School Library

The PFS library is called Khazanah Tunku. The 2 storey building can fit an olympic swimming pool and houses a small collection of books. It is located at the fringe of the school field and next to the scout den.

The main entrance opens to a large counter, decorated by the top recommended books.
A few computers dot the floor and a dozen or so study table fill the ground floor.

The library holds just about 1000 books, most of from the ancient times. There has recently been some additions to the library, but in terms of content, the library has a long way to go before being capable of encouraging the reading habit.

The library is run by the Board of Librarians who man the counters and upkeep the building.

A number of stories in PFS originate from the library. A large portrait of the late Tunku Abdul Rahman watches over the entire library. It is purported that some students have seen his eyes move. Also, there is supposedly a tunnel in the library, leading to the school hall. A few people have admitted to seeing the entrance, now seal.

Lompat Pagar

Lompat Pagar is Malay for Jumping the Fence. In literal meaning, cutting class by jumping over the school fence. As in every other proper boy school, what disciplinary rules will not be complete without one the rules on skipping class. As far as I am aware, I am not! I haven't been informed about the school's policy on cutting classes.

Well, in your student life, you should have friends or yourself at somepoint, explored the art of cutting class. Here are a few methods in which I know of cutting class in PFS!

1. The basket ball court. The basket ball court is located such that a hole in the fence leads directly out of the school. Just make sure that no ones watching!
2. The KH blocks are have fences which lead out of the school into the carpark opposite McDonalds.The cover and the secluded nature of the area makes it favourite. Just get a tall chair and you are out of the school!
3. Hostel. The hostel has a backdoor which leads to the housing estates behind. The doors are usually locked during school hours but a short climb over the walls make a fast escape.
4. When you get a car, do like I did. I drove a car full of students in uniform out of the school as the Headmaster watched as we sped off out the main gate. (I can't say I was proud. Must have been a good reason why.)
5. The other small gates. Usually these gates are locked during school hours but near the last few periods, like 1 hour before classes end, the gates will be open. What better way to get out than the same way you came in!

Word of caution: You may get caught!

Warden's Room

The lone ranger walks the empty halls. Pin drop silence as the cool breeze blows. High in his tower, he observes the rest of the school world go past. Sounds like a cowboy life no? As you all know, PFS has its very own dedicated team of school wardens.

Okay, here is the definition of warden on Princeton.net Dictionary:

Noun
S: (n) warden (the chief official in charge of a prison)

Indeed, every year the school has a head prison guard, erm i mean prison warden, erm i mean school warden.

Verdict? Guilty as charged! Indeed, we are/were all stuck in a prison it seemed, a prison for the mind for 11 to 13 years of our youth. However, i digress and this post is about the wardens, so lets get to the jist of it.

The Perks?
1.Wardens get to wear white pants! Kewl
2.They have their own room right in the canteen. Privacy!
3.Get to wear a fancy badge which is really blue!
4.Escape Monday assemblies! All you always wanted.
5.Get an excuse to enter class late!

What does a warden do?
1.Substitute for no entry signs
2.Clears and fills the "prison cells" aka classes
3.Help clear the canteen of plates and cups!
4.Help other students keep restricted items in their room!

The Wardens' Room
One can't help but wonder,why the secrecy in all the rooms? One of the most highly off limits room is the Warden's room. Enter the Dragon's den at your own risk, even if wardens look more timid than the prefects, some due consideration should be given before infiltrating their war room, including the prospect of having a chair thrown at you.

Someone tell me what is in the warden's room cause i have always wanted to know!

The Blackened Glass

It was a typical school day that PFS student Ah Seng (Not his real name) was having. As usual, he arrived in school before the sun peeks from the horizon. He was early today, the first few ones in school. The dimly lit corridor is as desolate as it gets, after all, it was only 6am.

He was walking past the classrooms when suddenly the corner of his eye caught a glimpse of a figure in his class. It must be another student then, he thought to himself. When he tries to enter, he finds that all the doors were still locked.

