HENG EE HIGH SCHOOL AND ITS MILESTONES

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Heng Ee High School

Heng Ee High School (SMJK Heng Ee in Malay, 恒 毅 中 学 in Chinese) is a Chinese conforming secondary school located in George Town, Penang.

The Founder

Heng Ee High School was founded by Belgian Roman Catholic priest Datuk Father Arthur A. Julien, from the Missions étrangères de Paris in 1957.
Father Julien arrived in Malaya in 1952. He served as parish priest of the Church of Our Lady of Sorrows from 1961 to 1962, and as assistant parish priest to the Church of the Holy Spirit (now Cathedral of the Holy Spirit) with Father Paul Decroix between 1976 and 1985. Father Julien's work extended beyond the church. He conducted missionary work with the community in places like Batu Maung, Bayan Lepas and Sungai Dua, and also regularly visited the detainees in Pulau Jerejak. His ability to converse in Mandarin, and later Hokkien, endeared him to the local community.

Father Julien set up Heng Ee High School along Hamilton Road and Heng Ee Primary School within the grounds of the Church of Our Lady of Sorrows along Macalister Road. His passing on 11 September 2004, brought mourners from all walks of life to his funeral.

Cite: Penang Traveltips

School Principals
1968 - January 1973 鄭祖耀校長
February 1973 - November 1993 陳傳發校長 Mr. Tan Chuan Huat
February 1995 - January 2000 潘祖培校長 Mr. Phuah Chor Poay
January 2000 - August 2004 張慶豐校長 Mr. Teoh Kheng Hong
September 2004 – present 吳文寶校長 Mr. Goh Boon Poh
School History
Date Event
1957 The original premises of Heng Ee High School was located on a piece of land leased from the Convent Primary School which was then owned by the Tamil Catholic Church. Heng Ee was initially a private school built for the purpose of helping the destitute and overage Chinese students to obtain a formal Chinese education.
1961 The Catholic Church spent RM125,000 on the purchase of six acres of land located between Hamilton Road and Free School Road to build Heng Ee High School.
1966 A permit from the Ministry of Education was obtained to build the school.
1967 Heng Ee High School began operations by borrowing seven classrooms from Heng Ee Primary School while waiting for the completion of the construction of its own building. There were 280 students enrolled at that instance.
Block A, the first block of the four-storey building was completed. Secondary school children studying at the borrowed classrooms of Heng Ee Primary School were then transferred to the newly constructed secondary school building in the month of September. In the same year, Heng Ee High School received a grant from the Government and was converted into a national type secondary school bearing the name of SMJK Heng Ee.
1969 The construction of Block B was completed.
1970 An adjoining block (Block C) of building linking Block A and Block B was completed.
1972 The school saw a marked increase in its student enrollment, ranging from the Remove Form to Form Five. There were altogether 37 classes with a total number of 1228 students.
1975 Block D was built.
1987 The school saw a further increase in student enrollment. By then the student enrollment had reached 1800. The rapid increase in enrollment made the existing educational facilities inadequate. Further expansion became necessary to cater for the increasing enrollment. The School Board of Governors then decided to build another block of building to accommodate the increasing number of students. The planned development of the new block (Block E) soon got underway.
1990 The planned development of Block E materialised when the building was successfully completed and equipped with all necessary facilities.
1991 The School Board of Governors decided to convert Heng Ee High School, a school exclusively for boys to a co-educational school.
1999 Student enrollment increased to 2300 and that prompted the Board of Governors to top-up another floor on Block E.
2001 The school soared to greater heights of success when it saw a marked improvement in its academic performance in the SPM examinations. This prompted the Ministry of Education to approve the setting-up of Form Six Science Classes.
2003 Excellent academic achievements in the STPM examinations again prompted the Ministry of Education to approve the setting up of Form Six Humanities Classes.
The Guang Ming Award was bestowed upon the late Dato' Reverend Father Arthur Julien for his lifetime commitment in ensuring that the underprivileged Chinese students derived the full benefit of a Chinese education.
2004 The Lim Lean Gaik Award was bestowed upon the late Dato' Reverend Father Arthur Julien.
2005 The school received the Most Distinguished School Award in Cultural Stage Performance on the 18th of December 2005 during the 5th Malaysian Xin-Chuan Cultural Stage Performance Award held in Kuala Lumpur.
2007 The school rose above the challenge when it won the Sunlight Prize and the Best Conductor Prize in the 4th Beijing International Competition of Youth Chinese Orchestra held on the 11th of August 2007.
Heng Ee High School celebrated its Golden Jubilee on the 9th of September with much pomp and ceremony. A grand dinner was held in the school field to celebrate this special occasion.
2008 The Penang Municipal Council finally approved the sale of the two plots of land worth RM819,200 to Heng Ee High School to enable it to carry out its expansion project.
Heng Ee High School was awarded the School Excellence Award for the Co-Curricular Category by the Ministry of Education on the 4th of November 2008.
2009 Penang Municipal Council gave its seal of approval to the architect's plan of Bangunan Wawasan (Block F) on 2 July 2009. Construction works commenced on the 21st of November.
The new school canteen began operations on the 28th September 2009. For the first time in the history of Heng Ee, student enrollment hit a record high of 3000.
2010 Heng Ee High School hit a record enrollment of 3200 students, the highest in the school history. It has also put Heng Ee High School as the school with the second highest student enrollment in the state of Penang.
The construction of Bangunan Wawasan (Block F) was completed at the end of the year 2010. A milestone was set when three Form 4 students bagged three Gold Awards with their invention of FloodWarn, a flood-warning detector.

