Jalan Father A. Julien

Jalan Father A. Julien beside Block F of Heng Ee High School (20 May 2012)


Jalan Father A. Julien is a minor road off Free School Road, Penang. It was named after Belgian-born Roman Catholic missionary, Father Arthur Julien, the beloved founder of the Heng Ee Primary School and High School. The road is next to the school's eight-storey Block F, which is also called Bangunan Wawasan. That new wing opened in 2011.

Father Julien was born in Olsene, Belgium, on 25 February, 1917 into a Roman Catholic family. His father was a tax collector. He studied at the Catholic University of Paris (Institut Catholique de Paris), and was ordained as a priest in Paris, France, on 19 June, 1944, just two months before the city was liberated from German occupation.

Father Julien was exposed to Chinese culture while in France. He planted a desire for him to do God's work in far away lands, and China fit the bill. , under the sponsorship of the Paris Foreign Missions Society (Société des Missions Étrangères de Paris), a Roman Catholic missionary organization that traces its history to 1658.

Roadsign for Jalan Father A. Julien (20 May 2012)


There, he embraced Chinese culture, and in the process becoming fluent in Mandarin. However, he was working under the backdrop of the Bamboo Curtain, and he found that the Communist government was becoming increasing hostile to foreigners, particularly those whose mission was to spread religion. When this culminated with the confiscation of a Catholic mission school, the Sacred Heart, Father Julien was forced to leave China.

Upon arriving in Malaya in 1952, Father Julien set about his mission and adapted himself to the local customs. His missionary efforts including establishing a Tamil ministry for Indian children. He is however best remembered for founding a school to educate Chinese children who were either too poor or over aged to be accepted in mainstream Chinese schools such as Chung Ling and Chung Hwa Confucian.

The first incarnation of Heng Ee was in the form of the Heng Ee Primary School. It was started in 1956 on land that belonged to the Tamil parish which Father Julien served. It is still at the same location, next to the Church of Our Lady of Sorrows. The successful running of the primary school enabled him to then establish Heng Ee High School in 1957 and Heng Ee Kindergarten in 1959. The school he established has grown from strength to strength. From an also-run, Heng Ee High School is today establishing itself as one of the major schools in Penang, recording its highest enrolment in 2011.

The statue of Father Arthur Julien in the quadrangle of Heng Ee High School (20 May 2012)


In addition to his involvement in the field of education, Father Julien served as parish priest of the Church of Our Lady of Sorrows from 1961 to 1962, and as assistant parish priest of the Church of the Holy Spirit from 1976 to 1985. Simultaneously, he also accepted the post of parish priest for the Church of St Francis de Sales in Sitiawan, Perak. After his retirement, Father Julien spent the remainder of his life as an inmate of the home run by the Little Sisters of the Poor. In his later years, he was struck by Parkinson's Disease.

The passing of Father Julien, on 11 September, 2004, was received with much sorrow by the people of Penang from all walks of life. He was bestowed a datoship and had Jalan Father A Julien named after him, in recognition to his contribution to local society.

Map of Jalan Father A. Julien, Penang

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