St. John's Institution

The main school building is located in Jalan Bukit Nanas, in the city centre of Kuala Lumpur, next to the Bukit Nanas forest reserve, giving it a lush setting. St. John's Primary Schools are located across the road from the main school building, while the Convent Bukit Nanas, an Infant Jesus Sisters' school for the girls, the AIA building, and the Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur are located further down the road. The Fatima Kindergarten (housed in what is Kuala Lumpur's oldest Catholic church and now converted into a community service centre) and the Roman Catholic St John's Cathedral are located on the road leading up to SJI.

The school is famous for its imposing red and white brick main building with Grecian-Spanish influences. It was gazetted as a National Heritage Site by the Government of Malaysia on 21 May 2010.[5]

The school has traditionally been headed by the Brothers of the La Sallian order, with a Brother Director (like a headmaster) and a Brother Supervisor (like a deputy headmaster). In recent years, the Brother Supervisor was replaced with three assistant principals, who are not in the La Sallian order.

Former Brother Directors are:

The headship of the school passed to the laity in 2002 when Peter Yii Sing Chiu became the first non-brother and non-Catholic to head the school.

Former principals are:

1904

• At the request of the Education Department and the then Bishop of Malacca, Mgr. Fee, the La Sallian Brothers opened a school in Kuala Lumpur. According to records, it started with an initial enrolment of 18 boys.
• Three days before classes were to commence on 18 January, three Brothers arrived to take charge of the school – Brother Julian Francis from Hong Kong, Brother Andrew Corsini from Burma and Brother Cyril Alexander from Penang.
• The school building was a two-storey wooden structure, 80 feet long and 20 feet wide, with a brick pillar and a verandah facing the north.
• Later in the year, Brother James Gilbert arrived from Singapore to take the place of Brother Julian Francis as Brother Director of SJI.

1905

• On 2 January, a Standard 7 was set up and entrusted to Brother Cyril Alexander.
• With this new set-up, expansion was needed. So Father Renard lent to the school the house of the Chinese Catechist which was capable of holding one class and also an attap shed near the site.

1906

• In June 1906, Brother Imier of Jesus, Provincial Visitor of the United States paid a visit to SJI. He later became Superior General in 1913.
• More classes were opened and accommodated in temporary structures.
• Finally the government provided a piece of land given to the mission for religious and educational purposes.
• On 3 November, the foundation stone for the new building was laid by Sir Henry Conway Belfield, Resident Councilor for Selangor.

1907

• At the end of the year, the new building was advanced enough to be used for the Cambridge Examination for all the candidates of Kuala Lumpur.

1908

• On 10 August, the new building was declared open by the High Commissioner and Governor, Sir John Anderson.

1914

• The Brothers' Building was enlarged by the addition of two new wings which were to house the chapel and offices and the Juniorate and Novitiate.
• Brother Marcian Cullen was appointed Director of the newly formed Juniorate.

1921

• Brother Stephen Edward Buckley demolished the Brothers' Building and replaced it with the present one, to which additions were made later.

1926

• Brother Louis installed a statue of Jean Baptist De La Salle on the front facade of the Main Block.

1930

• Brother Cornelius Nulty served as Brother Director from 1930 to 1946 and under his energetic management, many projects were brought to a successful conclusion.
• Brother Cornelius enlarged the playground, a project that was started by Brother Louis. He then turned his attention to the building of the hall which was finally completed in 1936 with the provision for two more storeys in the future.
• Brother Cornelius next built a new wing on the east side of the Brothers' Building, which became the Boarding Department (later De La Salle Institute, now St. John's International School)

1942–1945

• During World War II, SJI was closed but crowds of refugees flocked to Brother Cornelius for help and stayed in the school for security. When the war ended and peace returned, these refugees organised a scholarship fund to express gratitude to Brother Cornelius and to perpetuate his memory.

1948

• Brother D. Joseph Brophy established La Salle Sentul, La Salle Brickfields, La Salle Peel Road and La Salle Klang, which were intended as feeder schools for St John's.
• In SJI, he renovated the school hall as well as built a new cafeteria, space staff room and offices. A modern library was furnished and equipped and an extensive P.A. system was installed.

1953

• On 15 April, the first issue of the Term Review was on sale. The Term Review was the predecessor to the current editorial board of The Garudamas, the school magazine.

1954

• In the Golden Jubilee year, Brother D. Joseph achieved his final objective – the completion of the field extension.

1955

• Brother Tiberius Lawrence Spitzig starts his first term as Brother Director of SJI.
• The Dramatic Society staged its second play, 'Twelfth Night', and the newly formed school orchestra made its first public appearance at the play's public performance in the hall. Brother Celestine (later, Brother Director) was responsible for the success of the play.

1956

• Brother Lawrence renovated the school and added 14 classrooms at a cost of M$90,000

1957

• General Sir Francis Festing, Commander-in-Chief of the Far East visited SJI.

1958

• In accordance with a new government directive, a Board of Governors for the school was set up and the first meeting was held on 24 September. In the primary section, the Board of Managers held its first meeting on 13 March.

