If you came from an all-girls school in Singapore, you’ve probably heard a haunting tale or two. I remember how my group of friends sat in a circle with sombre expressions as we told our versions of what happened ‘that fateful night’ (can’t blame us, many of us took drama class as a CCA).
Seeing how most girls’ schools have a history of over a hundred years, it’s no surprise when urban legends get passed down from one batch to another. These range from someone committing suicide and haunting the school to creepy paintings with eyes that follow you. But do we ever know the full deets?
With my extensive sleuthing, here’s a list of iconic ghost stories from girls’ schools in Singapore. So grab a blanket and get comfy as you relive some of the classic stories. For maximum effect, please read when you can’t sleep at 2am.
Disclaimer: All information in this article is hearsay and may have been conjured by hallucinations or rumors.
Contents
(Lorong Ah Soo, circa 2002)
This story is kinda touching, albeit kinda creepy. In the old days, a girl is said to have committed suicide in the school hall. In memory of her, a mannequin—wearing the girl’s uniform and name tag—was placed in her classroom. Her classroom was located on the ground floor and faced the track and field. Rumours spread that whenever the class had P.E class at the field, the mannequin would be facing that direction.
Once, a teacher told her class that when she came to school early in the morning to mark papers, she was surprised to see a girl in uniform walk past her table. Thinking it odd to see a student in the staff room so early, she glanced up, only to catch a glimpse of the girl’s lower arm… which turned out to be a mannequin’s.
(Thomson Road, circa 2003-2005)
Seeing your own morning face in the mirror can be scary; but seeing the reflection of a dead girl definitely beats that.
At CHIJ Toa Payoh’s holding school, the toilet mirror facing the last cubicle was removed. Apparently, a girl had hung herself in the last cubicle and whenever someone looked into the last mirror, they’d see the dead girl’s reflection.
(Cedar Ave, circa 2000s)
Every time the classroom doors slammed shut, the class would jokingly claim it to be the ‘Cedar Spirit’. But not many know who this spirit is.
Legend has it that before an O-level art student committed suicide, she finished painting a portrait of herself as her exam piece.
After her death, the painting was kept in her memory. However, when packing up the art room during a shift in holding schools, the art teacher left the painting behind. Thinking that was the end of it, the teacher was shocked to find the painting neatly packed in the new campus.
I guess what they say about immortalising yourself through art is true.
(Ang Mo Kio, circa 1980s )
In the old St. Nicks campus, a group of girls reported scary experiences occurring at the staircase leading from the canteen to the gym on the second floor.
They claimed to have sneaked downstairs to the canteen while camping in the gym one night. When the girls climbed the stairs to get back to the gym after their late-night snack, they found themselves climbing far longer than expected. If the gym had been on the second floor, they would’ve already reached. Sensing something wrong, the girls started screaming and running down the mysteriously never-ending stairs until they finally ‘found’ the gym.
But what’s scarier? Our source was a former teacher whom the girls told the story to.
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(Anderson Road, circa 2000s)
The AVA room in Raffles Girls’ School is renowned for its distinct yellow walls, but the story goes that the walls were initially white.
It is said that a girl had hung herself from the ceiling projector in the AVA room using her school tie. Following the incident, people claimed to hear the sound of a tie being pulled hard and screams. Whenever all the lights were switched off before a presentation, one could see the shadow of the girl hanging herself—dangling from the ceiling—on the side walls.
After painting the walls yellow, the girl’s favourite colour, the sightings stopped. Nonetheless, some say that when the lights are switched off, a blur outline of a shadowy figure sitting in the back row can still be seen.
(Martia Road, circa 1997)
Although period blood stains are scary in their own right, it’s nothing compared to the basement toilet door in CHIJ Katong Primary that had cracked paint all over, resembling crusty blood.
Legend has it that the corner toilet door was splattered with real blood. The students made regular reports of ghoul-like moaning sounds coming from that cubicle and feared going in alone.
Luckily, the school was demolished in 2007 and students can now poop in peace.
(Marine Terrace campus, circa 1990s)
Many IJKC girls we spoke to mentioned a Mother Mary statue at the school’s entrance with eyes that seemed to follow you around.
There are also rumours that some students were possessed. These students started to cry hysterically and spoke in different voices. Being a convent school, the teachers had to conduct a mini exorcism.
(Farrer Road, circa 1990s)
Her name was “Katie” and her picture was placed outside St. Margaret’s Secondary School hall after she allegedly committed suicide. Many claimed to be creeped out by it because the closer you looked at the face, the blurrier it became.
Furthermore, a poker card with “Katie” signed on it used to be pasted on the top of St. Margaret’s canteen wall. Although the number on the card was always ‘4’ and the signature was in the same place, the pattern and colour of the poker card changed occasionally.
It may sound like a prank by some students except for the fact that the canteen ceiling is really, really high. And as if “Katie” wasn’t enough, one ex-St Margaret’s girl we spoke to said that her classmate was possessed by a spirit called “Fatimah” while playing with an Ouija board.
(Koon Seng Road, circa 1999)
Since Haig Girls’ School is built upon land that used to be a holding site for WWII prisoners of war, the campus at Koon Seng Road is rumoured to be haunted by spirits. It is said that these cheeky spirits cause people to trip or fall, especially at certain areas of the school compound.
Some skeptics may say that little kids are clumsier and tend to fall more. But, can you explain why individuals get hounded by an old lady to buy matchsticks from her if they diagonally cut across the school field at night?
(Sengkang East Way campus, circa 2000s)
Here’s another toilet story. In CHIJ SJC, a toilet cubicle was always locked due to ‘plumbing problems’ and ghostly sightings. Rumour has it that a girl was waiting for her parents to pick her up from school when she was raped. Some say that the girl became pregnant. During her labour in school, she went to this toilet cubicle and flushed down the baby before hanging herself.
(Bedok North Ave 4, circa 2010)
This one is a classic. One time in St. Anthony Canossian Secondary, a few students freaked out after seeing a nun floating across the corridors. However, it turned out to be a nun who literally wore roller blades and skated from class to class.
They see her rollin’ they hatin’.
While compiling these ghost stories, I myself had the heebie jeebies. But one important thing to remember is that most, if not all, of these stories are merely hearsay. Nonetheless, as you go to bed tonight, keep a weapon of your choice nearby and one eye open. Just in case.
This post was first published by Naeha Sitara on 17 February 2017 and last updated by Nicole Yong on 10 September 2023.
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