For many Malaysians, the declaration of independence at Merdeka Stadium on Aug 31, 1957 is a moment learnt through history books, old radio clips or documentaries, or family stories passed down over generations.
But for Mary Josephine Amalanathan, that bright Saturday morning lives vividly in her memory.
“I was there at Merdeka Stadium on Aug 31 to witness the historic moment of the Union Jack being lowered, and Tunku Abdul Rahman proudly raising the Jalur Gemilang and declaring our nation’s independence,” the 89-year-old, who goes by Josephine, said.
The grandmother of 10 and great-grandmother of one recalls standing shoulder to shoulder with thousands of Malayans, filled with hope and pride, as they watched a new nation being born.
“I saw Tunku, Tun Tan Cheng Lock, Tun VT Sambanthan – our founding fathers – up close. The first Yang di-Pertuan Agong was there, too. It was unforgettable.”
She added that when Tunku declared “Merdeka”, the atmosphere was exhilarating. “I still feel the excitement of that moment. It was unity, it was joy, it was freedom,” she told Bernama at her home here.
Josephine is not just an eyewitness to history: this former headmistress also helped shape it in classrooms filled with young pupils with big dreams.
Trailblazer in education
Her journey as an educator began in 1955 as a trainee teacher at the Convent School in Kajang, Selangor (now known as SK Convent Kajang). Josephine had just passed her Senior Cambridge examination, “so, it was straight to work for me”.
Due to the lack of formal teachers’ training institutes back then, Josephine attended a training course for “normal-class teachers” at Victoria Institution in Kuala Lumpur every Saturday.
She then went on to teach at Marian Convent in Setapak, KL and SMK Convent Klang, Selangor.
In 1961, at 25, Josephine was appointed the first headmistress of Sekolah Kebangsaan St Anne’s Convent in Port Klang, and was confirmed in her post after four years. It was a rare honour that likely made her the youngest to hold such a position at the time.
“The nuns chose me,” she said humbly.
From just 60 pupils, mostly from modest households in Port Klang and Pandamaran, Josephine and her team of dedicated teachers helped build St Anne’s into a thriving institution of over 600 students by the time she left in 1987 to join SRK Methodist Girls School in Klang (MGS Klang) as its headmistress.
There, she had more than 1,600 students under her administration.
“There were no VIP children or doctors’ kids at St Anne’s. Many parents could not even afford the RM2.50 monthly school fees,” she recalled.
“But we found a way, convincing the school board to exempt them. Education has to be for everyone.”
Mrs Nathan, as Josephine was fondly known, was a firm believer in discipline, but she was compassionate as well. Her mere stare could silence a noisy class.
If that failed, a 12-inch wooden ruler on the desk would do the trick, she said, chuckling.
She was never cruel, just caring. Some of the teachers who worked with Josephine recalled how she would carefully re-check the exercise books they corrected.
She also championed handwriting as an essential skill. “There was a dedicated slot in the timetable just for handwriting,” Josephine said. “Block letters for the younger ones, and cursive from Standard Four upwards. Teachers had to follow the standard, too.”
Many of her students, who later became teachers and headmistresses themselves, still thank her not just for neat penmanship but for her lessons in precision and pride.
Legacy of excellence
Josephine’s commitment to excellence did not stop at her students. According to S Kamaleswary, who took over as St Anne’s Convent headmistress, Josephine would review teachers’ record books with the same diligence, gently marking mistakes with a pencil.
Kamaleswary described Josephine as “hardworking, fair, and always the first to arrive and last to leave”.
Retired teacher Quake Geok Lee recalled an incident when an education officer came to the school for an inspection and asked why there was “pin-drop silence” in the school.
“My answer was simple: our headmistress, Mrs Nathan, instilled good discipline,” Quake said with a smile.
“Parents back then supported teachers,” she added. “If a child was scolded in school, they got a second round of scolding at home! Today, parents are more defensive. How quickly times have changed.”
For Josephine, it was a proud moment when MGS Klang emerged as the overall winner in the “Best Decorated and Cleanest School” competition in 1990, organised by the Klang education office and Klang municipal council (now known as the Klang Royal City Council).
It competed against 73 primary and 123 secondary schools.
Josephine retired in 1991 at age 55, but the educator in her never truly left. She went on to offer free tuition to underprivileged children through an organisation called Educare, which was run by nuns of the Franciscan Missionary Divine Mercy.
In 2014, a group of former students of St Anne’s Convent, led by Cynthia Varghese and guided by Josephine, came together with a shared vision – to unite all ex-students through an alumni association.
Josephine thus co-founded the St Anne’s Convent Alumni Association the following year, becoming its first patron. “My heart will always be with St Anne’s. That’s where I grew up,” she said.
Their inaugural gathering took place on Jan 24, 2015, bringing together 150 former students. The alumni’s 10th-anniversary dinner was held on Aug 23 at the Crystal Crown Hotel in Port Klang.
For her decades of dedicated service, Josephine was awarded the Pingat Jasa Kebaktian by the Sultan of Selangor in 1989.
Josephine, or Mrs Nathan, is undoubtedly a woman who did not just teach lessons from textbooks but shaped lives through kindness, discipline, and the unshakable belief that every child, no matter how young, can shine.
