Originally located on a self-contained city block bound by Victoria Street, Bras Basah Road, North Bridge Road and Stamford Road, the site formerly included the English-language primary and secondary schools, a Chinese-medium school called St Nicholas Girls’ School, an orphanage, the nun’s quarters, and the chapel.The site was redeveloped and partially demolished to build the Mass Rapid Transit Corporation headquarters. The remaining complex includes Caldwell House, the chapel now known as CHIJMES Hall, and the orphanage building, and now houses a number of retail and food and beverage outlets. The complex was gazetted as a national monument on 26 October 1990.
One of the task in our worksheet was the filling in about the "Gate of Hope”. chijmes became an orphanage for children who were unwanted or from poor or broken homes. Single mothers or women who could not afford to keep their babies often left them at the orphanage’s side gate, which came to be known as the “Baby Gate” and the “Gate of Hope”. Such abandoned children were often female, Chinese, and suffering from poor health. Many died after being abandoned, with some already dead upon arrival. Those that survived learnt vocational and domestic skills and received a free education at the school.
Another activity was to recognise the "star of David" is a generally recognised symbol of Jewish identity and Judaism. Its shape is that of a hexagram, the compound of two equilateral triangles also, we are suppose to sing a Christmas carol outside the main gate of chijmes. You can view it oninstagram at #kcpheritage13
In this I learnt more about the good works of the convent and the people who did kind deeds by offering a shelter to the orphans. though it may be a sad story for these orphans but nonetheless, they are helping them which is rarely seen nowadays. and I have learnt the history of chijmes which I did not know the existence of this place until this race and with loads of help from the passer bys. now I will take more notice of this place and maybe dine there more often. by doing things like Christmas carols as a team also lifted up our spirits and I felt we were certainly a great team!
by huimin
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