Mr Peter James Morsingh –

             Our Pioneer Headmaster

MR P.J. Morsingh , a young and dynamic teacher from the staff of St.Xavier’s Institution,Penang, was appointed Headmaster of St.Michael’s. He had passed out as a Grade One teacher and was handpicked by Bro.Visitor James Byrne to head the school. Upon his posting to Ipoh, Mr Morsingh  had to steer  the school forward in the face of stiff competition  from the two schools already established in Ipoh – the Anglo Chinese School and Anderson School ,Ipoh.Guided and inspired by Father J.B.Coppin , he brought the school from its humble beginnings to a position of a worthy institution. His painstaking and self-denying efforts brought St Michael’s to a most satisfactory state of efficiency, despite the numerous physical handicaps the school faced  in its infancy.

The Saga of the Pioneering Years

The Pioneer Batch of Michaelians -1912

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      The challenges that St.Michael’s faced in its pioneering days were innumerable. It was the indomitable spirit  and  the spirit of self-sacrifice of Mr.P.J.Morsingh  that  inspired staff,students and parents to give their utmost for the greater glory of the alma mater.

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     Mr Tan Boon Kwee, old boy (1913)  and former Headmaster of St.Michael’s Primary recalls:

           “I joined St Michael’s in 1913. Mr Morsingh’s main problems were accommodation and staffing.In 1915,the large attap shed of the school was converted to classrooms with unpaved floor,unlaid drains, roof not proofed against rain and shine.Another temporary building was put up in 1918, behind the mosque to accommodate more classes.”

          “The other problem was staffing.It was Mr Morsingh’s worst headache. Most teachers either took up the post as an experiment or left after getting better employment.It was therefore not unusual  for a class to have  at least

half a dozen teachers in a year!”

·         Despite these constraints, the fledgling school  began to establish its name for academic excellence.

·         From  1917 to 1919 the school achieved 100% passes  in the public Standard VII examination, and when the school first submitted  its first candidates for the Cambridge Junior Certificate, two hounours were obtained.

Mr Tan Boon Kwee gives us  his glimpses of the pioneering days:

       “In 1913, when I was admitted to the Primary II class, the enrolment was 139.The five teachers we had were experienced and with the help of the headmaster, the promotions were rapid.There were three Government Examinations: Standards  IV,VI and VII. The government  encouraged the schools that did well. The Headmaster himself gave free tuition to the weak er boys.”

“In 1917, I was in  Standard VII.Those  who passed Standard VII could easily get a job in the Government service  or in the private sector.Therewere no Cambridge classes till 1917.The enrolment reached 300 that year.”

 “When I passed  Standard VII, I was offered a student-teacher post in the school and facilities to prepare for the Senior Cambridge.In 1918, I started to work as a student-teacher. Without Government aid, the school funds were limited and the teachers did not get much but they seemed happy.”

Fact File:

Mr Tan Boon Kwee belongs to that class of devoted Michaelians, valiant and true, who gave their lives to St Michael’s. He served his alma mater as teacher and SMI Primary School’s headmaster.He is remembered by Michaelians as a true gentleman who lived the Michaelian spirit of caring for the children entrusted to him.

The discovery of tin had brought together people of many traditions  dreaming of a  better life.

         St. Michael’s Institution is destined to play a dramatic role in reshaping these traditions     and helping thousands of Ipoh youth to realise their life dream.

Caring for the “last,the least and the lost”  was the Lasallian principle.Boys not accepted  byor expelled from other schools are  given a chance at St.Michael’s. The strict discipline and

vigilance of Mr. Morsingh bears fruit in almost all these cases.

 

    These first pupils  soon developed a taste for excellence – in  studies, in games, in behaviour, in personal values, in service. Reputation and numbers grow very rapidly.

The Pioneers of St.Michael's -1912

 Acknowledgements to Master Timothy Chee for the sketches which are taken from "Our Story".published by the Old Michaelians'Association. 

