Victoria Institution

Victoria Institution (VI)
Jalan Hang Tuah, 55200 , Kuala Lumpur Malaysia
Information
Type	All-boys secondary school
Motto	Be Yet Wiser - To be a scholar, sportsman and a gentleman
Established	14 August 1893; 132 years ago (1893-08-14)
Principal	En Abd Samad bin Othman
Grades	Forms 1 – 6
Gender	Male Co-educational (Form 6)
Colours	Oxford Blue   Cambridge Blue
Accreditation	Cluster School of Excellence
Newspaper	The Seladang
Yearbook	The Victorian
Alumni	Victoria Institution Old Boys Association (VIOBA)
Website	sites.google.com/moe-dl.edu.my/victoria-institution/

Victoria Institution in 2025

The Victoria Institution (commonly known as VI) is an all-boys secondary school in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.[1] It is one of the earliest and most prominent secondary schools in the city and was established as a memorial school commemorating the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1887.[2].

VI is a secondary school for male students only from Form 1 to 5. Female students are accepted for Form 6 (Lower and Upper) and the students are known as Victorians.

Victoria Institution in 1905

VI was founded following a public subscription initiative to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1887.[1] The school was further supported by financial contributions from the Sultan and government of Selangor, as well as prominent residents of Kuala Lumpur.[2]

The foundation stone was laid on 14 August 1893 by Lady Treacher, wife of the then Resident of Selangor, Sir William Hood Treacher.[2] The school officially opened on 28 July 1894 at its original site along what is now Jalan Tun H.S. Lee.[1]

Due to frequent flooding from the Klang River, the school relocated to Shaw Road (now Jalan Hang Tuah) on 26 March 1929.[3]

General Officer Commanding Malaya Command, Lieutenant General F W Messervy KBE, CB, DSO, receives the sword of General Itagaki, Commander of the Japanese 7 Area Army, which controlled Malaya, Java, Sumatra, Nicobar and Andaman Islands, parts of Borneo and Siam, at a formal ceremony of surrender held in the grounds of VI

On 13 September 1945, the Victoria Institution was the site of the formal surrender of the 29th Imperial Japanese Army to Lieutenant-General Ouvry Roberts of the British 34th Indian Corps.[4][5]

The old building was then used for the premises of the Technical College 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 British High Commissioner to Malaya.[3]

It then housed High Street School before relocated to Setapak High School.

From the 1980s, the old premises were managed as a cultural centre known as Taman Budaya and later came under the administration of the National Department for Culture and Arts.[6]

In 2009, the school reverted from the name SMK Victoria to Victoria Institution following approval in recognition of its historical significance and heritage status.[7][8]

The Main Hall at E Block.

The school campus features a clock tower flanked by two sports pavilions overlooking a large central field. It also includes a 25-metre swimming pool and athletics facilities, making it among the earliest schools in the region to have such infrastructure.[9]

Aerial view of VI The main building with the two pavillions facing the field View from Jalan Hang Jebat

Student leadership at Victoria Institution includes a prefect system that has historically played a role in school discipline and governance. An opinion column in Malay Mail described the school’s prefects’ board as among the earliest established in the region, highlighting its longstanding influence within the school community.[10]

Victoria Institution maintains a cadet corps as part of its co-curricular activities, and according to the school’s official background information, the unit was established in 1901 by the school’s first headmaster, En. Bennet Eyre Shaw[11]

The Pasukan Kadet Bersatu Malaysia (PKBM), with which school cadet units are aligned nationally, was formally established under the Pasukan Kadet Bersatu Malaysia Act 1967 (Act 68).[12]

Victoria Institution Cadet Corps Infantry (V.I.C.C.I)

Victoria Institution has a long-established rugby program and regularly competes in the Super Schools Rugby (SSR) championship, Malaysia’s premier inter-school rugby competition.

In 2025, Victoria Institution reached the final of the SSR competition but finished as runners-up after a closely contested match against MRSM Balik Pulau.[13]

The school also organises the annual Victoria Institution Premier 10s Rugby Tournament, which has been reported as a significant event in the Malaysian schools rugby calendar.[14]

The Victoria Institution football team has achieved success at state and national levels, winning the Manchester United Premier Cup Malaysia in 2009 and 2013 and representing Malaysia at regional competitions.[15][16]

The school cricket ground hosted eight matches during the 1997 ICC Trophy.[17] It also hosted List A cricket matches during the 1998 Commonwealth Games, including fixtures involving Pakistan, Scotland, Malaysia, and Jamaica.[18][19]

The following is a chronological list of headmasters and headmistresses of Victoria Institution.[20]

