This week, I would like to pay tribute to the amazing, pioneering brigade of women – the force of Catholic teaching nuns – generous and totally dedicated educators who travelled from Europe to set up their Convent schools all over the world. The date of 1852 is particularly important since on this date 170 years ago, some brave nuns from the religious order of the Dames of St. Maur or the Holy Infant Jesus took the perilous sea journey halfway across the world to open the first school in Penang, Malaya.
Above : The bucolic island of Penang in colonial Malaya in the late 18th century
Above : The first Convent school and orphanage, then called Convent St. Maur at Light Street, Penang
Throughout the 19th century, there have been so many religious orders of Sisters or nuns who have opened up schools world-wide. In Asia, the Sisters of the Holy Infant Jesus, the Maryknoll Sisters, Carmelites, Sacred Heart Sisters, Sisters of Notre Dame are just a few of the many religious orders of nuns whose mission was and is to teach young girls in the far corners of the earth- not just academic subjects but as the legendary Rev. Mother St. Tarcisius of the Convent Holy Infant Jesus who led the nuns from 1924 to 1954 said, “ …prepare our pupils for the battle of life”.
Today, I will focus on the Sisters of the Holy Infant Jesus in Malaysia and Singapore because they have personally and indelibly touched my life.
Sisters of the Holy Infant Jesus - now and then ! Some precious pictures from Convent archives
Left : The 160th anniversary of the HIJ Nuns - nuns in their modern day habits celebrating this amazing milestone in Singapore in 2014
Right : Circa 1924 - The remarkable Rev. Mother St. Tarcisius (seated, centre) with her Sisters in their black choir habits seated at the Convent Light Street, Penang ( Photos courtesy of IJS Convent Cheras )
In 1852 when the brave Sisters of the Holy Infant Jesus set out ( literally into the unknown ) on the gruelling 4 month sea journey to Malaya ( as it was then known and which also included the 3 British settlements of Penang, Malacca and Singapore ) - as you will read further in the Guest Article below – this was the first ever mission on foreign soil since the founding of their order in France. The first school as well as an orphanage was set up in Penang and others soon followed all over the then Malaya and also in Singapore. Today the work of education in both formal and informal settings continues in many towns and cities in Singapore and Malaysia – in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Kapor, Rawang, Port Dickson, Seremban, Cameron Highlands, Bagan Serai, Ipoh, Sitiawan, Telok Intan, Johor Bahru, Melaka, Keningau and Penampang. By 1949, the number of Convent schools in Malaya had grown to 32 schools and the number of pupils to 20,500 girls !
Left : The modern day Katong Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus in Singapore
Right : The first Convent was in Penang. See the date on the roof of the Convent Light Street, Penang - 1852 !!!
Growing up in Malaysia, as a former Convent school girl myself, I owe so much to the Sisters of the Holy Infant Jesus for the invaluable and immeasurable education I received in Kuala Lumpur at the Convent Bukit Nanas. The nuns touched my life, opened up my horizons and deepened my moral values. Many of us, the lucky alumni of Convent schools are now accomplished, strong and influential women making our marks all over the world. The nuns would be proud of us today. Their aim after all is to produce in each Convent schoolgirl – ‘ a woman of distinction’.
Centre and Right : Pictures of my old school, the Convent Bukit Nanas in Kuala Lumpur
Left : In 2019 - we celebrated the 120th year anniversary of the Convent Bukit Nanas in Kuala Lumpur. The ballroom of a hotel was packed with hundreds of old girls, teachers and alumni. Here is a picture of me with some of my Convent classmates and teachers. I am standing in front at the centre, next to my beloved Sister Daniel who first taught me at primary school more than 60 years ago !
Who are the Holy Infant Jesus nuns ?
