My post has been long overdue, apologies! But I have good reasons – I needed to interview someone to get my facts right before putting on the post. So here goes….
A couple of months ago as I was chatting with my sister on the phone, we came across the topic of how the Girls’ Club got formed in SHS. Of course, by the time we girls (meaning the girls in our year) went into SHS for our Form 6, the Girls’ Club was an entity that had been fully accepted by the boys. Not only accepted, but welcomed. Am I right, guys?
To find out how the Girls’ Club came into formation in a boys’ school, I “interviewed” the founder of the club, Ms Ho Mei Ling, and also my own sister, Audrey, who was one of the committee members.
The Girls’ Club was formed in 1982. According to Audrey, that was the very first year that SHS accepted girls into their science stream in Form 6. Not only was it the first year that the science-streamed Form 6 boys had to adjust to having girls in their class, but they also had to adjust to the number of girls that came in – about 30 of them, almost a class on its own. Prior to that, SES girls who were science-streamed went to Methodist for their Form 6.
According to Mei Ling, one of the reasons that the girls decided to form the club was because they felt a need to “fight for the girls’ rights” in a much male dominated school. For some reasons, the boys treated the girls with “an aloof attitude” – particularly the girls in science stream. The boys’ egos were probably slightly bruised by the fact that their female counterparts were as smart as them, at least that was what my sister claimed. Remember, in those days SHS students had brilliant academic results, what more to say of those who are science students.
I asked Audrey what reasons the girls in her year had to feel that they were being treated differently, and she had quite a few to tell! Firstly, they were called to the school hall by dearest Abai to start off the school term with a bang – he warned the sixth formers that they had better not have any ideas of hanky-panky with the boys, and vice-versa. When you’ve been in an all-girls school for 11 years, it’s not a totally pleasant experience on your first day in an all-boys school.
Then, there was the lab incident. My sister happened to be one of the last person to leave the lab one day, and as the boys from another class waited to use the lab, they threw taunts at her something along this line “hai ya, leave lah, why are you occupying our lab”. This of course mainly came from the junior boys who were more mischievous.
The girls in that year created a new abbreviation for the letters M-C-P : male chauvinist pigs. Hey, don’t get offended ya, that was 1982. I would have used that term too if I had experienced what they did – a maths teacher said this to the girls “Why do you need to learn maths, you don’t need it for cooking”. Hah hah hah! No wonder the girls were chastised!
So much for that. Mine was a wonderful 2 years in SHS, though! Pat, you’re tagged.
A couple of months ago as I was chatting with my sister on the phone, we came across the topic of how the Girls’ Club got formed in SHS. Of course, by the time we girls (meaning the girls in our year) went into SHS for our Form 6, the Girls’ Club was an entity that had been fully accepted by the boys. Not only accepted, but welcomed. Am I right, guys?
To find out how the Girls’ Club came into formation in a boys’ school, I “interviewed” the founder of the club, Ms Ho Mei Ling, and also my own sister, Audrey, who was one of the committee members.
The Girls’ Club was formed in 1982. According to Audrey, that was the very first year that SHS accepted girls into their science stream in Form 6. Not only was it the first year that the science-streamed Form 6 boys had to adjust to having girls in their class, but they also had to adjust to the number of girls that came in – about 30 of them, almost a class on its own. Prior to that, SES girls who were science-streamed went to Methodist for their Form 6.
According to Mei Ling, one of the reasons that the girls decided to form the club was because they felt a need to “fight for the girls’ rights” in a much male dominated school. For some reasons, the boys treated the girls with “an aloof attitude” – particularly the girls in science stream. The boys’ egos were probably slightly bruised by the fact that their female counterparts were as smart as them, at least that was what my sister claimed. Remember, in those days SHS students had brilliant academic results, what more to say of those who are science students.
I asked Audrey what reasons the girls in her year had to feel that they were being treated differently, and she had quite a few to tell! Firstly, they were called to the school hall by dearest Abai to start off the school term with a bang – he warned the sixth formers that they had better not have any ideas of hanky-panky with the boys, and vice-versa. When you’ve been in an all-girls school for 11 years, it’s not a totally pleasant experience on your first day in an all-boys school.
Then, there was the lab incident. My sister happened to be one of the last person to leave the lab one day, and as the boys from another class waited to use the lab, they threw taunts at her something along this line “hai ya, leave lah, why are you occupying our lab”. This of course mainly came from the junior boys who were more mischievous.
The girls in that year created a new abbreviation for the letters M-C-P : male chauvinist pigs. Hey, don’t get offended ya, that was 1982. I would have used that term too if I had experienced what they did – a maths teacher said this to the girls “Why do you need to learn maths, you don’t need it for cooking”. Hah hah hah! No wonder the girls were chastised!
So much for that. Mine was a wonderful 2 years in SHS, though! Pat, you’re tagged.
7 comments:
Hi there! A minor correction here though.... it was 1983 not 1982.
Reading Ivy's blog brought back memories of "those were the days" & with it a sense of nostalgia. I must say I was & still am impressed by Mei Ling's guts in pioneering such a "controversial" club back then.
Kudos to the "Feisty Grand Dame" of SHS' Girls' Club!!
I was wondering if it's the other way round which we 'boys' went into SES for our Form 6, I think it must be very interesting, right? :-) Then there will be the so-called Boy's Club or Male Club.
Is there a gay's club in SHS ? I can't remember who was the founder ? Anyone can help ?
How about Hamsap Club?
That's my sister putting a comment up there! Her very first posting on a blog! Forgive her error, she meant our blog and not "Ivy's blog". Maklumlah, those 6 years our senior mana tahu menge-blog, the tatabahasa correct kah?
Hansac, I'll definitely nominate you as the president for the Hamsap Club. After all, it rings with your name!
Ivy, in fact I was wondering did Ivy got a blog so far?? Hmm... maybe you secretly doing it at the moment....:-)
It's not menge-blog, I think this one should be more appropriate, "mem-blog-i", what do you think?
Our Alumini looks forward to this and we may invite you to attend it next time we have a Reunion dinner in Kuching! :)
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