1959

• His Excellency Mgr John Gordon, Chargé d'Affaires of the Apostolic Delegation of Thailand and Malaya visited SJI on 27 January.
• Construction of the St John's Primary School began on the site of the Old Boys' Club. The building could accommodate 24 classes and would cost M$220,000

1960

• On 16 September, St John's Primary School was officially opened by Brother Fintan Blake.
• The new chapel on the middle floor of SJI was officially opened and used on 19 October.

1962

• Mr. Ng Eng Hiam, donated the new library in the Brothers' Quarters and founded the St. John's Institution Librarians.

1963

• The present school badge (designed by Brother Joseph McNally) was used, replacing the old badge by Brother Cornelius Nulty.

1965

• The Form 5 Block (or Arts Block) was officiated by the Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur, Mgr. Dominic Vendargon on 22 August.

1967

• The primary school hall, Dewan Tun Dr. Ismail was completed. A special ceremony was held to commemorate and dedicate the new hall on 15 February.

1969

• Brother Joseph Yeoh, a former Johannian returned to become the Brother Director. He was the first Malaysian to head the school. It was during his leadership that SJI achieved its glory years in academics and sports excellence.

1971

• The Main Block was given its current red and white colour scheme. The school was previously painted completely white in the 1960s.

1976

• Awards Day was introduced by Brother Joseph Yeoh to appreciate the service and achievements made by the students of SJI.

1979

• Brother Lawrence Spitzig returned as director of the school and presided over the school's Diamond Jubilee celebrations. Bro. Lawrence re-introduced the annual English and Bahasa Malaysia public speaking competition to the school. Public speaking became part of the English and Bahasa Malaysia curriculum and was compulsory for all students, resulting in SJI having many enabled and proficient public speakers amongst the students.

1984

• To kick off the 80th Anniversary of the founding of the school, Carnival Day and several projects were introduced to raise funds for the construction of a four-storey building adjacent to the science block to accommodate the lower and upper sixth form classes. This is the beginning of a series of fund raising projects initiated to upgrade the school and its facilities. Over the years, St John's has been blessed with generous contributions from its generations of former students and benefactors.

1988

• The new Form 6 Block was built and named Bangunan Tan Sri Dominic Vendargon (the Tan Sri Dominic Vendargon Building).

1991

• The third and current library was officially donated and opened on 13th January 1991 by Mr. Ng Thiam Weng, son of Mr. Ng Eng Hiam.

1994

• The sports complex comprising a badminton hall, three squash courts, and concourse was officiated by Brother David Liao on 18 January.

2002

• Brother Michael Wong, the last Brother Director of SJI retired, marking the end of the Brothers' directorship in SJI for 98 years.
• Mr. Peter Yii Sing Chiu, the first lay principal was appointed to head SJI.
• Being a Methodist, Mr. Peter Yii Sing Chiu is considered the first non-Catholic, non-Brother Director lay principal in St. John's.

2009

• St. John's receives its second lay principal, Mr. Leong Kum Loy.

2010

• St. John's is declared as a National Heritage Site by the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage, Malaysia.
• St. John's receives its third lay principal, Mr. Lim Hean Hwa. He is a former student of St. John's under Brother Joseph Yeoh in the 1970s.

2011

• The restored tower clock on the Main Block, dedicated to the late Brother Lawrence Spitzig, was unveiled and officiated by former principal, Mr. Leong Kum Loy, in conjunction of St. John's 107th Birthday on 18 January. The project was an initiative by Megat Mizan Nicholas Denney, Chairman of the Board of Governors of St. John's.[6][7]

2014

• St. John's receives its first non-Christian lay principal, Dr. M. Puvanendran. He was a Senior Assistant from 2005 - 2010.

2016

• St. John's Institution, one of the oldest secondary schools in Kuala Lumpur, has regained its right to be known by its old name and no longer as Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan St John.[8]

2022

• St. John's receives its first Catholic principal since 2002, Mr. Ravi Chandran a/l Krishnan.

• Aizat Amdan, singer and songwriter
• Zeti Akhtar Aziz, seventh Governor of Bank Negara Malaysia
• Hishammuddin Hussein, Malaysian Minister of Defence
• Hans Isaac, actor, entrepreneur
• Harith Iskander, artist and stand-up comedian
• Sudhir Rajagopalan, world martial arts champion and famed fashion designer
• Chow Chee Keong, former national goalkeeper
• Faiz Khaleed, Military dentist, member of Angkasawan program
• Abdul Ghani Minhat, national football player
• Farish A. Noor, political scientist and human rights activist
• Najib Razak, the sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia
• Nazir Razak, Chairman, CIMB Group
• Syafiq Ridhwan, Asian Gold Medalist, World Bowling Champion
• Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, Sultan of Selangor
• Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah, Sultan of Perak
• Tengku Mohamad Rizam, Tengku Temenggong of Kelantan
• Senator Datuk Ras Adiba Radzi, Member of the Upper/August House, Parliament of Malaysia & Chairman of BERNAMA
• Afdlin Shauki, film director

• Saint John Baptist de La Salle
• De La Salle Christian Brothers

• The school history is obtained from the Golden Jubilee school magazine (1954), Diamond Jubilee Souvenir book (1964), 75th Anniversary Commemorative book (1979) and 100 Years Centenary coffee table book (2004).

• St. John's Institution