St. John's Institution Explained

St. John's Institution
Native Name:Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan St. John
Type:Cluster school of excellence
Feeders:SK St. John, Kuala Lumpur
St. John's International School
Motto:Latin: Fide et labore
English: "Faith and Zeal"
Postcode:50250
Former Name:Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan St. John
Schooltype:All-boys primary and secondary school
Gender:Male

Form 1-5
Co-ed: Form 6

Status:Operational
Grades:(SK) Standard 1–6
(SMK) Form 1–6
Principal:Sivakumar a/l Thannimalay
Head Name:Assistant Headmaster
Houses:Joseph (green)
Cornelius (red)
Gilbert (brown)
Claude (blue)
Stephen (yellow)
Yearbook:Garudamas
Colors:Gold and green
Free Label:Alumni President
Free Text:Mohd Isham Ishak

St. John's Institution (Malay: formerly known as SMK St. John; abbreviated SJI[1]) is a public all-boys school (sixth form is co-ed) and is one of the oldest schools in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The school is widely known by its initials, SJI and the students of St. John's Institution bear the name Johannians.

While it is commonly thought that the school is named after Jean-Baptiste de la Salle, the founder of the De La Salle Christian Brothers Order and also known as the Patron Saint of Teachers, the school actually takes its name from St. John the Evangelist which is the sponsoring parish church/cathedral which is also located nearby on Jalan Bukit Nanas.

SJI consists of a primary school and a secondary school. The primary and secondary schools initially were fee paying missionary schools and remained such until the 1970s. They functioned together until the increase in pupil enrollment led to the separation of the primary school in 1960. The primary schools were formerly known in Malay as Sekolah Kebangsaan St. John (1) and Sekolah Kebangsaan St. John (2) until the primary schools were officially merged again recently. The newly merged primary school is known today in Malay as Sekolah Kebangsaan St. John.

The secondary school was called Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan St. John, but it was announced in April 2016 that the name would be reverted to St John's Institution, a decision widely applauded by alumni and backed by another Johannian, Sultan Nazrin Shah of Perak.[2] [3]

SJI was among the first 30 schools selected for the Cluster School Scheme when it was first introduced in 2007 by the Ministry of Education, Malaysia.[4]

The La Sallian Brothers and the Board of Governors still hold much more autonomy over the management of the secondary school compared to the Malaysian Ministry of Education. This has allowed the secondary school to maintain a certain amount of prestige. Though the school land is owned by the Roman Catholic Church (including St. John's Cathedral, Kuala Lumpur which is next to the school), much of the school funding is received from the Government of Malaysia.

Site and architecture

The main school building is located in Jalan Bukit Nanas, in the city centre of Kuala Lumpur, next to the Bukit Nanas Forest Reserve, giving it a lush setting. St. John's Primary Schools are located across the road from the main school building. While the Convent Bukit Nanas, an Infant Jesus Sisters' school for the girls, the AIA building, and the Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur are located further down the road. The Fatima Kindergarten (housed in what is Kuala Lumpur's oldest Catholic church and now converted into a community service centre) and the Roman Catholic St John's Cathedral are located on the road leading up to SJI.

The school is famous for its imposing red and white brick main building with Grecian-Spanish influences where it has been recognized as a Kuala Lumpur Heritage Building since 1986, where else it was gazetted as a National Heritage Site by the Government of Malaysia on 21 May 2010 through National Heritage Department.[5]

Administration

The school has traditionally been headed by the Brothers of the La Sallian order, with a Brother Director (like a headmaster) and a Brother Supervisor (like a deputy headmaster). In recent years, the Brother Supervisor was replaced with three assistant principals, who are not in the La Sallian order.

