Cheeseman and his hall

THIS IS the Cheeseman Hall today, both inside and outside, although I don't remember it being so garishly painted back in the good old school days. I understand that it is still being used for events. However, it was very gratifying to see that despite the Education Department having taken over the former Westlands Primary School and turned it into a Centre for Sports Excellence, the original name for the Cheeseman Hall was retained. The authorities could have quietly renamed it a long time ago and nobody would have been the wiser. There would have been no public hue and cry because hardly anybody today would know who the bloody ’ell this Cheeseman was. In fact, nobody would have noticed it except for us few diehard former Westlands Primary School students on a nostalgic visit to our former primary school. But the fact that they did not change the Hall's name meant that there was still a strong connection with the past.

When I was writing the story on the roads around Westlands, I had inserted an undated map of the area which I discovered in an old book. I surmised the map could have been possibly drawn in 1935 or 1936. Recently, I got lucky again. Just about a fortnight back, I unearthed from the archives of the National Library Board of Singapore an equally old map of Penang. Well, almost as old. This map was also undated but the National Library estimated that it was likely prepared by the Japanese before the Second World War that began in December 1941. Given that the Anglo-Chinese School building (now the Pykett Methodist Primary School building) was opened at the end of 1937 - and shown here as the encircled 21 in red - that would narrow down the date of the map to be between 1938 and 1941. A four-year-window. Like the 1935 or 1936 map I mentioned earlier, the Cheeseman Hall building was still not included in this later map. (Note: In the map from the National Library archive, the encircled red numbers were added by the Japanese – there were 55 numbered buildings in all - to identify the main offices, clubs, school, police stations, hospitals, etc, with each landmark given its Japanese equivalent translation.)

To be sure, the Cheeseman Hall building did not exist when the main school block was constructed in 1934. According to a newspaper report, whenever it was so required, a “hall 80 feet by 20 feet will be available for assembly, lectures, exhibitions or speech days by folding the wooden partitions between two classrooms.” (Malaya Tribune, 14 Mar 1934)

So when was the Cheeseman Hall built? Before the War or after the War? I’m sorry to say this but records are just not there anymore. But my nagging speculation is that the building could have been erected around or after 1948. You see, Harold Ambrose Robinson Cheeseman, after whom the hall was named, was the Federation of Malaya Director of Education  He retired at the end of 1948 after a long and illustrious career of 41 years in the service of Education. He had spent his entire career in the Malayan peninsula, having started fresh off the boat in 1907 as an assistant master in Penang Free School. After he retired as Director of Education, tributes to honour him went into full swing, such as the establishment of a Cheeseman Fund in October 1949 to commemorate his work in education (Malaya Tribune, 13 Oct 1949) and the naming of a road opposite Penang Free School as Cheeseman Road instead of Greenlands Avenue in July 1950 (Singapore Standard, 28 July 1950). Therefore, I wouldn't be too surprised if the Westlands School had also decided to name their new hall after Cheeseman too. The earliest mention I could find of a Cheeseman Hall in the news was in the 21 May 1951 edition of the Singapore Standard. [An update: I have discovered an earlier mention of a Cheeseman Hall at Westlands School. The Singapore Standard of 6 December 1950 mentioned the "Westlands School Speech Day and Exhibition (Chesseman Hall) 5.30pm.]

© Quah Seng Sun 2018