He knocked at the door. He could only gasp when the most eerie pair of eyes met his own. He was not the first, as many also saw figures around the school. After that day, the school could only paint the windows shut.

Okay, that is the explanation I heard for something unusual in PFS. If you walk along the main corridor, the windows on most of old class rooms are painted black as though to make sure no one can look into them.

More sensible explaination: School vandals think that it would be funny, so they spray painted the windows black. Then instead of removing the paint, the handyman comes along and paints the frame, leaves the glass black! Ta da! ARTISTIC UTILITY, blocks the sun, no need to clean windows and no need to use the bathrooms to change! Weee...

Any info welcomed! echoeditor@gmail.com

School Hall

The school hall was originally the heart of the school building by design. The main porch leads directly to the hall. On both sides of the hall lie two quadrangles, the east quad and the west quad. The notice boards at the face of the hall display the school crest, motto, laurels and visitor information.

The hall is 20 meters wide and 50 meters long and has 12 doors on each side. The School bell lies 10 meters above the main entrance and a hemp rope extends to down to the entrance for the ringer. Flanking each side of the hall are the portraits of the Old Headmasters, with the older headmasters having their portraits closer to the stage. Above the stage lies an old clock with keeps close watch on the time (Last I checked it was not working in 2005). The roof is plaster board and a series of wooden arches hold the ceiling at least 20 meters above the floor, sloping down towards the quads.

The stage is raised with entrances disguised on the sides. On stage right lie a piano where the pianist plays, and a room for the sound controller. Stage left is where the light controls are located. The wooden stage is home to rumors that there might be an underground tunnel under the hall. There is however, entrances on both sides of the stage that lead under. To the best of my knowledge, there where canned drinks are kept for the canteen operators. (The secret treasure!)

The school hall is a very special place for every Free. It is the first place they assemble back in their first year, and it is the last place they leave from after their final paper. The hall itself is used for Monday assembly and for Exams. The School Speech day is held in the hall and the hall also functions as a badminton court.

Perhaps some of you remember the other uses of the hall:
1. That's where I donated blood when the state hospital ran low.
2. I was there when the Agung, an Old Free came to visit.
3. I remember receiving an award on stage during a Monday assembly.
4. There was certainly a time when I did my language assessment there.
5. Most of us had our vaccines done there! Ouch.
6. I saw people dance upstage.

Football in PFS

Well, who can deny being a Liverpool fan? (Ducks for cover as all the other football club fans start hurling bad comments) To be honest, I am neutral between the football teams but I enjoy the sport as a game itself, which this post is going to be all about.

The next Premier League match is on the 21st of Nov with Liverpool vs. ManCity! I guess this would have been the topic at the canteen table if we were still in school. With the advent of the TV (A privilege that our ancestors did not have) and Astro, even school students can watch their favorite footballers play it out 10000 miles away. Who can forget the last time they went out to the mamak store to catch a game. I remembered the last world cup when I was at a local mamak store. It was loaded packed. (Too bad for all those of you who are overseas. No mamak store for you and me)

Well, the if theres one thing I am still proud of PFS is that its school field is still one of the best kept places. Back when we were students, there was always a slot for physical exercises. No sooner than the bell rang, all the football junkies would have already changed into their PE attire (The white shirt and blue shorts).
After getting the football from the sports room, we would set up the goal posts (Some time just a pair of shoes). Then the selection of teams began.

There were no bragging rights, no trophy, just pure adrenaline and team building. Many people were already at that time, state and school players and some (myself included) were the not so fit ones. But yet, no matter how I sucked at football, the feel of grass under my "kaki ayam" is such a great feeling. It gets better when it rains. The field will be giant mud puddle and I recall playing a game with white pants on. Well, you can guess what happened.

