Keat Hwa Secondary School (simplified Chinese: 吉华国民型华文中学; traditional Chinese: 吉華國民型華文中學; pinyin: Jíhuá Guómínxíng Huáwén Zhōngxué; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Keât Huá tiong ouk) is a cluster Chinese high school in Alor Setar, Kedah, Malaysia which provides quality secondary education.[1][2][3][4]
It was founded in 1911, making it one of the oldest schools in Malaysia. It has an area of 13 acres (53,000 m2). Keat Hwa Secondary School is widely known as Keat Hwa in the region, and it is one of the only 78 Chinese conforming[5][6] (national-type) secondary schools in Malaysia.[7][8][9]
One of the features which makes the Keat Hwa Secondary School special from other typical secondary schools in Malaysia is that all students with Chinese primary school background are required to learn Chinese language and to sit for Chinese language examination in major examinations like Lower Secondary Assessment and Malaysian Certificate of Education.
In 2011, Keat Hwa Secondary School was awarded the Cluster School of Excellence status by Malaysian Ministry of Education.[10] Keat Hwa Secondary School is also said to be the best secondary school in town. And in 2011 itself, Keat Hwa celebrated its 100th anniversary with three-day celebration seeing more than 35,000 Kedah Chinese and exstudents/alumni around the world participating in the events.[11][12][13] The Keat Hwa 100 celebration is also being recorded in the Malaysian Book of Records.[14]
As a Chinese Secondary School, the teaching of Science and Mathematics are in English. Following the announcement of the Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister, who is also the Education Minister, on 4 November 2011, the Keat Hwa Secondary School would have the options to teach Science and Mathematics fully in English, Bahasa Malaysia, or bilingually. However, majority of the parents wanted their children to be taught Science and Mathematics in English.
Chinese Education (Mother-tongue Education)
As Keat Hwa Secondary School is a Chinese secondary school, Chinese language is a compulsory subject for all students with Chinese primary school background. Unlike other schools, student do not need to stay back after schooling time to attend Chinese language classes as the Chinese language lessons are arranged in the standard timetable. The mother tongue education in Keat Hwa Secondary School is one of the most successful ones in Malaysia.
Like all other Chinese schools in Malaysia, Keat Hwa Secondary Schools has its own School Motto.[17] The school motto was originated by Chiang Kai-shek in the 1930s. Most of the Chinese schools around the globe use this as their school motto, so does Keat Hwa Secondary School. The School Motto has not been altered or changed ever since then. It has been used for more than 80 years, and it is still in use.[18]
School Magazine
Each year, the school publishes its very own school magazine. The school magazine published annually is informally called the 吉華校刊. It has always been the tradition that the cover of the school magazine changes with the different theme every year.
A special edition magazine was published in July 2012 in celebration of the 100th anniversary. The magazine is 588-page thick with a thick cover. It was sold at the Popular Bookstores nationwide. The title for this magazine is '吉华人•吉华情•吉华心'.
Keat Hwa celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2011. A centenary celebration committee was set up prior to the celebration by the Keat Hwa Alumni Organization. The committee is fully in-charge of the celebrations with the co-operation from the school authorities. A series of events were organised throughout the year, culminating with a 3-day celebration, to mark this auspicious year for Keat Hwa, from 28 to 31 July 2011.
The 3-day gala event was held at the Keat Hwa Secondary School compound. Besides exhibition booths, there were several other unique and meaningful events organised.[12][13][19] Among the huge events are the Grand Festival, Grand Dinner and the Grand Expo. Other events include the celebration of Mooncake Festival by all the six Keat Hwa schools, singing competition, torch relay, Chinese cultural activities and, most importantly, the celebration of Chinese education in Malaysia.
The 3-day event successfully attracted more than 35,000 students and alumni from all over the world. The centenary celebration marked a milestone of Keat Hwa and showcased the success of the Chinese community in fighting for their own Chinese education, mother-tongue language and culture. Besides, the celebration was able to collect donations to set up an education fund for the usage of Keat Hwa schools in the coming years.[20]
Grand Festival
Grand Festival was one of the biggest events of the celebrations. The Opening Ceremony with the participants of more than 1000 students, consisting different clubs and societies, uniformed units, boards of directors from 6 schools and also the alumni of Keat Hwa. Before the opening ceremony, a parade was held where all the teams marched from the oldest school building, Keat Hwa (S) to Keat Hwa Secondary School. The parade was the only major procession held in the city of Alor Setar in the last few decades to celebrate the anniversary of a school. The journey was roughly 5 kilometres and it caught the attention of the citizens of Alor Setar. Some even joined the parade which ended at the Keat Hwa Secondary School. The whole journey was held successfully with the help of the Malaysian police and the paramilitary civil volunteer corps controlling the traffic in the city.
