Singapore School - Cilegon

In 1995, leading members of the Jakarta business community felt the need for a Singapore-style school in the bustling city to cater for expatriate children working in Indonesia. Several initial meetings with Singapore’s Ambassador to Indonesia H.E. Edward Lee fired the enthusiasm needed to start the project. This culminated in a meeting in early 1996 with H.E. Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore, Dr. Tony Tan who was also then the Education Minister. The inspiration drawn from that meeting set the wheels in motion. The team moved quickly to secure the help of Raffles Institution, Singapore’s premier school. The expertise of one of Singapore’s most respected educationist Mr. Eugene Wijeyhsingha (former Principal of Raffles Institution) was utilized to give the school a good foundation. And soon afterwards the Board of Governors of SIS successfully lobbied the release of Mr. Magendiran also from Raffles Institution to be the first Principal of the Singapore International School in 1997. Mr. Magendiran is today the Vice-Principal of Raffles Institution, Singapore.

SIS began in its small and humble premises in North Jakarta with minimum facilities. Then the Asian financial crisis hit and potential sponsors and funders turned away. The riots in 1998 saw the school’s enrollment coming down. It was here that the decision was made to move the School to the south where the expatriate community mainly resides.