Education of
Chinese Immigrants 

Source 1: An extract of audio footage of Ms Tan Sock Fern who attended school during the 19th century Colonial Singapore.

“I went to Singapore Chinese Girls’ School because my father wanted me to study and learn English. As far as English was concerned, it was very difficult for me. Because you only speak English with the teacher. I was about seven. We were all from Swatow. The aim of the school is to produce good wives for Singapore men for which they have to learn reading, writing, sewing, Chinese and Malay. That was in 1899….

They taught us sewing, which is mending. We did knitting. We had cooking, we made cakes. Rock buns and butter cakes. They taught us how to make beef stew. I did not like cooking, I did not like sewing, but I liked Hygiene. Mrs Hunter taught us Hygiene and for me it was very easy because talking about different parts of the body, the stomach and all those things, the digestive system. In Standard Seven, we started History for the first time. It’s some English history.”

Reference:

National Museum of Singapore (Year Unknown). A Day in School. Retrieved from https://www.nhb.gov.sg/-/media/nhb/images/nhb2017/what-we-do/education/activity-sheets/nms/ActivitySheet_Teachers-HI-Resource-Unit-2-Colonial-Singapore.pdf

Source 2: A description of the founding of Chinese schools in the 19th century Colonial Singapore.

Chinese schools were reported to have been in existence in Singapore from as early as the 1820s. Established by wealthy Chinese businessmen, clan associations and Christian missionaries, most of these schools adopted a classical Chinese curriculum similar to what was taught in China. Students were also taught letter-writing skills and the use of the abacus. The exception was the missionary schools, where the focus was on teaching the Christian doctrine and gaining student converts.

When China adopted a modern system of education modelled along Japanese lines at the turn of the 20th century, schools based on such a system emerged in Singapore. Between 1900 and 1919, the number of modern Chinese schools in Singapore grew rapidly. Tuan Mong, Tao Nan and Ai Tong schools were all established during this period. In 1919, the first Chinese-medium high school – The Chinese High School (now part of Hwa Chong Institution) – was established.

In these modern schools, Mandarin replaced Chinese dialects as the medium of instruction. They followed the curriculum taught in China and included subjects such as arithmetic, science, history and geography. Most teachers in these schools were also from China. Unsurprisingly, the Chinese schools became hotbeds of patriotism and Chinese nationalism.

In 1919, the politicised Chinese students and teachers participated in anti-Japanese activities. In response, the colonial government sought to increase control over the Chinese schools through the Education Ordinance introduced in 1920. The ordinance was a law that required the registration of all private schools, their managers and teachers. The ordinance also gave the government power to make and enforce regulations relating to the conduct of school staff and students and to declare a school unlawful if it was found to be engaged in revolutionary activities. In 1923, the government began giving grants-in-aid to Chinese schools as an additional means of exerting control over these schools.

Reference:

Ho, S. (2016). Vernacular Education. Singapore Infopedia, National Library Board. Retrieved from https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_2016-10-03_094744.html

Source 3: An extract of the establishment of Chinese home schools during the 19th century Colonial Singapore.

Back in the early days, clan associations and the wealthy, who though often illiterate themselves, began to think of providing education for the young after the basic needs of their clansmen such as food and shelter were met.

They started a form of home school, or shishu (私塾). In 1829 there were at least three, two in Pekin Street and one in Kampong Glam. One to two dozen boys would gather in a residence or shophouse in such private schools to be taught by a tutor engaged either by a philanthropist or a clan association. The Cantonese were believed to be the first to set up such a shishu, followed soon after by other dialect groups.

The students were taught basic Chinese classics such as San Zi Jing (三字经 Trimetrical Classic), Bai Jia Xing (百家姓 Century of Surnames), and Qian Zi Wen (千字文 Millenary Classic for Beginners). It was not until the early 20th century that these shishu began to expand and modernise, in response to events in China such as the May Fourth Movement, a cultural and political campaign started in 1919 by Chinese intellectuals who wanted to modernise society and learn from the West.

Reference:

Leong, W. K. (2016). Chapter 7: The Evolution of the Chinese Language in 50 Years of the Chinese Community in Singapore. World Scientific Publishing, Singapore.

Source 4: An extract about Chinese female education during the 19th century Colonial Singapore.

The London Missionary Society, the Society for Promoting Female Education in the East, the Roman Catholic Mission, and American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions were the major organizations in charge of promoting female education in the mid-19th century. The above mentioned girls’ schools were mainly founded by these institutions. They focused on Christian evangelistic work in the settlement and carried out their ideas through education.

These schools were mostly attended by European girls, followed by Chinese, Malay and Indian girls, and were subsidized by the British authorities. These schools’ goal was to cultivate girls as good wives and mothers. Thus, their courses focused on household management training and paid less attention to educating girls in areas such as social skills.

In fact, only the wealthy and prestigious European and Chinese families would send their daughters to schools in the 19th century. As for the Peranakan Chinese parents, their main purposes for sending their daughters to schools was for them to learn English, which would be a valuable dowry for their marriage in the future. Hence, most of the Chinese girls that graduated from the English-language schools did not know how to speak any Chinese dialects and showed little concern for political and social activities.

Reference:

Yang, W.A. (2014). Female Emancipation in a Colonial Context: the Chinese Community in Singapore 1900-1942. The University of Sheffield.  Retrieved from http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/6382/1/Female%20Emancipation%20in%20a%20Colonial%20Context%20the%20Chinese%20Community%20in.pdf

Source 5: A description of the founding of Nanyang Girls High School in Colonial Singapore during the 19th century.

Nanyang Girls' High School was founded in 1917 by the Singapore branch of the Chinese United League (Tong Menghui; 中国同盟会) in an effort to promote Chinese education among local Chinese women. The school was originally known as the Singapore Nanyang Girls’ School and offered primary education. It was officially renamed Nanyang Girls’ High School in 1931 when it began to offer secondary education. Initially located at Dhoby Ghaut, the school moved three times – first to Handy Road, then to King’s Road and finally to its current location on Linden Drive.

During a visit to Singapore in 1910, Chinese revolutionary leader Sun Yat Sen met with members of the Singapore branch of the Chinese United League. At the meeting, Sun noted that there were no Singapore women participating in the ongoing revolutionary movement in China. He was of the view that education would encourage women to shed their political apathy and become active participants in political matters, and urged the revolutionary group to promote female education.

The Chinese United League then began plans to set up a girls’ school in Singapore. The members involved were primarily businessmen, merchants and intellectuals such as Chuang Hee Tsuan, Zhuang Xiquan, Teo Eng Hock and Tan Chor Lam.

Reference:

Vina Jie-Min Prasad (2015). Nanyang Girls High School. Singapore Infopedia, National Library Board. Retrieved from https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_2015-03-02_112123.html#:~:text=Nanyang%20Girls'%20High%20School%20was,School%20and%20offered%20primary%20education.

© 2023 Bedok South Secondary School. All rights reserved.