Among other things, here is a list of the more spectacular things one can expect to happen on the field:

5. You fall into an offside trap (So irritating)
4. It was raining just last night and you ran straight into the puddle of mud and splash!!
3. You concentrate hard on the ball, you see it get passed around and round and you start to wonder why objects that are approaching get bigger. Suddenly it hits you in the behind. Ouch.
2. You are not so good at football so you do your best. You mind your own business and wait for the ball. But just when you turned your head, your friend's aim is so good that the ball hits you in the crotch. Medic!
1. You are open and run up field. Everyone gathers at the goal post trying to receive the corner kick. Such a crowd but you just stand there, he kicks and hits your face and GOAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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McDonalds Green Lane

Penang Free School is undoubtedly Green Lane McDonald's best customer. The McDonald's building was converted from a former bungalow and is located right next to a Shell station.
The other schools contributing to this branch's success is Hamilton School, Batu Lanchang, Georgetown School and Convent Green Lane.

The building has seen many upgrades as PFS and the other surrounding schools continue to pump profit into their pockets. In my tenure, I have seen McDonalds refurbish twice. Who knows how are things nowadays. The building features an ever evolving drive thru system which seems to be different every other year. Above, there is a play area for little kids and a birthday section! Only a handful of Penangites have not been into the building. The fastfood restaurant also features a Maybank ATM. Throughout my life, I have seen the restaurant shift its focus from kids to school goers.

The last I checked in 2005, the restaurant pays RM4.00 per hour.

Of the more interesting sight one can expect are:

1. Crowds of students on the upper floors making a total mess.
2. The local gangsters or samseng starting fights. News of fights go around quite fast and so you might also see:
3. Policemen, undercover and uniformed patrolling the area just to make sure no one gets hurt and occasionally:
4. Mr Lim Ah Seng, bringing the truant student back to the discipline room for skipping class.
5. Students spending the RM5 voucher that McD (as it is now called. In Australia its called Mackers) gives out ever so often.

I'm loving it.

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Pavilion

The school Pavilion adorns the school field and it is the centre of many activities. The pavilion oversees the school field and it provides a spectacular view at sunrise, as it is facing the east.

Every other Wednesdays of the week, the school Uniformed bodies are gathered to mark and honour the importance of the being part of such bodies. Besides that, the pavilion is the grand stand for the School Sports day, where teachers gather and watch events as they unfold on field.

The pavilion houses among other things, the rope for the tug of war, hurdles for trek, hockey sticks, goal posts and many other sporting equipment. Beside the pavilion is a cricket pitch and the latest addition to the facilities is the men’s toilet.

Behind the pavilion lies the headmasters residence. There is a myth that under the pavilion lies a tunnel which leads to the school hall and St. Georges Girl school.

Among the more usual activities one can expect going on near the pavilion are:
1. PFS Remp Its doing willies on their motorbikes (riding a bike with one wheel in the air… without a helmet)

2. Student doing reps as required for their fitness education (Thank you Mr Yap Gark Soo)

3. Uniformed bodies having meetings during the afternoon especially scouts

4. The cricket team training to play against some foreign team

5. The Astronomy club with their hydrorocket launching rockets out into the field.

Remember what you were doing there?
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Exam time!

Where in the world would we be without exams!

Every year, every student faces the worst nightmare of his time. The exams I faced were the PMR, SPM and the 6th Form students will have to sit for their STPM examinations.

The highlight examination that all Frees face is currently the SPM (Sijil Penilaian Menengah). I am sure we are all familiar with all the stresses in examinations and how things can go so right or go so wrong.

Examination days are unique in their own ways and here are the top 5 ways how we can tell that exams are going in PFS

5.You see people handling notes and books, everywhere, in the canteens, on the fields, in the corridors, even in the toilets.

4.Many people take up a new language. Sign language.

3.The most popular people are the teachers and the smartest guys in class.

2.Your friend suddenly gets an injury from playing football. His writing hand is wrapped in a cast and you sign the cast!

1. The police are waiting outside ready to escort anyone with firecrackers to the nearby Balai!

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The never ending field

Fancy a night at the museum? Or better yet, a night at PFS??

I bet a few of the readers here have spent a camp out in the school compounds.Well, if you have, lucky you, because there is a myth about the school that can only be tested at night. Here's how it goes:

Myth:

If you walk in a straight line from the pavillion to the library through the school field, you will never reach the end.

