Victoria Institution

The school's foundation stone was laid by on 14 August 1893 by Lady Treacher, who was the wife of Selangor Resident at that time; Sir William Hood Treacher. The school was opened on 28 July 1894.[6][7] This original school building is located at Jalan Tun H.S. Lee, right next to the site of present-day  KJ14  SBK16  Pasar Seni LRT/MRT station.

This building was then used as a premise of the Technical College (now Universiti Teknologi Malaysia)[8] up until the 1950s when the new Technical College building at Jalan Gurney (now Jalan Semarak) was completed and officially opened on the 1 March 1955 by Sir Donald MacGillivray, the then British High Commissioner to Malaya.

After the Technical College had moved out, the old VI building was used as a school again, as High Street School, which in turn moved to Setapak and became known as Setapak High School.[9]

The old VI building was then managed around the 1980s by the Kuala Lumpur City Hall as a cultural centre, known as Taman Budaya, until it was burnt down by a fire in 1999.[10][11] Restoration work was made from 2002 to 2005 by JTK Consult.[12] The department is now run as the National Department For Culture & Arts.[13]

As the VI's former location was frequently flooded by the nearby Klang River during heavy downpours, the Victoria Institution moved to Jalan Hang Tuah (formerly known as Shaw Road) on 26 March 1929.

The Main Hall at E Block.

The Victoria Institution has a clock tower overlooking two sports pavilions at its façade, and a large field, surrounded by colonial-era trees (yellow flame trees and palms). The VI also has its own 25-meter swimming pool and synthetic track for 100 metres sprint events, making it the only school in the region with these facilities at that time.

The prefect disciplinary system is very much similar to the traditions first laid out by the school's second headmaster, Major Richard Sidney (VI First Prefects).[14]

Detention classes and community service are still the common penalties for misdemeanours in the VI, while such traditions are no longer in practice in many Malaysian schools.

The VI is also home to the oldest cadet corps in the country, the Victoria Institution Cadet Corps (affiliated with the Malaysian Army and the first to receive Colours in 1960 in honor of the role played in the Second World War[15]), the oldest cadet corps band in the country, the Victoria Institution Cadet Corps Band, and the oldest scout group in the country, the First Kuala Lumpur Scout Troop. The First Kuala Lumpur Scout Troop split into two troops in 1933 thus establishing the First Kuala Lumpur Scout Troop and the Second Kuala Lumpur Scout Troop. The official name of the Second Kuala Lumpur Scout Troop today is the Victoria Scout Group.

The VI has annual events such as the Military Tattoo (performance by marching bands and cadets), Scouts' Campfire (rescue act by senior scouts), Annual Sports Carnival, Speech Days, and Science Fairs. The Victoria Institution is the only school in Malaysia that has its own Edinburgh-styled Military Tattoo.

VI had a daily event for students every day before COVID-19 hit, it was known to students as ‘Lines’[16] where the school’s prefects would shout “LINES!” that would be audible throughout the whole school to check the student's attire to make sure they were perfect. If a student doesn't have complete attire (the school's pin badge, a name tag, or a tie) the student must go to the Prefect Room 30 minutes before ‘Lines’ start to get an ‘Excuse Slip’ so they won't be called to the ‘Back’ of the line. ‘Lines’ start every day at 7:20 am before school starts and at 10:20 am after recess. Each session would be 20 minutes. If a group of students behaved badly, they will be called to the Prefects Room to receive punishment either detention or a warning.

The school also has its own school magazine and school newspaper. The magazine, The Victorian, is published annually for the benefit of the students. The school newspaper, The Seladang (the name derived from the seladang head in the school crest), was first published in 1953 and ceased publication circa 2016.

The VI participates in the Bangsar zone at district level and in the MSSKL (Kuala Lumpur School Sports Council) tournament at the state level. Among the sports that the VI participates in are football, rugby union, cricket, basketball, waterpolo, badminton, archery, Hockey, handball, volleyball, athletics, tennis and table-tennis. VI is the defending champion in football and waterpolo at the state level.

