RAY

New Straits Times
15 June 2008
Heart of the Tigers

Although KE7 had many illustrious headmasters and principals, two men have found a place in the hearts of many Tigers.

One is the first headmaster of the school Roger Francis Stainer, and the other Long Heng Hua.

Apart from suggesting the name King Edward VII, Stainer, who became the longest serving headmaster when he retired in 1922, was responsible for coming up with the school motto, ‘Magni Nominis Umbra’.

It was also stainer who selected the rampant tiger as the symbol of the school.

“What is clear is that he wanted his boys to emulate the bravery of the tiger, in both body and mind, in the classrooms and on the playing fields. The school boys generally referred to as Edwardians, also came to be known in time as Tigers,” according to former student U. Ravinder Singh.

Ravinder, who served the school for many years as a teacher, passed away on June 8.

Stainer was known as a great disciplinarian but well-loved by his pupils.

In his 1958 book “History of English Schools in Perak”, E.C. Hicks writes: “Every morning at about a quarter to 10, for school in those days began at 10, there would be an athletic figure dressed in the fashion of the time… white topee on head, a white suit complete with five buttons and two studs… walking very briskly from his quarters on Jalan Abdul Jalil, now demolished, along that section of Barrack Road that is now in the hospital compound, towards the school.

“The moment he entered the school compound he was besieged by dozens of young eager boys of all nationalities and they would follow him right into his office.”

Stainer was accorded a vociferous welcome when he visited the school again in the 1930s.

Stainer died aboard the ship that took him home.

If the early part of the school’s history was dominated by the deeds and reputation of Stainer, the latter part was brightened by that of Long.

Long, or Pak Long as he was called by the students, was the secondary school principal from 1964 to 1982. The strict disciplinarian is credited with the return of the school’s glory in the academic and sports arena.

“He came at a rather difficult time in the history of the school. It was a period when the youth nationwide were experimenting with drugs and smoking and gangsterism was rearing its ugly head.

“To prevent this from taking a hold on the pupils of the school, he maintained a firm stance. Rigid discipline was the key to his success and he also developed a good rapport with the local police in dealing with the wayward boys,” wrote Ravinder, who served as Long’s assistant, in a document on the school’s history.

Monthly tests were introduced, he wrote, and punishment meted to pupils who did not improve in their studies. Training for games and society activities were regularised and there was a noticeable all-round improvement.

“Academic performance improved and there was a revival in hockey, football and rugby. He paid particular attention to rugby with the school winning state and national titles several times and above all, winning the bronze medal in the first Asian Schools Rugby Championship in 1978,” Ravinder wrote.

Besides rugby, cross-country running, judo and the life-saving society thrived under his leadership.

But perhaps the most telling description of Long’s dedication to KE7 was what his wife Lee Num Kim has to say.

“My husband was earlier the principal with the Teacher’s Training College in Pantai Valley. When Tan Sri Aziz (former student of KE7 and former Malaysian High Commissioner to Britain Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Yeop) heard about my husband’s record in the education ministry, he was determined to get him to come to KE7,” she said.

Lee recounted how the school was in bad shape and how Aziz had told Long to bring rugby up.

It took Long eight years, but bring the school up he did. Along the way, he declined promotions just so he could do it.

“We became the national champions in rugby, swimming and life-saving. In those says, you would be transferred after three years, on promotion. In the first three years we were here, they were going promote him and transfer him out but he refused. He declined six promotions because he loved the school so much,” she said of Long, who passed away in 1998.