Former Brother Directors

Name of directorTook officeLeft officeComments
Bro. Julian Francis 1904
Bro. James Gilbert 1904 1910 Saw the construction of the Main Block
Bro. Adrian Edmund1911 1913
Bro. Marcian Cullen 1913 1915
Bro. Claude Marie Guibert 1916 1921 Introduced Sports Day in 1921
Bro. Barnitus Kennedy 1921 1923
Bro. Stephen Edward Buckley 1923 1925 Built the existing Brothers' Quarters
Bro. Defendant Louis 1925 1930 Installed the statue of Jean Baptist de La Salle
Bro. Cornelius Nulty 1930 1946 Longest serving Brother Director, built a school hall in 1936
Bro. Amor Matthias 1946 1948
Bro. Dositheus Joseph Brophy 1948 1954
1955 1961 Wrote SJI's famous School Rally and introduced many improvement projects to the school during his two terms
Bro. Celestine Jennings 1958 Was appointed Director when Rev. Bro Datuk Lawrence Spitzig went on leave to Canada
Bro. Ignatius Barry1962 Deteriorating health forced him to return to Ireland in September that year
Bro. Joseph McNally 1962 1967 An accomplished artiste and sculptor, designed the present school badge and introduced many beautiful sculptures and murals to the school Arts Block (Form 5 Block) which was built in 1965 during his serving years. He painted the school's exterior white and some of his works are still standing today. He went on to establish the LASALLE College of the Arts in Singapore in 1984
Bro. Basilian Wong 1967 1969 Cleared the immense debt incurred by the development committee under Bro. Joseph McNally
Rev. Bro. Joseph Yeoh 1969 1977 Former student of St. John's. First Malaysian to lead the school. Rev. Bro. Joseph Yeoh repainted the school to its current color scheme. Introduced Appreciation Day in 1972.
1978 1983 Wrote SJI's famous School Rally and introduced many improvement projects to the school during his two terms
Bro. Cassian Pappu 1983 1988 Served in La Salle Klang before taking up Brother Director's role in St. John's. Build a Form 6 Block called the Tan Sri Dominic Vendargon Building.
Bro. Michael Wong 1989 2002 The last Brother Director of St. John

The headship of the school passed to the laity in 2002 when Peter Yii Sing Chiu became the first non-brother and non-Catholic to head the school. Ending 98 years of Brothers' administration.

Former principals

Name of principalTook officeLeft officeComments
Peter Yii Sing Chiu 2002 2009 First non-Catholic principal.
Leong Kum Loy 2009 2009
Lim Hean Hwa 20092014 Second Johannian to lead St. John's after his own principal, Rev. Bro. Joseph Yeoh. He was a student from 1961 - 1973
Dr. M. Puvanendran 2014 2016 First non-Christian principal.
Manmohan Singh a/l Kartar Singh 2016 2022 He officially retired on 13 May 2022. The retirement ceremony is available to watch on the official St. John's Institution Library YouTube Channel.
Ravi Chandran a/l Krishnan[6] 2022 2024First Catholic principal since 2002.
Sivakumar a/l Thannimalay2024Present
Note1: Brothers who have served as primary school headmasters since leaving the secondary school include Brother Patrick Arokiasamy, Brother Alban Tang and Brother Matthew Liew.

Note2: On 1 December 2009, Mr. Peter Yii Sing Chiu was replaced by Mr. Leong Kum Loy. Under the administration of Mr. Leong Kum Loy, St. John has been declared a Heritage Site by the Malaysian government.

Note3: The administration of this school has been continued until now by Mr. Ravi Chandran a/l Krishnan, the sixth principal of SJI who has started serving from the middle of June 2022. He is assisted by three senior assistants as follows;