Fact:

It would not have been the case in 2009. Now, we have lights everywhere. Back in the 1900s, there were no lamps and as you all know, the school field is BIG, when you are small. So, from a person's perspective if you could ask your greatgrandpa, I'd wager that it would have been pitch black and anyone who want to walk through the field in the middle of the night must have been hoping for the darkness to end. (He would probably kept on walking cause if there were no lights at the place he wanted to be!) Not so during the day!

School Pond

Located right at the front of the school, the school pond is one of the most prominent places in the school. It features a bamboo garden, a few sheltered tables, two ponds and an island in the middle. The 30 foot trees dates back to at least 50 years, probably older than the trees planted along Green Lane.

Everyday, students and teachers alike traverse the paths to the main building. It is a good place to just sit down after and before school, and an even better place to do the most memorable things!

For ever scout who was elected as a leader, he will get first class treatment to enjoy the school pond’s waters! Yeap, generations of troop leaders, assistant troop leaders and patrol leaders have sampled what the aquatic life in the pond has to offer. I remember getting thrown in the pond after an AGM in 2004. Doesn’t taste that bad at all!
The pond is home to a couple of carps, and other fishes. Also present in the pond when I last checked were tortoises! (Most likely terrapins)

Besides that, the school pond is a favorite place among winners to get their pictures taken. The Editorial board photoshoots are usually conducted at the school pond area.
The funniest thing I ever experienced in that area is back in 2006, a teacher drove her Kancil into the drain next to the pond. Now picture a couple of kids in uniform lifting a car!

Houses

For as long as I knew, the students in Penang Free School were divided into houses:

Cheeseman - Red
Hargreaves - Brown
Pinhorn - Blue
Wu Lien Teh - Green
Hamilton - Yellow
Tunku Putra - Orange
Tunku Syed Sirajuddin(Purple)
P. Ramli(Gray)

A student is allocated a house at the start of their first year and will be a member throughout until they leave.


Prior to this, somewhere before the 1980s, students were all divided into scout houses, or so I heard

Still remember your history?

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Speech Day

The speech day marks the anniversary of the school's founding and is held every 21st October. It is a Prize Giving day for the school, where the parents are invited to witness their sons receive awards.

The speech day usually consists of a speech from the Headmaster, Head of the PIBG and Head of the OFA. Every year, the Speech day will see the attendance of the Yang Di Pertua Pulau Pinang.

The school band will usually send a small ensemble to provide the acoustics while all prefects are required to attend. The Editorial Board members will also be covering the event while all the teachers will be at present

The main event for the day includes the prize giving ceremony and prizes are awarded to the best performing students in academics and also extracurricular achievements.

Monday Assembly

Every Monday, every student and teacher will be gathered in the hall and on the quadrangles.

The school bells will be rung twice and every student will stand at attention while the teahers will stand up from their seats.

The Head Prefect will escort the Headmaster into the hall and up the stage.

The national anthem followed by the state anthem will be sung followed by the school anthem, accompanied by the tune played on the piano. (Played by Tan Khoon Leong in 2005). At each flank of the stage, the national flag and the state flags were raised by two other prefects.

After that the headmaster will address the school. (My HM was boring). The most interesting part of the assembly would be when the Prize giving ceremony.

Lastly, the school is dismissed with the sing of all the anthems folled by the regular spot check!

Pillow in class?

Haha, here is to Shiram Navin, who told me the story of Eric Koay (Dr Eric Koay by now)

You know how tiring school can be with all the other activities around, games and hobbies?
This guy actually brought a pillow to class in form 5. Everytime he wanted to dose off, it was better than the go old math text book.

I heard that the teacher took the pillow and whack him kau kau! (Jason Lim said that he did not get whacked, but I'll only hear it from the horse's mouth.)

Know more stories?

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PFS Torture Chamber

Well, here is how it goes. During the Japanese occupation in World War II, the Japanese too over the school and used it as a command centre.

Here, they would have ran their operations.

One debated function is that of a torture chamber.

Sounds like the school hall during exams to me!

The underground tunnels

As we all know, PFS was built by the British way before the world wars.

