No history of the school would be complete without due appreciation of the tireless service rendered by this lady, often spoken of as the founder of the school.
Miss Mabel Marsh arrived after 44 days of travel, in Kuala Lumpur on 22 December 1910. It was her first Christmas in the Tropics but despite all that was alien, she was warmed by similar trends such as visits from choir singers and gifts of delicacies. There was even a large white goose and plum pudding.
She found the mode of travel of the day was the humble rickshaw. There was no ice-box, no running hot water, no modern sanitary arrangements, no window panes. There were however filies and mosquitoes galore, crows in great numbers, showers daily, a great deal of noise, unfamiliar languages and some unfamiliar smells.
Two of the major obstacles she faced were the lack of trained teachers and the determination of parents to get daughters married. Both problems perhaps could have been attributed to matrimony!
There were far more bachelors than eligible women, which meant that young teachers were snapped up the bachelors and lost to the school. thus, the school kept loosing its staff and its pupils to matrimony as parents' ultimate ambition seemed to be to give daughters away in marriage - arranged marriages were the order of the day!
In 1912 saw the introduction of the first Sports day in MGS. Previous to this, some girls had been allowed to participate in the Sports Meet organized by the Victoria Institution. In its day it was a tremendous achievement as even physical education within the school compound during lesson time had been frowned upon by parents. This initial Sports Day was so successful that it has been an annual event ever since, each year seeing the birth of new events. The teachers and the veterans were also being asked to participate. A great move indeed from the first sports where there were merely relay games such as egg and spoons, potatoes, three legged races and a 'boat race'
No comments:
Post a Comment