Victoria Institution - Myths & Mysteries Part 1

Written on Thursday, January 15, 2009 by KayChink

YO! Chingus!

Hari tu kitorang kat sini tengok citer antoo indon. Tajuknya "Sumpah Pocong di Sekolah". Citer pasal 3 kawan ni buat hal kat sekolah dan utk buktikan diorang ni tak bersalah, sorang mamat ni pun bersumpah pocong. Mengikut citer ni, kalau orang yg bersumpah tu tipu, nyawanya akan diambil~! So, memang la terbukti yang mamat tu bohong. kalau tak dibuktikannya bohong, citer ni tak jadi la kan? hehehe! So sepanjang beberape hari hidupnya di asrama sekolah, banyak kejadian2 aneh yang memang membuatkan diri anda yang menonton ini ketar sampai bulu roma di kaki!!

Memang tak rugi la tengok citer ni. Mags dgn Abs siap menjerit2 bila nampak Antoo tu kuar! Kanchana plak tak berhenti2 bercakap maybe sbb nak cover dirinya yang memang sedang dihantui tu.

Meh, kita tengok trailer dia. Ni pun dah cukup serammm~ kalau tengok citer dia sepenuhnya, jangan tengok sorang-sorang yea? nanti ada je yang menemani korang. HUHUHUHUUHU~

Tengok plak pukul 4 am..lagi la serammm~ dahlah kat luar sejuk je.. terasa la angin-angin malam yang dingin membelai badan. Lepas citer tu abes, kitorang sambung citer hantu sendiri sampai la pukul 9am!! masing-masing takut nak tido kot~ Hohohohoho!

Memang best citer antoo kat sekolah ni. Lebih-lebih lagi kalau sekolah tu dah tuaa. lagi banyak la citer hantunya. Cam kat VI, sekolah yang dah hampir 116 tahun ni, banyak la misteri-misteri yang ada sampai sekarang pun tak tau benar atau tidak. Nak tau ape misteri yang best kat VI? Meh baca article ni...

MYTH 1:

"The bodies of prisoners who were said to have been tortured were also said to be strewn all over the school field. Today several tombstones lying near the school hostels bear testimony to this". The Victorian 1985, page 80.

FACT:

There are no reports anywhere in the school magazines after the war about bodies strewn over the school field. There is only one tombstone near the hostel. If you decipher the characters on the gravestone, you will find that they refer to a woman buried there in the reign of the Chinese emperor Kuang Hsu which was from 1875 to 1908, long before the World War II. The school is built on what used to be the Petaling Hill Chinese Cemetery before the 1930s, so the presence of a Chinese grave is not a great surprise. But it is definitely not that of a Japanese victim.

ChinguKay VICTORIAN 2003 : During my time, there was one time they found human bones in a pot during renovations of the school compound and it was on the news. If I was not mistaken, Bulletin Utama, TV3. I was once told by my seniors, during the renovations of the school field for piping system, lots of the human skeletons were found and they were scattering all over the field!!

MYTH 2:

(A) "The school planted palm trees in honour of the teachers who were killed in the war." The Victorian 1985, page 80.

(B) "....Royal Palm Trees - planted in memory of the 33 VI teachers who died in World War II" (See how a myth gets embellished over time?). The Victorian 1989, page 41; The Victorian 1997, page 13.

FACT:

(A) There is no such record in any of the school magazines. As shown in this photo taken in July 1941 (five months before the Pacific War began) palm trees are already flourishing in the background of this group of scouts! In fact, as reported in the Victorian of 1991, Old Boy Mr. S. Robert, when asked in an interview about these palms, said that the trees had been planted in 1928 "purely for decorative purposes".

It is a fact, however, that in 1949, some 10 yellow flame trees (peltophorum) - not palm trees - were planted in memory of some teachers and pupils who died in the war. This was reported in the 1949 Victorian. It is also confirmed by the School Captain of that time, Dato' Dr. R. S. McCoy, who remembers planting two trees himself, not in memory of anyone who died, but as School Captain and as School Hockey Captain.

(B) As reported in the Victorian of 1946, only 7 VI teachers died in World War II - G. Burgess, F. Cobb, H.D. Grundy, E.W. Reeve, A. C. Strahan, G.C. Tacchi, and T.L. White. (Their names are also on the war memorial in the V.I. Museum.) One local teacher, K. Thambirajah, died during the Japanese occupation. It is rather baffling where the number 33 came from, considering that the pre-war VI staff numbered only around twenty!

