On 19 March 1999, the school's clock tower was gazetted as a national monument to mark the significance of the institution as the first Chinese medium school to be built in Southeast Asia to cater to the education of overseas Chinese. As part of the school's 80th anniversary celebration in 1999, the school's heritage centre was formally opened by Ong Teng Cheong, President of Singapore from 1993 to 1999, who was also an alumnus of the school. In addition, artist and alumnus Tan Swie Hian presented the school with a giant sculpture of a horse, which currently stands near the school field.