrajaya. The court was established during Malaya's independence in 1 ...

judge * G. Rama Iyer **Secretary-General of Malaysia's Primary Industries Ministry *

Ismail Merican Ishmael ''Ismaḗl''; Classical/Qur'anic Arabic: إِسْمَٰعِيْل; Modern Standard Arabic: إِسْمَاعِيْل ''ʾIsmāʿīl''; la, Ismael was the first son of Abraham, the common patriarch of the Abrahamic religions; and is cons ...

**Former Director-General of Malaysia's Ministry of Health * Jomo Kwame Sundaram **Assistant Secretary General for Economic Development in the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) * Lim Chong Eu **Second

Chief Minister of Penang The Chief Minister of Penang is the head of government in the Malaysian state of Penang. According to convention, the chief minister is the leader of the majority party or largest coalition party of the Penang State Legislative Assembly. The chi ...

* Lim Chong Keat **Architect of Komtar, the tallest skyscraper in Penang * P. Ramlee **Film actor, director, singer, songwriter, composer and producer * King Sirajuddin ** Raja of Perlis and former

King of Malaysia The Yang di-Pertuan Agong (, Jawi: ), also known as the Supreme Head of the Federation, the Paramount Ruler or simply as the Agong, and unofficially as the King of Malaysia, is the constitutional monarch and head of state of Malaysia. The of ...

(2001–2006) *

Subramaniam Sathasivam Tan Sri Dr. S. Subramaniam s/o. K. V. Sathasivam ( ta, சுப்ரமணியம், Cupramaṇiyam; born 1 April 1953) is a Malaysian politician who served as Minister of Health from May 2013 to May 2018, Minister of Human Resources ...

**Minister of Health (Malaysia), Member of Parliament *

Tan Boon Teik Tan Boon Teik ( ; 17 January 1929 – 10 March 2012) was a Singaporean judge who served as the second attorney-general of Singapore between 1969 and 1992. At the age of 39, Tan was the youngest person to be appointed as attorney-general, ...

**Former

Attorney-General of Singapore The attorney-general of Singapore is the public prosecutor of Singapore, and legal adviser to the Government of Singapore. The functions of the attorney-general are carried out with the assistance of the deputy attorney-general and the soli ...

(1967–1992) and a founder of the

Singapore Symphony Orchestra The Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) is a symphony orchestra based in Singapore. Its principal concert venue is the Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay. The orchestra also gives concerts at the Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall, and performs abou ...

Tan Hock Eng Tan Hock Eng (; born in Penang) is a Malaysian Chinese business executive and philanthropist. He is the CEO of Broadcom Inc. He was the highest earning CEO in the US in 2017, earning US$103.2 million that year. Early life Tan was born in Penan ...

**President & CEO, Broadcom Ltd * Tan Seang Beng **Director of Spine Service, Singapore General Hospital * Tengku Ahmad Rithauddeen Ismail **Former Foreign Minister and Defence Minister (Malaysia) *

**Founding father of Malaya and the first

Prime Minister of Malaysia The prime minister of Malaysia ( ms, Perdana Menteri Malaysia; ms, ڤردان منتري مليسيا, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset) is the head of government of Malaysia. The prime minister directs the executive branch of the f ...

**First

Chief Justice of Singapore The chief justice of Singapore is the presiding member of the Supreme Court of Singapore. It is the highest post in the judicial system of Singapore, appointed by the president, chosen from the candidates recommended by the prime minister. The i ...

* Wu Lien-teh **Medical doctor and nominee for the Nobel Prize in Medicine 1935 *

Yeoh Ghim Seng Yeoh Ghim Seng ( zh, s=杨锦成, poj=Iôⁿ Gím-sêng, p=Yáng Jǐnchéng, first=s,poj,p) was a Singaporean politician who served as Speaker of the Parliament of Singapore between 1970 and 1989. He is one of the longest-serving speakers o ...

**Longest-serving

Speaker of the Parliament of Singapore The speaker of the Parliament of Singapore is the presiding officer of the Parliament of Singapore. The speaker is nominated by the prime minister before being appointed by the Parliament. The speaker is also second in the presidential li ...

(1970–1989)

Sport House

• P.Ramlee • Wu Lien Teh • Pinhorn • Hargreaves • Cheeseman • Sirajuddin • Tunku Putra • Hamilton

Gallery

cmglee_Penang_Free_School_foyer.jpg, Foyer with trophies cmglee_Penang_Free_School_fountain.jpg, Fountain sculpture cmglee_Penang_Free_School_form_6_block.jpg, Form 6 block cmglee_Penang_Free_School_volleyball_court.jpg, Volleyball court cmglee_Penang_Free_School_canteen.jpg, Canteen cmglee_Penang_Free_School_quadrangle.jpg, East quadrangle cmglee_Penang_Free_School_library.jpg, Library cmglee_Penang_Free_School_field.jpg, Playing field

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Buildings and structures in George Town, Penang Educational institutions established in 1816 1816 establishments in British Malaya Secondary schools in Malaysia Publicly funded schools in Malaysia Boys' schools in Malaysia Schools in Penang 1810s establishments in Penang