This file covered the running of Mt. Emily Girls Home (MEGH) during a span of about nine years till its closure in 1981. The enclosures were mostly about improvements to the Home’s facilities, such renovation, repairs, minor and electrical works, purchase of equipment. The file recorded the creation of a Segregation Room in June 1977, following the re-gazetting of MEGH in Dec 1976 under the Children and Young Persons Act as a Remand Home, Place of Safety and Detention, Approved School and Home, and under the Women’s Charter, as a Place of Safety. By then the Home was used for the rehabilitation of girls with delinquent, difficult or promiscuous behaviour and catered to the most difficult cases transferred from other Homes. The file documented the subsequent closure of MEGH and the transfer of residents to the Toa Payoh Girls’ Home (TPGH) in 1981 due to the decline in MEGH’s population. The paper “Closure of Mt Emily Girls’ Home as a Home for Promiscuous and Very Delinquent Girls” covered in great detail the rationale, the measures to be taken at TPGH and the deployment of staff. In April 81, the Minister approved to cease the use of MEGH as a home for juvenile prostitutes and delinquent girls, and to transfer the girls from MEGH to TPGH, with instruction to segregate the 2 groups. The ensuing enclosures were on the implementation of the decision, including the alterations and addition to TPGH; meetings with Anti-Vice Enforcement Unit, de-gazetting of MEGH; inventory of items to be left or transferred, and deployment of affected staff. A Press Release on the closure issued in July 81 covered the background to MEGH and the changing nature of the problem of prostitution over the years. The file also recorded the transfer of children from Telok Blangah Children’s Home (TBCH) to MEGH in Dec 1981 as the TBCH was to be acquired by PSA for development. MEGH was renamed as Wilkie Road Boys’ Hostel.
Nov 1973 - Dec 1981
BU 1162
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