Letter from Miss Helen W Pratt to the School:

As an “old girl” from Tanglin 1938-1941, I was very interested to read about the present day school on the internet.

It might amuse you to see a copy of a photograph taken a year or two after the war showing a building site where once stood Tanglin School, (CameronHighlands) and further away across the valley, the Junior School which Miss Griff returned to after the war.

The school as you probably know was built on a shoulder of a hill, with the riding school and gym in the valley below, the ropes of the gym hung very close to the stream so when playing ship wrecked we could (if no one was looking) swing over the water, the gym having no walls.

Miss Griff definitely did not allow us time to get up to mischief; we even went, after being given a handful of raisins, for a walk to the letterbox at the Smoke House Inn before breakfast.

I enclose copies of a few photographs of children at Tanglin. I also have a shot of the playing field on a cine film which my father managed to keep while he was a Civilian Internee in Changi and Sime Road Camp.

My mother and I were fortunate to leave Singapore on 14th January 1942, (my brother was at school in England). I wonder how many of my fellow pupils survived the exodus. I have met or heard of 17 here and in Australia and 5 teachers.

I enclose my old school hat badge, as our colours were gold/orange and brown the other school in the highlands call us Bad Eggs!

Yours Sincerely

Doreen Johnstone

“I think we are a third generation Tanglin family....

My second son Rupert has registered his two children at Tanglin and he told me to look at your webpage to see how things have changed since 'our day'.  I was born in Penang and was evacuated from S'pore as a 5-month old. ...but that's another story.  When we returned in 1947, my sister and I went up to Miss Griffiths-Jones school in the Cameron Highlands.

My two eldest Ralph and Rupert attended Weyhill in 1975 – 81, during that time I taught at Raeburn and Tanglin 1979-85.

So you see our family, while unconnected in the global scheme of things, have actually circulated around the Tanglin schools!  It was a warm realization”.

Sincerely, Doreen Johnstone

Thanks to Ann Taylor, who started at Tanglin in 1953 for sending her memories of the School

”I am delighted to have joined ‘Friends of Tanglin’. I remember my schooldays there with great affection and nostalgia. When I was there, the School comprised a series of ‘Nissen huts’, and it was situated in Holland Road. I vividly remember my first day, in 1953, going into my classroom and meeting my new teacher, Mrs Pavitt, carrying my little rattan ‘suitcase’ containing my ‘elevenses’ and a small hand towel. I sat next to another new girl called Deirdre Swan, who was to become one of my best friends.

Our headmistress was Mrs Meme Maclean. She was such a nice person and we enjoyed her classes. She was very keen that we should have good handwriting and we followed the ‘Marian Richardson’ style. I was very proud the day Mrs Maclean presented me with a handwriting prize at Assembly! It was a leather-bound autograph book. Other teachers at the school were Mrs Robinson, Mrs Brightwell, Mrs Lloyd, Mrs Mackenzie (my favourite!) and Mrs Magnay. Mrs Mackenzie was a New Zealander and used to tell us stories about her life there.

I remember our school hymn was ‘Oh God our help in ages past’, which we always sang in Assembly when Miss Griffith-Jones visited the school. I recall feeling a little in awe of her!

There was some sort of creeper growing on the fence outside our classroom, where we collected stripy caterpillars in order to hatch butterflies. Behind the classrooms was a large lawned area surrounded by banana trees and there was a tarmac playground as well, at the front, with gates opening into it from the road. There was a lovely Malay caretaker called Sam, who lived on the premises with his family. At going home time we lined up and he stood by the gates, calling out our names when our parents arrived to collect us. He knew every car and to whom it belonged. When it rained he would bring out his huge umbrella and escort us to our cars!

The girls’ uniform was very simple: a sleeveless dress which was brown cotton with yellow piping around the neck and armholes and a simple belt to match; matching brown knickers, ankle socks and brown sandals. The boys wore khaki shorts, pale yellow Aertex shirts and the same socks and shoes.

My brother John (Dunlop) and Deirdre’s sister Valerie attended the then new kindergarten in Orange Grove Road. After about a year at Orange Grove Road, John and Val then joined Deirdre and me at Holland Road.

Two school outings stand out in my mind: the first was a visit to the cinema to watch the film of the Queen’s Coronation and the second was a trip to the NationalMuseum. I thought the building was a most imposing edifice, which looked like a huge iced wedding cake!

Tanglin was excellent academically and when we returned to England and boarding school, we found we were ‘ahead’ in some subjects. I remember taking my entrance exams for my prep school, sitting at a rattan desk on the verandah outside Mrs Maclean’s office!
In the meantime, I wish you all the best with the exhibition and wish I could visit it! May Tanglin continue to flourish as it has done for the last 80 years”.