MALAYSIA The oldest missionary convent in Southeast Asia becomes an international school

Il Convent Light Street, founded by the French Sisters of the Holy Child Jesus, has served the region for more than 170 years, dedicated to orphans and young people. Now it becomes an international school, but it has an exemplary history of missionary zeal behind it. Muslim former student: “Transmits respect for religions.”

Kuala Lumpur () – The Convent Light Street in George Town, Penang, the oldest missionary convent in Southeast Asia founded in 1852, will continue to function as a center of international learning after having been a missionary school for girls for 172 years. Founded by the French Catholic nuns of the Mission of the Holy Child Jesus, at the invitation of Bishop Jean-Baptiste MEP, in the early days it was an orphanage. In March last year it closed its doors following an exemplary history of dedication to girls’ education in the northern region of ancient Malesia.

In that building, which includes an iconic chapel, there was also a boarding school for students from all social classes, including princesses of the royal house of Thailand, daughters of Malaysian sultans and aristocrats, and girls from wealthy Chinese families. In 1852 three pioneer nuns of the Holy Child Jesus, known as the Ladies of Saint Maurus, settled in a wooden cabin near the Church of the Assumption, on Church Street in George Town. This was the humble beginning of Convent Light Street. The nuns taught during the day and sewed clothes at night to raise funds to buy basic necessities. They also had to adapt to the harsh tropical climate and learn local languages. With the increase in the number of children entrusted to its care and the resulting overcrowding in the house, the need to find a new headquarters arose. Sister St Mathilde began searching for a suitable location, until she found the Government House building on Light Street, the former residence of Captain Francis Light, an English explorer, abandoned after the founding of Penang in 1786. In 1859 the nuns bought the Anglo-Indian style building and the surrounding seven-acre complex for 50,000 French francs. That is why the convent took the name “Convent Light Street”.

The house was transformed into a novitiate, while the surrounding wooden buildings were used as bedrooms, kitchens and classrooms. The nuns continued to welcome orphans, both men and women, regardless of their ethnicity and origin. The maximum age to receive them was 11 years old, when they had to enter the nearby Saint Xavier Institute, founded in 1786 by the French Catholic priest Arnaud-Antoine Garnault. Eighty years after its foundation, the convent expanded again. The current Old Hall, cloisters and classrooms were built in 1882. The building is also part of the “Category 1” George Town World Heritage Area. In 1934 new extensions were built to complete the current Convent Light Street building.

During World War II, the Imperial Japanese Navy took control of the school and used the Government House as a base and interrogation center: 22 United States Navy sailors from the submarine USS Grenadier were interrogated here. After the war, the convent continued its long history of dedicated commitment to girls’ education. The nuns believed that if Malaysia became independent from the English, they could play a unifying role in the multiethnic Malaysian society. However, since Malaysia’s independence in 1957 the school has faced opposition from the federal government of Malaysia. In 1961 it stopped taking in orphans and finally in 1971 all the country’s mission schools were absorbed into the Malaysian national standardized education system, and the Light Street Convent was forced to remove the crucifix from its official coat of arms. Despite this, the convent maintained a solid reputation until it closed last year.

In dialogue with , Juli Murshidah Ahmad Munassor, a former Muslim student of the school and current professional in the field of communication, recalled her formative years at Convent Light Street. “My classmates were Malaysian, Chinese, Indian, Eurasian and Sikh. “I have always appreciated the climate of muhibbah (the spirit of goodwill, ed.) among our multiethnic friends and classmates,” she said. “I fondly remember my director, an Irish nun, Sister Francis de Sales. The young Muslim girls were present during the Christian prayers, but we recited ours according to the Islamic religion.” Juli affirms that this experience has transmitted to them respect for other religions, a value that the educational proposal can hardly offer now. “I doubt that the children today can have this kind of experience in Malaysia, where everything is politicized,” he added.

Another former student, Joan Lim-Choong, told her deep gratitude for having been educated on Convent Light Street in the late 1970s and early 1980s. She said that one of her most significant teachings was about the importance of respect and kindness that she received from a teacher. Lim explained that the Catholic nuns were stern, especially regarding punctuality, order, cleanliness, mutual respect and courteous behavior. “However, we could play and have fun as young people. We knew they cared about us from the time they spent advising and guiding us, even outside of class,” she continued. “In short, Catholic nuns have transmitted to us the joy of learning, sharing and caring for each other, in addition to becoming responsible citizens.”