St. John's Institution (abbreviated SJI) or formerly known as St. John's National Secondary School () is a public all-boys school (sixth form is co-ed) and is one of the oldest schools in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The school is widely known by its initials, SJI and the students of St. John's Institution bear the name Johannians.
While it is commonly thought that the school is named after Jean-Baptiste de la Salle, the founder of the De La Salle Christian Brothers Order and also known as the Patron Saint of Teachers, the school actually takes its name from St. John the Evangelist Church which sponsors their surrounding parish which is also located nearby on Jalan Bukit Nanas.
SJI consists of a primary school and a secondary school. The primary and secondary schools initially were fee paying missionary schools and remained such until the 1970s. They functioned together until the increase in pupil enrollment led to the separation of the primary school in 1960. The primary schools were formerly known in Malay as Sekolah Kebangsaan St. John (1) and Sekolah Kebangsaan St. John (2) until the primary schools were officially merged again recently. The newly merged primary school is known today in Malay as Sekolah Kebangsaan St. John.
The secondary school was called Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan St. John, but it was announced in April 2016 that the name would be reverted to St John's Institution, a decision widely applauded by alumni and backed by another Johannian, Sultan Nazrin Shah of Perak.
SJI was among the first 30 schools selected for the Cluster School Scheme when it was first introduced in 2007 by the Ministry of Education, Malaysia.
The La Sallian Brothers and the Board of Governors still hold much more autonomy over the management of the secondary school compared to the Malaysian Ministry of Education. This has allowed the secondary school to maintain a certain amount of prestige. Though the school land is owned by the Roman Catholic Church (including St. John's Cathedral, Kuala Lumpur which is next to the school), much of the school funding is received from the Government of Malaysia.
Site and architecture 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 where it has been recognized as a Kuala Lumpur Heritage Building since 1986, where else it was gazetted as a National Heritage Site by the Government of Malaysia on 21 May 2010 through National Heritage Department.
Administration 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 Director of St. John's Institution Portrait Name Took office Left office Notes Julian Francis 1904 James Gilbert 1904 1910 Saw the construction of the Main Block Adrian Edmund 1911 1913 Marcian Cullen 1913 1915 Claude Marie Guibert 1916 1921 Introduced Sports Day in 1921 Barnitus Kennedy 1921 1923 Stephen Edward Buckley 1923 1925 Built the existing Brothers' Quarters Defendant Louis 1925 1930 Installed the statue of Jean Baptist de La Salle Cornelius Nulty 1930 1946 Longest serving brother director, built a school hall in 1936 Amor Matthias 1946 1948 Dositheus Joseph Brophy 1948 1954 Lawrence Spitzig 1955 1961 Wrote SJI's School Rally and introduced many improvement projects to the school during his two terms Celestine Jennings 1958 Was appointed director when Spitzig went on leave to Canada Ignatius Barry 1962 Deteriorating health forced him to return to Ireland in September that year Joseph McNally 1962 1967 An accomplished artiste and sculptor, designed the present school badge and introduced many sculptures and murals to the school arts block (form 5 block) which was built in 1965 during his serving years. He painted the school's exterior white and some of his works are still standing today. He went on to establish the LASALLE College of the Arts in Singapore in 1984 Basilian Wong 1967 1969 Cleared the immense debt incurred by the development committee under Joseph McNally Joseph Yeoh 1969 1977 Former student of St. John's. First Malaysian to lead the school. Repainted the school to its current color scheme. Introduced Appreciation Day in 1972. Lawrence Spitzig 1978 1983 Wrote SJI's School Rally and introduced many improvement projects to the school during his two terms Cassian Pappu 1983 1988 Served in La Salle Klang before taking up brother director's role in St. John's. Built a form 6 block called the Tan Sri Dominic Vendargon Building. Michael Wong 1989 2002 The last brother director of St. John 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, ending 98 years of brothers' administration.
