Once upon a time, the Malay College Kuala Kangsar admitted primary school boys as young as 7 years old. To many of these young kids, the King’s Pavilion (KP) was their first home away from home and being perched on a hill overlooking the Perak River, it was a sight to behold.
Although KP does not belong to MCKK anymore, it is an MCKK heritage nonetheless. The boys who had stayed in KP have continued to cherish fond memories of the mansion they had once loved as their home. This was not just any ordinary hostel. They were subconsciously not indifferent to the many moments of historical significance of the place.
The King’s Pavilion Kuala Kangsar was part of MCKK from 1950-1960 and later known as Government English Girls School (GEGS) and now as SMK Raja Perempuan Kelsom. It became the residence and school of the most junior classes. The former Guard House, manned by the Sikh Sepahis/Sepoys was turned into the Surau-cum-Quran classroom for KP.
A portion of the KP facing East was for some time used as the Kuala Kangsar District Drainage & Irrigation Department. The Resident-Masters of KP were Mr. Davidson (1951-1954), Mr. Wilson (1954-1955) a.k.a Sir Anthony Burgess, Mr. Morley (1955-1956) and one other.
When the MCKK, pursuant to the new Education policy of post-Merdeka became fully secondary, in 1960, KP was returned to the Government and given to GEGS.
Seen here at the Kings Pavilion Boys 1953 with their teachers and prefects. (colorised with technology).
Seated 1st row (L-R): Mr Gawthorne, Ar Hamidin Abdullah, Ar Yusuf Ali, Mrs Luke, Mr Davidson, Caroline Luke, Mr Luke – Headmaster, Mrs Miller – the Matron, Mohd Nor Abdullah, Mr Partridge and Tn Ustaz Haji Ghazali.
2nd row (L-R): Syed Elias, Ahmad Shahid, Kamarulzaman To’ Bomoh, Ar Dahalan Ismail, Ar Zainal Abidin Nordin, Ar Mazlan Ahmad, Abdullah Thani, Dr Ismail Mohd Nor, Md Lias, Umar Abu, Ar Azmil Che Wan, Ar Mohyee Wardi, Ahmad Farid Abdullah, Dzulkifli Alias, Mohd Zain and Wan Mat;
3rd Row (L-R): Zainal Abidin Zakaria, Raja Nazuddin, Zainal Abidin Ariffin, Abd Hamid Johari, Jimin Idris, Mohamed Md Dom, Ar Zawawi Hamid, Razak Hitam, Abd Aziz Mohamad, Omar Hamzah, Dr Ismail Hamzah, Husain Shaari, Majid Adam and Ar Md Zain Idris;
4th Row (L-R): Mohd Nor Rashid, Ar Kamarul Bahrin Othman, Yusof Bakar, Talib Ali, Ar Imran Alias, Wan Mustapha, Nik Mohammad, Kadir Bakar, Ar Hashim Kassim, Wan Mohamad, Nordin Hassan, Abd Rahman Ahmad;
5th Row (L-R): Abu Samah, Daud Amin, Nawi Harun, Wahab Alwi, Mohd Nor Tahir, Abdullah Omar, Ar Mohamad Che Man, Kadir Husain, Mohd Zain Sulaiman and Ar Yusuf Ngah.
Note:
Ar= Arwah (deceased)
