Penang Free School Bicentenary

Penang Free School building illuminated for the PFS Bicentenary (21 October 2016)


Penang Free School Bicentenary was celebrated on its Speech Day, 21 October, 2016. Preparation for this celebration began years before the actual day. The school building was given a full new coat of paint during the December school holidays, so it appeared all whitewash and new.

The Guest of Honour at the Penang Free School Bicentenary is the Raja of Perlis, His Royal Highness Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Putra Jamalullail, who is an Old Free, having studied at the school in the 1950's, while his late father was also a former student from the 1930s and his son, the Raja Muda of Perlis, High Royal Highness Tuanku Syed Faizuddin Putra was a student there in the 1980s.

On the occasion of the bicentenary celebrations, Pos Malaysia issued a set of commemorative stamps and First Day Cover. The stamps are in the denomination of 70 sen, 80 sen and 90 sen. Also issued is a miniature sheet depicting the school badge, with a face value of RM5.00. A collector set comprising, the 70 sen, 80 sen and 90 sen stamps in loose and sheet forms, a folder, two sets of first day covers with brochures and two miniature sheets, were sold for RM71.45.

Also launched during the Penang Free School Bicentenary was the book Let the Aisles Proclaim, which provides a comprehensive overview of the school. The text was the work of Mr SS Quah, who took some 20 months writing it.

The main event for the day must surely be the dinner, attended by some 3,130 registered alumni of the school, making the event the largest such gathering in the country, and is entered into the Malaysia Book of Records. It is a time when former students of the school come back from all over the world to meet up and trade updates.

In the following photo essay, I take you on a tour of the preparations running up to the main event, the PFS Bicentenary Dinner.

Penang Free School (1816-2016) - 200 Years of Excellence (21 October 2016)


Counting down to the big bash. (21 October 2016)


Parking zones being set up in preparation for the big bash. (21 October 2016)


Here I am with the Bicentenary Plaque at the school entrance. (21 October 2016)


The School Hall made ready for the 2016 Speech Day (21 October 2016)


The history of the Penang Free School in words and pictures. (21 October 2016)


It's precisely nine years ago that Malaysian astronaut Dr. Sheikh Muszaphar Shukur blasted into space. (21 October 2016)


Air conditioned tent - waiting area for the VVIP? (21 October 2016)


Tables being set up for the PFS Bicentenary Dinner (21 October 2016)


Here I am with the PFS Bicentenary First Day Cover (21 October 2016)


Close to five hundred tables were set on the School Field for the Bicentenary Dinner. (21 October 2016)


The appetizer and menu of the Bicentenary Dinner. (21 October 2016)


The VVIP table at the PFS Bicentenary, headed by His Royal Highness, the Raja of Perlis, and Penang Chief Minister, the Right Honourable Lim Guan Eng. (21 October 2016)


My wife and I with the Raja of Perlis's Bentley. (21 October 2016)


Dancers getting ready for their performance at the PFS Bicentenary (21 October 2016)


The Penang Free School Orchestra performing at the PFS Bicentenary. (21 October 2016)


Old Frees catching up with one another over the Bicentenary Dinner. (21 October 2016)

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