7 minute read
Tanya and Family: Seven Decades of School History
Family Ties
As a school founded in 1925, Tanglin has generations of history behind it. Even so, it’s surprising to talk with Tanya Bird, a parent whose family connections with Tanglin go back more than 70 years
Tanya’s daughters Tia and Olivia – who is due to graduate this summer – are the fourth generation of women in Tanya’s family to be connected to Tanglin.
Tanya’s grandmother Valerie was a secretary to headmistress Muriel Mackay at the then Tanglin School, her mother Angela Bird, neé Fenwick, attended Tanglin School, and Tanya and her sister attended the Tanglin Trust-owned Raeburn Park School. When Tanya returned to Singapore 10 years ago, Tanglin was the obvious choice for her girls’ education, too.
“I just have so many fond memories of those times,” she explains. “Sports Days, plays, taking the overnight train and long boats to Taman Negara, Malaysia, for a wilderness experience… Back then, there was no Senior School, so only my primary years were completed at Tanglin. But, they were very formative.”
The family’s relationship with the school dates back to 1948, when Tanya’s mother Angela, who currently resides in Australia, first joined Tanglin at age three. Tanya’s grandfather worked for the Straits Steamship Company, while her grandmother Valerie was a cane furniture designer with her own business, Adrian’s Cane Furniture, located in a shophouse on the site of what is now the St Regis Hotel. Once Angela had enrolled at Tanglin, Valerie juggled this work alongside a part-time role as secretary to the school’s headmistress.
Angela stayed in Singapore once her schooling was complete; Tanya was later born in Malaysia and went on to attend Raeburn Park School alongside her sister Lara. The family eventually left Singapore for the UK in the early 1980s, later emigrating to Australia when Tanya was 18. It seemed to the teen as though her time in Singapore had ended, but a conversation with her husband Tim years later would change that.
Sydney-born Olivia is Tanya’s youngest daughter; she will graduate from Tanglin this summer and head to Australia to begin her university degree.
“We were working crazy hours at the time, and juggling work and children, and our vision was to travel the world so the girls would have a sense of being a global citizen. Ultimately, we wanted them to have new experiences and adventures, and to make friends from different countries and cultures. So, we went where the wind blew us! We had recently returned to Australia from the UAE when Tim was offered a position here in Singapore and I began to think, ‘What if...?’” Tanya had talked to her daughters many times about her time in Singapore, and that of her mother and grandmother – in fact, she is still in touch with several of her classmates from Nursery – so for Olivia and her sister Tia, the prospect of a move to Singapore was an exciting one. Says Olivia, “For me, Singapore was a bit of an abstract ‘idea’, but I’d heard Mum’s stories and knew how special a place it was to her.”
Returning to Singapore proved almost painfully nostalgic for Tanya. “I found it quite overwhelming, actually,” she recalls. “At one point, Tia was invited for a playdate and when I dropped her at the house, I realised it was the same one that had once belonged to my own best friend.”
Above: Tanya (bottom row, fourth from left) during her time at Raeburn Park. Tanya is still in touch with several friends who also appear in the photo, one of whom sent her this photo. “To have friendships that stretch back more than 40 years is very special,” she says.
Above: Tanya’s mother Angela returned from Australia to Singapore in 2015 for the T90 celebrations, commemorating 90 years of Tanglin. Right: Angela aged three or four, pictured shortly after joining Tanglin.
“To bring the girls to Tanglin was a very poignant moment for me. I had so many wonderful memories of the school and, most of all, a family connection to it; it occupied a very special place in my heart.”
In the years since, Tanya has noted common threads running through their experiences of Tanglin. The school has historically marked occasions involving the Royal Family – and each family member has been an eyewitness to this. When the Queen’s coronation was celebrated locally in June 1953, for example, Tanya’s mother Angela was tasked with waving the Union Jack at a large parade on Holland Road.
“The entire school walked to watch it,” says Tanya. “As a child, Mum believed the Queen herself would be there – it was a pretty special moment for her.” The week of lavish celebrations, featuring a 120 metre-long sea dragon and 21-gun salute, was one of the last colonial events to take place in Singapore. and Tanya recalls being taken by her mother to stand on a roadside near the Singapore Cricket Club to wave to the couple as their motorade passed. “Family Ties” continues overleaf
Other occasions were more sombre. “The Gurkha Contingent would protect the school at certain periods,” Tanya tells. “One occasion my sister Lara remembers was after the assassination of [the Queen’s cousin] Lord Mountbatten, in 1979. There were fun times, too: the Gurkha band would play at Sports Day, for instance, and we often also had members of the New Zealand and Australian armies visit the school.”
“A big treat in the last year of primary school was to take part in a traditional New Zealand Māori hāngi [earth oven]; the soldiers would dig it in the school grounds very early in the morning and we’d stay out in the evening to eat what was cooked. It was absolutely magical.”
Olivia also has a story to tell. As a Year 5 student in the Junior School, she was selected to be part of a small group that welcomed the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to Gardens by the Bay during the pair’s 2012 visit to Singapore. “I remember keeping my fingers crossed that I would be picked to meet them,” she says. “It was a real honour at the time.”
But alongside the common experiences, the family has also seen huge change at Tanglin. Says Tanya, “I was talking to my mum over the phone a few years ago and explaining that Olivia would need a tablet computer for school. Mum said, “Well, I was given a piece of chalk and a slate – that was my tablet!”
“Tanglin does still ‘feel’ the same, although it’s a larger and more diverse place now – and that’s great,” Tanya tells. “There have been some real benefits to the school’s growth; sport has expanded hugely and Olivia has found her love of touch rugby because of that.”
“When I was at Tanglin, sports shoes were regular shoes dyed white or chalked up for Sports Day! There are so many more opportunities now. For Tia, football was definitely something the school brought to her,” she says, turning to Olivia, “and it was touch rugby for you.”
“Definitely,” agrees Olivia. “I’ve been on several touch rugby trips with Tanglin, such as to Brisbane, and those gave me the opportunity to play alongside so many different people. I used to play a lot of football myself when I was younger and I was so proud to be selected for the Phuket tour. It was a huge deal for me to be given that experience and be able to enjoy it with a great group of friends.” this summer and an eventual move to Australia for university, Tanya confesses to experiencing a touch of “sadness”. She’s aware it’s not only her youngest daughter she’ll be bidding farewell to, but Tanglin itself – for now, at least.
“For me, Olivia leaving marks a real full stop on our time at Tanglin. But, perhaps the next generation might also attend one day; you just never know!”
Top: Olivia discovered a talent for touch rugby during her time at Tanglin and was selected for the Brisbane Touch Tournament. Above: Tanya’s daughter Tia (centre) graduated from the school in 2019. “There will always be a link, though,
“When I’ve visited the between our family and the school. When school in the past, I was growing up, knowing my mum also attended Tanglin didn’t mean that much I have felt a deep to me, but now it means a great deal. connection to my When I’ve visited the school in the past, I have felt a deep connection to my family. family” – Tanya Bird
“When you are a family who travels a lot, you naturally become very close. It’s a very special relationship because you rely on each other so much.”
“It’s been just the four of us for many years now and for us, Singapore and Tanglin are a part of what will always tie us together.”
