However it was moved back to Mata Tinggi as Bishop Bucho wanted to keep an eye for expedience sake as Singapore was too far. A remnant of the plague is found in Punggol titled St Mary's College.
Indeed the roots of seminary had its incipient stage in Singapore as early as 1849, but due to lack of funds, and probable change of decision owing to consolidation factors, and funding under Bishop Boucho, it very much later in 1920s restarted when Bishop Barillon built a seminary here. It closed during the Japanese War and was reopened later under Father Pierre Barthoulot , another MEP.
http://www.sfxms.org.sg/articles_barthoulot.html
http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_831_2005-01-03.html
In Fr Pierre Barthoulot(MEP) , who restarted the first seminary in Singapore,
I became a priest because I wanted to be a missionary. In my family, every generation produced a priest. I did not want to stay in the parish. I was born in Eastern France, near the Swiss border, there were 1,000 priests in the diocese. I chose a society which sent their priests to Asia, so I joined the MEP. I did not ask to come here but I was sent. I did not ask to be assigned to the seminary because I never thought that I would be the right man for the seminary but I was there for 25 years.
When you obey God through your superior, you don't make mistakes. There is a reflection I wrote regarding my priesthood: “To obey is not enough to do what obedience commands. It is necessary to do it without reasoning about it. Be convinced that whatever is commanded is the best thing that can be done. We are naturally inclined to command and often unwilling to obey. Yet it is certain that to obey is more advantageous that to command."
The earlier MEPs starting from Bishop Boucho, then Bishop Barillon, had given the seeded the idea of a seminary in Singapore. Through tumultuous times, like Japanese War, it finally bore fruit. Today because of the works of the MEPs, we have locally trained diocesan priests.
In fact the first local priest from a religious order when Father Pierre Barthoulot arrived was Father Paul Pang, as during the early priests who took part in pastoral activity were mainly MEPs. Tough from a missionary order, they took orders from the local bishop. Religious priests on the other hand can follow the charism of their order. Because of the flurry of activity, today there are many religious orders. They helped to establish the clergy I Singapore, leaving us in good hands. Today we have our own seminary in St Francis Major Seminary, thanks to the MEPs works. Added to that we have many locally trained diocesan priests.
St Peter and Paul was blessed to have Father Michael Seet Kiam Juay the first local born diocesan priest trained in the seminary founded by the MEPs in College General in Penang, with roots tracing back to 1665.
First rector of Minor seminary in Singapore
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