Another milestone was set in the month of July 2010 when Heng Ee High School's performing arts bodies brought glory to the school. The School Choir bagged a Gold Award and an International Friendship Award in the 10th China International Choir competition. The Chinese Cultural Dance Troupe bagged two Gold Awards in the 2010 China-Asean Youth Dance Interaction and Competition and the Harmonica Band won three Gold Medals and four Silver Medals in the Asia Pacific Harmonica Competition.

Heng Ee High School was presented the Champion Award for the Co-curricular Category (Clubs and Societies) by the MOE on the 11th of November 2010.
2011 Heng Ee High School hit a record-breaking enrolment of 3271 students. it is now the school with the highest student enrolment in Penang.
On the 9th of June 2011, the Chinese Orchestra was invited to a Cultural and Musical Exchange Programme at the Experimental School of Shanghai Conservatory of Music. While our Chinese Orchestra was in Shanghai, they also had a musical exchange session with the Nanjing Arts Institute.

On the 13th of June, the problem of floating classes for both Lower and Upper Six students was finally solved when the classes were finally moved to the newly built classrooms housed in Bangunan Wawasan.

On the 14th of July 2011, the School Choir ventured to Taiwan and took part in the Orientale Concentus 1V International Choral Festival which was organised by the Singapore Federation for Choral Music. Our School Choir bagged two awards; a Gold Award in the Mixed choir for the Youth Category and the Most Promising Choir Award.

On the 9th of September 2011, the newly built extension building was launched. Present to officiate the building were the Chief Minister of Penang, Lim Guan Eng, the school's board of director Dato' Loh Geok Beng and chamber president Tan Sri Tan Kok Ping.
Blazonry
SCHOOL MOTTO
To Contrive and To Serve (Chinese: 勤学敬业) (Malay: Berusaha dan Berbakti)

SCHOOL VISION
Local Roots, Global Outlook (Chinese: 扎根本土，放眼全球) (Malay: Berjiwa Lokal, Berminda Global)

SCHOOL MISSION
To instil moral and cultural values in students.
To train students to think with an open mind.
To prepare students to face global challenges.
SCHOOL CREST
The crest is coloured blue which denotes brotherhood and merciful and on the other hand the background is coloured white, symbolising pure, honesty and good morality.

