The Anglo-Chinese School, Ipoh (1896)

The Anglo-Chinese School, Ipoh, is one of the oldest and most prestigious schools in Malaysia which, like many of the numerous schools established in the boom era from the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, was established by Methodist missionaries.

The Anglo-Chinese School, Ipoh, is another school founded by the Rev. William Edward Horley (1870-1931) who opened many schools including the Methodist Boys’ School (MBS) in Kuala Lumpur, and rivals the nearby St. Michael’s Institution. Before arriving in Perak in 1895 he had been working at the Methodist Mission in Singapore which he founded in 1885.

After arriving in Ipoh he immediately set about finding land on which to open a small school and rented land from the Dato’ Panglima Kinta, Yusuf bin Nasam, on which there was a small attap roofed house near the police barracks. This he used a temporary school which was opened with an initial enrolment of four boys.

Meanwhile, he applied to the Government for an alternative site, and after he was granted a plot of four acres, a foundation stone for a new school building was laid in 1895. Horley successfully applied to the Government for a grant for new premises, to which was added generous donations from several wealthy Chinese.

After fund-raising, the new school buildings were opened in 1896 which included an adjacent Methodist church as well as a house for Horley. By 1900 there were over 200 boys enrolled and Horley went on furlough and founded the Methodist Boys’ School in Kuala Lumpur. Such was the demand for places that in 1909 four attap sheds were built as additional classrooms.

By 1912 it was clear that larger premises were needed and a new building was started with the aid of a grant from the Government and public subscription with the foundation stone laid by Acting British Resident of Perak, Mr. Oliver Marks. Completed in 1914 it was opened by H.E.Arthur Young and is the structure which we see today.

When Rev. Horley, the school’s founder, died in 1931 after thirty-seven years of service in Perak and Selangor there were many tributes:

“Mr. Horley spent both himself and his substance for others. No one who went to him for help was ever turned away.” (Malayan Saturday Post, 16th May, 1931)

A memorial fund was started which collected $4,501 and tablets in his memory were unveiled in his memory in the Wesley Church and the Methodist Boys’ School which was unveiled by his wife.

The following is a passage from the Bishop, the Right Revd. B.C.Roberts’ address at his funeral:

“For 37 years William Edward Horley spent himself in passionate devotion to the social and spiritual welfare of the people of this country. His zeal did not go without recognition and he gained a public distinction which many men might covet, but far more precious to him must have been the confidence of the hundreds of simple souls which he won, and the personal friendships which he made by his cheerful and sympathetic nature. But he was more than a good comrade and kindly humanitarian. He had an exceptionally clever vision of God, and the witness whom he bore was never obscure or half hearted or compromising.”