Dalat International School

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Dalat International School (26 September 2009)
© Timothy Tye using this photo

Dalat International School is an international school in Tanjung Bungah, Penang. It follows the American syllabus for children from preschool up to grade 12. The school presently has an enrollment of 420 students from 25 different countries. The school is located at Sandycroft, the former R & R centre for the British military in Tanjung Bungah.

Original known as Dalat School, it was founded in 1929 to provide North American elementary and high school education for the children of missionaries from the Christian and Missianary Alliance (C & MA). It was set up in the town of Dalat, in Vietnam, from which it got its name. Housed in a building called Villa Alliance, the school provided education to children of missionaries.

During the Second World War, the missionaries and their children were placed under house arrest for three months before being transferred to a japanese internment capt in My Tho, south of Ho Chi Minh City. Despite the hardship endured, classes were being conducted. After the war, the school returned to their premises at Villa Alliance, amidst a souring political climate in Vietnam.

One fateful day in 1965 - 16 April to be exact - the US Embassy in Saigon notified administrators of Dalat School that they could no longer guarantee their safety. The missionaries and their families had just 48 hours to evacuate. Four C-123 US military planes relocated the entire student body, and some 11 tons of belongings, to Bangkok, Thailand.

What followed was a hellish eight-month sojourn at the American Club in Bangkok. During that time, the school had to make do with wanting premises and crammed living quarters.

The news that Dalat School was moving out of the American Club was greeted with much joy. The new premises was at Tanah Rata in Cameron Highlands, Malaysia. It was not Dalat, but it was much better than the previous location in Bangkok. Here, the children and teachers have the opportunity to go climbing and jungle trekking - not without incident, however, as a teacher once took a wrong turn, and got lost in the jungle for three whole days.

The withdrawal of the British from Malaya meant that basic necessities that the school had come to rely on were slowly being closed down. That, even as the number of students continued to increase. Hence the administrators were forced to search for a new location once again.

By chance they stumbled upon the British military recreational centre of Sandycroft. However the possibility of securing it appeared bleek, as others were ahead of them in wanting to lease the place. Their prayers must have been answered, for six years to the day, from when they departed Dalat, the administrators signed the lease for Sandycroft.

First day at school in Penang was 31 August, 1971, with an enrolment of 214 students.

It is now coming to thirty years that Dalat School has been in Penang. During that time, it has grown, while at the same time, saw the landscape around it evolve with the sprouting of beach hotels and luxury condominiums.

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Penang Travel Tips is researched and written by Timothy Tye, universally known as Tim. The text is the copyright of Timothy Tye, and may not be copied for commercial use or re-published in another website without the author's permission. Information provided is in goodwill and is believed to be correct and up-to-date at time of writing. Photographs on this website are the copyright of the author and may not be reused without prior permission. For commercial licensing of photographs, read the licensing terms.