New Sunday Times, July 11, 2004
Grande dame of mission schools turns 100

By Koh Soo Ling

A SEKOLAH Menengah Kebangsaan St John Kuala Lumpur, or St John's Institution, turned 100 this year.

Among its distinguished old boys are the Raja Muda of Perak, Raja Dr Nazrin Shah, Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Education Minister Datuk Hishammuddin Hussein.

There is no arguing that St John's Institution, the grande dame of mission schools, has much to boast of. The school is like a family institution.

For more than 140 years, mission schools have been a part of the Malaysian education scene.

Its family atmosphere, good academic performance, sense of discipline and well-rounded students are St John's strong points.

Sprightly Brother Cassian Pappu, 77, is one of the school's early directors.

"Our aim is to make the child a part of the school and the school a part of the child," he says.

David Fernandez, a mathematics teacher, had his primary and lower secondary education at the school.

He later became a mission-trained teacher, a product of the St Joseph's training college which was set up in the 1960s to train old boys to become teachers. Such is the loyalty that permeates St John's Institution.

Good academic results come from hard work. Far from being an elite school for urban children, mission schools like St John's are open to children of all ethnic groups and they are treated alike without any distinction. There are also students from Felda schemes.

In the early years, students had a weekly record book each. In it, teachers wrote comments about the students' conduct in red ink and their
practical work in green or blue ink. These record books were monitored by their parents as well.

"Those days, we normally woke up at 4.30am to pray with the brothers before going to class. We then stayed up late into the nights, marking students' work. We believe in hard work and consistent progress," recalls Pappu.

"We encourage our students to organise fundraising projects. This is good training ground to hone entrepreneurial skills. Students learn to give back what they have received from the school. Every child has to be involved in a club, society or game. We stress on public speaking in two official languages and we have the English language week as well to promote the use of English," says Fernandez.

In short, the school stresses wholesome development. It is about grooming young minds to have positive attitudes towards life and how to be part of the community.

It is about not offending others in one's quest to succeed. It is about being ready to take on failures and face challenges.

With all these positive traits, it is no wonder that St John's Institution is an embodiment of old-world charm and tomorrow's promise.

In conjunction with its 100-year celebration, the school will be holding a gala dinner on July 17.

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