| Saint George's Institution | |
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Honor Virtutis Praemium
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| Location | |
| Station Road, 34000 Taiping, Perak, Malaysia |
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| Information | |
| Type | Government-Aided Non-Boarding all-boys secondary school |
| Established | January 18, 1915 |
| School district | Larut Matang & Selama |
| Principal | Miss Yoong Yook Yam |
| Grades | 1-6 |
| Enrollment | 1410 (FY 2008) |
| Color(s) | Green and White |
| Founder | De La Salle Christian Brothers |
| Chairman | Dato' Ong Chin Choon, DPMP, PMP, PJ |
| Employees | 83 teachers and 15 general staff |
| Abbreviation | SGI |
| Website | Official web page |
Saint George's Institution (Malay: Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Saint George) is a secondary school for boys (and girls for Sixth Form) and is one of the oldest schools in Taiping, Perak, Malaysia. The school is widely known as by its initial SGI and the students of St. George's Institution are called Georgians for boys and Georgianas for girls.
It was founded by a group of La Salle brothers from Penang as a Catholic boys' school. The school is surrounded by four roads, Station Road (front), Barrack Road (behind), Cross Street No. 9 and Cross Street No. 10. The school motto is, Honor Virtutis Praemium which means honour is the reward of virtue.
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On 4 March 1914, Brother James Byrne visited the town Taiping, Perak. He suggested to the then British Resident of Perak, Sir Reginald George Watson (1913–1919), for the establishment of a Catholic boys school. His request was approved by the Perak State Government, and a piece of land nearby the hospital was granted. The land was donated by the Kwa Family, one of the wealthy Chinese families of the town. In 1914, the foundation stone was laid by the then Acting Resident of Perak, Mr Oliver Marks, and the opening ceremony was attended by prominent European families and prominent Malay rulers where most of them comprised from the State Council Members.
The school was completed in 1915, with 7 teachers, 49 students and 6 classes, housed together in the original three-storey building. The St. George's main building was designed by a colonial architect from Penang, in the mixture of Neo-Grec and Neo-Romanesque architecture, with two wings and a main porch in front (facing the Station Road). The charming building is still standing today and serves as the school's front facade.
The first Director of the school was Brother James Gilbert who served as the director and principal in the first year of its establishment (he later returned to serve another term in 1923). The school was run by La Sallian missionaries from all around the world, however it received partial financial assistance from the State Government. After Malaya gained independence from the British Government in 1957, the school continued on as a missionary school with limited funding from the government though it was staffed with teachers from the Education Department. As from 2006, the school is funded 95% by the Ministry of Education of Malaysia.
During World War II, along with other schools in the town, St. George's was closed down. It was converted into the headquarters for the Kempetai. The rumoured brutality and torture committed by the Japanese military police during the tenure of the school is a source of ghostly legends commonly circulated by the students even today. The Lassalian brothers were placed under house detention, old boys of the school during this period time risked their lives to assist the detained missionaries. The school reopened at the end of the war along with other schools, such as SMK King Edward VII, St. John's Institution, SMK Victoria Institution and St. Michael's Institution.
When the school was established in 1915, it consisted of the school hall, the school offices, and six classrooms. The school was extended in the 1920s by adding a library, with books donated from the Penang missionaries and the brothers. Four classrooms were annexed and the Brothers' quarters were extended to include more living space. A small wooden building was erected behind the school compound, and was fondly known as The Matchbox. The Matchbox housed two science laboratories and four classrooms. Beside the wooden building, there was a small garden, in which the Brothers grew vegetables and fruits.
Today the wooden building has been replaced with a three-storey brick building with eleven classrooms and two canteens. The old laboratories were replaced by a two-storey building with additional four laboratories added and the tiny garden was converted into the students' washroom and further extended to include a living sciences workshop. Today the premises still belong to the La Sallian Brothers and not the Government of Malaysia.
The Brothers' quarters were occupied at the first and second floor of the main building right wing. In the immediate post-war and pre-war the second floor was divided into three sections. Near to the chapel stairs was the largest section when the Brothers, numbering about a dozen, had their desks, with the Director's desk in the far centre. This was the study room for the Brothers.
The second section was the fitted dining room for the Brothers. At the end was a narrow section were the table-boy (a Hainan) laid out the food, where the food brought up from the kitchen. The small kitchen was situated where the bicycle shed today. After the changes of Directorship, the large first section was sub-divided as the number of Brothers had decreased. The study room was split into a common recreation room.
During the Japanese Occupation in Malaya, the Japanese demolished the Brothers' dorms at the second floor. When the Japanese surrendered to the British in 1945, Brother Dennis and Brother Casimir rebuilt the cubicles, about 14 in numbers.
After the end of the last school Director, Rev. Bro. Charles Levin, the Brothers' Quarters were left vacant for years. In 2000, the school authorities renovated the Brothers' Quarters to expand the number of classrooms. In 2001, the renovations were completed and housed the Sixth Former students. The first floor was transformed into computer rooms.
For years the school was administered by the La Sallian Brothers. On 29 October 2007, during the policy debate on the 2008 Malaysia Budget, the Barisan Nasional Member of Parliament for Parit Sulong, Syed Hood bin Syed Edros, supported by the BN MP for Sri Gading, Datuk Haji Mohamad bin Haji Aziz called for the removal of the Christian cross and the demolition of Christian statues in the mission schools.
The loyalty of mission schools were questioned, with the allegation that they refuse to observe Aidilfitri as public holiday and close the schools. There was even the accusation that the mission schools were administered by churches outside the country, including the Vatican.
The Member of Parliament also accused that the Muslims studying in mission schools are potential apostates, when mission schools had made great contributions in nation-building and produced many Malay leaders, including Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, the Education Minister himself, the Raja Muda of Perak, Raja Nazrin Shah and the Sultan of Selangor who had been products of mission schools.
SGI is affiliated to other La Sallian Educational Institutions.
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