A torch tower was designed and built for the opening ceremony with more than a million can tabs weighing more than 1100 kg. The preparation of the torch tower involved the participation of all students, teachers and alumni of Keat Hwa Secondary School. The achievement was recorded into the Malaysia Book of Records.[21]
Grand Expo
Grand Expo was another huge event in the 3-day celebration. Besides booths, there were performances such as Chinese Orchestra, Wushu, cheer leadings, street dances, concerts and night markets, which added colour to the spirited celebration.
Grand Dinner was the final event of the 3-day celebration. The dinner was held on the final day of the celebration at the Dewan Wawasan, Jitra. The dinner was attended by more than 2500 Keat Hwa alumni from all over the world.[12][22]
One of the peak event during the dinner was the performance which included more than 100 students from 6 Keat Hwa schools. The performance was to showcase the 100 years of Keat Hwa through drama and dance.
History
Keat Hwa Secondary School was first established in the year 1911 and named as (Simplified Chinese: 中华学校) after a name change from Chung Hwa School.
1924
In response to the rapid increase in the number of people and the need for self-built school buildings, the school building committee was organized to start preparations to donate.
1928
After four years of hard work, a bungalow in Jalan Kampung Perak near the Kedah River was purchased as a school building.
1935
The merge of 3 school.
1939
After the school started the first class of form one secondary school, it has been named Hua Qiao Primary and Secondary School (Simplified Chinese: 中桥中小学校).
1945
School Re-Open again after Japanese invasion of Malaya.
1953
New Campus at Kampung Baru as the main campus and Kampung Perak as the branch campus with nearly 2,000 students, it become the largest Chinese School in Kedah.
1958
After receiving the government subsidies, the primary and secondary schools are instructed to operate separately. The secondary school is named Hua Qiao Secondary School, 1000 over students. The primary schools are divided into 3 schools named Hua Qiao (H) Primary School (Simplified Chinese: 华侨标准型(H)小学）, Hua Qiao (K) Primary School (Simplified Chinese: 华侨标准型(K)小学）, and Hua Qiao (S) Primary School (Simplified Chinese: 华侨标准型(S)小学）. (H)（K） The two schools share the campus at Jalan Kumpong Perak, and (S) primary school operate in campus at Kampung Baru. At that time, there were nearly 1,000 students in the three primary schools.
1962
The secondary school received all government subsidies and was renamed as Hua Qiao National Secondary School (Simplified Chinese: 华侨国民型中学).
1963
In order to cultivate the people's loyalty to the country, the government ordered the schools with Hua Qiao Chinese schools to change their names. The board of directors decided to change the name of the primary and secondary school from "华侨" to Keat Hwa "吉华", which will become the current name Keat Hwa Secondary School (Simplified Chinese: 华侨国民型中学), Keat Hwa Independent High School (Simplified Chinese: 吉华独立中学), Keat Hwa National Type (H) Primary School (Simplified Chinese: 吉华国民型 (H) 小学), Keat Hwa National Type (K) Primary School (Simplified Chinese: 吉华国民型 (K) 小学) and Keat Hwa National Type (S) Primary School (Simplified Chinese: 吉华国民型(S) 小学).
1964
The board set 31 July as the school anniversary date.
21st century
2007
In 2007, Keat Hwa(K) which shared the same school facilities with Keat Hwa (H), moved to its own new premise while Keat Hwa (H) remains in the same location.
2011
In 2011, Keat Hwa Secondary School was honoured the Cluster School award.[23]
And in 2011 itself too, Keat Hwa Secondary School celebrated its 100th anniversary.[24] The preparation of the celebration was featured in Astro's Ben Di Quan and MalaysiaKini[25] The preparation includes a number of events being held from the beginning of the year till the three-day celebration.
One of the events is the making of a dedicated album which covers 10 songs written and composed by Keat Hwa alumni and students. One of the songs being covered in the album is by St. John of Keat Hwa - 'Only Us'. The making of the 'Only Us' was again featured in MalaysiaKini[26]
On 28 July 2011, the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Najib Razak visited the school for the celebration of Keat Hwa 100 Years. Najib Razak, during his speech, urged vernacular schools not to be ungrateful as their existence was due to the support given to them by the current ruling parties and coalition - Barisan Nasional.[27]
The three-day celebration of 100 years establishment saw more than 35,000 exstudents/alumni and parents participating in the event.
2016
Keat Hwa Secondary School has more than 2500+ students, making it one of the best Chinese Secondary Schools in Malaysia with high passing rates and high number of students who scored excellent results in general examinations. This success is largely attributed to its merit-based selection of students from primary vernacular education. Entry requirement for acceptance into Keat Hwa Secondary School is relatively high compared to other schools. Keat Hwa Secondary School had won the Sudler Shield Award for their performance at the 2016 World Championship of Marching Show Band held in August 2016.[28]
