CHIJ Melaka unveils ‘Our Heritage’

A Heritage Room has been set-up at the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus.

Jun 12, 2014

MELAKA (Herald Malaysia): A Heritage Room has been set-up at the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus (CHIJ). It will serve to showcase the history of the Convent, as well as the sisters and pupils who worked or studied there.

The idea of having a Heritage Room was mooted by Datuk Rajasegaran (the Chairman of the Parents-Teachers Association) during one of the Building Committee meetings in late 2012. The Past Pupils Association of the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus Malacca (PPA) were tasked to undertake this project. The Board of Governors generously offered to fund it. A small group was formed comprising Sr Mary Agnes (Superior of the Malacca House) and three past pupils, Lynn Yeow, Audrey Lim and Mrs Shirley Sim.

The ideas developed through a few brainstorming sessions. Research from past magazines especially the maiden issue of the school magazine The Lantern printed in 1958, and other magazines that followed including the 125th Anniversary magazine (1985), the 148th Commemorative Magazine and the 150th Anniversary Magazine (2007 and 2010 respectively), Toa Payoh Convent’s Anniversary Booklet (from which was sourced the vision, mission and values of IJ Convents worldwide), the IJ Sister’s 1960 Anniversary magazine (from the archives), the Voyage Out (a book on the history of the IJ Sisters), Where There Is Darkness (a book on Mother Mathilde Raclot, the founder of the IJ Convents in Malaya) and a book on the architecture of mission schools provided ample material for this purpose.

Mrs Sim provided many photos of the nuns and the Convent in Malacca from earlier days while more recent pictures came from Audrey. The design for the Room display was done by both Audrey and Lynn Yeow over 2013, with valuable input from Sr Mary Agnes and Mrs Sim. The history of the CHIJ convent and the amazing, awe-inspiring journey and contributions of the IJ Sisters is well portrayed with photos and the accompanying write-ups. It started with the founding father of the Dames of St Maur (as the IJ Sisters were then called), Fr Nicholas Barré, opening the first school of the Sisters of Charitable Instruction of the Holy Infant Jesus in Sotteville-Rouen for poor French girls in 1662. From there, other schools were established in Paris and elsewhere in France.

In 1851, the Vicar Apostolic of Malaya, Bishop Boucho requested through Fr Beurel of the Missions Etrangères to send the Charitable Mistresses to Malaya, as there was an appeal to set up a school for girls in Penang. The first missionaries set sail in 1851. Mother St Mathilde Raclot who sailed for Penang in 1852 became the first Mother Superior in Penang and the Foundress of the Sisters’ missions in Malaya. In 1854 the Singapore Convent was opened and then another in Malacca in 1859.

The display in the Heritage Room also tells how the Irish Sisters came to our shores. It relates how the Special Malay Class was set up and reveals that the Convent also took in young boys (who were known as Convent Jacks). There is also a feature on some ‘Women of Distinction’ who passed through the hallowed halls of the Malacca Convent. A folder on the first co-curriculum activities, the setting up of the Prefects Board and the first Convent Chapel in Malaya is all on display to make the record complete.

On June 1, 2014, after a rousing fanfare by the school band, the Convent Heritage Room was officially opened by Sr Mary Agnes Pereira, IJS, in the presence of VIPs like Datuk Rajasegaran (representing the PTA), Kemmy Chua (representing the Past Pupils Association of the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus Malacca) and Dennis Ee (the Senior Assistant of the school). Datin Shirley Kesavan, whose husband Datuk Kesavan had initiated the fundraising for the building of a badly-needed new block of classrooms in 2007, also graced the occasion, while various people who had come to enjoy themselves at the Convent Carnival held on the same day were pleasantly surprised by this momentous event.

It is hoped that ‘Our Heritage’ serves to be a reminder of the IJ Spirit: Simple in Virtue, Strong in Duty indeed! Most importantly, the spirit of love, compassion and consideration for others is the legacy that should be handed down to the generations to come.

Total Comments:2

Name
Email
Comments
Karen Tucker Morris[email protected]
I attended CHIJ As a special exception when I was five years old because the terrorist emergency was still going on in Malaysia. My parents lived on a rubber plantation, my father was a British rubber planter and my mother was Dutch Indonesian. I attended the school until I was almost 10 years old. I have Mother Matilda‘s book that was given to me by the Reverend Mother at that time. I think her name was Mother Saint Pius. And the sister who looked after me was sister Saint Finbar. All the nuns spoke French to each other regardless if their race. There was an orphanage and a baby house where the nuns raised baby girls that they rescued from the trash cans. Remember it fondly. The secondary school was finally built across the street. I have wonderful memories of almost climbing over the seawall. And spending many hours in the gazebo that was at the end of the long pathway lined with beautiful trees. I think they were acacia. I was there when they extended the chapel. The nuns would sing vespers in the early hours of the morning. Are used to play in frangipani trees, because I was too young to go to classes between five and seven and there was no accommodation for anyone my age. They just took me in for my safety . I was relatively unsupervised for quite a few hours of the day surprisingly until I was almost 7. I remember many things. The dormitories, planning a run away from school I was a border. We learned so many things there such a variety of culture. I’m so grateful for the sisters that loved me and looked after me in my early childhood there. I later went to school in Australia and England, I now live in California. We lived in Johor most of the time and had to cross a ferry to go to Malacca. There was no bridge then. I am so grateful for the many memories I have. They had a little dental office, where the nurse actually let me play with mercury which now we know is not a good idea. I am now 70 years old.
Susheela Devi Kutty ( SusSusievadivale @gmail.com
I was a boarder of CHIJ Malacca from 1963-1966. I was from Johor state. I was an athlete, track and field champion and I was a netball player for the convent. I still have all my trophies that I won for my school. Now I am a Canadian citizen living in Toronto with my family and I visit Malaysia every year.