WESTLANDS SCHOOL does not exist anymore. Due to dwindling student population, the Education Department had converted the school into the Westlands Centre for Sports Excellence in 1992. Today, the place is also the home to the Penang Schools Sports Council (MSSPP).
When we visited the Westlands grounds on the afternoon of 12 Mar 2018, we found the place empty and serene. Obviously, no boys were running along the corridors or making the usual noise in the classrooms. This perhaps contributed to the nostalgia of visiting this old haunt.
The main building is almost the same as 50 to 60 years ago except for trees now lining the road from the entrance to the Cheeseman Hall.
The school bell remains hung on the first floor of the building above the porch. I wonder what it is used for nowadays....
This is the back of the school. In the old days, there was a one-storey structure in place of the present-day four-storey building. The canteen was located here, together with the toilets and the staff quarters.
The playing field is almost the same except for the presence of a permanent row of white canopies that are hidden by the trees to the left of the picture. In the old days, makeshift tents for the school Houses would be erected at the far end of the field during the annual Sports Day.
This is the Cheeseman Hall, named after Harold Cheeseman who became the Director of Education in Malaya immediately after the end of the Second World War.
The inside of the Cheeseman Hall today. The old school crest is still there above the stage although the position of the
W and
S have been switched around, and the motto had been changed to “Berusaha” to reflect the national language.
Interestingly, the background of the board that says “Dewan Cheeseman” is in red. If I remember correctly, red is the official colour of Cheeseman House at Penang Free School where Cheeseman started his illustrious teaching career in the Straits Settlements in 1907.
-- Quah Seng Sun --
This is the Cheeseman Hall, named after Harold Cheeseman who became the Director of Education in Malaya immediately after the end of the Second World War.
