FIRST DAY IN RI

Long journey to school

From my house, it was 20 minutes walk to the bus stop. Then I had to take this creaky and hot red colour bus operated by Tay Koh Yat Bus Company. The bus journey was almost 1 hour, jerking and bumping along Sembawang, Upper Thomson and Thomson Road and into the city. The bus terminated at Beach Road. At the bus terminus, they were many satay hawkers. They were later relocated to form the Satay Club. From the terminus, it's another 10 minutes walk to RI which was bounded by Bras Basah, Beach, Stamford and North Bridge Roads. The schools had 3 entrances. I used the entrance along Bras Basah Road. RI was surrounded by the War Memorial on one side. On the other sides, there was Stamford Canal and beyond that, there is St Andrew Cathedral and Capitol Cinema, CHIJ and Raffles Hotel on the other 2 sides.

First Day

On the first day, we were ushered into the assembly hall. We sat on the parquet floor. On the walls, there were photographs of ex school principals. They were all white men. My principal, Philip Liau welcomed us. He was tall, stern and spoke very eloquently with an air of authority. I can vaguely remember his speech. His speech mainly centred on traditions. And the school will instill in us values of honour, integrity and social responsibility and some of us will be ‘future leaders’. The “Rafflesian Spirit’ was mentioned. He also emphasised that the school have many traditions to uphold. And the school motto is “Auspicium Melioris Aevi”.

Yes, I am now a Rafflesian. I bought the school badge, tie and school bag. The Raffles colours are Green, Black and White. I was to discover later that these colours bring admiration, pride, envy and sadly outright despise.

Secondary 1

There were 8 classes in my cohort. We were arranged according to the primary school alphabet. I was in 1F. My form teacher was Amarjit Singh. It was a 2 session’s school. In the morning the class was occupied by secondary 4. I was in the afternoon session. The classroom desks and chairs were all wooden and old. The ceiling was extremely high and room was airy and really large. One side of the classroom was a large grass patch that was to become our class playground before school. Beyond this was the War Memorial. And on the other side was the a broad corridor. Beyond the corridor was the gynasium.




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SECONDARY SCHOOL, A NEW WORLD

From Kampong to City. To a new world

In January 1968, dressed in all white shirt, trousers, socks and shoes and accompanied by my father, we arrived at Raffles Institution. And of course we were very early, that’s my family trademark, ‘always early’.

Raffles Institution 'Founded 1923'

The school consisted of 3 blocks of 2 storeys colonial style building. The white paint was peeling and worn and some walls had cracked. On the main building, the words “Founded 1923” was distinctly crafted out below the school name “Raffles Institution”. There were two tuck shops that were rather run down. The toilets were huge. Somehow I felt rather disappointed as all these did not impressed me at all. I had expected something grander to match the school reputation. But in term of space, the school field was large, enough to fit in two football matches. In fact, the entire school compound was massive.

Though I was very excited and anxious, I had lots of apprehension and uneasiness. I knew life would never be the same again as in primary school. The words 'worry' and 'fear' weren’t even in my dictionary then. My father had made this choice for me and I would be starting a new chapter of my life into uncharted territory.

Eternally grateful to my father

I am deeply grateful for my father’s wisdom and foresight. He had opened the door to this new world for me. The school, the envy of so many and I am truly privileged to be the few that was accepted. RI has a very long glorious history of academic excellence with deeply entrenched traditions of honour and integrity and has produced many of Singapore’s brightest leaders. Undoubtedly it is the students' ideal place for learning, character building and preparation for the future.

'Values' added to my dictionary

The values of responsibility, and integrity and pursuit of excellence were not taught by teachers in class, but was influenced by the school environment, activities, events, sports and ambiance. Together we shared the joy of winning as well as sadness at time we lost. We laboured hard preparing for any competitions or the Founder’s Day. My journey through RI was an unforgettable lesson of compassion and humility. For those who have sailed through this passage would understand and agree with me that those 6 years of fulfilling and memorable experience in RI would not be traded for anything else.

Quotation from the 150th Rafflesian

"Those who have passed through Raffles Institution are conscious of a body of tradition, of a spiritual force which is inescapable, and on which they can fall back in times of stress."


