From China to Bukit Timah: Yu Haijuan set her business aside to accompany her child

Yu Haijuan, from China, made a decision many parents consider and few actually carry out: she set aside her own business to accompany her child to study in Singapore.

The school she chose is St Francis Methodist School (SFMS) on Upper Bukit Timah Road. Her reasoning is plain: for a better learning environment for her child, it is worth it. The old story of Mencius's mother moving house three times — she has lived it.

What kind of school this is

Founded in 1960, St Francis Methodist School is one of Singapore's established private schools, with Methodist roots, at 492 Upper Bukit Timah Road. It is not one of the giant international schools; it is modest in size but long in standing among local private schools.

Its defining feature is one continuous path from primary to pre-university: Cambridge Primary (Y1–Y6) at the primary level; Cambridge IGCSE, plus O-Level and Australian WACE routes, at secondary; and pre-tertiary programmes above that. For a family that has relocated, that means the child does not have to change schools and start over midway.

Beyond academics, it is a school with a Christian foundation — its ethos and character education carry Methodist tradition. For many Chinese families this is both a reason to choose it (discipline, conduct) and something to understand in advance (religious education and daily routines).

Why this kind of school

Families like Yu's are usually not picking “the highest-ranked school” but a place where the child can find footing: smaller classes, teachers who know the name, English that can be caught up with rather than a cliff on day one, and a clear progression path. Those things decide whether a child keeps going far more often than a famous crest does.

Whether that old story is worth living is a question each family answers for itself. But Yu did one very concrete thing: she did not send the child abroad alone — she came too. Accompanying a child to study is, in the end, not sacrifice so much as moving “home” to where the child studies.

Note: this account is based on the family's own telling, shared with their consent; school details are from the official SFMS website (sfms.edu.sg). Fees and grade placements should be confirmed against the school's 2027 fee schedule and admissions information. School line: +65 6760 0889.