Fact File on Ipoh's History 

Ipoh,  the  Federated Malay States & The World (1912- 1920)

IPOH Towkay Yau Tet Shin The founder of Ipoh’s New Town	·         On  1 June 1892 a fire broke out and destroyed over half the town and the damage was estimated at $100,000 Straits Dollars. After the fire, it gave planners the opportunity to lay out the streets in a more orderly grid pattern and the town was rebuilt, in time with the second tin rush and vast numbers of people, especially Chinese miners descended upoh Ipoh transforming it into a business and social centre which become known as the “CITY OF MILLIONAIRES” ·         Between 1905 and 1914, Yau Tet Shin expanded the town across the Kinta River. He had built 216 houses in this “New Town” of Ipoh by 1908, including a theatre and food market. ·         Ipoh’s population was also increasing from 23,978 in 1911 to 27,500 in 1914 and by that time the town was beginning to take on its current appearance. ·         The town continued to grow rapidly, as a result of tin mining and rubber production in the surrounding region throughout the 1920′s and 1930′s.
THE FEDERATED MALAY STATES Pics of Tun Leong Yew Koh & John Thivy	·         The evolution of the Federated Malay States into the future Malaya was already in progress. ·         Among the Lasallians who were to play a key role in the evolution of Malayan nationalism were              Tun Leong Yew Koh and John Thivy. ·         Educated at St Xavier’s Institution, Penang, Tun Leong Yew  Koh  established a close rapport with other Lasallian schools and he was one of the most  eloquent beneficiaries of a Lasallian education. He became President of the Malayan Chinese Association  and served as Minister of Justice in the post-Merdeka Cabinet. He was also appointed later as the Governor of Melaka. ·          John Thivy , founder of the Malayan Indian Congress, was educated at St.Michael’s  Institution. He was appointed Malaya’s first Ambassador to Italy . ·         The two personalities  cited above  represent a  vast array of national figures  from  Lasallian schools who would play a key role in helping build a new consciousness of a wider Malayan nationalism.
World War 1      Towkay Eu Tong Sen	·         This period of the school’s existence was memorable for two historic events – the First World War and the World Influenza Epidemic of 1918. The World War broke out in August 4, 1914 when the boys were having their Mid-summer Holidays, School work was little affected. Other than subscribing to the War Fund, seeing War Pictures and hearing occasionally sensational war news, the boys did not feel that a war was shaking the Empire of its very foundation. The Armistice was signed on November 11, 1918, and on the following day the boys of St. Michael’s with those of the other two English schools paraded round the town. There were great rejoicing on Peace Day in June, 1919: inter-school sports, night processions, cash gifts and commemoration medals made the day memorable to all. France’s Day was celebrated on 14th July, 1919. ·         In October, 1918, the great Influenza epidemic that had been ravaging many parts of the world struck Malaya with ravaging telling effect. School was first closed at noon on 4th October owing to the poor attendance and remained closed until November 11. Fortunately, there were no fatal cases among the pupils or the staff, but work was seriously affected. ·         (From Mr Lip Seng Onn’s article in “The Michaelian 1940”) ·         World History Fact File:                World War (1914-18)  pitted Germany and Austro Hungary against Britain,France and Russia. It was the heyday of                                         extreme nationalism.Here in  the FMS, schools like St Michael’s were already preparing children for  a plural               society where children of various ethnic groups would be welded together to share a common national future.               Even in these years, the Lasallian schools were preparing children to rise above narrow ethnic and faith  confines               to think  of themselves as global citizens with Malayan roots.  ·         The people of Kinta ,in particular the Chinese, gave generously to the British war effort, and by 1918 had contributed to the formation of a squadron of planes and to the buying of two tanks for that purpose.The squadron of planes was a gift from the FMS as a whole.One of the tanks was presented by Towkay Eu Tong Sen;the other raised by public subscription amongst the Chinese of Kinta.