 In 1896 when the Federated Malay States were formed, the government decided to found the Government Girls' School in the newly established Capital, Kuala Lumpur. It was known as Government Girls' English School and was situated on Damansara Road in the Masonic Hall. Classes began in August with an enrolment of only a few children and though it was a girls' school, it had very young boys, who it was thought would not be able to withstand the rigours of a boys' school. In November 1896, it moved to its own premises, a simple wooden bungalow built on stilts. It was on an acre of ground at the corner of Kampung Attap and High Street. The building had an attap roof with 3 rooms and it was built on stilts, the floor below was cemented and used as a shelter for the pupils from both the rain and the sun. It later formed the basis of the school hostel. A bungalow for the Headmistress and one assistant was also erected on the premises. The concept of education for girls was revolutionary and the pioneers of education for this country met with various obstacles, both social and cultural. It took a great deal of grit and determination and a complete dedication on the part of these early pioneers to encounter, cope with and conquer the prejudices of the populace. 113 years ago education, if sought at all, was sought for itself without any question of leading on to employment for women. The first few Headmistresses, had to storm, gently but firmly, the homes of girls, coax and persuade the conservative parents into permitting their daughters to step out into school to be taught, not merely the 3 R's but also to be exposed to sports and other extra mural activities. The school curriculum besides the 3 R's were dictation, scripture, hygiene and needle work. The school was begun for children of English speaking homes who wished to improve their proficiency in English. Several of the pupils were from existing private mission-rule schools. The enrolment stood at 50 in 1896 with children of Chinese and Eurasian origins. It included little boys who were considered too young to face the rigours of a boys' school. The first headmistress was a Miss Stratton brought to the country from the Education Department of England. She served the school for 3 years but due to the paucity of European women, many of the staff brought down were lost to the profession when they entered the blissful state of matrimony. Miss Stratton was similarly lost! She married a Mr. Brown from Penang and could not therefore serve the school in Kuala Lumpur. In 1899, despite several attempts to replace her, the government had to admit defeat and the Inspector of Schools appealed to the District Superintendent of the Methodist Mission, Dr. Kensett to take over the running of the school. At this juncture, the school had Ms Hodges as its first assistant teacher until the arrival of Miss Rose Nuebronner. The staff was limited. In December 1899, the Bishop of the Methodist Mission brought over two ladies from America. They were Miss Mary Clayland Meek who became the first missionary principal and Miss Louella Anderson who was to take charge of music. The school was renamed the Methodist Girls' School, Kuala Lumpur. From just before the turn of the century, this girls' school became the responsibility of the Methodist Mission and till independence in August 1957 was led by the shining light of the Christian faith, "Thy Word is a Lamp unto my feet". However, the Mission always had a genuine respect for local tradition and religious beliefs and never forced anyone into altering their faith. They merely inculcated good human values such as loving each other in order to live in harmony. Boarding School Ms Edith Hemmingway, the Headmistress of the school in 1905, introduced a further aspect of school life into MGS with the formation of the boarding school. It was an unpretentious attempt to house the girls on the school premises and they were put in a room below the regular day school. They remained there until Holt Hall was ready to house them in March 1911. The hall was named after the secretary of the New England Branch of the Women's Foreign Mission Society, Miss Mary Holt. This was done in appreciation of the fact that she had been instrumental in getting part of the money donated by Mr. Fairchild of Massachusetts, America. He had donated $15,000 in gold to Mission work in Malaya. Due to the efforts of Miss Mary Holt, $5,000 was allocated for a Boarding School in Kuala Lumpur. The hostel was housed in Holt Hall until 1935 when they moved to a large house on Petaling Hill loaned by Mrs. Loke Yew. In March 1936, the hostel was moved yet again to a country side estate which was achieved through the generosity of Mrs Loke Yew. The hostel was called Country-Side Estate and it was large enough to accommodate 90 girls. It was a building of scenic interest and it had an apartment on one floor for the Superintendent and her assistant. The school hours were from 9.00 a.m. to 12 noon and from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.. In 1914, Miss Ada Wagey was sent out to take charge of the Boarding School. Ms Wagey faced a number of problems as a result of her neighbours' chickens. These birds repeatedly were found on the Boarding School premises and one Friday night, Miss Wagey saw two of them on the dining table gobbling the rice meant for the girls! For Miss Wagey, this was the last straw that literally broke the camel's back! She could not control her temper