I got the link to this article in an email, there are actually more articles about the issue on the sunday times issue on how they defined IJ girls there, so you can go read more about it; the link is at the bottom of this paragraph. I was a bit upset about the definition delivered to the public. I guess I would not deny that there is some truth in it, that a majority do hem our skirts really short and wear out belts low, however I did feel offended by the comment IJ girls as being 'allegedly easy when it comes to the opposite sex' as well as the caricature , after all I was educated for 10 years CHIJ Toa Payoh. Even though the article was 'toungue-in-cheek' ,to me , that comment was just baseless and insulting to a school which has probably educated more than thousands of girls in its 152 years of stay in Singapore. It basically undermined the rich legacy of the convent and the strong values it has taught many girls. The education and spiritual enrichment that I received during my years there is one probably no other school would be able to equal and I am proud of how it has shaped me into the person I am today.
http://www.chijalumni.org/news.htm
Lifestyle article cast aspersions on IJ Girls
Tuesday September 19, 2006
I AM the chairperson of the Infant Jesus Board of Management of 11 CHIJ Schools in Singapore and an old girl of one of these CHIJ Schools.
I refer to the article published on pages L4 - L6 of Lifestyle of The Sunday Times ('Alternative Singapore: The Encyclopedia'; Sept 17) where the authors indicated their desire to present 'overseas visitors' with an 'Insiders' Guide to help them get the most out of their stay'. They have therefore 'come up with (their) own counter-culture compendium of nuggets' which will 'initiate you to the local hybrid lingo'. I note that the article was written 'tongue-in-cheek'.
I am concerned and dismayed that the authors have elected to include in their 'compendium of nuggets' their definition of 'IJ Girls', together with other commonly used words within the local Singapore community.
My concern lies in two areas:
Was there a need to tarnish the image of thousands of students, past, present and future, including girls as young as six-plus years old in Primary One, with an image that they are 'allegedly easy when it comes to the opposite sex'?
Was there any need to associate your improper definition with an inappropriate caricature and a picture of IJ students in uniform, taken out of context?
There are currently about 16,000 pupils in our CHIJ Schools aged six to 16 years of age. The first CHIJ School was founded 152 years ago, which means that thousands of young women would have been educated in an IJ School. The wholly inappropriate description has swept through a large swathe of innocent pupils and ex-pupils.
The recent coverage of Mrs Elizabeth Choy was very tasteful. Your readers may wish to know that Mrs Choy was an 'IJ Girl', having schooled at a CHIJ school from 1929-1933.
Other IJ Girls include Singapore's Ambassador to the United States, Prof Chan Heng Chee; Members of Parliament Mrs Cynthia Phua, Ms Ellen Lee, Dr Fatimah Lateef, Ms Sylvia Lim, Ms Jessica Tan; Executive Director (Unifem) Ms Noeleen Heyzer, IJ Sister Cecilia Chew, IJ Sister Daniel Ee, IJ Sister Christina Joy and IJ Sister Maria Lau, just to name a few. I wonder if these women would appreciate being described as 'allegedly easy on the opposite sex'?
The authorship and publication of such an article cannot, by any measure, be accepted as a 'tongue-in-cheek' article. It was an ill-conceived idea and done in bad taste. It has caused much distress, pain and embarrassment to women, of all ages, that hail from our CHIJ Schools. We do not condone your publication and take strong objection to the aspersions cast upon IJ Girls.
Donne Marie Aeria
Chairperson
Infant Jesus Board of Management
CHIJ Schools