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END OF PRIMARY SCHOOL

All kind of students

The classes were truly multiracial. In Sembawang, there were large Indian and Malay communities. I had plenty of opportunities to interact and mingle with different races. I learned to speak some rudimentary Tamil and some basic Malay. I often played in school with other races. We were ignorant and truly coloured blind on racial issues in those days. Special Muslim food corner did not exist.

There were also bullies and gangsters in my class. I played with them but I showed a lot of respect for them. They too respected me for my academics. I was never bullied or taken advantage off. There were a few students who sat through the class not knowing what was happening. Pri 6 was as far as they would go. Thereafter, they work full time helping the family business.

Year End Concert

At the end of each year, the school organised a simple school concert with prize presentation ceremony. I participated from P3 to P6. I loved short comedy play or skitch. It was good fun to be on stage. On the same day I would received by prizes as top student.

Getting into RI

Primary six ended in 1967 for me. My father had plan for me to go to Raffles Institution. I followed his instruction to apply for RI. Undoubtedly, it was the top choice school in Singapore. My dad clearly understood the significance and benefit of getting into top ranked school. When the PSLE result announced, only Tamilselvam and myself made the grade for RI. With 4 English schools in the entire Sembawang area, only 5 made it to RI. These 4 were became my travelling companions for the next 4 to 6 years.

Soon the entire community of Hainanese in Chong Pang village and my relatives knew of my enrolment in RI. I remembered I was the 2nd in this village and the first among my relatives. My intuition tells me that deep in my father’s heart, he must have been very proud of me.

It's was a wonderful childhood

My years in primary school were really uneventful but very enjoyable. Looking back, study was a breeze for me. I came from very humble background, but many of my classmates were worst and less fortunate than me. But there was no stress or worries. Perhaps then the social environment was not so competitive and less demanding. Even though we had no 'gameboys' or 'playstations', we were able to innovate and adapt plays to the fullest enjoyment.

1967 will mark the end of a chapter of carefree days, plays with no stress and worries. I am also very glad I was given the space both at home and school to grow up. Outside the classroom, education was equally important. It was here I nurtured my survival skill and learn to be street smart.



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PRIMARY SCH, GOOD, BAD & UGLY

School Messenger

There were a couple of things that I always remembered. I was the teacher’s pet student most of my classes. While in primary 5, my classroom was next to the principal office. I was frequently called upon to be the messenger. Even in the midst of a lesson, I had to go to each class, let the teacher read and sign the message. The entire school population knew me.

Playful

One day, when my teacher was absent, I was fooling around, playing kungfu with the broom stick with another boy. Accidentally, the broom stick hit the long ceiling light and shattered it. I was terribly scared that the school will inform my parents. The next day, on my own accord, I purchased the light tube and engaged the school gardener to help me replaced the broken light. My class teacher pretended not to know.

Blue back eye

Another incident happened in primary 6. That was after PSLE. I had some quarrel with and Indian student named Vikneswaran. He was tall and lanky. He challenged me to fight. I couldn’t walk away as my pride was more important. We decided to fight at a far away bus-stop. A few classmates had gathered around to support me as well as to witness the fight. It must have been a disappointment for those spectators. Before I could even swing my arm, the long arm of Vikneswaran had landed on my left eye. This fight end abruptly. The next few days, I had to lie to my parents and teachers that we had play ‘huntam bola’ and the ball hit my eyes. None of them suspected I had fought. Years later, we met up and had a good laugh over my stupidity and became friends again. Today he has migrated to Canada.

Regrettable incident

I was in primary 4A. There was a cute and smart girl in my class. Her name was Lai Young. There was one boy who always teased me that she was my girl friend. Perhaps he wanted her attention but I really had no clue. I really had no impression of her. One day, while waiting at the bus-stop, I was teased persistently in front of her. And to prove my disinterest, I went to punch her in the stomach. She cried. I regretted and realised how foolish and abrasive I was. They teasing stopped and I never see her again after we left school. I didn’t have the courage to apologise. Sadly, that was my only punch I threw on a human being and unfortunately it had to be an innocent girl. I deeply regret my stupidity.

