The New Building ( 1916 )

Undaunted, the staff turned dormitories, dining room, bedrooms and even
the verandahs into classrooms and by that Monday, every girl had a seat
and lessons proceeded as usual.
On the night of the incident with the extinction of the fire, all the friends of
the mission e.g. Rev and Mrs. Zimerman, Rev W. G. Parker, Misses Wheeler,
Wagey and Marsh together with several Asian friends knelt in prayer and
asked for God's guidance.
They began a building canvass but the Towkays would not help until they
knew the extent of Government involvement. The British Resident, Mr.
Broadrick, when approached, said he could do nothing as the World War had
started and all efforts had to be channeled towards funding the War.
The Headmistress, having visited him three times, had a staff meeting and
it was suggested that a ' May Day Fete ' be held with the Resident to preside
at the function and his wife, to give away the prizes. On that day, the
distinguished guests were seated facing the many black pillars of the burnt
down school building.
The day of the ' Fete ' was fair, the program was successful, the Resident
presided and his ' good lady ' distributed the prizes. They left at dusk.
Within two weeks, there was a cheque of $ 5,000 from the Resident's
Office as a donation towards the Building Fund. Insurance brought in another
$ 5,000. Towkay Loke Yew donated $ 4,000. Teachers and students solicited
funds. The lion's share of the money came in small sums through small
donations of $ 5, $ 10 and $ 20 They had to collect $ 24, 750. The building
was opened on 1st May 1916 with a mere debit of $ 3,000. This was the first
Women's' Foreign Mission Society (W.F.M.S.) building to be raised fully on the
mission field and the ladies of the W.F.M.S. in America donated the furniture
for the New Building. The cost of the 30 long seats for the Assembly Room
and the single seats in the classroom was balanced by the freight charges
from U S A as the War in Europe had made freight rates across the Pacific,
exorbitant.
On May 1st 1916 the British Resident, formally declared open the new school
building with the Selangor State Band in attendance. Miss Marsh, had
composed a new school song which was set to music by Miss Wheeler. It was
sung by a chorus of 50 girls. The enrolment of the school stood at 250.