Plan to relocate Malacca High School has been shelved

MALACCA: Malacca Government has shelved the proposed relocation of country second oldest school - Malacca High School (MHS).

Chief Minister Datuk Seri Idris Haron said his administration had decided that the school should remain at the site where it stood for 188 years.

“The earlier letter was sent to garner the feedback from all stakeholders on the proposed relocation and we did not go ahead with the relocation.

“The school is in the core of the UNESCO heritage site and I can assure that it will remain there,” he said when contacted.

Idris said the state government would provide all assistance for the school’s facelift without relocation.

He also noted that the proposal for the relocation of MHS was first mooted in 1993 but was axed due to opposition from various quarters, then.

“Under my stewardship, we have no plans to develop any buildings or structures that are deemed as heritage sites.

“Therefore, MHS will not be relocated as the school is rich with its historical background,” he said.

The proposal to relocate MHS received strong opposition from alumni and educational activists in the state.

Malacca’s Education Department has sent out a letter to the school management on July 17 to garner the feedbacks from the school’s ex-students and Parents and Teacher Association on the idea of relocating the school, which was first established in 1826 to an alternative site.

Following the issuance of the letter, the ex-students of the school campaigned against the idea in social media of the relocation urging the Education Ministry to shelve the proposal as the school had existed for 188 years and had produced a number of the excellent students including prominent leaders, businessmen and sportsmen.

The MHS alumni Facebook page received a deluge of responses against the idea of relocating the school, some describing the relocation was to make way for commercial development, thereby overlooking the heritage and historic values of the school.

Malacca Action Group for Parents in Education’s (Magpie) chairman Mak Chee Kin thanked Idris for his quick intervention to prevent the relocation.

“We understand the letter from Education Ministry was aimed at getting feedback but we still need the assurance from state government officials.

“The Chief Minister is a gentleman who upon hearing the voices from the grassroots although the proposal for relocation was renewed 21 years later,” he said.

He said relocating the cluster school, one of the premier school in the country, should not cross anyone’s mind as the school has been at the site for close to two centuries.

Mak who is also the ex-student of the MHS said he initially received strong opposition for all parties on the proposal for relocating the school.

“Now the matter could be put to rest and we have to find ways to help the state government to address traffic congestion during peak period,” he said.

Mak said being the second oldest institution in Malaysia after Penang High School, MHS had produced dozens of prominent politicians, royal family members, activists and academicians.

Among the distinguished alumni were Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam, the ex-chief Minister of Malacca, Penang Chief Minister, Lim Guan Eng, and first MCA president Tun Tan Cheng Lock, Former Finace Minister Tun Tan Siew Sin, former Chief Secretary to the Government, Tun Abdullah Salleh and in sport Ong Cheng Watt (gold medallist in the 1954 Malaysian Amateur Athlete championships in Long Jump). Mirnawan Nawawi (former national hockey player) and Shukor Adnan (former national footballer).