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EDUCATION
131
April15
The history of Tanglin Trust School (TTS),
Singapore’s second oldest international school,
is also a tale of a growing nation; as the
Republic of Singapore marks 50 years, TTS
celebrates 90 years. It’s a story
that began in 1925, with one
bold Englishwoman and just
five pupils.
Anne Laugharne Phillips Griffith-Jones – or Miss
Griff as she was affectionately known – arrived in
Singapore in 1923, ostensibly on a three-month
holiday with her brother. During World War I, she
had been a welfare officer at a munitions factory in
Wales, for which she was awarded an MBE.
Despite having no formal qualifications she
turned her hand to teaching, and in 1925, founded
Tanglin School with just five pupils in two huts in
the grounds of The Tanglin Club. Children were
generally sent away to boarding school in England
at an early age, and Miss Griff saw an opportunity
to provide a British-style education in Singapore
so that parents could postpone the separation for
a few years. The school flourished and was soon
spilling out from the huts.
Miss Griff opened a
boarding offshoot in
1934 in Malaysia’s
CameronHighlands.
It was thought that
the cooler climate
was healthier for
growing children. European children could now
remain at Tanglin School until the age of eight,
and then attend the Cameron Highlands Boarding
School until they were 12 or 13, before heading
to the UK.
The JapaneseOccupation of Malaya andSingapore
saw the Cameron Highlands School close from
1941 until 1946. Some families made their escape,
while other civilians, including Miss Griff, were
interned by the Japanese. Ever enterprising, during
her internment at Changi Prison and Sime Road
Camp she set about establishing a school.
Compiled by Katie Roberts