and reacted by grabbing the fowls, wringing their necks and throwing them over the fence! Coincidentally, or otherwise, that night, November 14, 1914, at 3 a.m. there were cries of "Fire! Fire!". One of the girls had awakened to find the school on fire. There was no way of contacting the Fire Department as it was discovered that the telephone lines were cut. Miss Dade, one of the teachers rushed over to the Railway Station to telephone the Fire Department. The firemen arrived and fought the fire. However, very little of the furniture of the school was salvaged. Only the screens and the seats of the lower floor remained intact. The New Building (1916)  On the night of the incident with the extinction of the fire, all the friends of the mission e.g. Rev and Mrs. Zimmerman, Rev. W.G. Parker, Misses Wheeler, Wagey and Marsh together with several Asian friends knelt in prayer and asked for God's guidance. They began a building canvass but the towkays would not help until they knew the extent of the Government involvement. The British Resident Mr. Broadrick, when approached, said he could do nothing as the World War had started and all efforts had to be channeled towards funding the war. The Headmistress, having visited him 3 times, had a staff meeting and it was suggested that a "May Day Fete" be held with the Resident to preside at the function and his wife, to give away the prizes. On that day, the distinguished guests were seated facing the many black pillars of the burnt down school building. The day of the 'Fete" was fair, the program was successful, the Resident presided and his 'good lady' distributed the prizes.  Within 2 weeks, there was a cheque of $5000 from the Resident's Office as a donation towards the Building Fund. Insurance brought in another $5000. Towkay Loke Yew donated $4000. Teachers and students solicited funds. The lion's share of the money came in small sums through small donations of $5, $10 and $20. They had to collect $24, 750. The building was opened on 1st May 1916 with a mere debit of $3000. This was the first Women's Foreign Mission Society (W.F.M.S) building to be raised fully on the mission field and the ladies of the W.F.M.S. in America donated the furniture for the New Building. The cost of the 30 long seats for the Assembly Room and the single seats in the classroom was balanced by the freight charges from U.S.A as the war in Europe had made freight rates across the Pacific, exorbitant.  Towkay Loke Yew  On May 1, 1916, the British Resident, formally declared open the new school building with the Selangor State Band in attendance. Miss Marsh, had composed a new school song which was set to music by Miss Wheeler. It was sung by a chorus of 50 girls. The enrollment of the school stood at 250.  Miss Mabel Marsh with her ex-students The School Under Miss Mabel Marsh 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'.  In 1916, another obstacle was overcome with MGS forming a Girl Guides Company under Miss Getrude Ballard and much to the credit of the school in 1917, this was made the First Company of Girl Guides in Kuala Lumpur.   Under Miss Marsh, there were a number of firsts for MGS. The first Malay Girl (Cik Tom bt D.A. Razak) who sat for the Junior Cambridge Examination became the first Malay girl to enter the teaching profession. The school also produced the first Bengali girl who sat for the Senior Cambridge Examination. It was first girls' school to maintain a fully qualified staff. MGS was not left behind in co-curricular activities such as debates. In fact, it was the first girls' school to challenge a boys' school team in an inter-school debate - and win!  The netball team - that became champions!  Rehabilitation of MGS During the occupation, MGS and MBS functioned as two separate schools on the grounds of our school and later amalgamated into one school till the surrender. In September 1945, both schools reopened in early October, the MGS as the morning school, and the MBS an afternoon school.Educational rehabilitation is taxing and calls for great resourcefulness on the part of the teachers and other organizers. Fortunately for MGS, it was work that was cheerfully and nobly done by all concerned. The building itself was not destroyed during the war, neither by bombs nor, to any notable extent, by the blowing up of the bridges on either side of the building before the retreat. We suffered most at the hands of looters and the Japanese Military. The problem of the school then was space. There was an insufficient number of classrooms, a lack of playground for games and a great deal of noise from the area around which made the process of teaching and learning almost impossible. In her efforts to rehouse the school, Miss Marsh met with a number of problems and obstacles. The Methodist Mission had to surrender the old Methodist Girls' School building and grounds to the Government in exchange for the Hospital compound. Growth of the School  A further extension of two classrooms, an Art Room, a Prefects' Room and a sick-bay was added to the building. In 1970, under the Headship of Mrs. F.R. Bhupalan, MGS was the first girls' school to begin the Form Six classes. As there was a lack of space to accomodate the form six students, the hostel was purchased and altered into classrooms.  The hostel       The gazebo to shelter the students during rain or shine before and after school hours  The new canteen |
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History of MGSKL |