The Sisters of the Holy Infant Jesus or Dames of Saint Maur is a Roman Catholic religious institution totally dedicated to education and was founded in 1666 in France by Fr. Nicolas Barre, a Catholic priest who saw the need to provide a good education to the children of the poor who had only very limited opportunities. So, he established the ‘Dames of Saint Maur’, an order of nuns and their primary objective was to teach girls who came from poor families. In 1662, the first school was set up near the town of Rouen; this was followed by many more and were called the Little Charitable Schools of Providence.
Simple in Virtue; Steadfast in Duty
Above : The Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus school crest.
A quick word about the school crest. First, the shield’s red colour symbolizes the all-embracing message of love. You see above the shield, the cross and on the shield, an open gospel, Christ being the source of inspiration which guides the whole school community. There is also a silver rosary representing the Virgin Mary. The spindle on the bottom left is a symbol of womanly labour – maybe not so applicable to feminists today - but certainly a good reminder of the dignity of work. Finally, the flowers surrounding the shield are a garland of Marguerites - simple flowers which you can find everywhere in France ; symbols of purity and simplicity which surely should characterise all Convent girls’ relationships at every level.
The Sisters of the Holy Infant Jesus take solemn perpetual vows of chastity, poverty and obedience. These wonderful women live a life of labour for others. The Convent’s motto on their school crest surely reflects that of the nuns too : “Simple in Virtue; Steadfast in Duty”. The loving and unselfish Nuns are fiercely dedicated to giving the best education to the young girls under their care and to do good in the world; they are giving and unselfish. At my beloved former Convent Bukit Nanas school where I studied 12 years of my school life from Primary One to the Sixth Form, I have wonderful precious memories and imprints of the Convent itself and the many teachers and in particular, the nuns who taught me. They were strict but they were the finest teachers – totally dedicated to their vocation and I owe so much to the late Rev. Mother Brede, our headmistress who always had a gentle smile in her face; the late Sister Fergus ( who drilled Latin and English into my dreamy head ); and Sister Daniel Ee who is now in her eighties but continues teaching in the outbacks of Malaysia and today remains my spiritual guide and guiding star.
Left : The late Rev. Mother Brede Forde, the headmistress of the Convent Bukit Nanas for more than 10 years, with Convent school girl Marie Gilmour who was a few years my junior. Marie loved the Convent and said the school “..was like home” and Rev. Mother Brede in particular was “…a source of comfort and tranquility”.
Centre : Picture of Sister Daniel Ee taken in 2019 at my home in Kuala Lumpur
Right : The formidable late Sister Fergus ( she later reverted to her birth name Sister Deirdre ) from Ireland - centre of the picture - who brought to me the magic of the English language. I both adored and feared Sister Fergus and worked really hard to score only the highest marks to gain her approving smile. In the picture ( taken from her time after she moved to the Singapore Convent), you can see this same smiling face of Sister Fergus as she stands with two of her Singapore friends.
Left : Sixth Form at the Convent Bukit Nanas. By this time, there were fewer teaching nuns. Here we were with our Class Teacher - who was wonderful too but clearly not a nun ! I am seated in the first row at the far end on the right.
Right : A very old picture probably taken more than 65 years ago ! My Aunt Molly Foo is on the right. Aunt Molly was the much loved headmistress of first the Bukit Mertajam Convent and later the Convent Light Street in Penang. She joined the Sisters too but her time as a nun-postulant was very brief due to ill health. However, education continued to be a huge and dominant part of Aunt Molly’s life and she taught at the Convent until her early unexpected death.
Smitten by Faith is delighted and honoured to reproduce today an article about the pioneering nuns in Malaysia written by Bernard See in conversation with the Author, Chen Yen Ling who wrote the book, “ Lessons From My School”. The article was published in the Metro News Section of THE STAR NEWSPAPER on April 14th 2022. The STAR is the foremost Malaysian newspaper and I am very grateful to the STAR Newspaper and its Editor, Dato’ Wong Chun Wai for their kind permission for Smitten By Faith to reproduce this article. So, here it is !
PS - CHEN YEN LING’S book “Lessons From My School- The Journey of French Nuns and their Convent Schools” is absolutely riveting - all 355 pages of it ! I highly recommend it.