History

!Year!Events
1904
  • At the request of the Education Department and the then Bishop of Malacca, Mgr. Fee, the La Sallian Brothers opened a school in Kuala Lumpur. According to records, it started with an initial enrolment of 18 boys.
  • Three days before classes were to commence on 18 January, three Brothers arrived to take charge of the school – Brother Julian Francis from Hong Kong, Brother Andrew Corsini from Burma and Brother Cyril Alexander from Penang.
  • The school building was a two-storey wooden structure, 80 feet long and 20 feet wide, with a brick pillar and a verandah facing the north.
  • Later in the year, Brother James Gilbert arrived from Singapore to take the place of Brother Julian Francis as Brother Director of SJI.
1905
  • On 2 January, a Standard 7 was set up and entrusted to Brother Cyril Alexander.
  • With this new set-up, expansion was needed. So Father Renard lent to the school the house of the Chinese Catechist which was capable of holding one class and also an attap shed near the site.
1906
  • In June 1906, Brother Imier of Jesus, Provincial Visitor of the United States paid a visit to SJI. He later became Superior General in 1913.
  • More classes were opened and accommodated in temporary structures.
  • Finally the government provided a piece of land given to the mission for religious and educational purposes.
  • On 3 November, the foundation stone for the new building was laid by Sir Henry Conway Belfield, Resident Councilor for Selangor.
1907
  • At the end of the year, the new building was advanced enough to be used for the Cambridge Examination for all the candidates of Kuala Lumpur.
1908
  • On 10 August, the new building was declared open by the High Commissioner and Governor, Sir John Anderson.
1914
  • The Brothers' Building was enlarged by the addition of two new wings which were to house the chapel and offices and the Juniorate and Novitiate.
  • Brother Marcian Cullen was appointed Director of the newly formed Juniorate.
1921
  • Brother Stephen Edward Buckley demolished the Brothers' Building and replaced it with the present one, to which additions were made later.
1926
  • Brother Louis installed a statue of Jean Baptist De La Salle on the front facade of the Main Block.
1930
  • Brother Cornelius Nulty served as Brother Director from 1930 to 1946 and under his energetic management, many projects were brought to a successful conclusion.
  • Brother Cornelius enlarged the playground, a project that was started by Brother Louis. He then turned his attention to the building of the hall which was finally completed in 1936 with the provision for two more storeys in the future.
  • Brother Cornelius next built a new wing on the east side of the Brothers' Building, which became the Boarding Department (later De La Salle Institute, now St. John's International School)
1942-1945
  • During World War II, SJI was closed but crowds of refugees flocked to Brother Cornelius for help and stayed in the school for security. When the war ended and peace returned, these refugees organised a scholarship fund to express gratitude to Brother Cornelius and to perpetuate his memory.
1948
  • Brother D. Joseph Brophy established La Salle Sentul, La Salle Brickfields, La Salle Peel Road and La Salle Klang, which were intended as feeder schools for St John's.
  • In SJI, he renovated the school hall as well as built a new cafeteria, space staff room and offices. A modern library was furnished and equipped and an extensive P.A. system was installed.
1953
  • On 15 April, the first issue of the Term Review was on sale. The Term Review was the predecessor to the current editorial board of The Garudamas, the school magazine.
1954
  • In the Golden Jubilee year, Brother D. Joseph achieved his final objective – the completion of the field extension.
1955
  • Brother Tiberius Lawrence Spitzig starts his first term as Brother Director of SJI.
  • The Dramatic Society staged its second play, 'Twelfth Night', and the newly formed school orchestra made its first public appearance at the play's public performance in the hall. Brother Celestine (later, Brother Director) was responsible for the success of the play.
1956
  • Brother Lawrence renovated the school and added 14 classrooms at a cost of M$90,000
1957
  • General Sir Francis Festing, Commander-in-Chief of the Far East visited SJI.
1958
  • In accordance with a new government directive, a Board of Governors for the school was set up and the first meeting was held on 24 September. In the primary section, the Board of Managers held its first meeting on 13 March.
1959
  • His Excellency Mgr John Gordon, Chargé d'Affaires of the Apostolic Delegation of Thailand and Malaya visited SJI on 27 January.
  • Construction of the St John's Primary School began on the site of the Old Boys' Club. The building could accommodate 24 classes and would cost M$220,000
1960
  • On 16 September, St John's Primary School was officially opened by Brother Fintan Blake.
  • The new chapel on the middle floor of SJI was officially opened and used on 19 October.
1962
  • Mr. Ng Eng Hiam, donated the new library in the Brothers' Quarters and founded the St. John's Institution Librarians.
1963
  • The present school badge (designed by Brother Joseph McNally) was used, replacing the old badge by Brother Cornelius Nulty.
1965
  • The Form 5 Block (or Arts Block) was officiated by the Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur, Mgr. Dominic Vendargon on 22 August.
1967
  • The primary school hall, Dewan Tun Dr. Ismail was completed. A special ceremony was held to commemorate and dedicate the new hall on 15 February.
1969
  • Brother Joseph Yeoh, a former Johannian returned to become the Brother Director. He was the first Malaysian to head the school. It was during his leadership that SJI achieved its glory years in academics and sports excellence.
1971
  • The Main Block was given its current red and white colour scheme. The school was previously painted completely white in the 1960s.
1976
  • Awards Day was introduced by Brother Joseph Yeoh to appreciate the service and achievements made by the students of SJI.
1979
  • Brother Lawrence Spitzig returned as director of the school and presided over the school's Diamond Jubilee celebrations. Bro. Lawrence re-introduced the annual English and Bahasa Malaysia public speaking competition to the school. Public speaking became part of the English and Bahasa Malaysia curriculum and was compulsory for all students, resulting in SJI having many enabled and proficient public speakers amongst the students.
1984
  • To kick off the 80th Anniversary of the founding of the school, Carnival Day and several projects were introduced to raise funds for the construction of a four-storey building adjacent to the science block to accommodate the lower and upper sixth form classes. This is the beginning of a series of fund raising projects initiated to upgrade the school and its facilities. Over the years, St John's has been blessed with generous contributions from its generations of former students and benefactors.
1988
  • The new Form 6 Block was built and named Bangunan Tan Sri Dominic Vendargon (the Tan Sri Dominic Vendargon Building).
1991
  • The third and current library was officially donated and opened on 13 January 1991 by Mr. Ng Thiam Weng, son of Mr. Ng Eng Hiam.
1994
  • The sports complex comprising a badminton hall, three squash courts, and concourse was officiated by Brother David Liao on 18 January.
2002
  • Brother Michael Wong, the last Brother Director of SJI retired, marking the end of the Brothers' directorship in SJI for 98 years.
  • Mr. Peter Yii Sing Chiu, the first lay principal was appointed to head SJI.
  • Being a Methodist, Mr. Peter Yii Sing Chiu is considered the first non-Catholic, non-Brother Director lay principal in St. John's.
2004
  • St. John celebrated its 100th years anniversary.
2009
  • St. John's receives its second lay principal, Mr. Leong Kum Loy.
2010
  • St. John's is declared as a National Heritage Site by the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage, Malaysia.
  • St. John's receives its third lay principal, Mr. Lim Hean Hwa. He is a former student of St. John's under Brother Joseph Yeoh in the 1970s.
2011
  • The restored tower clock on the Main Block, dedicated to the late Brother Lawrence Spitzig, was unveiled and officiated by former principal, Mr. Leong Kum Loy, in conjunction of St. John's 107th Birthday on 18 January. The project was an initiative by Megat Mizan Nicholas Denney, Chairman of the Board of Governors of St. John's.[7] [8]
2014
  • St. John's receives its first non-Christian lay principal, Dr. M. Puvanendran. He was a Senior Assistant from 2005 - 2010.
2016
  • St. John's Institution, one of the oldest secondary schools in Kuala Lumpur, has regained its right to be known by its old name and no longer as Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan St John.[9]
2022
  • St. John's receives its first Catholic principal since 2002, Mr. Ravi Chandran a/l Krishnan.