Former and current principals of St. John's Institution Name of principal Took office Left office Comments Peter Yii Sing Chiu 2002 2009 First non-Catholic principal. Leong Kum Loy 2009 2009 Lim Hean Hwa 2009 2014 Second Johannian to lead St. John's after his own principal, Joseph Yeoh. He was a student from 1961 - 1973 M. Puvanendran 2014 2016 First non-Christian principal. Manmohan Singh a/l Kartar Singh 2016 2022 He officially retired on 13 May 2022. Ravi Chandran a/l Krishnan 2022 2024First Catholic principal since 2002.Sivakumar a/l Thannimalay2024Present Brothers who have served as primary school headmasters since leaving the secondary school include Patrick Arokiasamy, Alban Tang and Matthew Liew.
On 1 December 2009, Peter Yii Sing Chiu was replaced by Leong Kum Loy. Under the administration of Leong Kum Loy, St. John has been declared a heritage site by the Malaysian government.
The administration of the school has been continued until now by Sivakumar a/l Thannimalay, the seventh principal of SJI who has started serving from January 2023. He is assisted by three senior assistants as follows;
Senior assistant of administration and curriculum: Rohani binti Jusoh Senior assistant of student affairs: Musannef bin Yatim Senior assistant of co-curricular activities: Eza Hamni bin Mohammad Senior assistant of form six: Sharimala a/p Bahsu
History +YearEvents1904 On 18 January 1904, at the earnest request of the Education Department and the then Bishop of Malacca, Mgr. Fee, the La Sallian Brothers opened a school in Kuala Lumpur. The Staff consisted of three Brothers and three lay masters. According to the Malay Mail, Sir Hugh Clifford who visited St. John's in August 1927 recalled that it started with an initial enrolment of 18 boys. On 15 January, three days before classes were to commence, 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-storeyed wooden structure, 80 feet long and 20 feet wide, with brick pillars 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 St. John's Institution1905On 2 January 1905, the school reopened with an additional staff member, Brother Vernier Augustus. 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 now occupied by the Telecoms. In August 1905, Brother Felix Paulian arrived to join the staff1906In June 1906, Brother Imier of Jesus, Provincial Visitor of the United States paid a visit to St. John's . He later became Superior General in 1913. As the school rapidly increased in numbers, the Brothers began to look for a suitable site for a new building. Meanwhile, 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. The building was designed by fellow staff member, Brother V. Augustus On 3 November, the foundation stone for the new building was laid by Sir Henry Conway Belfield, Resident Councilor for Selangor.1907 After much difficulty and delay, the new building was finally completed and officially declared open by the High Commissioner and Governor, Sir John Anderson on 10 August 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 Brother Gilbert was given a short but well deserved rest in Ceylon and the school was left temporarily in the charge of Brother Augustine. Brother Gilbert also intended to start a Science Laboratory but his intention was not fulfilled because during his absence, Brother V. Augustus on whom he had been relying for the scheme had been transferred to St. Xavier's Institution in Penang1914 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.1915A Cadet Corps was formed followed shortly by a Scout Troop which unfortunately did not last very long1916Brother Gilbert who continued in office till 1916 had cherished the dream of a swimming pool in the valley south of the school, but financial and other difficulties prevented his fulfilment He also started a fund for the construction of a school hall, but the outbreak of World War I checked his efforts—and those of his successors, too. In November 1916, Brother Claude Marie Guibert replaced Brother Gilbert as Director and remained in office till his transfer to Malacca in 19211921 Brother Stephen Edward Buckley (Director 1921–1925) demolished the Brothers' Building and replaced it with the present one, to which additions were made later.1925 Brother Louis, who was appointed Sub-Director in December 1924, took Brother Stephen's place in 1925 and remained until his transfer in 1930. He initiated the plan of enlarging the playground by filling up part of the valley, but the success of this enterprise was reserved for his successor, Brother Cornelius. The golden statue of Jean Baptiste De La Salle, the founder of the Brothers as it stands in front of the famous red and white Romanesque style building of St. John's Institution which is an iron cast statue, arrived from France in February 1925 and was installed the same year in a ceremony carefully conducted by Rev. Father L. Duvell under the watch of Brother Louis1930Brother 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.