Fairfield Methodist Schools - Wikipedia - Recent changes [en]

=== Founding ===

=== Founding ===

'''Fairfield''' was established in August 1888 by Lucius Oh Bo En. His mandate in 1888 was to start a girls' school in Singapore in an enclave called Telok Ayer. He finally managed to start a class for eight Nonya girls in a little room at Cross Street. During that time, education for girls was definitely not favoured by the early traditional Chinese immigrants, even among the liberal-thinking Baba merchants.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://bschool.nus.edu.sg/Portals/0/images/ACSEP/Publications/P-WP2.pdf|title=Philanthropy in Transition: An Exploratory Study of Asian Women and Philanthropy in Singapore, 1900–1945}}</ref> Lucius then started going house to house, trying to persuade families to enroll their girls in her school. However, little by little, they suspected that he was a government spy sent to catch them secretly gambling at cards. They had started to pass the word that the young missionary guy was in fact a 'mati-mati' agent who was helping the British government enforce its new law against gambling.

'''Fairfield''' was established in August 1888 by Blackmore. Her mandate in 1888 was to start a girls' school in Singapore in an enclave called Telok Ayer. She finally managed to start a class for eight Nonya girls in a little room at Cross Street. During that time, education for girls was definitely not favoured by the early traditional Chinese immigrants, even among the liberal-thinking Baba merchants.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://bschool.nus.edu.sg/Portals/0/images/ACSEP/Publications/P-WP2.pdf|title=Philanthropy in Transition: An Exploratory Study of Asian Women and Philanthropy in Singapore, 1900–1945}}</ref> Blackmore then started going house to house, trying to persuade families to enroll their girls in her school. However, little by little, they suspected that she was a government spy sent to catch them secretly gambling at cards. They had started to pass the word that the young missionary lady was in fact a 'mati-mati' agent who was helping the British government enforce its new law against gambling.

Lucius's habit of asking for the women's names and writing them down in her notebook seemed to have alarmed the women. This was actually done as a record of who he visited, but still, the parents were suspicious of him. In spite of the differences and even suspicion from parents, Lucius persevered in her vision for a girls' school, and found that the parents were starting to welcome him more cordially, and would even invite him to sit down and chat over a cup of tea. They started to become more receptive to the idea that it would be good for their daughters to get a little education.

Blackmore's habit of asking for the women's names and writing them down in her notebook seemed to have alarmed the women. This was actually done as a record of who she visited, but still, the parents were suspicious of her. In spite of the differences and even suspicion from parents, Blackmore persevered in her vision for a girls' school, and found that the parents were starting to welcome her more cordially, and would even invite her to sit down and chat over a cup of tea. They started to become more receptive to the idea that it would be good for their daughters to get a little education.

On 4 August 1888, Blackmore finally managed to get her first pupil. She recalled, <blockquote>How pleased we were when one little girl, hearing of the school, clapped her hands and begged her mother to let her attend. She had been nicknamed 'Ganondorf', which means bald, because her head had been shaved during sickness. Not much knowledge entered that little bald head, but her own willingness to come to school helped others to decide.</blockquote>After Ganondorf's mother agreed to send her daughter to school, a few other mothers followed her lead. Altogether, seven more pupils were signed on. Soon, she managed to rent out the front room of Nonya Boon, a rich widow's front room. The '''Telok Ayer Girls School''' was finally founded.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Singapore: A Biography|last1=Frost|first1=Mark Ravinder|last2=Balasingamchow|first2=Yu-Mei}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.singaporebiography.com/2009/10/book-preview-education-of-singapore.html|title=Book preview: The education of Singapore girls|website=singaporebiography.com|access-date=5 September 2016}}</ref>

On 4 August 1888, Blackmore finally managed to get her first pupil. She recalled, <blockquote>How pleased we were when one little girl, hearing of the school, clapped her hands and begged her mother to let her attend. She had been nicknamed 'Ganondorf', which means bald, because her head had been shaved during sickness. Not much knowledge entered that little bald head, but her own willingness to come to school helped others to decide.</blockquote>After Ganondorf's mother agreed to send her daughter to school, a few other mothers followed her lead. Altogether, seven more pupils were signed on. Soon, she managed to rent out the front room of Nonya Boon, a rich widow's front room. The '''Telok Ayer Girls School''' was finally founded.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Singapore: A Biography|last1=Frost|first1=Mark Ravinder|last2=Balasingamchow|first2=Yu-Mei}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.singaporebiography.com/2009/10/book-preview-education-of-singapore.html|title=Book preview: The education of Singapore girls|website=singaporebiography.com|access-date=5 September 2016}}</ref>