Kolej Sultan Abdul Hamid

Sultan Abdul Hamid College
Kolej Sultan Abdul Hamid

Scholar, Sportsman, Gentleman
Address
Jalan Langgar, 05460 Alor Setar,
Alor Setar, Kedah
Malaysia
Information
Type Public co-educational school
Established December 8, 1908
School district Kota Setar
Grades Form 1 - Upper 6
Medium of language Malay, English
Colour(s) Red, Yellow & Black
Affiliations SAHOCA (Sultan Abdul Hamid Old Collegians Association)
Website http://sahc.edu.my

Sultan Abdul Hamid College or Kolej Sultan Abdul Hamid, located in Alor Setar, Kedah, is one of Malaysia's oldest schools. Founded in 1908 as Government English School (G.E.S.), it is also one of the country’s oldest English-medium schools. The students of Kolej, are mostly boys as Forms 1 to 5 are for boys only, and the Lower and Upper Sixth Forms are co-educational.

There were only 50 students in back in the year 1908 and by 2007 more than 1200 students were enrolled. The school is fondly known as "Kolej" to the people of Alor Setar and also Kedah as a whole. Students of this school are proudly known as "Collegians". The school's yearly magazine, Darulaman ("the abode of peace"), takes its name from the state of Kedah's honorific title.

History

The First School

In 1908, before Kedah came under British protection, the state’s government appointed Mohamad bin Iskandar, a senior teacher at the Penang Free School and the father of Mahathir Mohamad (fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia), as the first headmaster of the "Government English School" (GES), which was the state’s first English school.

The school was housed in a wooden building between the Alor Setar High Court building (now known as Galeria Sultan Abdul Halim) and the Balai Nobat facing the junction of Jalan Baru (now known as Jalan Putera). The small building, which could accommodate no more than 50 pupils, had previously been the office of Chief Minister Wan Md Saman, who was instrumental in the construction of the Wan Md. Saman canal.

In 1910, Mohamad bin Iskandar resigned and returned to the Penang Free School leaving the G.E.S. in the hands of Md. Salleh. Ismail Merican, another Senior Assistant Master at the Penang Free School, was appointed Headmaster the following year. The student body had grown to 97, more than the building could accommodate, so some classes had to be held in the open air.

The Second School

In 1911 the school moved to a private house in Jalan Penjara Lama. Here also the accommodation was insufficient for the number of pupils, who occupied cubicles in the small, dark rooms, with many seated on the floor.

By 1912 there were 160 boys enrolled. The school expanded its teaching staff, and now taught up to Standard Four. The shortages of accommodation and trained staff made teaching to a higher standard impossible, so that when pupils had attained Standard Four they enrolled in either the Penang Free School or the Malay College, or sought employment. The majority preferred to work since they could find good jobs with a Standard Four qualification.

The Present Building

The prime building of SAHC

For the site of the present building, Che Md. Ariffin (Secretary to the Government), and Che Ismail Merican (Headmaster of the school) selected an area of about 30 acres (120,000 m2) at Tanjung Bendahara. Construction, which began in 1915, was completed in late 1916.

The building consisted of a two-storied structure in the centre with two classrooms on each side. Provision was made for future expansion, allowing adequate space for playing fields and more classrooms to accommodate over a thousand pupils.

The school was formally declared open on January 1, 1917, and E.A.G. Stuart, who was the headmaster and also Superintendent of Education, had his office in the central building. By 1917 there were 223 on the roll with a staff of eleven including the Headmaster. Three were trained teachers, and Stuart trained the others himself, as teacher training had not yet started in Kedah.

The Stuart Library, Est. 1930

Stuart had the task of running two rapidly growing establishments at the same time. By 1923 he was finding it difficult to cope alone, so E.C. Hicks was appointed as his assistant. By 1926 over 400 pupils were enrolled, and the government appointed a committee to make recommendations for future English education in the state. This committee members were Stuart, S. Dennys, E.A.P. Helps, Tunku Mohamed and Tuan Syed Mohamed Idid. They recommended, among other things, that English education should be provided to 800 boys, of whom 640 should be Malays.

Stuart relinquished his post as Headmaster to devote all his time to the Education Office, which occupied the top floor of the Post Office from 1926 until 1935. Hicks took over as Headmaster in late 1926. Stuart died the next year at Pulau Tikus Sanatorium, Penang, and soon afterward the college built a library and named it after him.

Co-education

Since its early days, the college had allowed co-education. After World War II, more girls were admitted, and in 1953 the Darulaman Magazine commented: "Owing to the shortage of teachers and the small number of students in Kampong Baru Girls' School (KBGS), co-education has been introduced into the Sultan Abdul Hamid College (SAHC)[1] in 1948. KBGS sent only students of Standard Seven. They were Kalsom and Swee Eng, but towards the end of the year Che Zaidah joined them."

In 1949, four Malay girls enrolled, among them Tunku Sakinah, the daughter of the Sultan of Kedah. In 1950, 11 enrolled. In 1951 the intake dropped because the headmistress of KBGS sent only those she considered the best. By the beginning of 1952 only eight girls were left. In 1953 the figure rose again to 19, making a total of 24 girls in Standard Seven. In 1954 the College started Sixth Form tuition and three more girls enrolled.

Headmasters

   1908 Mohamad Iskandar
   1910 Mohd. Salleh
   1911 Ismail Marican
   1913 Abdul Manaf
   1913 Syed Jan Aljafree
   1914 E. A. G. Stuart
   1926 E. C. Hicks
   1929 C. W. Bloomfield
   1930 R. M. Young
   1934 E. H. Wilson
   1937 T. J. Thomas
   1939 L. D. Whitefield
   1940 B. Preedy
   1945 J. F. Augustine
   1946 G. E. Marrison
   1946 E. F. Tiddeman
   1947 D. H. Christie
   1949 G. J. Gurney
   1952 A. W. Pinnick
   1954 M. Ogle
   1956 G. Sutchliffe
   1958 E. A. C. Balshaw
   1959 Kum Boo
   1960 Long Heng Hua
   1961 Tan Boon Lin
   1963 N. A. Ogle
   1964 Ong Poh Kee
   1967 Joginder Singh Jessy
   1974 Zainal Abidin Bahaudin
   1978 Mustaffa Mahmud
   1981 Hamdan Muhd. Saleh
   1983 Kassim Saad
   1988 Hassan Hashim
   1992 Shuib Hussain
   1995 Baharom Yaakob
   1996 Ismail Mustafa
   1998 Abdul Manaf Ahmad
   1999 Ismail Din
   2000 Baharuddin Abd. Majid
   2001 Morazuki Hashim
   2005 Mohd Zainon Shafie
   2006 Morazuki Hashim
   2012 Ahmad Rushdan Abdul Aziz
   2015 Mohd A'sri Abdul Ghani

Notable alumni

The Sultan Abdul Hamid Old Collegians Association (SAHOCA) is headquartered in Wisma SAHOCA, Kelana Jaya, Selangor.

Royalty

Military

Politics

Law

Diplomacy

Arts

Sport

References

  1. ↑ http://sahc.kedah.edu.my/
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