The VI meets the MCKK in football for the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup every year with the venue alternating each year between the two schools. Because of its strong tradition in sports, the VI has produced many Malaysian sportsmen including Mokhtar Dahari, Misbun Sidek, Rashid Sidek, Shahrin Majid, Razif Sidek, Jalani Sidek, Rahman Sidek, Foo Kok Keong, Dr Samani Abdul Ghani and Tan Sri Dr Mani Jegathesan.

The school's cricket ground first witnessed an international match when Ireland played Gibraltar in the 1997 ICC Trophy, which was hosted by Malaysia. Eight matches in that competition were played at the school premises.[17] The ground also played host to three List A fixtures played in the cricket competition at the 1998 Commonwealth Games. These fixtures saw Pakistan play Scotland, Canada played India, and Malaysia play Jamaica.[18]

'Be Yet Wiser; To be a Scholar, Sportsman and a Gentleman'

Strictly, the school has no official motto at all. The first motto is actually that of the school newspaper, "The Seladang", founded in October 1953. It was selected by the first editor, R. Nithiahnanthan, and displayed on its front-page banner under the head of the seladang taken from the school crest. Over time the motto seems to have been hijacked as that of the school. The motto is derived from the Biblical proverb, "Give instruction to a wise man and he will be yet wiser."[19]

"To be a scholar, sportsman and a gentleman" was actually quoted from an interview, in the late 1960s, in the school magazine "The Victorian", with the then headmaster, Mr V. Murugasu, in which the headmaster expressed his belief in what all Victorians should aspire to be.

Over time these two aphorisms seem to have been accepted as school mottos, although there have been no official declarations as such.

There are eight sport houses in the VI.[20] The sports houses compete against each other on sports day. The Victoria Institution Sports Day has been held since 1897, and is widely regarded as a citywide event, with huge crowds converging on the Victoria Institution field in the early days. The houses are named after the founders, benefactors and even supporters of the school. Initially there were ten houses, including two which do not exist today—Nugent Walsh House and Steve Harper House. After the school premises were moved to the present Petaling Hill and the VI became a secondary school, there were only five houses—Shaw, Treacher, Yap Kwan Seng, Hepponstall and Thamboosamy—because of the fewer number of students. However, after the war, with increased demand for education, three new houses were added—Rodger, Davidson and Loke Yew—making the total eight. The present houses are:

• Thamboosamy, green
• Lee Kuan Yew (formerly known as Hepponstall, named after the first acting Headmaster of VI), yellow
• Sultan Abdul Samad (formerly known as Davidson, named after the Infant School supervisor, Elizabeth Davidson), purple
• Rodger, orange
• Loke Yew, brown
• Shaw, red
• Yap Kwan Seng, light blue
• Treacher, dark blue

• Mokhtar Dahari, former Malaysian Football International
• Mani Jegathesan, sports icon, doctor, and researcher and deputy president of Olympic Council of Malaysia.
• Misbun Sidek, National Badminton Champion and National Badminton Singles Coach
• Jalani Sidek, All England Badminton Doubles Champions and National Doubles Champions
• Razif Sidek, All England Badminton Doubles Champions and National Doubles Champions
• Rashid Sidek, National Badminton Champion
• K. Reuben, Malaysian footballer
• Shafiq Sharif, Malaysian National team cricketer
• Foo Kok Keong, National Badminton Player, former world number 1
• Lall Singh, former Indian Test cricketer
• Shahrin Majid, footballer, Malaysian Football International
• Yap Wai Loon, footballer, Malaysian Football International
• Sieh Kok Chi, Malaysian Water Polo player, Secretary-General, Olympic Council of Malaysia
• Hadin Azman, Malaysian footballer, Kuala Lumpur City F.C.
• Mohd Khairi Zainudin, Malaysian footballer
• Khiew Hoe Yean, Malaysian Swimmer