Methodist Boys' School is an all-boys

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

in George Town,

Penang Penang ( ms, Pulau Pinang, is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the M ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...

. It is one of the two

s in George Town that were established by Methodists, the other being Methodist Girls' School. Methodist Boys' School was founded in 1891 by a Methodist missionary, Rev. Benjamin H. Balderstone as the Anglo-Chinese School. This

was only renamed Methodist Boys' School in the 1950s when the current school buildings at Air Itam Road were completed. While the school has been an

all-boys school Single-sex education, also known as single-gender education and gender-isolated education, is the practice of conducting education with male and female students attending separate classes, perhaps in separate buildings or schools. The practice of ...

since its establishment, girls are now admitted for Form 6 as well. Pykett Methodist Primary School in George Town also shares its origins with Methodist Boys' School; the

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

was formed at Pykett Avenue after the relocation of the

to Air Itam Road. However, the

will be shut down in 2019 after years of dwindling intake.

History

In 1891, Rev. Benjamin H. Balderstone, a Methodist missionary from

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

, arrived in George Town as part of a two-man mission in

. He subsequently established the Anglo-Chinese School within a rented shophouse at Carnavon Street on 28 May, with an intake of only one student. At that point, the Anglo-Chinese School in George Town was the fourth Methodist school in British Malaya, following the founding of three Methodist schools in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

- Anglo-Chinese School, Methodist Girls' School and Anglo-Chinese Girls' School. Rev. Balderstone was forced to resign in 1893 due to his faltering eyesight. He was replaced by Rev. George F. Pykett. By then, the school had expanded considerably, taking over five adjacent shophouses along Carnavon Street. However, as student enrollment continued increasing, even this expansion was inadequate. A purpose-built school building at Maxwell Road was subsequently completed in 1897. Pykett played an instrumental role as the principal of the Anglo-Chinese School. It was due to his efforts that the school was held in high regard by Penang's Chinese community. Among his accomplishments, Pykett led a mission to

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

and set up

's first

Scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom **Scouts BSA, secti ...

troop in 1910. The school was also expanded twice to cope with the rising student enrolment; 10 shophouses along

Penang Road Penang Road is a major thoroughfare in the city of George Town in Penang, Malaysia. It runs between Farquhar Street to the north and KOMTAR to the south. The road is a one-way road, with the traffic directed southwards towards KOMTAR. Penang Roa ...

were acquired, followed by the rental of a building at Chulia Street. Therefore, by the time of Rev. Pykett's retirement in 1932, there were three branches of the Anglo-Chinese School - the

at Chulia Street, the

middle school A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...

and the

at Maxwell Road. Rev Pykett, who died shortly after his retirement, was succeeded by Rev. Preston L. Peach. Rev. Peach had purchased Suffolk House and its surrounding land at Air Itam Road in 1929 for $40,000 (

Straits dollar The Straits dollar was the currency of the Straits Settlements from 1898 until 1939. At the same time, it was also used in the Federated Malay States, the Unfederated Malay States, Kingdom of Sarawak, Brunei, and British North Borneo. H ...

) to facilitate the school's expansion. A proposal to build a new school building at the site was deferred, however, with the onset of the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

. Nonetheless, a sum of $6,000 (

) was raised by the school committee to renovate Suffolk House. The

and the

, at Chulia Street and

respectively, were then moved into Suffolk House, which was also utilised as a canteen. Suffolk House served as part of the school until 1975, when it was deemed structurally unsafe and vacated; the colonial mansion has since been restored as a tourist attraction. The current school building at Air Itam Road was only completed in 1955 and opened by Malcolm MacDonald, the then British Commissioner-General for

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...

. The

was relocated from Maxwell Road into the building and renamed Methodist Boys' School, while the

, named Pykett Methodist Primary School, was shifted out to Pykett Avenue.

List of principals

The following is a list of the principals of Methodist Boys' School since its inception in 1891.

Notable alumni

Abdullah Ahmad Badawi Tun Abdullah bin Ahmad Badawi ( Jawi: عبد الله بن احمد بدوي; born 26 November 1939) is a Malaysian politician who served as the 5th Prime Minister of Malaysia from October 2003 to April 2009. He was also the sixth president of ...

- fifth

Prime Minister of Malaysia The prime minister of Malaysia ( ms, Perdana Menteri Malaysia; ms, ڤردان منتري مليسيا, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset) is the head of government of Malaysia. The prime minister directs the executive branch of the f ...

* Koh Tsu Koon - third Chief Minister of Penang

References

{{Schools in Penang Educational institutions established in 1891 Primary schools in Malaysia Secondary schools in Malaysia 1891 establishments in British Malaya Publicly funded schools in Malaysia Methodist schools in Malaysia Boys' schools in Malaysia Schools in Penang