School history obtained

Student

The composition of the students is always of various races and religions, and English is the common spoken language used throughout the establishment of the school.

SJI is an all-boys school, with the exception of sixth form students where it is co-educational. Female students (better known as Eagirls) are only admitted to lower sixth form and upper sixth form in addition to male students. This is the norm for boys' secondary schools in Malaysia.

This school also has the advantages and differences of being one of the schools in Malaysia that accepts the admission of visually impaired students. It has become part of their curriculum, students with visual disabilities should attend regular class sessions like other students. The school has a Resource Room for visually impaired students where it is attended by trained teaching staff and also a club that contains a large number of students who volunteer their time to help visually impaired friends/students.

Co-curricular

Sports

St. John's has several activities and sports clubs that are open to all students, including rugby, archery, soccer, hockey, badminton, sepak takraw, gymnastics, fencing, and others.

St. John's has 5 sports houses where the names of the five sports houses in St. John's was taken from the previous Brother Director;

Uniformed bodies

St John's Institution Cadet Corps

The St John's Institution Cadet Corps was established in 1915, one of the oldest cadet corps in Malaya. It is the oldest cadet corps in this school formed by Lt. Eric Chart. It was under the command of the British Military Somerset Light Infantry during the colonial days.

St John's Institution Naval Cadet Band

The St John's Institution Cadet Band was formed in 1916. The Cadet Band is also one of the few bands in Malaysia which include bagpipes in its ensemble.

In 2005 the St John's Institution Cadet Band Alumni was registered as an alumni body representing ex-band members. Today the members continues their passion through the formation of the Alumni Band, mainly Pipe and Drums, performing at private functions. In history, the band won their first title as 1st place in the "KL State Marching Band Competition 2009". In that year also, the band was granted affiliation with the Royal Malaysian Navy.

Notable Johannians

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: 30 December 2010 . SMK St. John Gets National Heritage Status . The Star. 22 June 2010.
  2. News: SMK St. John to be known again as St. John's Institution, Sultan Nazrin announces . Malay Mail. 23 April 2016.
  3. News: St John's Institution to get its name back: Sultan Nazrin . Siti Nursuraya Ali. 23 April 2016. New Straits Times .
  4. News: ePutra. Azhad Nilam. 19 February 2011 . Sekolah Kluster 2007 . Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 8 June 2008.
  5. News: New Straits Times (Malaysia). 28 January 2011. SMK St John's is National Heritage site. https://web.archive.org/web/20190917210443/https://www.nst.com.my/articles/SMKStJohn_sisNationalHeritagesite/Article/file=/2010/5/22/nation/6318953&sec=nation. dead. 17 September 2019. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 21 May 2010.
  6. Web site: 2024-02-15 . St John’s Institution principal K. Ravi Chandran’s sudden transfer raises questions, parents’ group wants him back . 2024-05-09 . Yahoo News . en-MY.
  7. News: Naveen Mathew Menon . 26 January 2011 . St John's Institution unveils new clock . https://web.archive.org/web/20110127235840/http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/3clkc/Article/ . 27 January 2011 . 28 January 2011 . New Straits Times . Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
  8. News: Rayan Ka Goling . 18 January 2011 . 'Old' clock ticks again at St John's . https://web.archive.org/web/20110930082906/http://mmail.com.my/content/61178-old-clock-ticks-again-st-johns . 30 September 2011 . 22 January 2011 . The Malay Mail . Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
  9. Free Malaysia Today (2016) https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2016/04/23/st-johns-institution-gets-back-its-name/

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