They came from afar, across land and sea, to educate poor girls. Meet the Sisters of Infant Jesus.
The Convent Light Street School, modestly nestled along Lebuh Light, proudly declares its motto to passersby: “Simple in Virtue, Steadfast in Duty”. This motto and the school’s name are reminders of the pioneering nuns who founded the oldest girls’ school in Malaysia.
Convent Light Street and its sister institutions, including Convent Green Lane in Penang and Convent Bukit Nanas in KL, are now fully integrated into the Malaysian national education system. Since the 1970s the state has chosen its head mistresses and the school has taught the Malay curriculum. Nevertheless, on Founders’ Day, celebrated in April, students are happy to celebrate the early days of the Convent as an orphanage and school for girls; the hall is also crowded with nostalgic alumnae. It is not only the beautiful buildings of the school that inspire this loyalty, but also genuine admiration for the single‐mindedness and determination of the nuns who founded this institution in 1852. It is the oldest such school in Malaysia.