In my entire school life, I was only physically punished once. That was in P4. I must have been naughty. I was throwing paper at a girl. I received 1 stroke of the ruler on my palm. I was the teacher favourite and she reluctantly punished me.




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PRIMARY SCH, CAREFREE LIFE

Primary 4 1964 (middle row 3rd from right)

Friends and hobbies

Occasionally I got permission to go out and played with my friends. We normally ended up fishing in stream. Behind my school, there was a hot spring. We played around a stream, feeling the heat of the water. There was another classmate that lived close to a cemetery. I find it rather scary when walking past this cemetery. There was also an Indian classmate whose house can only be accessed by a small walking path through tall ‘lallang’ bush. On some occasions I also invited my friends to my house to eat rambutans and play. I also collected cards and stamps as a hobby. Normally, we exchanged stamps. Many times my classmates just gave me.

Helicopters

As the British air base was just right behind this school, it was inevitable to avoid watching those iron birds circled over the sky. As a kid, I was amazed and often wondered how that machine flies and dreamt of being inside that helicopter. I believe my passion for flying must have been aroused thence. I am very glad I fulfilled my dream and passion. Beside the helicopters flying, the airbase was use by parachutists for practice jumps. I always wished I was one of the parachutists, gliding down so gracefully.

Flood and Rain.

The bus route between the school and Chong Pang village passed through a low lying area where a small river call Simpang River cut through. During heavy downpour, this area flooded and rendered the bus impassable. The only way home was to walk the 2 km. It was really fun wading through 2 feet of flood water and in the rain. We were oblivious to the dangers. If we were to step off the road and fell into the gushing river, we would definitely drown. Surprisingly, most of us had developed this survival instinct. And of course, parents had a higher threshold for dangers.

If it was raining during school dismissal time, my mother or my brother will wait for me with umbrella at the bus stop without fail. Yes, they had to walk 20 minutes to the bus stop.

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GOING TO ENGLISH SCHOOL

Father's most important decision

I spent 2 years in Poi Chai Pri School. I topped the class and with the good results, my father went to Sembawang Primary School to appeal for acceptance into this English school. Looking at my report card, I remembered this fat, stern and arrogant principal offered me to repeat primary 2 again. My father was so delighted that he readily accepted it without hesitation. My father couldn't communicate in English, so he asked a friend’s daughter to translate. This girl also took care of me in my first few weeks in school. I did not see her again after she left this school.

Sembawang Primary School

The school was about 2 km away from my house. It was a 20 minute walk to the bus stop followed by 5 cents bus rides which normally takes up to 10 minutes. There school had two blocks of single storey classrooms. The school functioned with 2 sessions. Pri 1, 3 & 5 in the afternoon, and the rest in the morning. It had a tuck shop and a big football field. Beyond the football field was Sembawang Air Base operated by RAF. Primarily it was a helicopters base. School uniform was white shirt and blue trousers. Strangely no school badge was required.

Pri 2 (1962) 4th from Left, Middle Row

Performed well in school

Transiting from Chinese to English school wasn’t too much of a problem for me. As I had to repeat pri 2, it was rather easy going. In the first semester, I was 3rd in class. By the end of year, I came up 1st in class. Thereafter, year after year, I was top in class, top in standard and at the end of the year I remembered going up the rostrum during school assembly to receive my book prizes. However, during my primary six final examinations, I was eventually toppled by my persistent and determined challenger. His name is Tamilselvam Muthu. Definitely hard work and determination paid off for him. This reminded me of the fable, "Tortoise and the Hare".

Primary school was really a breeze. There were hardly any homework and revision. I was able to absorb everything in the classroom. I spent most of my time playing, be it in school or at home. I was also appointed a prefect in P6 with much reluctance because I didn’t want to be a ‘policeman’ as I didn’t want to be unpopular. It was not cool as many will avoid you. I hardly exercised my prefect’s power.



