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14 August 2021

Today 14th of August Victorians Celebrate Founders Day - Victoria Institution



128 years ago a group of 3 prominent businessmen in the day, together with the support of the then British Resident of Selangor as well as Sultan Abdul Samad, came up with the idea of forming an English school in Kuala Lumpur. It was their "foresight and devotion" that led to the founding of the Victoria Institution.

Yap Kwan Seng, Loke Yew, Thamboosamy Pillai, Sultan Abdul Samad and Sir William Treacher founded Victoria Institution on Aug 14, 1893.

Students who go through the school identify themselves as Victorians.a badge that they wear with honor and pride.

There is something special about the school, as the school never leaves you in spirit.

Men in their 30's 40s and 50s and even some in their 80s, continue to identify themselves proudly as Victorians today. Many  of them still take the trouble to send their children to VI to keep the "family tradition" going.

Most Seniors still remember the words to the school song and proudly sing it with gusto, much like the days when they were in school. 

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 (instead of SMK Victoria) 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 (Lower and Upper). 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.


Victoria Institution (VI) has a grand driveway right up to the clock tower overlooking two sports pavilions at its façade, and a large field, surrounded by colonial-era trees (yellow flame trees and palms).

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.

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 at least one sport.

It was also one of the first few schools to have a prefects board, a school magazine and  even a school co-operative approved by ANGKASA
 
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 (performance by marching bands and cadets), Scouts' Campfire (rescue act by senior scouts), Annual Sports Carnival, Speech Days, and Science Fairs. 

The Victoria Institution is the only school in Malaysia that has had 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, The Seladang (the name derived from the seladang head in the school crest), was first published in 1953 and ceased publication circa 2016.

During the Mid 80's it was the only school to have a 16 team football league (VIAFA) with teams being sponsored by MILO, Talasco Insurance, Arab Malaysian Bank and few other major companies. 


Sports

The VI participates in the Bangsar zone at district level and in the MSSKL (Kuala Lumpur School Sports Council) 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.

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.

School 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 gentleman" 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.


Sports 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:

Thamboosamy, green
Lee Kuan Yew (formerly known as Hepponstall, named after the first unofficial Principal of VI), yellow
Sultan Abdul Samad (formerly known as Davidson, named after the Infant School supervisor, Elizabeth Davidson), purple
Rodger, orange
Loke Yew, brown
Shaw, red
Yap Kwan Seng, light blue
Treacher, dark blue

Alumni Association

The Alumni Association of the VI is known as the VIOBA (Victoria Institution Old Boys' Association) 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's include:

Source: Wikipedia




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