Form 6: Malacca High School (Part I)

Two weeks into Form 6 at Malacca High School (MHS). Not full attendance though, because I ponteng (skipped) school on Monday and Friday last week to take the JPJ test for car and motorcycle respectively. In a moment I'll be telling all that I've learned about this school within this time frame.


School Background

MHS was founded in 1826, said to be the oldest government English school in Malaysia. The school motto is Meliora hic sequamur, which is Latin for "Malacca High School"... or so I thought. I didn't even realise it was the school motto when I first saw this phrase on the school crest (left). Only later I found out the meaning of these three foreign words: "Here we strive for better things". It is amazing that these three Latin words when translated into English become a sentence which is 6 words long, double the amount of words. But this is not my first encounter with a Latin school motto. In my previous school, the motto is Age Quod Agis, which when translated into English becomes "Whatever you do, do it well", also double the original amount of words. So my conclusion from above is that Latin is a rather compact language...

Much more information about MHS can be found in the Wikipedia article about this school here, so I will not go beyond providing a few important background information about MHS, or I may as well copy and paste the whole Wikipedia article here. Another thing worth mentioning about MHS is its school song. From the Wikipedia article and some research, I realised that the melody for the school song is called "Materna" composed by Samuel A. Ward in 1882. What makes it more intriguing is that the melody for MHS' school song is also the same as an American patriotic song called "America the Beautiful" written in 1904. So during the school assembly, imagine somebody singing "America the Beautiful" instead of the school song, which are both of the same tune. In place of "Sekolah Tinggi, Sekolah Tinggi" it would be "America, America"! The following is the lyrics for the MHS school song and "America the Beautiful", side by side for comparison. Below the lyrics is a small player that will play "Materna".

MHS School Song

America the Beautiful

Sekolah Tinggi Melaka keseluruh negara Beramai-ramai kita dukung rukun negara Satu padu bertenaga majukan negara Prinsip hidup progresif amalan sekolah kita Sejak lapan belas dua puluh enam namamu terbina Sepanjang masa kemuka mulia dan bahagia Sekolah Tinggi, Sekolah Tinggi, tempatmu berbakti Perpaduan, bercahaya, kekalan abadi.

O beautiful for spacious skies, For amber waves of grain; For purple mountain majesties Above the fruited plain! America! America! God shed His grace on thee, And crown thy good with brotherhood, From sea to shining sea. O beautiful for heroes proved In liberating strife, Who more than self their country loved, And mercy more than life! America! America! May God thy gold refine, Till all success be nobleness, And every gain divine. O beautiful for patriot dream That sees beyond the years Thine alabaster cities gleam, Undimmed by human tears! America! America! God mend thine every flaw, Confirm thy soul in self control, Thy liberty in law.

First Impressions

I've never imagined when I first arrived that studying Form 6 in MHS would be a world of difference compared to my counterparts in college. One thing for sure is that we have to don the school uniform (like ever before) although this year's uniform for Lower Sixes at MHS is different compared to other students, that is a combination of black and white (excluding purple and green necktie we have to wear full-time).

My first day there was last Tuesday and it was orientation week held in the school hall. We had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Mustafa, the discipline master, for a briefing (on discipline of course!). He can be described as anything but nice, but this is still based on my first impression of him, as always. Although it was the second day of school for us, he made a fuss out of those not sporting a complete school uniform. He proceeded to call those without a school badge OR tie to stand at the side of the hall and those without school badge AND tie to stand on the stage [Sweat]. Of course I (and among many others) have none of those, so I went up the stage, only to be called down a minute later because it was my first day in school [Sweat again]. After a lecture on school attire was everybody allowed to sit down again. What a pure waste of time. He went on to say that handphones are not allowed in school, and asked those who brought handphones to stand up. I was one of the few who admitted bringing along a handphone, though I'm sure there should be more. But he took no further action. Later, he demonstrated that he is someone not to be messed easily by throwing a chair ('jika tidak, kerusi ini akan layang'). Those who have trouble imagining it can find Jude for a rendition of this scene (Why Jude? More about that later). These happenings really brought me back to reality that as Form 6 students, we are still ordinary schoolchildren just like those in Form 1 to Form 5. What is special about us is only our uniform, which didn't translate into any "special" privilages...

Other first impressions of this school were gained before school starts and during recess. Every morning, we have to assemble at the Form 6 Quad to sing the school song and hear somebody recite the doa. Both are new to me, so I guess that this only happens in schools controlled by the Malays (all MHS principals since 1985 are Malays). And then there are the toilets. The toilets are definitely a far cry compared to my former school's toilets. In short, they stink. For girls, toilet woes abound! MHS, being a predominantly boy's school, has only a toilet (if I'm not mistaken) for around 250 girls to share. So expect a long queue during "peak" hours at the girl's toilet. The situation is so bad that a female teacher actually advised girls during the orientation to drink less water, in contradiction to the usual doctor's advice...

The above gives another impression that funds channelled to this school is not well managed. As a fully government-aided school, one can expect good facilities for the students, but contrary to my belief, this is not so. Not only the regarding the toilets actually, but also the library. Amazingly, the library has less books compared to, again, my former school, a mission school. Oh, did I forgot to mention that the principal drives a Mercedes and sits on a brand new plush sofa during assembly?

To be continued...
Next in Part II: Not everything is bleak - more on orientation week, my class and teachers.