Methodist Boys' School is an all-boys

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

in George Town,

Penang Penang is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia along the Strait of Malacca. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay Peninsula. Th ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

. 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, same-sex education, same-gender education, and gender-isolated education, is the practice of conducting education with male and female students attending separate classes, perhaps in se ...

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, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

was formed at Pykett Avenue after the relocation of the

to Air Itam Road. However, the

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 is an island Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. While it is the smallest province by land area and population, it is the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

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

mission Mission (from Latin 'the act of sending out'), Missions or The Mission may refer to: Geography Australia *Mission River (Queensland) Canada *Mission, British Columbia, a district municipality * Mission, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * ...

. 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 The term "British Malaya" (; ) loosely describes a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the island of Singapore that were brought under British Empire, British hegemony or control between the late 18th and the mid-20th century. Unlike the ...

, following the founding of three Methodist schools in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

Anglo-Chinese School Anglo-Chinese School (ACS) is a family of Methodist schools in Singapore and Indonesia. It was founded in 1886 by Bishop William Fitzjames Oldham as an extension of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Its students and alumni are referred to as "ACS ...

Methodist Girls' School Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

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

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 list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...

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, sect ...

troop in 1910. The school was also expanded twice to cope with the rising student enrolment; 10 shophouses along Penang Road 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 Middle school, also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school, is an educational stage between primary school and secondary school. Afghanistan In Afghanistan, middle school includes g ...

at Penang Road 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. Histor ...

) 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 was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

. Nonetheless, a sum of $6,000 (

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

and the

, at Chulia Street and Penang Road 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 Malcolm John MacDonald (17 August 1901 – 11 January 1981) was a British politician and diplomat. He was initially a Labour Party (UK), Labour Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP), but in 1931 followed his father ...

, the then British Commissioner-General for

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

. 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 Abdullah bin Ahmad Badawi (, ; 26 November 1939 – 14 April 2025), also known as Pak Lah, was a Malaysian politician and civil servant who served as the fifth prime minister of Malaysia from 2003 to 2009. A member of UMNO, he was the party's ...

- fifth

Prime Minister of Malaysia The prime minister of Malaysia (; ) is the head of government of Malaysia. The prime minister directs the executive branch of the Government of Malaysia, federal government. The Yang di-Pertuan Agong appoints the prime minister who is a membe ...

Koh Tsu Koon Koh Tsu Koon (born 26 August 1949; ) is a Malaysians, Malaysian politician. He was the Chief Minister of Penang from 1990 to 2008, Dewan Rakyat, Member of Parliament (MP) for Tanjong (federal constituency), Tanjong from 1982 to 1986 and was ap ...

- third

Chief Minister of Penang The chief minister of Penang is the head of government in the Malaysian state of Penang. According to convention, the chief minister is the leader of the majority party or largest coalition party of the Penang State Legislative Assembly. The ch ...

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