No.	Name	Tenure	Notes
1	G. W. Hepponstall	1893	Acting
2	Bennett Eyre Shaw	1894–1922
3	R. F. Stainer	1897	Acting
4	Rev. Knight-Clark	1900	Acting
5	J. H. Tyte	1905	Acting
6	William J. Proudlock	1910	Acting
7	C. G. Coleman	1914	Acting
8	M. Wheatley	Apr 1922–Feb 1923	Acting
9	Richard J. H. Sidney	Feb 1923–Feb 1926
10	G. C. Davies	Feb 1926–Jun 1930
11	R. F. Gunn	Jun 1929–Aug 1929	Acting
12	Frederick L. Shaw	Aug 1929–Mar 1930	Acting
13	Edgar de la Mothe Stowell	Jun 1930–Dec 1930	Acting
14	Frederick L. Shaw	Jan 1931–Jul 1936
15	H. R. Carey	Feb 1934–Nov 1934	Acting
16	J. B. Neilson	Jul 1936–Jun 1937
17	C. E. Gates	Jun 1937–Jan 1942
18	E. H. Wilson	Nov 1939–Aug 1940	Acting
19	M. Vallipuram	Feb 1946–Sep 1946	Acting
20	Ng Seo Buck	Oct 1946	Acting
21	Frederick Daniel	Oct 1946–May 1949
22	E. M. F. Payne	May 1949–May 1952
23	A. H. Hill	Jul 1951–Dec 1951	Acting
24	A. Godman	May 1952–Jul 1952	Acting
25	J. N. Davis	Jul 1952–Apr 1953
26	G. P. Dartford	1953–1955
27	A. Atkinson	May 1954–Dec 1954	Acting
28	Peter Roberts	May 1955–Dec 1955
29	Gerwyn E. D. Lewis	1956–1962
30	A. G. Young	Apr 1958–Aug 1958	Acting
31	Lim Eng Thye	Feb 1961–Aug 1961	Acting
32	Alan D. Baker	1962–1964
33	V. Murugasu	1964–1969
34	Tan Cheng Or	1970–1971
35	V. Somasundram	1971–1973
36	Victor Gopal	1973–1976
37	Abdul Rahim bin Che Teh	1976–1978
38	Baharum bin Othman	1978–1979
39	Abdul Shukor bin Haji Abdullah	1979–1982
40	Abdul Rahim bin Abdul Majid	1982–1988
41	Shuib bin Dahaban	1988–1992
42	Robeahtun Haji Ahmad Damanhuri	1992–1995
43	Othman bin Husin	1996
44	Salha Othman	1996–1998
45	Baharom Kamari	1999–2001
46	Taslim Sarbini	2002–2003
47	Muhamad Khailani Abdul Jalil	2004–2007
48	Azizah binti Othman	2008–2009
49	Maslan bin Buniran	2010–2016
50	Kamarul Azman bin Md Arif	2016–2020
51	Nur Elisa Tee Lee Hwa	2021–2023
52	Abdul Samad bin Othman	2023–	Incumbent

Victoria Institution Old Boys' Association, the school's alumni

The school's alumni organisation, the Victoria Institution Old Boys' Association (VIOBA), was founded in 1922 and remains active in Malaysia and abroad.[21]

Royalty

• Hassanal Bolkiah – Sultan of Brunei; attended Victoria Institution in Kuala Lumpur from 1961 to 1963.[22]

Politician

• Prabowo Subianto – 8th President of Indonesia; attended Victoria Institution in Kuala Lumpur from 1962 to 1964 .[23]
• S. Rajaratnam – Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore (1980–1985) [24]
• Rafidah Aziz – Malaysian politician and former Minister of International Trade and Industry.[25]
• Harun Idris – Malaysian politician; former Menteri Besar of Selangor [26]
• Shafie Apdal – Malaysian politician and former Chief Minister of Sabah [27]
• Yaacob Abdul Latiff – Former Mayor of Kuala Lumpur (1972–1983) and Malaysian politician.[28]
• Zulhasnan Rafique – Malaysian politician; Minister of Federal Territories (2006–2008).[29]

Military

• K. Thanabalasingam – Malaysian naval officer who served as the first Malaysian Chief of the Royal Malaysian Navy from 1967 to 1976 [30]
• Mohamed Hashim Mohd Ali – Malaysian military officer; former Chief of the Malaysian Armed Forces [31]

Banking

• Ismail Mohamed Ali – 2nd Governor of the Central Bank of Malaysia and Chairman of Permodalan Nasional Berhad [32]

Business

• Ananda Krishnan – Malaysian entrepreneur and business magnate [33]
• Francis Yeoh – Malaysian businessman (YTL Corporation).[25]
• Shamsuddin bin Abdul Kadir – Malaysian businessman and founder of Sapura Group.[34]
• Yusli bin Mohamed Yusoff – Former Chief Executive Officer of Bursa Malaysia (2004–2011).[35]

Law and judiciary

• Anuar Zainal Abidin – Malaysian jurist and former Chief Judge of Malaya; served in the Malaysian judiciary for over 30 years before retiring as Chief Judge in 1997.[36][37]
• Gunn Chit Tuan – Malaysian jurist and former Chief Judge of the High Court of Malaya [38]
• Gopal Sri Ram – Malaysian lawyer and former Federal Court judge [39]
• Yong Pung How – Singaporean jurist and former Chief Justice of Singapore [40]
• Tommy Thomas – Malaysian lawyer and former Attorney General of Malaysia (2018–2020) [41]
• Mohd Zaman Khan – Malaysian police officer and former Commissioner General of the Malaysian Prisons Department [42][43]

Sports

• Mani Jegathesan – Malaysian athlete, sports administrator, and medical doctor [44]
• Mokhtar Dahari – Malaysian footballer.[25]
• Lall Singh – Malaysian-born cricketer who represented India in its inaugural Test match in 1932; he began his cricketing journey playing for Victoria Institution in Kuala Lumpur.[45][46]
• Misbun Sidek – Malaysian badminton coach and former player.[25]
• Razif Sidek – Malaysian badminton player.[25]
• Jalani Sidek – Malaysian badminton player.[25]
• Rashid Sidek – Malaysian badminton player.[25]

Medicine

• Ronald McCoy – Obstetrician and peace activist; proposed and helped initiate the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN).[47]
• Abdul Latiff bin Abdul Razak (1889–1956) – Physician; recognised in Malaysian medical historiography as the first Malay to qualify as a Western-trained medical doctor in British Malaya after graduating in 1911 from the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States Government Medical School in Singapore.[48]

Entertainment

• Amir Muhammad – Malaysian filmmaker and writer.[25]