Thursday 18 April, 2024
8:30 am – 11.00am
Cost:
S$25.00 (Member)
S$35.00 (Guest)
Join us on a walking trail around Mt Sophia and a neighbourhood known in colonial times as “European town”. Walking in the footsteps of the first missionaries, we learn who they were and their lasting legacy, both in brick and mortar as well as in the lives of families who have kept the faith through the generations.
The first to arrive in October 1819, the year Raffles arrived, were missionaries from the London Mission Society (LMS). Other missionaries soon followed. They started schools and churches to address the social, educational and spiritual needs of the newly established colony, in 19th century Singapore. The institutions established by them stood the test of time. They are still around, albeit with changed locations and names.
We will start the walk with a more recent missionary, well known even outside the Christian community, Brother McNally, who founded the LaSalle College of the Arts in 1984. Further back in time, we meet Reverend Benjamin Peach Keasberry, founder of the first Presbyterian Church in Singapore. His boarding school for Malay boys included members of the Johor royal family as students.
Less well-known is pioneer teacher, Maria Dyer, who followed her missionary husband, Samuel Dyer, to Malacca, Penang and also Singapore. Her interest in educating young girls, especially orphans, led to the founding of the first girls’ school in Singapore in 1842 – today it continues as St Margaret’s School.
These are, but a few of what you will learn. There are more.