ChinguKay VICTORIAN 2003 : When I was teaching my juniors a bagpipe song, suddenly one of the trees fell and nearly hit one of them! Luckily he was able to jump on time. Maybe they were mad at us because we were too noisy! LoL~

MYTH 3:

(A) "An interesting feature about the school building is the bell which hangs from the school tower. Legend has it that the bell was from the warship Repulse which was sunk together with the Prince of Wales by the Japanese in 1941 during World War II. However, no proof substantiating this can be found" The Victorian 1985, page 80.

(B) "The School bell from HMS Malaya - presented in honour of the VI teachers who went down with the ship in World War II". The Victorian 1989, page 41; The Victorian 1997, page 13.

FACT:

(A) The Repulse and the Prince of Wales were indeed sunk in December 1941 in the South China Sea off Kuantan by the Japanese, which can be confirmed, without too much effort, in any war history book. However, the bell hanging under the school tower comes from the HMS Malaya. This ship fought in World Wars I and II and survived and was decommissioned after the war. The watch bell of this ship was presented to the school by British Rear Admiral H.J. Egerton in a solemn ceremony witnessed by a large gathering including the Raja Muda of Perak, the Chief Justice, and senior government officials on September 12, 1947. It was also broadcast live and filmed by the Malayan Film Unit. This entire event is chronicled on pages 3 to 8 in The Victorian of 1948 and the contents are reproduced in the article "Presentation of the HMS Malaya Watch Bell" in this web page.

(B) Since the HMS Malaya never went down, the story of VI teachers who supposedly went down with it must belong to the realm of fantasy.

MYTH 4:

"Legend has it that if it (the HMS Malaya Bell) is rung, the whole of Kuala Lumpur will be engulfed in a disastrous flood". The Victorian 1988, page 66.

FACT:
Again, check the feature "Presentation of the HMS Malaya Watch Bell" and read carefully those three speeches. No one in his right mind, not the VI headmaster at that time, not the Admiral, not the Governor, would ever wish this disaster on the poor people of KL. (Indeed, in its first years at the VI, the Bell was rung daily by the School Captain for nothing more calamitous than the announcement of the start of school.)

At the 1947 presentation, Rear Admiral Egerton said in his speech, "... So now I will ring 8 bells to say farewell to HMS Malaya and eight more to mark the inception of a new period, when I hope this bell will be an inspiration to those who hear it struck and perhaps ponder for a moment on its past history".

The Governor, Sir Edward Gent, said this at the conclusion of his speech, "Admiral, the Government and people of Malaya gratefully accept the ship's bell as a perpetual reminder to us all of the good ship Malaya and her loyal service in His Majesty's Navy, and as a perpetual reminder to ourselves here, and to succeeding generations in this country, of our comradeship with the Royal Navy and the cause of Empire defence."

The VI headmaster, Mr F. Daniel, said, "... to be given a bell with such a history and such associations is a great privilege; but we fully realize that great privileges imply great responsibilities."

MYTH 5:

"Tandas 206 yang terletak di sebelah kiri kantin pula telah digunakan oleh pehak Jepun sebagai tempat untuk memenggal kepala orang tawanan." The Victorian 1987, page 59.

FACT:

The boys' toilet, with building number 206, was built in late 1961, at the same time as the present canteen, by the then headmaster, Dr G.E.D. Lewis. This was at least 16 years after the Pacific War ended! Apart from 206 being a code word for the boys' toilet (an inside joke that dates way back to 1962), there is no history to the toilet.

This photograph, taken by me, shows members of the VI Horticultural Society posing exactly where the entrance to 206 is (that's the school incinerator at the left in the background and the school carpenter's shack on the right). The year is 1956 - eleven years after the war ended and still no 206 built yet. So how could it be around during the war?

ChinguKay VICTORIAN 2003 : If you go to VI you'll notice that there are no mirrors in the toilets! Why? well...you know why!! huhuhu! I was once told that there were cases where students could see something 'paranormal' in the toilet when there were mirrors. After that, all the mirrors were removed and remain that way until now... so, jangan pandai-pandai bawak cermin sendiri pulak! You have been warned!! One more thing, dont EVER go to the toilet alone during the night. Drag your friends along or you'll end up making new 'friends' :D~!!

And about that 206 toilet, during my time the toilet was sealed and it was forbidden for students to enter. Tempat tu KERAS my seniors kata.. But they couldn't take it down it for some reasons...

I haven't got the chance to stay in the school hostel and I am sure there are a lot of ghost stories yet to be told. Headless Japs Army, Mysteries of the VI clock tower, secret tunnel, ect. More of the Myths and Mysteries on the next part of the post! See ya Chingus~ CHIAOZ~