In sunday's THE SUNDAY TIMES paper.
and exerpt from
Singapore A-Z... once more, with feelingIJ GIRLS
IJ is short for CHIJ, or Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus, a school founded in Victoria Street by Catholic nuns and priests. There are now 13 secondary and primary schools in the family.
'IJ girls' is a generalisation for girls who study in CHIJ schools and who like to hem their school uniforms real short, wear their belts real low on their hips,
and are allegedly easy when it comes to the opposite sex.
But bad rep aside, they are also known for being smart, creative and well-spoken, at least going by how alumni include actresses Andrea De Cruz and Sharon Au, singer Tanya Chua, model Charmaine Harn and Campus Superstar finalist Teresa Tseng.
In yesterday's THE STRAITS TIMES paper.
Lifestyle article cast aspersions on IJ GirlsI AM the chairperson of the Infant Jesus Board of Management of 11 CHIJ Schools in Singapore and an old girl of one of these CHIJ Schools.
I refer to the article published on pages L4 - L6 of Lifestyle of The Sunday Times ('Alternative Singapore: The Encyclopedia'; Sept 17) where the authors indicated their desire to present 'overseas visitors' with an 'Insiders' Guide to help them get the most out of their stay'. They have therefore 'come up with (their) own counter-culture compendium of nuggets' which will 'initiate you to the local hybrid lingo'. I note that the article was written 'tongue-in-cheek'.
I am concerned and dismayed that the authors have elected to include in their 'compendium of nuggets' their definition of 'IJ Girls', together with other commonly used words within the local Singapore community.
My concern lies in two areas:
Was there a need to tarnish the image of thousands of students, past, present and future, including girls as young as six-plus years old in Primary One, with an image that they are 'allegedly easy when it comes to the opposite sex'?
Was there any need to associate your improper definition with an inappropriate caricature and a picture of IJ students in uniform, taken out of context?
There are currently about 16,000 pupils in our CHIJ Schools aged six to 16 years of age. The first CHIJ School was founded 152 years ago, which means that thousands of young women would have been educated in an IJ School. The wholly inappropriate description has swept through a large swathe of innocent pupils and ex-pupils.
The recent coverage of Mrs Elizabeth Choy was very tasteful. Your readers may wish to know that Mrs Choy was an 'IJ Girl', having schooled at a CHIJ school from 1929-1933.
Other IJ Girls include Singapore's Ambassador to the United States, Prof Chan Heng Chee; Members of Parliament Mrs Cynthia Phua, Ms Ellen Lee, Dr Fatimah Lateef, Ms Sylvia Lim, Ms Jessica Tan; Executive Director (Unifem) Ms Noeleen Heyzer, IJ Sister Cecilia Chew, IJ Sister Daniel Ee, IJ Sister Christina Joy and IJ Sister Maria Lau, just to name a few. I wonder if these women would appreciate being described as 'allegedly easy on the opposite sex'?
The authorship and publication of such an article cannot, by any measure, be accepted as a 'tongue-in-cheek' article. It was an ill-conceived idea and done in bad taste. It has caused much distress, pain and embarrassment to women, of all ages, that hail from our CHIJ Schools. We do not condone your publication and take strong objection to the aspersions cast upon IJ Girls.
Donne Marie Aeria
Chairperson
Infant Jesus
Board of Management
CHIJ Schools
In today's TODAY paper.
Don't label our girls 'easy', say angry convent schoolsSunday Times article tarnished our image: CHIJ chairperson
Ansley Ng
ansley@newstoday.com.sg
ELEVEN convent schools in Singapore have threatened legal action against Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) for an article that allegedly defamed convent schoolgirls.
Today has learnt that a lawyer's letter has been sent to the media company on Monday, demanding an apology and costs and damages to be paid for a "defamatory" article that was published in last week's Sunday Times, which described convent girls as being "easy" with members of the opposite sex.
Three days ago, The Sunday Times, the weekend edition of The Straits Times, published a story titled "Singapore A-Z … once more, with feeling", a "tongue in cheek" look at Singapore icons and subjects which coincided with the recently-launched Singapore — the Encyclopaedia.
Under the alphabet "I", the newspaper ran a short description of "IJ girls", term for girls who study in CHIJ (Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus) Catholic mission schools.
"'IJ girls' is a generalisation for girls who study in CHIJ schools and who like to hem their school uniforms real short, wear their belts real low on their hips, and are allegedly easy when it comes to the opposite sex," a paragraph read.
A cartoon above the paragraph also showed a girl in blue lighting up a cigarette.
"Singaporeans perusing our pages should note that this is done in tongue-in-cheek," one part of the article read.
According to sources, a letter of demand was sent to SPH on Monday, asking for an apology to be published in this weekend's edition of The Sunday Times.
It also demanded that costs and damages to be paid to the Infant Jesus Board of Management, which manages the 11 schools.
The board comprises 14 members, including two nuns, eight former students and four men, who are linked to the schools.
The story upset many alumni and parents and the board members were believed to have received more than 50 phone calls and email messages of complaint between them.
Yesterday, The Straits Times letters pages published a letter written by Donne Marie Aeria — the board's chairperson — rebutting the story.
Ms Aeria called the article "an ill-conceived idea and done in bad taste".
"Was there a need to tarnish the image of thousands of students, past, present and future, including girls as young as six years old in Primary 1, with an image that they are 'allegedly easy when it comes to the opposite sex'?" Ms Aeria wrote.
"It has caused much distress, pain and embarrassment to ladies of all ages, that hail from our CHIJ schools."
There are currently about 16,000 girls studying in the 11 primary and secondary CHIJ schools.
SPH declined to comment when contacted.
Aljunied GRC MP Cynthia Phua, who studied in CHIJ Secondary School (Toa Payoh), called the generalisation "insensitive".
"Eleven schools are all wearing the same uniform. It's too much if you see one case and generalise," said Mrs Phua, whose daughter is studying at CHIJ Primary School (Toa Payoh).
"If (The Sunday Times) wants to stick to its comment, they should clarify who their sources are."
lesson: insult one ij girl, you get the wrath of her and her friends. insult all ij girls, you get a deflamation suit.