Armorial bearings:

The Star symbolises the light of knowledge. It also symbolises man's noble aspirations.
Mountain symbolises the steadfastness and our eternal belief.
River represents the ever renewing dynamic force of nature.
SCHOOL ANTHEM
天地有正氣 千秋萬古存 為學以恆立 事業賴敬尊 正義修身根 博愛处世本 正義連博愛 立志作完人 鋼鐵的意志 鞏固的友情 崇高的理想 永恆的信仰

Amenities
The campus comprises an area of 6.5 hectares and consists of 6 blocks with a field.

BLOCK A
Block A was the first and the oldest building to be built. Completed in 1967, the four-storey building comprises 17 classrooms and offices for senior assistants.

BLOCK B
Block B was built in 1969, houses the Principal's office, a prayer room, 2 computer rooms, 4 science laboratories, a Biology laboratory, a Chemistry laboratory, a Physics laboratory and an arts room.

BLOCK C
Block C was the adjoining block that connect Block A to Block B where the school library, co-operative outlet, counseling room, SPBT room, media room as well as where the school administration computer room is located. Three classrooms were located on Level 4. On September 2011 the school library is relocated to Level 2 Block F Bangunan Wawasan meanwhile the vacant library now served as the storeroom. The school hasn't announce any plans to develop the vacant library for the time being.

BLOCK D
Block D was completed in 1975. The first floor of Block D was formerly the school canteen and was currently used as the staffroom and the meeting room. Opposite the staffroom was the air-conditioned lecture hall. Above the staffroom was the school hall (光前堂). Lecture Hall 2 was situated on the second hall opposite the balcony of the school hall.

BLOCK E
Block E was completed in 1987. The ground floor consists of a carpentry room, a cooking room, a sewing room, an electronic room, the prefects room and a gymnasium. The air-conditioned Music Room I was located on the second floor. In 1999, the school topped up another floor on Block E which includes an additional 7 classrooms and another air-conditioned Music Room II in order to accommodate the increasing number of students.

BLOCK F: BANGUNAN WAWASAN

View of Bangunan Wawasan from Free School Road

The school library at Level 2

Bangunan Wawasan is equipped with two elevators to transport students throughout the building

APM-TMB 2050/228 F9 APO Telescope in Heng Ee Observatory, used for star glazing
The Bangunan Wawasan (Chinese: 宏願樓) was built in 2011. The eight-storey Bangunan Wawasan comprises a foyer at Level 1, a fully air-conditioned modern library at Level 2, two multi-purpose halls at Level 3, three lecture theatres at Level 4, a rooftop loft and an astronomical observatory at the rooftop. Bangunan Wawasan is also equipped with the necessary infrastructure and ICT facilities to provide the students with a positive and supportive environment that is conducive for academic and social growth.

Penang Chinese Chamber of Commerce had donated RM2 mil for the construction of Bangunan Wawasan along with other efforts and sponsors. This prompted the school board of directors to rename the building as Bangunan Wawasan Penang Chinese Chamber of Commerce.

The building was officially launched on the 9th of September 2011. Present to officiate the new building were the Chief Minister, Heng Ee board of trustees chairman Datuk Loh Geok Beng, and chamber president Tan Sri Tan Kok Ping.

SPORTS FACILITIES
The sports infrastructures in this school include two basketball courts and two volleyball courts located opposite the school, a mini gymnasium(not open to students who are not in the Body Building Club)on Level 1 of Block E, two badminton courts in the school hall, a football field and a 6 lane 100 meter running track. The school also owns two basketball courts and a volleyball court opposite of the school compound (where the ex-pupils association is).

SCHOOL CANTEEN
The original location of the school canteen was at Level 1 of Block C which was the current staffroom. Years later, it was moved to a bigger site beside Block E. Due to the school's expansion plan for the 8-storey Bangunan Wawasan, the canteen was demolished and moved to a temporary site behind Block B while waiting for the completion of Bangunan Wawasan. At first the school planned to rebuild the canteen at Level 1 of Bangunan Wawasan. As the amount of students increased gradually over the years, the school decided to make it permanent instead of shifting back to its original site. At the same time, three ventilating machines were installed.