Mrs Maisie Duncan ( Mdm Maisie Prout )
August 1941 : Katong Convent Beach, Singapore
Wash of warm wavelets on the gritty sand
Bath-capped nin’s head bobbing up and down on the shallows
Muffled drumbeats rising to a crescendo
As khaki-clad, sinewy ‘drumsticks’ pound their way past the front
Fence and round the corners towards the boarders dormitory.
Its heavy-shuttered windows crash open
As if on cue to reveal a cloud of disembodied balloon faces
Shadowy against the interior gloom, straining towards the exterior
Sunlight and the jetstream of turbulence raised by the wild marching
Feet on the gravelled laneway below.
Hoots and laughter, wolf whistles and snatches of song
Greet the dramatic window-stage appearances of faces.
A current of excitement builds up between
The pale cloistered, curiousity-filled girls above
And the sunburnt, devil-may-care, slouch-hatted warriors below.
“Nice young ladies”, we were informed, “do not wave and call out to strange young men, especially not to soldiers” - Girl Boarders at The order of the Holy Infant Jesus (Les Dames de St Maur), Katong Beach Convent.
Extracted from : “A Cloistered war- behind the convent walls during the Japanese occupation” – by Maisie Duncan
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