elow are school text book lists for the year 1933 and the
year 2001. They represent two vastly different worlds -
historically, politically, socioculturally. Two different
centuries, two different systems of administration, two visions,
two world views. But the same school - the V. I.!
Now flashback to 1933, to the days of the worldwide slump and the
British Empire at its zenith. King George the Fifth was on the
throne and ruling over Malaya was his representative, the Governor,
Sir Cecil Clementi. And presiding over the microcosm that was the
1933 world of the V.I. was the Headmaster, the suave Mr Frederick
Lloyd Shaw, who had taken over the helm three years earlier from Mr
G. C. Davies. White coated prefects prowled the V.I. corridors
looking for errant pupils. Victorians sang God save the King
at official functions and V.I. scouts saluted the Union Jack.
The 1933 book list would have been issued to the boys the previous
December before school broke up for the long holidays. Using the
list to buy textbooks for their respective classes would have
been schoolboys like Yaacob bin Latiff (later a Tan Sri and future
Mayor of Kuala Lumpur), Hector Jesudason (future Queen's Scholar of
1934), Fred Arulanandom (future judge), Ong Yoke Lin (later to
become Tun Omar Ong, a Minister of Health and the President of the
Dewan Negara) and hundreds of their schoolmates. What sort of
subjects did they study in the V.I. of 1933 and why?
The policy of the prewar years in the Federated Malay States was
to produce school leavers with a knowledge of the three R's,
including a command of English - grammatically correct, idiomatic
English, garnished with a light dash of the classics - and the
more of it the better so that its local speakers and writers could
fill the lower echelons of the colonial administation. An
interesting 1910 statistic shows that the V.I. at that time was
serving a major role in providing English education: its 423
boys represented 25 per cent of the total F.M.S. English school
enrolment. (By 1933, with even greater demand, the total enrolment
in English schools had ballooned tenfold.)
So English - with its attendant grammar drills, essays, dictation,
poetry, debates, stories from the classics and plays from
Shakespeare - was the order of the day. History and geography
were predominantly Anglocentric in emphasis, as it was important
to know a lot about Britain and its history if one was going to
work for the government. Still, if one worked hard (and which V.I.
boy didn't?), at the end of it all came the reward, a School
Certificate awarded by Cambridge University, no less, a piece
of paper that just about guaranteed one's rice bowl for life,
if not in government service, at least in commerce. And not
forgetting the added prestige and social mobility that came
with an English education.
Although science titles are conspicuously missing from the
1933 book list, science was actually taught in the V.I.
at that time. The problem was that there were no textbooks
available for tropical schools as yet. So the science master,
Mr F. Daniel, who had introduced science education at the
V.I. three years earlier, passed out his own notes in
loose-leaf form. (From this embryonic collection was to arise,
in the 1940s, Daniel's famous set of Malayan science
textbooks, which were used in the V.I. until the early
sixties.) Hygiene, on the other hand, was easily taught (no
labs were needed) and textbooks were available. It was also
deemed an important subject as diseases like T.B., smallpox,
hookworm, were prevalent in those prewar days and immediate
postwar days and there was widespread ignorance of sound
hygienic practice among the populace.
After the war, science spun off into four component subjects
in the fifties - General Science, Physics, Chemistry and Biology.
Pure science stream classes were set up in Form 4 and Form 5 to
teach the last three subjects in lieu of General Science. The
science stream boys were also taught a brand new mathematical
subject as well - Additional Mathematics. These subjects are
still being taught to this day.
If there was a second language taught to V.I. boys in addition
to English in 1933, it certainly wasn't Malay, Chinese or Tamil!
It was Latin, and even then it was taught only to select boys.
(The study of Latin continued beyond the School Certificate
classes into the Matriculation classes which prepared an
elite group of Victorians for entry to British Universities as
a prerequisite for acceptance to Oxford or Cambridge was either
Latin or Greek.)
After the war, Latin was discarded but French was briefly
taught in the V.I. in the mid-fifties but only after school
hours to whichever boys were interested. (A handful of brave
Victorians actually offered that subject in the Cambridge
examinations after only two years of study.) Vernacular classes
were arranged after school for those who wanted instruction in
Chinese and Tamil. As independence approached, another language
now came into prominence - Malay.
