THE 127-year-old Guan Di Temple in Jalan Tun H. S. Lee draws hundreds of visitors everyday for its intricate designs from the past, but few are aware of the living heritage hidden behind the temple’s bright red walls.
Enter the temple, look for a quiet chamber on your left, walk past some under-utilised furniture and you will come to a staircase that leads to Kuala Lumpur’s last free school.
The walls and grilles appear yellowish while the cement floor glistens, reflecting the years that have gone by.
Lingering incense vapour makes the walk up the staircase rather surreal but you will be greeted by eager learners in high spirits once you reach the air-conditioned classrooms.
It was a Sunday and there were two Mandarin classes going on.
The students, about 10 in a class, are of different ages and the one thing they have in common is they are all English-educated.
The weekday classes are mainly attended by senior citizens while the Sunday classes have more working adults.
Apart from learning how to read, write and speak the language, they were also taught Chinese folklore and festive customs.
Having survived 87 years, the free school run by Selangor and Federal Territory Kwong Siew Association is said to be the only one of its kind left in the capital.
It was one of the free schools established during the British administration to provide free Chinese education to children from English-medium schools, so that they would not forget the culture of their ancestors.
Tycoons Cheong Yoke Choy and Loke Wan Wye (son of Loke Yew) had also set up free schools but they no longer exist.
The Kwong Siew Free School used to be a full-fledged institution complete with various subjects, clubs and even Sports Day, a stark contrast to its small set-up now where only Mandarin classes are conducted.
It had 153 students in its inauguration year and the number continued to increase between the 1920s and 1950s, with more than 540 students at its zenith in 1956.
The school had been relocated several times to cater to the growing number of students.
It has been at its current location above the Guan Di Temple since 1974.
“Were it not for the free school, I would never have been the person I am today,” said Danny Loo Thing Fatt, one of the association’s committee members.
He attended the free school in the 1980s when there were still about 10 classes, made up mostly of students from nearby schools, including Victoria Institution, St John and Methodist Boys’ School.
The St John pupil walked to the free school every weekday to join a two-hour class that followed the then SJK(C) syllabus to learn Chinese.
He said the five years he spent learning Chinese had opened up numerous opportunities when he worked for a company and later, when he established his own business.
He had learned much more than just a language, but also values.
“Once, I went to a funeral where an English-speaking relative proudly recited a Chinese poem to show respect to the deceased, totally not knowing that the poem was actually meant to win a girl’s heart,” he said.
“Learning a language is learning about a civilisation. It is narrow-minded to reject a language and this is why we want our young ones to continue having the chance to learn Chinese,” he added.
Committee member Fong Kwok Lau, who is in charge of the free school, said the student population started to dwindle when people started moving out of the city centre to settle in the suburbs.
Things worsened when schools started full-day curriculum in 2000.
Over the years, the clans association of 1,300 members has been financing the operations of the free school, costing it more than RM10,000 every year.
It provides the space for classes and pays for the electricity and for the qualified, experienced teachers.
Students are only required to pay RM20 to RM40 per month.
“We want this to go on, so that people have the chance to be exposed to the wealth of a 5,000-year-old civilisation and benefit from it.
“Even if there’s only one student left, we will still keep the free school running,” he said.
At the Sunday class, the students were eager to share their learning experience and urged other “bananas” (Chinese who do not speak Chinese) to join the class.
“I’ve been attending the classes for the past nine years and I just don’t feel like leaving.
“It’s fun here, I look forward to it every week,” Tang Soo Lan said, adding that knowing how to read and type using Hanyu Pinyin (Mandarin romanisation system) had helped her tremendously with her job in the printing industry.
Pharmacist Jason Law urged the English-speaking community to join the classes.
“Do not be intimidated by it, come with an open mind, it is not as hard as you think,” he said, praising the dedicated teachers at the free school.
Teachers Pang Cheng Lung and Sam Tham have been enjoying themselves at the free school.
Both have been there for close to 10 years.
“It is a great sense of achievement for me,” Pang said.
For more information, call 03-2078 2735 or visit www.kwongsiew.org
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