DEAD: Devotion, Equipment And the Diamond (1959-1962) - The World of Fr James F. Kearney, Cyirl Chew and the Founding of Montfort Softball

 
DEAD : Devotion, Equipment, and the Diamond - The World of Fr. James F. Kearney, Cyril Chew, , and the Founding of Montfort Softball (1959–1960)

School Report on Softball, 1962

Saturday Softball, 2026

Many people associate Catholic schools with softball – St. Gabriel’s, Catholic High, Maris Stella, Montfort…all powerhouses today in their own way! However, few know that this is related to the context of the Cold War and the work of Fr Kearney, S.J., a Jesuit priest from St. Ignatius Church, Bukit Timah.

Background

Along historic Upper Serangoon Road in the late 1950s, Montfort School (historically Holy Innocents’ English School) was a bustling hub of growth. Spanning parish grounds, school halls, and sports fields, the institution expanded  rapidly under the Gabrielite Brothers and dedicated lay educators. Too many students, not enough physical activities to engage them, physical activities and outdoor sports as a way to engage youths.

While history often remembers this era through academic milestones, union advocacy, and church traditions, one morning in February 1959 brought an unexpected spark to the school’s physical education landscape: the arrival of Montfort’s very first official softball kit.

The story of how an iconic American pastime arrived at a Teochew Catholic enclave in Singapore is a narrative woven from two distinct worlds—the international relief and media networks of Father James F. Kearney, SJ, Cyril Chew, and the enthusiastic softball  leadership of Lee Ah Bah and Thomas Wang.

1. The World of Father James F. Kearney, SJ: American Media & Jesuit Mission
To understand how a full set of American softball equipment arrived in Upper Serangoon, one must look at the energetic presence of Rev. Fr. James F. Kearney, SJ (1896–1967).
Born in on the West Coast, California , USA,  Fr. Kearney entered the Society of Jesus in 1914 and was ordained in 1928. 29 years were spent in China. This is most interesting and deserves a separate post….

In June 1951, Fr Kearney was relocated to Singapore and became an n influential figure in the regional Catholic press. He was editor of the Malayan Catholic News (now Catholic News), revolutionizing it into a modern, readable tabloid format that connected Catholic families across Singapore and Malaya.

Initially residing with the De La Salle Brothers at St. Joseph’s Institution (SJI), Fr. Kearney became part of the founding Jesuit community at Kingsmead Hall when it was established in 1954.

Fr. Kearney maintained strong ties with international Catholic bodies, notably the National Catholic Welfare Conference (NCWC) of the United States.

Through the NCWC—which had transitioned from a World War I relief council into a global Catholic social welfare and aid organization—Fr. Kearney secured social aid, publications, and youth sports equipment for local schools, bringing sports gear to local boys was a natural extension of his American Jesuit approach to youth ministry: engaging mind, soul, and body.

2. The World of Cyril Chew: Lay Leadership & Community Welfare
 
Standing alongside Fr. Kearney on the Montfort stage were key lay figures like Cyril Chew who anchored the post-war Catholic community in Singapore.

Cyril Chew co-founded Catholic Welfare Services (CWS) alongside legendary philanthropist Dr. Ee Peng Liang and Archbishop Michael Olçomendy. He was a pioneer of the Catholic grassroots social relief and played a key role in establishing CWS's famous "Breadline" project at Waterloo Street in 1960, which distributed essential provisions daily to hundreds of impoverished families. In the years that followed, his leadership at CWS proved vital during national disasters, including emergency relief for victims of the catastrophic 1961 Bukit Ho Swee fire.

3. The 3 February 1959 Ceremony: A Historic Assembly

 On Tuesday, 3 February 1959, the secondary students of Montfort gathered in the school hall for what would become an iconic moment in school history. Fr. Kearney and Cyril Chew formally presented an outfit of "Soft Ball" equipment on behalf of the NCWC—complete with bats, balls, gloves, and a protective catcher's mask.

The 1959 Montfort School Annual (p. 7) documented the event with fond humor:
"3 Feb, 1959: Rev Fr Kearney and Cyril Chew present to Montfort on behalf of the National Catholic Welfare Conference of America (NCWC) an outfit of 'Soft Ball'; The boys of the Secondary were in the hall for the ceremony. Of course, we had the usual ritual: introduction speech, the reply, then the presentation and photos to record the historical occasion!"

L to R: Fr  Kearney wearing catcher's mask; Thomas Wang (MJS) or Cyril Chew, Bro Louis Gonzaga, Fr Kearney S.J., Lee Ah Bah (MSS)

The resulting photograph captured the warmth and humor of the day: Fr. Kearney playfully donning the heavy catcher’s mask, flanked by Montfort Director Rev. Brother Louis Gonzaga, Cyril Chew/Thomas Wang and Mr Lee Ah Bah. .

4. Lee Ah Bah and Thomas Wang: Pioneer Captains of the Diamond

The NCWC might have provided the gear, but it fell upon the students to build the game from the ground up on the school field.

Lee Ah Bah, a key figure from Montfort’s 1956 cohort (Form IVA), was known for his sporting drive and deep loyalty to the school. Alongside Thomas Wang, another Montfortian who taught at MJS, they took charge of the  newly donated gear and put together teams which could participate competitively in the national circuit. 

Together, they organized pitch-and-catch sessions, taught fellow students the rules of the American game, and served as Montfort’s inaugural Softball Co-Captains in 1960.

5. Beyond the 1990s: An Enduring Legacy

Though softball was dropped from Montfort’s official lineup in the mid-1960s, Lee Ah Bah never forgot the diamond. When I revived the sport in 1997—first as a classroom activity, then as a CCA—I enlisted Mr. Lee to mentor the boys, integrating our new team with the Saturday Afternoon Softball community at NUS. 

Our early days were defined by desperate resourcefulness. Scraping by with minimal school funding and paying out of pocket, we scavenged for discarded gear with the help of Prof Dan Crosswell, a military historian who ran Sackett and who managed the baseball league with roots tied to the Singapore American School.

We picked  up left-behind balls, restrung broken and discarded gloves, used stray bats, and put together a hodgepodge of catcher's equipment, and whatever else we could find . Anything but the catcher’s cup.

This was borne from necessity – the battered remnants from 1959 quickly disintegrated during our first grueling practices, forcing us to frequently borrow equipment from opposing teams just to field a squad and this was highly embarrassing.

My partnership with Dan Crosswell and several years later Eric Williams was a turning point. It brought invaluable expertise, providing structured equipment clinics, tactical discipline, and good coaching to improve the game at Montfort.  

What began in 1959 as an international gesture of goodwill brought by an American Jesuit editor and local welfare leaders came full circle through the sports' integration with the Saturday Afternoon Softball crew, securing Montfort's softball legacy for generations to come.

 

110th Anniversary: Montfort Softball Homecoming in March 2026

110th Anniversary: Youth Team

Sept, 2026