The language - then called Bahasa Kebangsaan - was offered
to V.I. pupils, first as an optional subject in 1957 but it
became a compulsory subject from 1959 onwards. Candidates who
took and passed this subject in parallel with their Cambridge
School Certificate were awarded the local Federation of Malaya
Certificate. The FMC was abolished in 1964 and replaced by the
Malayan Certificate of Education (MCE) and the Sijil Pelajaran
Malaysia (SPM). The Cambridge School Certificate itself was
finally abolished in Peninsular Malaysia in 1968.
With Merdeka, national policy changes came thick
and fast and, over the years to the present, the educational
landscape has been resculpted fairly often with new
initiatives. A year before Merdeka, in 1956, a major
educational milestone was already marked by the introduction
of the Lower Certificate of Education (LCE) examination. This
gave Third Formers an academic qualification to fall back on
if they failed to make it on to Form Five. The LCE morphed into
the Sijil Pelajaran Rendah (SRP) in 1967 and this, in turn, was
replaced by the Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) in 1993.
Hence the presence of that acronym - PMR - in some of the Form
2 and Form 3 titles in the 2001 V.I. book list.
In 1970, Malay replaced English as the medium of instruction in
Standard One, and this progressed through the system until, by
1982, the entire corpus of instruction was in Malay. English,
however, remained an important second language. There was a
review of national education policy in the late seventies and one
of the recommendations was a revamp of the curriculum for both
primary and secondary schools to better prepare a skilled work
force for the nation in the short and long term as well as to
foster national unity.
In 1983, beginning with Standard One classes, the Kurikulum
Baru Sekolah Rendah (Primary School New Curriculum)
was implemented. In 1989, the Kurikulum Bersepadu Sekolah Menengah
(KBSM) kicked in for V.I.'s pioneer batch of Form One pupils and
worked its way through the secondary system over the years. And
new subjects have been introduced to reflect the different
priorities of the nation like Integrated Life Skills (1991) and
Moral Education (1993). And that is why, as evidenced in the 2001
list below, many of today's V.I. textbook titles incorporate that
all-important qualifier - KBSM!
Now flash-forward to the year 2001 in the twenty-first century.
The country is now Malaysia and not the Federated Malay States.
The British Empire has long vanished and its successor, the
Commonwealth of Nations, is headed by King George the Fifth's
granddaughter. Malaysia now has its own King and its own Prime
Minister. Presiding over the microcosm that is the 2001 world of
the V.I. is the Headmaster, Tuan Haji Baharom bin Kamari, who took
over the helm two years ago from Puan Salha bt. Othman, the
School's second Headmistress. White coated prefects still prowl
the V.I. corridors looking for errant pupils. Victorians now sing
Negaraku at official functions and V.I. scouts salute the
Jalur Gemilang instead.
The V.I., while it has not physically moved, is not even in
Selangor any more; it is now in Wilayah Persekutuan, a 94 square
mile enclave carved out of Selangor by legislation in 1974. In
addition, girls now attend the V.I. as well. And Victorians do
not necessarily leave school after Form Five; there are two more
years of Form Six to pursue if they are so inclined, the SPM no
longer the passport to job security as its 1933 predecessor once
was. And while V.I. pupils of 2001 still imbibe knowledge within
the same classroom walls that their forefathers once sat, their
separate sets of textbooks, 68 years apart, have many interesting
tales to tell - if they could speak!
[Before World War Two, primary schools consisted of
Primary 1 and Primary 2, followed by Standards 1 to 5 - seven
years in all. Thus, on joining a secondary school like the V.I.,
a boy would be entering Standard 6 which is the equivalent
of today's Form 2 (Tingkatan 2). And so the book lists below
begin with Standard 6/Form 2 and not Form 1.]
