RGS girls pai kiah meh?

“When Straits Times columnist Chua Mui Hoong wrote that she would not send her (hypothetical) daughter to her alma mater, Raffles Girls' School (RGS), furious old girls wrote in to rebut what she said. Schools play a big role in shaping you, she wrote, and while RGS turns out confident, competent and competitive women, it does not encourage femininity and probably marriageability”

As I read this, I thought about all my married RGS friends, now with anak keliling pinggang and I had to burst out laughing. Is it true? Are RGS girls not feminine, stroppy, scary to men ergo not marriagable?

Apparently, many ex-RGS girls were baying for her blood and the article spawned discussions on blogs galore about school stereotypes. I managed to find the old article, read a couple of the discussions on the internet and my first reaction was disbelief that such stereotypes still exist. My second reaction was “Silly girl! You don’t have to take Technical what! They have Domestic Science then too, bodoh!” Personally, I would rather schlepp all the way to Swiss Cottage and make a wonky toothbrush holder rather than sit in absolute silence trying to sew a skirt or make rock buns.

I do have to say that I was not ultra feminine in school. It was rough and tumble all the way – my posse climbed rambutan trees, climbed gates after school hours, had short hair and dressed up as male characters in Taridra. In an all-girls school, it is inevitable that some of us would have to wear trousers and smudged our jawline with eyeliner to act out the male roles. And the short hair is practical – especially if you have to rush out of the door at 6.30 am in the morning to catch the bus or as in the case of the NPCC and NCC girls, had to march for hours under the sweltering sun.

I can’t speak for the rest but I don’t like acting the damsel in distress. One thing I learnt from being in RGS is that you can be as good as you want to be. I love the fact that in RGS, no one drilled into you that there are certain things that you cannot do because you are a girl.

Although now our tomboy ways are long gone, I would like to think that we came away with the strength of spirit and self belief that were instilled in those days. Yes, of course RGS girls valued achievement. We are competitive (just see my posting about Dikir Barat) and we are independent. And what is wrong with that? Personally I will absolutely burst with pride if Alia, one day, were to wear that blue pinafore.