4. My First Marriage

While I was in the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus in 1960, I met a young man who lived at 50C Armenian Street, just behind my house.  He would wait for me each morning and walk with me on my way to school. He was studying at Raffles Institution, which was just a bit further from the convent. As we got to know each other better, I ended up eating lunch and dinner with him in his house.  I was smitten by anyone who would show me some love.  He also brought me to church every Sunday – Kampong Kapor Methodist Church, where his mom was a member.

We got married on 6th September 1966 while I was a teacher on probation at Beatty Secondary School.  He was courting another woman while we were engaged and the other woman rang me up and scolded me, but I gave him the benefit of the doubt.  The day my first son was born, my husband was having an affair with the maid and the maid confessed to me in front of him.  I sacked the maid on the spot.  Our marriage lasted 16 years and he sent me the divorce summons in 1982, the first day I took on the role of a principal.  When the school clerk handed me the court summons, in my naivety, I thought that in order to be a principal, I had to be sworn in in court.  I was so excited upon receiving the summons until I read it and realised the cruelty of it.  My whole first day as a principal was crushed.

My happiest years were with my second husband, Dr Selvaroyen Ebenezer Jesudason, or Jesu for short.  He really made me happy with God and not be bitter over things.