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Standard 6 (1933)
Form 2 (2001)
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Asia - Reason Why Geography
Nesfield's Easy Parsing and Analysis
Nesfield's Oral Exercises in English
Composition
Baker and Bourne's Algebra
Lord's History Part I
Lord's History Part II
The Definite Geometry
Shorter Modern Dictionary
School Certificate Geometry
Shorter Latin Course Part I
(Only for selected boys)
The Practical Atlas of Modern Geography
Nelson's Malayan Readers Book V
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves
The Swiss Family Robinson
Robinson Crusoe
Wren's Composition
Whitcombe's New Progressive Arithmetic
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Bahasa Malaysia K.B.S.M. Ting katan 2
English K.B.S.M. Form 2
Bahasa Cina K.B.S.M. Ting katan 2
Bahasa Tamil K.B.S.M. Ting katan 2
Sains K.B.S.M. Ting katan 2
Pen didikan Islam K.B.S.M. Ting katan 2
Mate matik K.B.S.M. Ting katan 2
Se jarah K.B.S.M. Ting katan 2
Pen didikan Jasmani & Kesihatan K.B.S.M.
Ting katan 2
Pen didikan Moral K.B.S.M. Ting katan 2
Geo grafi K.B.S.M. Ting katan 2
Atlas Sumber Lengkap Geografi K.B.S.M.
Pen didikan Hidup Bersepadu Teras K.B.S.M.
Ting katan 2
Pen didikan Hidup Bersepadu Elektif K.B.S.M.
Ting katan 2
Pahlawan Pasir Salak
The Phantom of the Opera
ADDITIONAL TEXTS (Optional)
PM Rumusan Mate matik P.M.R.
Pelajar Cemerlang P.M.R.
Teknik Berkesan Mengarang Karangan
Terbaik P.M.R
Rujukan Lengkap Era 2000 Mate matik P.M.R.
Rujukan Lengkap Era 2000 Sains P.M.R.
Rujukan Lengkap Era 2000 Geo grafi P.M.R.
Rujukan Lengkap Era 2000 Se jarah P.M.R.
Pen didikan Seni Ting katan 2
Sifir Mate matik Permulaan Cambridge
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Standard 7 (1933)
Form 3 (2001)
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Preliminary English
Cambridge Lessons in English Book III
Oral Exercises in English Composition
Essentials of World Geography
Baker and Bourne's Algebra
Lord's History Part I
Lord's History Part II
New Aldersgate Atlas
Clarendon Geography Part IV - Asia
Shorter Latin Course Part II
(only for selected boys)
Whitcombe's Intermediate and Senior
Arithmetic
School Certificate Geometry
Kidnapped
Coral Island
Nelson's Malayan Readers Book VI
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Bahasa Malaysia K.B.S.M. Ting katan 3
English K.B.S.M. Form 3
Bahasa Cina K.B.S.M. Ting katan 3
Bahasa Tamil K.B.S.M. Ting katan 3
Sains K.B.S.M. Ting katan 3
Mate matik K.B.S.M. Ting katan 3
Geo grafi K.B.S.M. Ting katan 3
Se jarah K.B.S.M. Ting katan 3
Pen didikan Islam K.B.S.M. Ting katan 3
Tafsir Al-Quran K.B.S.M. Ting katan 3
Pen didikan Jasmani & Kesihatan K.B.S.M.
Ting katan 3
Pen didikan Moral K.B.S.M. Ting katan 3
Pen didikan Hidup Bersepadu Teras K.B.S.M.
Ting katan 3
Pen didikan Hidup Bersepadu Elektif K.B.S.M.
Ting katan 3
ADDITIONAL TEXTS (Optional)
PM Rumusan Mate matik P.M.R.
Pelajar Cemerlang P.M.R.
Teknik Berkesan Mengarang Karangan
Terbaik P.M.R.
Rujukan Lengkap Era 2000 Mate matik P.M.R.
Rujukan Lengkap Era 2000 Sains P.M.R.
Rujukan Lengkap Era 2000 Geo grafi P.M.R.
Rujukan Lengkap Era 2000 Se jarah P.M.R.
Pen didikan Seni Ting katan 3
Sifir Mate matik Permulaan Cambridge
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Junior Cambridge (1933)
Form 4 (2001)
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New School Arithmetic
Baker and Bourne's Algebra
Geometry Parts I - VI
Logarithm Tables
Oral Exercises in English Composition
Historical Atlas
Essentials of World Geography
Clarendon Geography - Asia
Ten Years' Series - English Grammar
and Composition
Foundation and Growth of the British
Empire
Clarendon - Africa and Australia
St. Matthew
King's I
M.P.H. Anthology Book II
Puck of Pook's Hill
Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare
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Bahasa Malaysia K.B.S.M. Ting katan 4
English K.B.S.M. Form 4
Sains K.B.S.M. Ting katan 4
Mate matik K.B.S.M. Ting katan 4
Pen didikan Jasmani & Kesihatan K.B.S.M.
