St Margaret’s School celebrates 175th anniversary

SINGAPORE — St Margaret’s School, the oldest girls’ school in Singapore, celebrated its 175th anniversary on Friday (Feb 10) with the reopening of its heritage gallery and to complete a record-breaking feat witnessed by representatives from the Singapore Book of Records.

The school’s students and staff members had worked from Feb 6 to form the words “Glowing in His Glory: 175 Years of Charity, Patience, Devotion” using 4,208 tin cans.

Ex-student and guest-of-honour Mrs Chua-Lim Yen Ching, who is deputy director-general of education (professional development) at the Ministry of Education, put in the last tin can on Friday.

The canned food will be donated to needy residents from the North West Community Development Council, the school said.

The celebration at the school grounds on Farrer Road was attended by the primary and secondary school communities, as well as several alumni.

Mrs Elizabeth Ezekiel, 75, from the class of 1958, told TODAY that she is still, to this day, thankful to her principal at the time, Ms Norah Inge.

After her father died, her mother took her to Ms Inge, saying she could not take care of her. Mrs Ezekiel was then placed in the boarding school. When she completed her secondary school and thanked Ms Inge for giving her an education, Ms Inge’s only words to her were: “Pass it on.”

St Margaret’s School was founded in 1842 by Mrs Maria Dyer, a Christian missionary and pioneering educator. It was then known as the Chinese Girls’ School and located in a shophouse at North Bridge Road.