During the World War II, to escape and hide from the Japanese occupation, it is said that a series of tunnels were dug under the school.

There is believed to be a tunnel connecting the school hall to the pavillion and the library. Some have claimed to have seen the entrances but other are speculative.

Others claim that there is a tunnel leading straigt to Saint Georges Girl School.

Don't get any ideas!

The girl with the orange bikini

Well, I remember there was a time when some girls visited our school.

There was this girl wearing a flouroscent orange bikini inside her baju kurung.

Hmmm.. what was she doing in a guys' school??

Legends, Myths and Facts

Being the oldest school in South East Asia, Penang Free School has its fair share of ghost stories, myths and interesting facts.

Add a story now!

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Discipline Room

Ah yes.. This is where the bad boys hang out.

Grooming Services

Discipline teaches offer barber service. The year before I left, the school implemented a crew cut for all students. Was really amused when I went back to see all the juniors in short hair! Managed to escape that policy. The funniest things is when the discipline teachers cut one side of your fringe and leave the other side uncut!! I remember the days when the teacher or the prefect would come up to you and measure your hair. During my time, it must not touch the eye brows.

The Discpline Room also offers nail clippers for those who are caught with nails longer than 2mm??!! Yes.. there is a guide book that states this rule!

Since the ban of public caning, there has been drop of caning altogether. The canes in the Discipline room range from huge to this, meant to give different effects. Contrary to polular belief, the small canes sting more then the big canes. Physics 101: More surface area = less pressure!

Band

School Band
Penang Free School has one of the finest bands in Penang. The band usually consist of 50-80 members and is the most active society in the school. They actually bake in the sun for hours in the afternoon, but their skills are unmatched indeed.

Among the instruments are the bass drums, trumpets, flute and I've even seen a scratch disc!

One of the key highlights is when the drum major throws his staff 30 feet into the air and catches it! OMG.. Someone give me a video.

Band Room
The band room is located at the back of the school just beside the side gate. Who knows what mysteries lie within but its strictly band members only. Music can always be heard coming from the band room from the morning till the late afternoons.

Competitors
Probably the fierces competition comes from Penang Chinese Girls High School!

List of Drum Majors


Help me complete this!

Scout Den

At one point in time, every Free was assigned to a scout group. The Scout Den is a small part of the school designated to scouts to hold events and to keep their stuff. Each troop, 1st GTS, 7th GTS and 8th GTS have a room in the scout den.

The den is used as a control centre for camps and events held in on the school grounds.

Among the inventory of the den is a few sofas, Drums, a canoe, Bamboo(what are scouts without bammboo) miniatures, equipments and whole lot of other scouty stuff.

I remember attending a gotong-royong when back in 2001 to clean up the scout den. The drains seem to be clogged for year. So we excavated all there was in the drains. The earth worms were bigger and longer than G2 pens!

Care to share more?

The Prefects Room

Prefects
Most notable difference from other students is their excessively high nose. Haha. kidding. You tell me. Being a PFS prefect is among one of the highest honours the school can give. They are they police of the school and the craziest bunch of people!
Among their duties are patrolling the school compound to make sure that no one jumps the fence

Uniform
The Permanent prefects have the privillage of wearing white pants and black leather shoes. Girl Prefects wear white skirts and white shoes. Each prefect is given a blue blazer.

Head Prefects
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009

The Prefects Room
How do I even begin?? Easily the nerve centre of the school. Few people set foot in this mysterious corner of the school, even fewer step in twice. I have seen people come out crying, and even seen chairs flying out.

Have your say!

I was here!

1 Zamrud
1 Delima
1 Baiduri
1 Nilam
1 Jed
1 Mutiara

2 Zamrud
2 Delima
2 Baiduri
2 Nilam
2 Jed
2 Mutiara

3 Zamrud
3 Delima
3 Baiduri
3 Nilam
3 Jed
3 Mutiara

4 Zamrud
4 Delima
4 Baiduri
4 Nilam
4 Jed
4 Mutiara

5 Zamrud
5 Delima
5 Baiduri
5 Nilam
5 Jed
5 Mutiara


Lower 6 1
Lower 6 2
Lower 6 3

Upper 6 1
Upper 6 1
Upper 6 1


Be nice if someone could refresh my memory on the classes! I wasn't in 6th Form so i'm not sure how the system works!

