The Victoria Institution (commonly known as VI) is an all-boys secondary school in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is one of the earliest and most prominent secondary schools in the city and was established as a memorial school commemorating the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1887.
VI is a secondary school for male students only from Form 1 to 5. Female students are accepted for Form 6 (Lower and Upper) and the students are known as Victorians.
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History
VI was founded following a public subscription initiative to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1887. The school was further supported by financial contributions from the Sultan and government of Selangor, as well as prominent residents of Kuala Lumpur.
The foundation stone was laid on 14 August 1893 by Lady Treacher, wife of the then Resident of Selangor, Sir William Hood Treacher. The school officially opened on 28 July 1894 at its original site along what is now Jalan Tun H.S. Lee.
Due to frequent flooding from the Klang River, the school relocated to Shaw Road (now Jalan Hang Tuah) on 26 March 1929.
On 13 September 1945, the Victoria Institution was the site of the formal surrender of the 29th Imperial Japanese Army to Lieutenant-General Ouvry Roberts of the British 34th Indian Corps.
The old building was then used for the premises of the Technical College up until the 1950s when the new Technical College building at Jalan Gurney (now Jalan Semarak) was completed and officially opened on the 1 March 1955 by Sir Donald MacGillivray, the British High Commissioner to Malaya.
It then housed High Street School before relocated to Setapak High School.
From the 1980s, the old premises were managed as a cultural centre known as Taman Budaya and later came under the administration of the National Department for Culture and Arts.
National heritage designation
On 14 February 2009, the Victoria Institution building at Jalan Hang Tuah was declared a National Heritage site by the Malaysian government. It was listed by the Department of National Heritage under the category of heritage buildings. On the same day, Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister Mohd Shafie Apdal announced that SMK Victoria would revert to its historic name, Victoria Institution, following its designation as a national heritage site.
Postage stamp
On 16 December 2008, Victoria Institution was featured in Pos Malaysia's Premier Schools postage-stamp issue. The issue consisted of four 50-sen stamps featuring SMK St. Thomas in Kuching, SMK Victoria (Victoria Institution) in Kuala Lumpur, SMK Convent Bukit Nanas in Kuala Lumpur, and SM All Saints in Kota Kinabalu. The Victoria Institution stamp bore the name "SMK Victoria (Victoria Institution), Kuala Lumpur" and the school's founding year, 1893.
Campus
The school campus features a clock tower flanked by two sports pavilions overlooking a large central field. It also includes a 25-metre swimming pool and athletics facilities.
Student leadership and traditions
Prefect system
Student leadership at Victoria Institution includes a prefect system that has historically played a role in school discipline and governance. An opinion column in Malay Mail described the school’s prefects’ board as among the earliest established in the region, highlighting its longstanding influence within the school community.
Co-curricular activities
Victoria Institution maintains a cadet corps as part of its co-curricular activities, and according to the school’s official background information, the unit was established in 1901 by the school’s first headmaster, En. Bennet Eyre Shaw
The Pasukan Kadet Bersatu Malaysia (PKBM), with which school cadet units are aligned nationally, was formally established under the Pasukan Kadet Bersatu Malaysia Act 1967 (Act 68).
Sports
Rugby
Victoria Institution has a long-established rugby program and regularly competes in the Super Schools Rugby (SSR) championship, Malaysia’s premier inter-school rugby competition.
Victoria Institution has appeared in four finals of the Super Schools Rugby competition since making its tournament debut in 2017, winning the championship twice and finishing as runners-up twice.
The school also organises the annual Victoria Institution Premier 10s Rugby Tournament, which has been reported as a significant event in the Malaysian schools rugby calendar.
Football
The Victoria Institution football team has achieved success at state and national levels, winning the Manchester United Premier Cup Malaysia in 2009 and 2013 and representing Malaysia at regional competitions.
Cricket
Cricket has a long association with Victoria Institution. The school competes in cricket competitions organised by the Majlis Sukan Sekolah Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur (MSSWPKL), the Kuala Lumpur Cricket Association and the Malaysian Cricket Association.
Victoria Institution won three consecutive MSSWPKL under-18 cricket championships from 2024 to 2026. The school won the 2024 final by eight wickets, retained the championship in 2025, and secured its third consecutive title in 2026.
The school also represented Kuala Lumpur in the 2024 National Champion Schools Cricket Championship for boys under 17. Victoria Institution finished third after winning the third-place playoff by 45 runs. The team scored 119/8 before dismissing its opponent for 74 runs.
In 2002, the Malay Cricket Association of Malaysia established one of its two national cricket development centres at Victoria Institution, with the other centre located at Penang Free School. Two full-time coaches from Sri Lanka were recruited to train primary- and secondary-school players at the centres.
On 10 April 2026, the Malaysian Cricket Association designated Victoria Institution as the tenth State Centre of Excellence under the National Cricket Development Programme. The centre was established through cooperation between the Malaysian Cricket Association, the Kuala Lumpur Cricket Association and Victoria Institution.
The Victoria Institution cricket ground has also hosted international competitions. It was used as a venue during the 1997 ICC Trophy. The ground subsequently hosted List A group-stage matches during the cricket tournament at the 1998 Commonwealth Games, including Pakistan against Scotland and Malaysia against Jamaica.
Headmasters and Headmistresses
The following is a chronological list of headmasters and headmistresses of Victoria Institution.
Alumni
The school's alumni organisation, the Victoria Institution Old Boys' Association (VIOBA), was founded in 1922 and remains active in Malaysia and abroad.
Notable alumni
Royalty
Hassanal Bolkiah – Sultan of Brunei; attended Victoria Institution in Kuala Lumpur from 1961 to 1963.
Politician
Prabowo Subianto – 8th President of Indonesia; attended Victoria Institution in Kuala Lumpur from 1962 to 1964.
S. Rajaratnam – Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore.
Rafidah Aziz – Malaysian politician and former Minister of International Trade and Industry.
Harun Idris – Malaysian politician; former Menteri Besar of Selangor.
Shafie Apdal – Malaysian politician and former Chief Minister of Sabah.
Yaacob Abdul Latiff – Former Mayor of Kuala Lumpur (1972–1983) and Malaysian politician.
Zulhasnan Rafique – Malaysian politician; Minister of Federal Territories (2006–2008).
Military
Mohamed Hashim Mohd Ali – Malaysian military officer; 9th Chief of the Malaysian Armed Forces.
Abdul Latif Ahmad – Malaysian military officer, retired brigadier general who served during Confrontation, Communist insurgency and led special forces in Somalia.
K. Thanabalasingam – Malaysian naval officer who served as the first Malaysian Chief of the Royal Malaysian Navy from 1967 to 1976.
Banking