Ting katan 4 & 5 Jilid 1
Se jarah Peradaban Dunia K.B.S.M. Ting katan 4
Pen didikan Islam K.B.S.M. Ting katan 4
Tafsir Al-Quran K.B.S.M. Ting katan 4
Pen didikan Moral K.B.S.M. Ting katan 4
Anak Laut
Selected Poems and Short Stories
Bukit Kepong
ADDITIONAL TEXTS (Electives)
Kemahiran Geografi K.B.S.M. Ting katan 4
Prinsip Akaun K.B.S.M. Ting katan 4
Ekonomi Asas K.B.S.M. Ting katan 4
Per dagangan K.B.S.M. Ting katan 4
Mate matik Tambahan K.B.S.M. Ting katan 4 & 5
Sains Tambahan K.B.S.M. Ting katan 4 & 5
Fizik K.B.S.M. Ting katan 4
Kimia K.B.S.M. Ting katan 4
Biologi K.B.S.M. Ting katan 4
Sains Pertanian K.B.S.M. Ting katan 4
Geo grafi K.B.S.M. Ting katan 4
ADDITIONAL TEXTS (Optional)
Kamus Memori Sains S.P.M.
Kamus Memori Fizik/Kimia/Biologi
PM Rumusan Mate matik S.P.M.
Kamus Memori Bahasa Melayu Klasik S.P.M.
Teks Lengkap Pen didikan Seni
Ting katan 4 & 5
Pakej Lengkap S.P.M. Ujian Lisan
Ting katan 4 & 5
Kamus Sastera Melayu
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Senior Cambridge (1933)
Form 5 (2001)
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New School Arithmetic
Baker and Bourne's Algebra
Geometry Parts I - VI
Logarithm Tables
Fowler's English Exercises
Expansion of the British Empire
Historical Atlas
Essentials of World Geography
Brooke's Geography
General Course in Hygiene
Contouring and Map-Reading (Wallis)
St Matthew
King's I
She Stoops to Conquer (Goldsmith)
Essay on Sir William Temple (Macaulay)
"Q" Poison Island
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Bahasa Malaysia K.B.S.M. Ting katan 5
English K.B.S.M. Form 5
Sains K.B.S.M. Ting katan 5
Mate matik K.B.S.M. Ting katan 5
Pen didikan Jasmani & Kesihatan K.B.S.M.
Ting katan 4 & 5 Jilid 1 & 2
Se jarah Peradaban Dunia K.B.S.M. Ting katan 5
Pen didikan Islam K.B.S.M. Ting katan 5
Tafsir Al-Quran K.B.S.M. Ting katan 5
Pen didikan Moral K.B.S.M. Ting katan 5
Concerto Terakhir
The Return
ADDITIONAL TEXTS (Electives)
Prinsip Akaun K.B.S.M. Ting katan 5
Ekonomi Asas K.B.S.M. Ting katan 5
Per dagangan K.B.S.M. Ting katan 5
Mate matik Tam bahan K.B.S.M. Ting katan 5
Sains Tam bahan K.B.S.M. Ting katan 5
Fizik K.B.S.M. Ting katan 5
Kimia K.B.S.M. Ting katan 5
Biologi K.B.S.M. Ting katan 5
Sains Pertanian K.B.S.M. Ting katan 5
Geo grafi K.B.S.M. Ting katan 5
ADDITIONAL TEXTS (Optional)
Kamus Memori Sains S.P.M.
Kamus Memori Fizik/Kimia/Biologi
PM Rumusan Mate matik S.P.M.
Kamus Memori Bahasa Melayu Klasik S.P.M.
Teks Lengkap Pen didikan Seni
Ting katan 4 & 5
Pakej Lengkap S.P.M. Ujian Lisan
Ting katan 4 & 5
Kamus Sastera Melayu
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The 1929 Victorian printed the school book price list in a different
format - by subject, instead than by standard. Though it is not too clear
in some cases which classes used which text, this list, reproduced below,
offers yet another fascinating glimpse of V.I. education (and colonial
education) more than seven decades ago...