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SALUTING PIONEERS OF CONVENT SCHOOL EDUCATION IN MALAYSIA
By Bernard See in Malaysia for THE STAR NEWSPAPER ( First published on April 14th 2022 )
THE long, treacherous four-month sea journey to Malaya by three French nuns in 1852 will be remembered as the Infant Jesus Sisters in Malaysia celebrate their 170th anniversary this year.
The nuns, Sister Gregoire, Sister Gaetau and Sister Appolinaire, were later joined by four other nuns who arrived in October the same year under the leadership of Rev Mother Mathilde, the nun with a steely resolve to establish schools and orphanages in what was then Malaya. According to the order’s website, the Infant Jesus Sisters’ mission in Malaya was founded that year and it was the order’s first mission on foreign soil.
Above : Headmistresses and teachers from Penang and Kulim Convents at the Cameron Highlands Convent in the 1970s. Photo courtesy of Miss Cumareson ( second from left ) who later became the headmistress of St Anne’s concvent, Kulim, ©The Star Newspaper
The Infant Jesus Sisters were among the pioneers in formal and non-formal education in Malaya.
They established the first Infant Jesus Convent School, as well as the orphanage, in Light Street, Penang, and others soon followed. According to Chen Yen Ling, the author of “Lessons from My School: The journey of the French Nuns and their Convent Schools”, as more nuns arrived, they built schools in new areas gained by the British as the colonial master’s influence grew in the hinterland of Sultanate states and the need for English education became obvious. In some remote places near plantations where local populations were small and where there were no English schools for boys, the sisters took in all the children to provide them with education and proper discipline.
“During the tenure of tireless Mother Tarcisius in the 1930s and 1940s, the opening of schools was unstoppable, even as World War II started in Europe, parts of Asia and was imminent that it would soon spread to South-East Asia,” she said. Chen, a former student of St Anne’s Convent in Kulim, noted that in the course of expanding operations, the nuns endured many hardships in overcoming financial shortages besides prejudice against their religion and Western culture.
“During the Japanese occupation, the schools suffered disruption as the people endured the destruction of properties and lives….But the sisters were often blessed as very generous groups and individuals, including royal family members and philanthropists, would donate in cash and kind, including gifts of land and offers of the free usage of premises, pending new land being acquired and buildings erected… The public, parents of students, and alumni were also instrumental in contributing to the schools’ expansion efforts during special fundraising activities and also regularly assisting in day-to-day operations,” she added.
Barely four years after the war, in 1949, operations were bustling again with 32 orphanages and convent schools accommodating more than 1,000 abandoned babies and orphans, and 20,000 students respectively, according to Chen. She said that at a number of schools, grateful alumni (called “old girls”), who benefitted from the wholesome education and strict discipline instituted by the nuns, donated regularly and substantially to their alma mater.
The Convent Old Girls’ Associations founded by headmistresses for the main purpose of ensuring the convent girls remain connected and could come together in times of need, are still functional.
“Most of the schools that exist today were established during this period, with educational contents and standards broadened and upgraded, leading to the ‘convent school brand’ creation,” said Chen.
“The nuns have since retreated from direct administration of their schools since the nationalisation of these schools was implemented in stages from 1970 to 1982.” She said they now only exercised their rights and responsibilities as owners of the physical school properties that were still owned by the religious order.
Today, 170 years since the mission was established, the Infant Jesus Sisters Institute has remained vigilant despite all the trouble over changing times and the nuns have held steadfast to their principles and duties of service to society.
“They are still one of the biggest, if not the biggest, benefactors to education in our country by lending free use of their many school premises which they once built for generations of children who grew up to be useful citizens.
“The schools, originally called the St Maur Sisters’ Schools, are still the largest group of schools consisting of 56 primary and secondary schools.
“They are nationalised but their private beginnings traced back to the time when European missionaries reached the shores of Malaya in the mid-19th century to open English-medium schools as requested by the British administration in the Straits Settlements,” wrote Chen.
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