GEORGE TOWN: A memorial ceremony in honour of Reverend Robert Sparke Hutchings, founder of the 200 year-old Penang Free School (PFS), was held at the Protestant Cemetery in Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah here today.
The event was attended by around 130 people, including PFS students, teachers and alumni, who took turns laying wreaths at Hutchings’ final resting place, which is marked with a marble tombstone with an epitaph that reads 'Founder of Penang Free School 21 October 1816.’
The service was conducted by Bishop Charles Samuel and assisted by Reverend Ho Kong Eng, who is also an alumnus the school.
Alumnus Ho Chu Hor, 38, said the commemoration is held annually in conjunction with the school’s anniversary.
However, he said, it is grander this year, as it is the school's 200th anniversary.
Ho said it was important to honour Hutchings, who had played a key role in improving education standards in Penang.
Hutchings was born in 1782 and died in 1827, aged 45.
He founded the school, which was the first English-medium institution in Southeast Asia at the time, on Oct 21, 1816.
The school was initially located at Lebuh Farquhar here, but was moved to the present location in Jalan Masjid Negeri.