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1929 Book Price List
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ENGLISH
Randall, H Graduated Exercises in English Composition .. 0.80
Fowler, J. H. English Exercises .. 1.30
Goldsmith Selected Essays .. 0.85
Murrison English Composition .. 2.90
Nesfield Easy Parsing and Analysis .. 0.35
Nesfield Idiom and Grammar for Secondary Schools .. 0.65
Nesfield Oral Exercises in English Composition .. 1.00
Nesfield Manual of English Grammar and Composition .. 1.75
Palgrave Golden Treasury of Songs and Lyrics, Book III .. 1.25
Perry, W.C. The Boy's Odyssey .. 1.20
Pritchard, F.H. Haliburton Reader Book V .. 1.25
Pritchard, F.H. Haliburton Reader Book VI .. 1.25
West The Revised English Grammar .. 2.00
Tennyson Selected Poems .. 1.25
Rahtz, F.J. Preliminary English .. 1.20
Rahtz, F.J. Higher English .. 2.50
Sampson Cambridge lessons in English III .. 1.30
Shakespeare, W. As You Like It .. 1.40
Shakespeare, W. The Merchant of Venice .. 1.25
Shakespeare, W. The Tempest .. 1.25
Shakespeare, W. Julius Caesar .. 1.25
Wilson, R. English Practice Book V .. 0.65
Wilson, R. English Practice Book VI .. 0.70
Wort Analysis of English Sentences .. 0.50
Highroads Dictionary .. 0.75
GEOGRAPHY
Brooke The World .. 4.00
Carter Atlas and Geography .. 2.50
Cherry, W.T. Geography of British Malaya .. 2.25
Herbertson, A.J. Senior Geography .. 1.75
Herbertson, A.J. The Clarendon Geography of Asia .. 1.00
The Reason Why Readers: Asia .. 1.50
The Reason Why Readers: The British Isles .. 1.50
The Reason Why Readers: The Empire Beyond Seas .. 1.50
The Reason Why Readers: The World .. 1.50
The Reason Why Readers: Round the World .. 1.25
Unstead and Taylor Essentials of World Geography .. 1.50
Unstead and Taylor Outline Maps of Asia and the World .. 0.20
HISTORY
Hearnshaw First Book of English History .. 1.25
Jones and Sherratt A History of the British Colonies .. 1.75
Kerr, P.H. The Growth of the British Empire .. 1.75
Woodward, W.H. Outline History of the British Empire .. 2.00
Woodward, W.H. Expansion of the British Empire .. 3.00
Woodward, W.H. Historical Atlas of the British Empire .. 0.50
HYGIENE
Blackie Elementary Hygiene .. 1.25
MacDougall Health Reader .. 0.50
MacDougall Laws of Health .. 0.50
MATHEMATICS
Baker and Bourne Elementary Algebra .. 3.00
Baker and Bourne First Algebra .. 1.40
Pendleton, C. Junior Arithmetic .. 1.40
Pendleton, C. New School Arithmetic .. 2.75
Castle Logarithm Tables .. 0.70
Hall and Stevens School Geometry .. 2.50
Geometrical Instruments .. 0.80
Numerical Trigonometry .. 1.75
Carrol Practical Geometry .. 1.50
SCRIPTURE
Carr St. Matthew .. 1.25
Hutchinson, R.O. Samuel II .. 1.40
Genesis Part I .. 1.50
Genesis Part II .. 1.50
Exodus .. 1.50
South, E.W. St. Luke .. 1.25
Hart, A.F. St. Mark .. 1.25
Hart, A.F. King's I .. 1.50
SUNDRIES
Chalk Drawing Book .. 0.20
Drawing Book .. 0.25
Exercise Book No. I .. 0.20
Exercise Book No. 1I .. 0.10
Graph Book .. 0.15
Hat Bands .. 0.60
India Rubber .. 0.05
Mapping Book .. 0.10
Lead Pencils .. 0.05
Pen Holders .. 0.05
Rulers .. 0.06
Selections for Dictation and Composition .. 0.55
Blotting Paper .. 0.05
Scout Knives .. 0.50
English Exercises .. 0.65
Scout Axes .. 0.75
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The V.I. Web Page
Created on 12 November 2001.
Last update on 2 February 2004.
Contributed by:
Chung Chee Min