Methodist Girls’ School celebrates 120^th Founder’s Day

Reach for the stars, Minister

tells MGS girls

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan having a lighter moment at the MGS Heritage Room. With him are, from left, Pastor Fred Tan,
Chaplain of the school; Miss Kon Mei Leen, MGS Principal; and Mrs Fang Ai Lian, Chairman of the MGS Board of Management. – MGS picture by JANE MARSHA of Secondary 3G.   

METHODIST GIRLS’ SCHOOL (MGS) celebrated 120 years of its founding on July 25, 2007

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports and Second Minister for Information, Communication and the Arts, was the Guest-of-Honour at the Founder’s Day Service and Graduation Ceremony.

In his address to the school, Dr Balakrishnan said that few schools in Singapore are as old as MGS or have as illustrious a history. He urged the girls to take advantage of the many opportunities before them and reach for the stars. When Miss Sophia Blackmore founded the school in 1887, the girls in Singapore were not encouraged to attend school; today where there is equality of opportunities for all, there is no limit to realising one’s potential in school.

Dr Balakrishnan advised the school never to lose its identity, its heritage and its values. He encouraged the girls, especially the graduating class, to keep the ties that bind; the friends that they make in school are their friends for life.

He thanked the many generations of principals, teachers and stakeholders of MGS for ensuring that the school is always an “august, noble institution” and continuing to nurture young ladies who will make a difference in Singapore and beyond.

MGS presented him with a commemorative book, Our Heritage Our Treasure, which showcases the many artefacts that tell of the school’s heritage and the creative writing of the girls who have been inspired by some of the artefacts.

Our Heritage Our Treasure is the first publication of its kind in MGS and could well be the herald of more exciting projects.

NOTE: Our Heritage Our Treasure is available at $15 each from Methodist Girls’ School, Blackmore Drive.

A copy of the commemorative book, Our Heritage Our Treasure,
held up against the school clock tower in the background. – MGS picture by Ong Kim Fong, an MGS teacher.