The Editorial Board

The Editorial Board Room is located at the edge of the 6th Form Block. This is where the school magazine is brought to life by the Editorial Board Members. If you ever wondered what is in the room: at least 4 eMacs named [Ah.. what was the name of the eMacs??], 2iMacs and more Macs. To design the magazines, the Ed board uses ORIGINAL Adobe Photoshop. The room is Air Conditioned and fits snugly 15 Editorial Board Members.

The book shelves hold tons of old pictures and numerous Photoshop guides(Kitab Suci) Ed board T-shirts.

The room is also know as the Halo room and is an ideal place to escape boring Bahasa Melayu classes. Oops.

In 2005, access to the room was tightly controlled by UMNO, MIC, and MCA.

The Hangout Spots

As Frees, we all have our favourite places to hang out to avoid classes and just after classes or to chill. Here are the interesting places to hang out at PFS:

1. Editorial Board Room
2. Prefects Room
3. Scout Den
4. Band Room
5. Discipline Room
6. Basketball Court
7. Form 6 Block
8. Technology Block
9. Hostel
10.Library
11. Pavillion.
12. Seni Room
13. McDonalds
14. School Pond
15. Warden's Room
16. Archive Room
17. School Hall
18. Senior Toilet
19. Computer/Resource Room
20. Canteen

Feel free to share your experiences.

Headmasters

The school hall is home to the portraits of the Old Headmasters.

Below are the headmasters who have served the school:

1816-1821: Mr. J. Cox
1821-1822: Mr. Churcher
1822-1826: Mr. Porter
1826-1828: Mr. Anchant
1828-1843: Mr. J. C. Smith
1843-1846: Mr. Bruton
1846-1853: Mr. Fitzgerald
1853-1871: Mr. J. Clark
1871-1891: Mr. G. Griffin
1891-1904: Mr. W. Hargreaves
1904-1925: Mr. R. H. Pinhorn
1925-1926: Mr. W. Hamilton
1927-1928: Mr. D. R. Swaine
1928-1929: Mr. L. W. Arnold
1929-1931: Mr. D. W. McLeod
1931-1933: Mr. M. R. Holgate
1934-1946: Mr. L. W. Arnold
1947-1949: Mr. D. Roper
1949-1950: Mr. M. F. Crocopile
1950-1951: Mr. P. F. Howitt
1951-1957: Mr. J. E. Todt
1957-1963: Mr. J. M. B. Hughes1
963-1969: Mr. Tan Boon Lin
1969-1971: Mr. Poon Poh Kong
1972-1974: Mr. K. G. Yogam
1974-1979: Dr. Goon Fatt Chee
1979-1983: Mr. R. Visvanathan, P.J.K.
1983-1988: Mr. G. Krishna Iyer
1988-1993: Mr. Goh Hooi Beng
1993-2000: Mr. Hj. Ismail bin Ibramsa
Jan 2000-Dec 2000: Mr. Abdul Rahman
2001-2006: Mr. Arabi Sulaiman, P.K.T.
2006-2006: Mr. Mohd Yusof bin Omar
2006-Present: Mr. Hj. Ramli bin Din

School Anthem

Chorus

Let us march onto fame
Let the aisles proclaim
Till our anthem will dare us to do
Let us onwards to win and new laurels gain
Free School for the brave and for the true

Verses
It matters neither how strait the gate
Nor how charged with dangers the goal
Let the tempest rage and fell odds inflate
We'll do it with heart and soul.

When duty calls be it school or state
We will do it with God by our side
For the sons of Free School don't hesitate
Nor let cool their zeal and pride.

Let's all then join in this Jubilee
All with one loud voice to proclaim
Our true loyalty and our constancy
To our mater still remain.

Fortis Atque Fidelis