The government stepped in with a temporary solution by leasing a grand building at 11 Northam Road, which had formerly been the Hotel Norman and much later, a Chinese girls' school. This space was converted into the Northam Road Government English School—an extension of Penang Free School, so it seemed—and intended to ease the overcrowding until new school buildings could be constructed. The new school could accommodate up to 600 children in its primary classes. HR Cheeseman, formerly a senior master in the Free School, became the first headmaster. He was well known for his strict but fair discipline, passion for sports and tireless dedication.
The building had a large compound with enough space for drills and even a football match. It was leased from Thye Chee Tean and Tye Shook Yuen, executors of the estate of Tye Kee Yoon, a former Chinese Consul in Penang. In his will, Tye Kee Yoon had left funds for charitable causes, and his estate pledged $50 monthly to the school’s funds as long as the lease was in place.
Tye Kee Yoon's estate wasn’t the only benefactor of the Northam Road school. Four years after its opening, Cheeseman, by then promoted to Inspector of Schools in Penang, wrote a letter to the Penang Gazette and Straits Chronicle (22 June 1926), to publicly thank Lim Gim Kang and Lim Gim Hoe of Gim Lee Estate, Kulim, who had "offered to give annually, in memory of their father, the late Mr Lim Mah Yeow, the sum of three hundred dollars to be devoted to the purchase of prizes and library books for the Government English School, Northam Road, Penang. This generous gift is much appreciated and has been gratefully accepted.”
For a time, opening the Northam Road Government English School helped ease the schooling congestion in Penang. But barely four years later, the government was forced to open more temporary schools to meet the demand. One of these was the Farquhar Street Government English School, which functioned for four years.
There’s scant information about this temporary school except that the double-storey building was located at the junction of Farquhar Street and Love Lane. When it opened in 1926, it relieved the Northam Road Government English School of some 210 pupils. Initially, there were six classes, consisting of one Standard III, two Standard IV and three Standard V. Three of the classes were upstairs and three downstairs, with 35 boys allotted to each class. The school's most famous pupil was Lim Chong Eu, the future second Chief Minister of Penang. After finishing his Standard IV here, the young Chong Eu went to Hutchings School before eventually joining Penang Free School. When the Francis Light School opened on Perak Road in January 1930, the boys from the Farquhar Street Government English School were absorbed there en masse. The temporary school was then closed, and the building returned to the Roman Catholic Mission.
Meanwhile, the government pressed ahead with its long-term plans. The new school facilities in Green Lane, known today as Penang Free School, its construction long delayed owing to financial depression, finally materialised. The older boys from the Free School were transferred there in 1928, leaving the Farquhar Street premises—now renamed as Hutchings' School by The Old Frees' Association—for the younger pupils. Two additional schools were also constructed for elementary education: Francis Light School in 1930 as mentioned above and Westlands School in 1935. These new schools provided ample playgrounds and gave the boys plenty of space to run, play and enjoy their breaks.
All these efforts, back in the 1920s and 1930s, helped ease the overcrowding crisis that plagued Penang’s schools for years.
© Quah Seng Sun 2024
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This story is based on a newspaper clipping from The Straits Echo (Mail Edition), dated 22 August 1922, plus other inputs, including:
- Pinang Gazette and Straits Chronicle, 1 July 1921
- The Straits Echo (Mail Edition), 19 January 1926
- The Straits Echo (Mail Edition), 21 August 1929
- Sunday Tribune, 19 December 1937
