GEORGE TOWN: The St Xavier's Institution (SXI) Penang has turned a 55.7sq m (600sq ft) ping-pong area at the school into the Hall of Gratitude to mark the school's 170th anniversary this year.

       The hall features the names of 35,000 students who studied there, including nine royalties from Kedah, Perlis, Kelantan and Selangor who called SXI their alma mater.

       The other event held on April 12 to commemorate the anniversary was the opening of the Chapel Gallery, which holds artefacts found at the school since its early days.

       Director of St Xavier's Institution Penang Brother Jason Blaikie said the idea for the Hall of Gratitude came about as the school felt it was proper for it to express its gratitude not only to the students, but also to the families who had sent their children to the school.

       He added that the names were found from school diaries dating back to 1887 and school leaving certificates from 1903 until the present.

       The first name listed is that of the third Raja of Perlis, the late Sultan Syed Saffi ibni al-Marhum Tuan Syed Alwi ibni al-Marhum Syed Ahmad Jamalullail, who left the school in 1879.

       Monsignor Aloysius Tan conducted a mass and later blessed the Chapel Gallery before it was declared open.

       The school's board of governors chairman Victor Tan said the school had spent RM80,000 to set up the Hall of Gratitude.

       Also present at the ceremony were SXI Heritage Centre board chairman Ooi Gim Ewe, OXA committee members and several old boys of the school.