Victoria Institution


Victoria Institution is the oldest secondary school in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and was a memorial school partly funded by public subscription intended for the erection of a permanent memorial to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1887. The establishment of the school was further supported by financial contributions from the Sultan and government of Selangor, prominent Kuala Lumpur residents and the general public.
The school reverted to its original name in February 2009 after being granted approval, in recognition of its declaration as a national heritage.
The Victoria Institution is a secondary school for male students only from Form 1 to 5. Female students are accepted for Form 6. The school is widely known as V.I. and a student of the Victoria Institution is known as a Victorian'.
The VI performs well in academic fields and sports at secondary school level in Malaysia and considered one of the best non-residential schools in Malaysia. In 2007, VI was named as Cluster School of Excellence'' by the then Minister of Malaysian Ministry of Education, Hishamuddin Hussein.

The post-war period

On 13 September 1945 the school was the site of the formal surrender of the 29th Imperial Japanese Army to Lieutenant-General Ouvry Roberts of the 34th Indian Corps.

School buildings

The former building (1893–1929)

Foundation stone and early years

The foundation stone was laid by Lady Treacher on 14 August 1893 who was the wife of Selangor Resident at that time; Sir William Hood Treacher and was opened on 28 July 1894. This original school building is located at Jalan Tun H.S. Lee, right next to the site of present-day Pasar Seni LRT/MRT station.

Status of former building after the completion of new building

This building then was used as a supporting premise of The Technical College up until 1950s when new The Technical College building at Jalan Gurney was eventually completed and officially opened on the 1 March 1955 by Sir Donald MacGillivray, the then British High Commissioner to Malaya.
As The Technical College moved to a new building, the building was used as a school again as High Street School, which later moved to Setapak as Setapak High School.
The building then was managed by the Kuala Lumpur City Hall as a cultural centre around 1980s known as Taman Budaya until it was burnt down by a fire in 1999. Restoration works was consulted from 2002 to 2005 by JTK Consult and now functioning as National Department For Culture & Arts.

The current building (1929–present)

As the former location was frequently flooded by the nearby Klang River during heavy downpours, the school moved to Jalan Hang Tuah on 26 March 1929.
Victoria Institution has a clock tower overlooking two sports pavilions at its façade, and a large field, surrounded by colonial-era trees. The VI also has its own 25-metre swimming pool and synthetic track for 100 metres sprint events, making it the only school in the region with these facilities at that time.

Student life

It is a rule that all freshman students are required to join at least one uniform body, take on an active role in one of the school's 50 clubs and to participate in a least one sport.

Rivalry

The VI has its rivals, both in Kuala Lumpur and nationally. St. John's Institution and MBSSKL are the VI's traditional regional archrivals for the past 101 years. This rivalry can be observed during sports tournaments between these three schools. Nationally, the VI also enjoys a rivalry with two elite institutions—the Royal Military College, Kuala Lumpur and the Malay College Kuala Kangsar. The rivalry with the former is apparent in football and rugby MSSKL state level tournaments and the rivalry with the latter is evident in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, a football playoff between the premier schools of Kuala Lumpur and Kuala Kangsar, Perak.

Traditions and heritage

The prefect disciplinary system is very much similar to the traditions first laid out by the school's second headmaster, Major Richard Sidney.
Detention classes and community service are still the common penalties for misdemeanours in the VI, while such traditions are no longer in practice in many Malaysian schools.
The VI is also home to the oldest cadet corps in the country, the Victoria Institution Cadet Corps, the oldest cadet corps band in the country, the Victoria Institution Cadet Corps Band, and the oldest scout group in the country, the First Kuala Lumpur Scout Troop. The First Kuala Lumpur Scout Troop split into two troops in 1933 thus establishing the First Kuala Lumpur Scout Troop and the Second Kuala Lumpur Scout Troop. The official name of the Second Kuala Lumpur Scout Troop today is the Victoria Scout Group.
The VI has annual events such as the Military Tattoo, Scouts' Campfire, Annual Sports Carnival, Speech Days, and Science Fairs. The Victoria Institution is the only school in Malaysia that has its own Edinburgh-styled Military Tattoo.
The school also has its own school magazine and school newspaper. The magazine, The Victorian, is published annually for the benefit of the students. The school newspaper is a periodical, The Seladang.

Sports

The VI participates in the Bangsar zone at district level and in the MSSKL tournament at the state level. Among the sports that the VI participates in are football, rugby union, cricket, basketball, waterpolo, badminton, archery, Hockey, handball, volleyball, athletics, tennis and table-tennis. VI is the defending champion in football and waterpolo at the state level.
The VI meets the MCKK in football for the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup every year with the venue alternating each year between the two schools. Because of its strong tradition in sports, the VI has produced many Malaysian sportsmen including Mokhtar Dahari, Misbun Sidek, Rashid Sidek, Shahrin Majid, Razif Sidek, Jalani Sidek, Rahman Sidek, Foo Kok Keong, Dr Samani Abdul Ghani and Tan Sri Dr Mani Jegathesan.
The school's cricket ground first witnessed an international match when Ireland played Gibraltar in the 1997 ICC Trophy, which was hosted by Malaysia. Eight matches in that competition were played at the school premises. The ground also played host to three List A fixtures played in the cricket competition at the 1998 Commonwealth Games. These fixtures saw Pakistan play Scotland, Canada played India, and Malaysia play Jamaica.

Motto

Be Yet Wiser; To be a Scholar, Sportsman and a Gentleman
Strictly, the school has no official motto at all. The first motto is actually that of the school newspaper, "The Seladang", founded in October 1953. It was selected by the first editor, R. Nithiahnanthan, and displayed on its front-page banner under the head of the seladang taken from the school crest. Over time the motto seems to have been hijacked as that of the school. The motto is derived from the Biblical proverb, "Give instruction to a wise man and he will be yet wiser." See http://viweb.school/seladang.htm.
"To be a scholar, sportsman and a gentlemen" was actually quoted from an interview in the school magazine "The Victorian", with the then headmaster, Mr V. Murugasu, in the late 1960s, in which the headmaster expressed his belief in what all Victorians should aspire to be.
Over time these two aphorisms seem to have been accepted as school mottos, although there have been no official declarations as such.

Houses

There are eight sport houses in the VI. The sports houses compete against each other on sports day. The Victoria Institution Sports Day has been held since 1897, and is widely regarded as a citywide event, with huge crowds converging on the Victoria Institution field in the early days. The houses are named after the founders, benefactors and even supporters of the school. Initially there were ten houses, including two which do not exist today—Nugent Walsh House and Steve Harper House. After the school premises were moved to the present Petaling Hill and the VI became a secondary school, there were only five houses—Shaw, Treacher, Yap Kwan Seng, Hepponstall and Thamboosamy—because of the fewer number of students. However, after the war, with increased demand for education, three new houses were added—Rodger, Davidson and Loke Yew—making the total eight. The present houses are:
The Alumni Association of the VI is known as the VIOBA and was founded in 1922. The games competition between the Current Victorians and the Old Boys is known as 'Daniel Shield' and this tournament is held every year. There is a similar Alumni Association in Singapore, the VIOBA Singapore.

Notable alumni