Our walking tour continued on to CHIJMES.... well it's pronounced as chimes...
It was a bit baffling, for me, as to what CHIJMES was...
We were told that CHIJMES stood for the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus, which was founded by four French nuns who arrived in Singapore from Penang, Malaysia in 1854 - it is said that these nuns travelled overland from France to Asia in caravans.
The nuns led by Reverend Mother Mathilde Raclot, set up a school and an orphanage for little girls who were abandoned by their families - in those days, ethnic Chinese had a marked preference for the male child. The nuns raised the kids, educated them, nurtured them and cared for them till they were ready to step into adulthood.
The plaque on the CHIJMES gate at Victoria Street says:
"At this small gate of the former Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus (CHIJ), many babies were abandoned to be picked up by the Sisters of the convent. This was the origin of the Home for Abandoned Babies. For over 100 years, the orphanage was born to children from poor or broken families as well as unwanted babies. The orphanage took in many Chinese baby girls born in the Year of the Tiger, “Tiger girls”, because of the strong superstition belief then, that they would bring bad luck to the family. In 1968, the Mother Superior noted that the practice was stopped as there was a marked change in this superstitious belief. The Home for Abandoned Babies ceased functioning in 1983 when CHIJ was relocated. The CHIJ was founded in 1854 in Singapore by the French Catholic Missionary, Father Jean Marie Beurel."
It was indeed saddening to read how people would give up their own kids.... But that's the way things were then, and they do seem to have changed for the better now. Certainly, without its women, Singapore wouldn't have have become what it is today. In fact, an icon of Singapore abroad is female, the famed Singapore Girl, of Singapore Airlines...
Getting over the ills in society is key for development and progress, that is the learning from the Singapore model... In fact it was heartening to read a story in the Straits Times on what Prime Minister Modi had to say on the girl child. We seem to be riding on an inflection point in India, and hope we become a better society after this...
Coming back to CHIJMES, the nuns, acquired a bungalow, Caldwell House, for 4000 francs. The bungalow was built in 1841, by Singapore's chief architect G.D. Coleman for magistrate clerk H.C. Caldwell. Caldwell House became the residence of the nuns. CHIJ came up in the adjacent plots of land bought by Father Jean-Marie Beurel. The first chapel in the complex was consecrated in 1855. The Gothic Chapel and the Gothic-arched linkways, built in the 1890s, are designed and built by French priest and architect Father Charles Benedict Nain.
As the number of inmates in CHIJ grew, more properties were acquired and dormitories and classrooms were added. In 1931, Hotel Van Wijk along Stamford Road (which comprised of four bungalows) was acquired and incorporated into the convent compound. In 1933, St Nicholas Girls' School was established in these bungalows.
As the number of students here grew, the CHIJ complex could not meet the demand. CHIJ and the school had to shift to bigger premises at Toa Payoh in 1983.
Between 1985 and 1987, some buildings of the complex were acquired by the government to set up the MRT headquarters. However, on public demand, the heritage buildings were gazetted and conserved. The complex was christened CHIJMES in 1990 - "a subtle combination of the convent's acronym and the pleasing peal of its tower bells."
After an extensive restoration in the 1990s, a local property company redeveloped CHIJMES for commercial purposes as a dining, shopping and entertainment centre with ethnic restaurants, shops and a function hall. Today, CHIJMES is also used for musicals, recitals, theatrical performances and weddings.
The chapel at CHIJMES...
Lovely stained windows...
Interesting shadows at CHIJMES...
The wall of CHIJMES on Victoria Street...
Hem Lata then led us back into Raffles Hotel, the last stop of our walking tour...
Here she described the history of the hotel, something which we were already familiar with, as we had visited the hotel for high tea two days back...
Hem Lata had interesting trivia about the place - she described how in 1903, a tiger had sauntered into the Billiards Room and had to be shot. We saw the courtyard where Michael Jackson had breakfast with an orangutan brought in from the Singapore Zoo...
And how Elizabeth Taylor who had a near-"wardrobe malfunction" on stage, in the hotel chided the local seamstress. The seamstress retorted "Elizabeth has gained weight" in front of the audience that made the actress go red in the face...
As the tour ended, we rushed to grab a bite and head to the Singapore Zoo...
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