The House System

The House system was started in 1928. According to this system, a pupil is attached to a House until he leaves school. By this arrangement it was hoped that interest in games would be keener throughout the school. The House System proved successful and was therefore preserved. 

Mr. H. R. Cheeseman , C.M.G spent twenty years in Penang, fifteen of them in Free School. He was the founder of the Free School Magazine (1909) now the doyen of all School Magazines in Malaysia, the league of the Helping Hand, the School Debating Society, the Boy Scout Troops and several other organizations. In recognition of his contribution to the Malaysian Education he was appointed the Director of Education of the Union after the war.

Mr. A. W. Hamilton , BA served Penang Free School for 34 years (1829 — 1926) and retired as the headmaster. He taught nearly every subject in the curriculum; English, French, History, and Mathematics. Mr. Hamilton and his famous colleagues, Mr. Cheeseman, Mr. Pinhorn and Mr. Hargreaves were responsible for the great tradition of the Penang Free School. In his life time he was popularly known as the “Old Tiger.”

Mr. W. Hargreaves, MA was the first graduate headmaster of Penang Free School. He assumed duties as headmaster in 1891 and resigned in 1904. His term of office witnessed the Free School boy winning the coveted Queen’s Scholarship for the first time. Mr. Hargreaves on his arrival found Free School a second rate Elementary School but he turned it into the best Secondary School in the Straits Settlements by the time of his departure.

Mr. R. H. Pinhorn, MA, headmaster of Free School (1904 — 1925). During his term of office he introduced many extra-mural activities to the School. He also transplanted into Free School soil the fine ideals of the English Public School. He will be remembered for the founding of the School Games Club (1905), the School Cadet Corps (1906), the Games League System, etc. He had the honour to be the first Patron of the Old Frees’ Association in 1924. In recognition of his sterling contribution to Malayan Education, he was awarded the Most Distinguished Order of the British Empire in the New Year’s Honours List of 1923. 

Dr. Wu Lien - The was known in school as GL. Tuck. He was the Captain of Free School in 1894. Studying in the golden era of the Free School, he distinguished himself in the academic field and was awarded the Queen’s Scholarship in 1896. Dr Wu was a Physician Extraordinaire and Vice-President of the Tientsin Army Medical College for twenty –nine years. Later he found a cure for a plague that killed thousands of people in China.

Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj. was a Free School student who worked his way up and become Malaysia’s first Chief Minister in 1955. A prominent figure in Malaysian History, he is better known s the Father of Malaysia, he was the figure behind Malaysia’s Independence. He was the first Prime Minister of Malaysia ( 1957 — 1970) and the formation of Malaysia in 1963 was his initiative.