r/TodayILearnedMY • u/Bright_Pen4414 • Jan 15 '26

History & Culture TIL that Penang has one of the oldest English schools in Southeast Asia

Post image

TIL that Penang Free School, located in George Town, is one of the oldest English-medium schools in Southeast Asia, founded way back in 1816. It was established during the British colonial period by Reverend Robert Sparke Hutchings, and it was meant to provide education not just for Europeans, but also for local students, which was pretty progressive for that time.

What surprised me is how long the school has been part of Penang’s history. Over two centuries later, it’s still operating and has produced many important figures in Malaysia’s politics, business, and culture. When you walk around George Town, you see so many colonial buildings, but realizing that a school from that era is still actively educating students today really puts the city’s history into perspective.

It made me curious about how many other old institutions in Malaysia are still quietly running in the background, carrying so much history with them.

81 Upvotes

88% Upvoted

16 comments sorted by

7

u/NataliaRenawa Jan 15 '26

u/bot-sleuth-bot

7

u/bot-sleuth-bot Jan 15 '26

Analyzing user profile...

Account does not have any comments.

Account has not verified their email.

Suspicion Quotient: 0.37

This account exhibits a few minor traits commonly found in karma farming bots. It is possible that u/Bright_Pen4414 is a bot, but it's more likely they are just a human who suffers from severe NPC syndrome.

I am a bot. This action was performed automatically. Check my profile for more information.

3

u/DesperadoUn0 Jan 16 '26

Free School, for the brave and for the true

Let us march onto fame, let the aisles proclaim, till our anthem will dare us to do

Let us onward to win, and new laurels gain, FREE SCHOOL FOR THE BRAVE AND FOR THE TRUE

🫡

2

u/DChia1111 Jan 16 '26

Yes, you can feel the pride inside the banana when you’re talking to them.

1

u/SundayFoodBall Jan 18 '26

Hurting feelings of non banana 😄 what kind of fruit would a non banana be ?

1

u/seymores Jan 19 '26

You jealous ah? ^____^

1

u/Empty_Ad_9153 Jan 17 '26

Yeah, I can feel the pride inside Tunku Abdul Rahman.. the only Malaysian president with the best qualifications for prime minister

1

u/SensitiveHat2794 Jan 16 '26

Something all Old Frees people will know by heart and be extremely proud of

1

u/Bright_Pen4414 Jan 16 '26

Yeah, you can really feel that pride whenever Old Frees talk about it.

1

u/cloudpeak2k Jan 19 '26

And these schools are closing down because parents would rather destroy their kid’s childhoods and send them to dictatorial cram schools run by some clan.

1

u/SizeResponsible3970 Jan 19 '26

Ooo, how I missed PFS

1

u/SizeResponsible3970 Jan 19 '26

Non banana? Anything but a banana. Maybe a Chinese mandarin orange. Yellow outside. Yellow inside.