5 minute read
Damaris and Family: Three Generations at Tanglin
It’s All Relative
Senior School teacher Damaris Manser will soon be working alongside her daughter and two grandchildren. She tells all to The Voice
At Tanglin, the idea of “Generations of Excellence” is one all staff identify with, but none more closely than Senior School teacher Damaris Manser. Damaris has worked alongside her own children for more than a decade and, from April, will also welcome her grandchildren to the school.
Damaris, a Teacher of English, has worked at Tanglin for more than 15 years, although her involvement with the school began in 1992 when her eldest child, Lydia, joined what was then known as Winchester Nursery. Damaris has since seen all four of her children go all the way through the school. Lydia, Calder and Estella are all currently in the UK, with youngest daughter Cecily due to graduate this summer.
With the return of Lydia to Singapore and Lydia’s children, five-year-old Teddy and Arlo (3), enrolling in the Infant School in Term 3, Damaris will soon have her two grandsons with her at Tanglin, too.
“It’s so exciting,” she tells. “With Lydia living overseas, friends had been asking me, ‘Don’t you want to go and spend some time with your grandchildren?’ And now, of course, they are coming here!”
Damaris’ eldest three children are all enjoying success in the UK. Lydia, who up until recently worked in advertising and marketing, is a successful interior blogger and property influencer who has featured in the Wall Street Journal; Calder works in London’s financial district; Estella is part way through a degree in Medicine at the
University of Southampton. And although the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic has made travelling difficult, Damaris says all of them still feel a strong pull back to Tanglin.“What’s been amazing about Lydia and Calder’s experiences of the school – and it will likely be the case for Estella and Cecily, too – is the fact they formed such close friendships that remain today. When Lydia got married in the UK a few years ago, she had six bridesmaids who were friends from her Tanglin days.”
“The eldest three have such fond memories of the school. Calder used to visit every year, but obviously that’s not been possible recently. And Lydia is so excited to come back.”
Lydia, who at the time of writing was preparing to leave the UK for Singapore, agrees. “It’s kind of a dream come true,” she says. “Having my boys go to Tanglin will be surreal, but I’m so happy for them to have the same amazing schooling and cultural experiences that I did. I made some real friends for life at Tanglin, and I hope my boys will be able to say the same. And obviously, I am very much looking forward to being reunited with my family.”
It’s clear by speaking in person to Damaris, together with her daughter Cecily, that the clan has remained close knit despite the enforced separation. There is a tangible affection when they speak of Cecily’s siblings in the UK, and some gentle teasing between the pair. Like many families separated by geography, they maintain their connections through frequent phone calls and the somewhat dreaded Zoom chat.
“We’ve had group calls at Christmas and for birthdays,” says Damaris, “but the trouble with Zoom is that it feels really exhausting…”
“And you call them every day!” interjects Cecily.
“I do call them a lot,” Damaris admits. “Last weekend, I spoke with Calder, then Lydia, and I thought, ‘I can’t cope with any more! I’m going out!’”
Damaris has her own fond memories of Tanglin, which she joined in 2005. She was initially recruited to the school’s Learning Support Faculty after spells teaching English at the British Council, ISS, and Singapore Polytechnic. She later moved into the Sixth Form Library before formally completing her PGCE and joining the English Faculty. Many of her experiences have been coloured by having her own children at the school;
she explains wryly that while some of them enjoyed having a parent close by, others were “less thrilled”.
“When I transferred to the Library, Lydia was appalled, because it meant I was always there during her study periods. She wasn’t very keen on study periods at all after that! But, Calder and Cecily have liked having me here. I suspect Calder enjoyed it because I was a free source of food!”
During her time with the school, Damaris has seen a certain amount of change. She acknowledges that the movement of her children back to the UK was once very typical for Tanglin graduates. “Now, of course, Tanglin is a more multicultural place and there are so many more options for parents and students alike,” she says.
Traditions such as the Graduation Ceremony have evolved over the years, too. “When Lydia graduated from Tanglin, the ceremony was held at the British High Commissioner’s Residence. Calder’s graduation two years later took place in the Berrick Hall, but without a cap and gown. I have a very clear image in my head of a time when students would arrive at graduation dressed for prom. Estella was part of the last graduating class to have the ceremony in person, in 2019, before COVID-19 affected plans. We are all hoping Cecily will be able to have her ‘day’.”
Cecily, who plans to read Biochemistry at university in the UK, is also thrilled to have her sister and nephews return to the Little Red Dot, despite knowing it will only be a few short months before they are separated once again. “It is a little sad; also because Singapore and Tanglin are all I’ve ever known. It feels like my childhood is over, in a way. But I’m also looking forward to going to university, and getting started on the next stage of my life.”
For Damaris, these family comings and goings are more familiar, but no less exciting; she is rapt to have her grandchildren coming to the school. “It will be great just to have them here,” she says, “but I do hope that, once restrictions ease, I would potentially be able to pop down to visit them in the Infant School. “How wonderful would that be?”
