Chung Ling High School, officially the Chung Ling National Type Chinese High School (; ) is a National-type Chinese secondary school in George Town, Penang, Malaysia. It was initially established in 1917 as a primary school, and later became a junior high school in 1923, becoming the oldest extant Chinese high school in Malaysia. Following the merger of The Chinese High School in Singapore in 2005, Chung Ling High School became the oldest surviving Chinese high school in Southeast Asia.
Chung Ling High School was the only Chinese school in Penang to retain its all-male students only tradition. It was a hub of educated Chinese intellects, and was known to harbor radical political thoughts, from both the Kuomintang and the Chinese Communist Party during the Chinese Civil War. In the 1930s, the students of the school, as a response of the Japanese invasion of Manchuria and China, held anti-Japanese protests and demonstrations. During the Japanese occupation of Malaya, their past anti-Japanese sentiment resulted in retaliation by the Japanese occupation government, mostly in the form of forceful disbandment of classes, manhunts and a purge of its former staffs and alumni.
The school reopened in 1946 following the end of the Second World War, and achieved its present academic peak during the 1950s and early 1960s, under the tenure of headmaster David Chen (1898–1952), a Chinese education reformer, as the leading Chinese institution of higher education in Southeast Asia. The teachers within the school were noted poets, leading intellects and university professors. Numerous graduates later became educators, Olympic athletes, ministers and important politicians of both Singapore and Malaysia.
Chung Ling High School became a public-school under the British colonial government in 1956. As a result, a breakaway private school, Chung Ling Private High School, was founded in 1962. In 1967, the school was the first Chinese school in the country to introduce pre-university courses (Form 6). Computerization of the administration in the school was launched in 1983, the first in the country. In 1984, the government school was separated once more, forming Chung Ling Butterworth High School, a Butterworth-based Co-Ed high school for students based in Seberang Perai.
Chung Ling has been categorized as a public school for students of excellent grades. It is designated as a Cluster School of Excellence since 2013, a recognition for the academic performances of the school, and one of four Chinese "controlled-schools" (admission-only under invitation) in Penang.
History
Background
During the early 20th century, there was an influx of Chinese immigrants at the Straits Settlements, where a large proportion of them later resided in Penang. The events within China, after the Boxer Rebellion triggered political echoes locally, mostly within the city of George Town. Penang was designated as the headquarters of the Nanyang Tongmenghui (later Kuomintang) between 1909 and 1911. 29 Penang Tongmenghui members, as well as Sun Yat Sen, leader of the Tongmenghui and later the revolutions in China, formed the Penang Philomathic Union (）in December 1908, at Sun's residence at 404 Dato Keramat Road as a political wing of the Tongmenghui in Southeast Asia.
Chinese education in Penang (especially secondary-education), despite having establishments as early as 1819 (the earliest in modern-day Malaysia), was seen as undeveloped and outdated by the early 1900s, in contrast to established English institutions such as the Penang Free School (1816), the St. Xavier's Institution (1852), and the Anglo-Chinese School (1891, now the Methodist Boys School). Reforming and expanding the reach of Chinese education, among the views of local educators and prominent social figures, was seen as a major step to improve the life standards and literacy rates of the Chinese people in Malaya and the Straits Settlements (Nanyang). Newly formed Chinese pro-revolutionary institutions highlighted the philosophy of the Three Principles of the People (San Min Zhu-i, ) as the basis of their teachings, to show a positive plight on the political changes led by the revolutionaries, and to hope for a shift in local support, both morally and financially for the cause. Royalist sentiment was still sympathized by a large proportion of the local Chinese population prior to the Xinhai Revolution.
In 1904, Chung Hwa School (, now Chung Hwa Confucian High School) was formed by Cheong Fatt Tze. It was the first modern Chinese school in Southeast Asia, adopting Vernacular Chinese as the standard curriculum. In the following two decades, there was a surge of newly founded high schools throughout Malaya. In February 1919, the first Chinese high school in Malaya, the Penang Hua Chiao High School () was established at the Ping Zhang Chamber (, now the Penang Chinese Town Hall) by Tye Siok Guan, son of Tye Kee Yoon. On 21 March 1919, the first Chinese high school in Singapore, the Singapore Nanyang Overseas Chinese Middle School (, later The Chinese High School) was founded in Singapore by Tan Kah Kee.
