St. Xavier's Institution, Penang (George Town)

Malaysia / Pulau Pinang / Butterworth / George Town
 school, 1850s construction, Roman Catholic school
St.Xavier's Institution (SXI) is a well-known boys' school in George Town, Penang, Malaysia, named after Saint Francis Xavier, the pioneering Christian missionary and co-founder of the Society of Jesus (Jesuit Order). In 1787, SXI began as a Melayu Medium school, in a hut in a jungle clearing. In 1825, as an English medium school, it was named St. Francis Xavier's Free School. On April 20, 1825, the De La Salle Brothers took over the management of the school and its 80 pupils. In 1857 it was relocated in a building of 30x50 metres on Farquhar Street.

During the 1900s, Penang rose up to be a major shipping port, due to the rise of tin mining and rubber industry. Strict health regulations, the invention of motorcar, the need for rubber tyres and electricity, all these brought prosperity to Penang. SXI had over 1000 pupils and hygiene was a compulsory subject. Morning and afternoon sessions was implemented. The boarding department was flourishing, the school has a spacious playing field and a cadet CORP was formed. But in December 1941, during the Japanese occupation, SXI was bombed. It ceased to function during the Japanese occupation years.

After the war, SXI was housed in huts on the school field pending the completion of the new building. The secondary had "forms" and the primary schools had "standards". SXI had its own laboratories and workshops and a systematic canteen replaced the hawker system. School uniform was compulsory, elaborate prefect and monitor system was established while school games and athletics were more organized. SXI had a Form-6 system, and Bahasa Melayu became the medium of instruction.

The original building was destroyed in World War Two when the allied nations bombed the school which has been used as the navy headquarters for the Imperial Army of Japan. The current building was completed in 1952.

Apart from the main building at Farquhar Street, the branch primary school, SRK St Xaviers Cawangan is situated in Jalan Brother James, Penang.

As the norm in Malaysian secondary schools, girls are enrolled in the lower and upper sixth forms while Form 1-5 is strictly boys' school. SXI was affiliated to other Christian Brothers' schools such as St Michael's Institution (Ipoh), St Francis Institution (Malacca), St George's Institution (Taiping), St Joseph's School (Kota Kinabalu) and La Salle School (Petaling Jaya).

The current Principal for SXI is Reverend Brother Paul Ho. Currently there are 3 brothers still staying in SXI.
Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Xavier's_Institution
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   5°25'13"N   100°20'11"E

Comments

  • Excellent education system where manners and education goes hand-in-hand.
  • Wan Ahmad Khairil former school
  • dis is where my life began... dis is d place where gave all d knowledge dat i have 2day...
  • It has often been incorrectly presumed that the Penang Free School was the first and only educational institution in Penang in 1816. It is recorded that in 1787 the Catholic bishop, Mgr. Garnault, was presented by Captain Francis Light with a parochial house at Bishop Street on the occasion of his elevation to the dignity of bishop. The bishop provided for the education of the children of the parish by establishing a small vernacular school for girls at China Street and a "small college" for boys at Pitt Street facing St. George's Church. In 1825 Father Boucho transformed this vernacular school into an English school and built a brick house to contain 150 children. He called this house the "Catholic Free School" and asked all Catholic children to leave the Penang Free School (presently Hutchings School) and join his new school. This resulted in a cold war. Eventually, Fr. Boucho's school received a grant of $100 a month from the Government of Penang and became the nucleus of the present St. Xaviers's Institution. (Gerard Stanislaus Reutens was headmaster of Hutchings School in 1972 when he wrote, A Short Survey Of The History Of The Past and Present Buildings Of Hutchings School, Penang. 1816-1972)
  • This school is rotting from the inside out with the departure of Brother Paul. Time will tell, sooner or later, time will tell...
  • I am searching for my grand fathers route who was an ex student from this school around 1910 to 1917 and he was selected by the principal of that school to go to Hulk for higher studies because he got double promotion at his class several times but during 1st world war his ship was hit by a torpedo and sunk near Spain later he was rescued and go back to his home at Penang and later he go to India and live there forever around 1917 to 1920. My grand fathers name was Hassan Abdul Khalique and he has 2 sisters, his father was an engineer and they had rubber gardens. His father was died by an accident when he was a kid (rubber tree fall on him). If any one read this and recognize him please knock me at zaker_nasser@ymail.com!!!!!!
  • I am a french man, who was a boarder in SXI in 1963/64, form 1 and form 2, with Brother Michael. As I am presently working in Malaysia, I am looking for former boarders, specially one, an Indian, named Anthony. TQ for any answer at this email adress: rstevenin@yahoo.com
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This article was last modified 9 years ago