Formation and first years Plans for a Tongmenghui-funded Chinese institution in Penang first appeared as early as 1908. In 1915, five members of the Penang Philomathic Union – Tan Xin Cheng (1881–1924), an important member and financier of the Tongmenghui and one of the founders of the Kwong Wah Daily; Lim Joo Teik (1864–1930) a prominent member of the local Hokkien community; Khoo Beng Cheang (d.1935–1946), Tongmenghui member and later Vice President of the Rubber Trade Association of Penang in 1930;The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser (1884–1942), 4 June 1930, Page 6 Khaw Seng Lee (1886–1967), jeweller and rubber tycoon, once nicknamed the "King of Gold" (); and Chee Yeong It, political writer and publisher, spearheaded efforts to organize the creation of a privately funded institution. It was decided that the formation of the institution will involve primary education. The school was named Chung Ling (鍾靈), a name proposed by Chee. The name was later set as Chung Ling School, the first iteration of the present institution.
Classes were first held on 9 February 1917 at the second floor of the shophouse owned by the Penang Philomathic Union at 16 Malay Street (). It was purchased along with 18 Malay Street nearby, after the operations of the Southeast Asia Tongmenghui was moved from Singapore to Penang in 1909, the prior being an office and the latter for Kwong Wah Daily. Lim Joo Teik and Chee Yeong It was elected as the first chairman and deputy chairman of the Board of Governors respectively. Goh Ah Long (1891–1943), an immigrated teacher from Zhao'an County, Fujian was appointed as the first headmaster of the school at the age of 24. Wu was noted to be a prolific author and an avid member within the Tongmenghui. During his tenure as headmaster, he was invited by the Kwong Wah Daily as their managing director. The school had 81 students within the first year, under the supervision of three teachers.
The following year, there were 130 students. Previously, when the school was first held the year before, the shophouse at 16 Malay Street was remarked as being "small and crowded". Visiting scholars urged for the school to move to larger premises for better accommodation. The Penang Philomathic Union decided (upon large donations from the members of the society), to purchase the mansion at 65 Macalister Road at a hefty sum of 20-thousand Straits dollars in June 1918. The mansion was formerly a club by the name of Xiao Lan Ting (). The school and the teacher's dormitory was to occupy the second floor of the mansion, while the ground floor became the headquarters of the Penang Philomathic Union. By 1919, there were 170 students. Khoo Beng Cheang was elected as the new chairman of the Board of Governors, replacing Lim Joo Teik. Chee Yeong It remained as the deputy chairman.
In January 1921, under the decision of the Board of Governors, Wang Tsuntong was appointed as the new headmaster, replacing Goh. Not long after, he tabled the first motto of the school, Justice, Honesty, Tireless, Sparing (), which was said to be carved on a piece of wood. Rising politicization of Chinese schools (including Chung Ling) after the end of the First World War culminated fears from the governments of nationalistic sentiments within the colonies. By 1919, in response to the May Fourth Movement in China, students from Chinese schools held anti-Japanese demonstrations and boycotts of Japanese goods throughout Malaya. The radical actions alerted the British colonial government, who previously had a laissez-faire attitude towards Chinese institution from funding concerns. On 13 October 1920, the government introduced the Education Ordinance of 1920 (), aimed at controlling the expansion of Chinese institutions and its politicization through forceful registrations of existing schools across Malaya. The bill was passed on 27 October 1920. It was met with extreme dissatisfaction and opposition from the Chinese community. Wang, along with the teachers of the school, mass-resigned to protest against the bill. In January 1922, to comply with the 1920 Education Ordinance, the Board of Governors abolished the post of headmaster and instead opted for a provost () to lead the school's affairs. Wang Ji-ou was appointed as the first provost of the school in the same month.
Transition into a secondary school
The closure of the Penang Hua Chiao High School in 1921 from financial difficulties and lack of leadership after the death of Tye Kee Yoon had negative implications on the development of early secondary education in Penang. There was a dire need at the time for a replacement school to cope with the rising amount of newly graduated primary students. Tan Xin Cheng proposed in an article (dated 15 December 1920) to expand the primary-school into a middle-school. On 11 November 1922, a meeting was set up by Khaw Seng Lee (by then the chairman of the Board of Governors), Lim Fuquan and Wang Wenqu (educator and revolutionary), and 9 other prominent Chinese figures to discuss the issue. Wang Deqing, the deputy chairman of the Board of Governors, suggested the conversion of the school to include secondary education. The plan was subsequently agreed and a preparation committee was formed. The school was renamed, to the "Chung Ling High School" (). Equipment of the school was supported by the now defunct Hua Chiao High School. On 20 January 1923, Chung Ling High School commenced its courses, officially becoming a joint-primary and secondary school. Ko in Beng (顾因明, b.1881), a graduate of Fudan and a former teacher at Pudong High School, was invited to be the first joint-provost of Chung Ling High School.