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CHINESE PRIMARY SCHOOL

No Kindergarten

There was no early childhood education during my time. I went to Poi Chai Primary School. This was a Chinese medium school. In the early 60s before independence, majority of schools were Chinese which were started by Chinese charities and self help groups normally ran by dialect clans. My father was very eager to enrol me into English school. Due to lack of vacancies, the places were normally available to the better connected.

The eerie trail

The primary school was about 15 minutes walking from my attap house. The first 10 minutes walk was through walking trails use by only a couple of households. It took about 5 minutes to reach the first house. The trail was winding, both sides lined with thick scrubs and trees. The trail was wide enough for a car to drive through. Movement of vehicle created a grass divider on this trail. The trail was strewn with drive leaves. When you walk, the footsteps echoed into eerie noise as if someone was following you. On top of the noise, the trail was so secluded you just imagined ghost, robbery and anything that was scary. In my first 2 years in primary school, my mum would accompany me to and from school.

Chased by dogs

I had to walk past two houses with no fence. It was common for villagers to keep a few dogs which were never leashed. My mother walked me to school. As we walked past each house, we had to fend for ourselves. The dogs were duty bound to bark and run toward us. It can be very intimidating for those who were not use to be threatened by these dogs. It was all about human- animal co-existence. We walked confidently, maintained composure and do not allow our fear to betray us by running away. The dogs seem to understand our body languages. There were also dogs that were timid. Sometimes I carried some stones and gave that a surprise. That was cheeky and bullying the weak. Those that were hit will always remember to keep a safe distance. Another way to frighten the dog is to walk straight into him to instill fear in them. It’s a calculated risk, but it worked. Soon the dog and us learnt mutual respect and co-exist.

School Days

We received no pocket money. But always on raining day, my mum brought me hot Milo during recess and umbrella at the end of the day when there was rain. I remembered the class was very cramp with many students. The chairs and tables were made of wood. My uniform was which shirt and beige trousers. Some teachers carry cane with them to class. Being caned and standing in the corner were common. But of course, I need not worry about those.

In primary two, my sister joined me in the same school. That year, I exhibited some strange behaviour. At about 300 metres from school, I insisted my mother and sister go ahead. I did not want to be seen to be chaperon to school by parent anymore. If not, then my mother had to let me go 100 metres ahead. If she refused, I will cry. I got my way. At 7, I had decided to be independent and have been this way since.

Academically, I did very well, top in primary 2. I was well behaved, never been reprimanded for misbehaviour. I did no mischief and never bully or get bullied.

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EARLY YEARS, MY CHILDHOOD PART 2

Creating my own play

Because of the age gap among my siblings, playing at home meant I had to play alone. I had to be ingenious to create my own play. I will take my father’s tools like the hammer, wire cutter and saw to construct my crafts. Since he stopped commercial chicken farming, there were plenty of discarded chicken cages. I cannibalized the wood and cut off chicken wire to build my own bird traps and cages. This was the time I learn to use the hammer and nails. My carpentry skill actually was developed during this young age.

Trapping Birds

Birds’ trapping was one of my favourite hobbies that was very thrilling and can be carried out independently. I also remembered many Malays used to come to our neighbourhood to trap ‘burong kuku’ or ‘burong keropok’. They used one bird kept in a cage shielded by cloth. Nearby, they will place a branched laced with glue. The bird’s singing in the cage would attract other birds. When the unsuspecting birds landed on the glue branch, their feet will be stuck. This rubber glue is made from burning hardened rubber into liquid form. Then it is mixed with white rubber latex. I learned this technique from my brother and have produced my own bird glue. This glue was also used to trap other species of birds.

My neighbour also came to our farm to catch quails. They used a series of nooses made from fishing lines and laid in the sweet potatoes creepers. When the quails move through the sweet potatoes leaves, the nooses tightened around the necks and thus were trapped. I observed and also picked up this method. But it I found this not exciting. I also learned to set trap that use simple mechanism to set off automatically when the bird came for the bait. Using this method has its downside, often the preys died of strangulation. So I discontinued this method. I will blog on bird trapping, my specialty and something I wanted to boast but never, in another post.

Catching anythings that move

Other activities included catching spiders and all sort of dragonflies. I picked the techniques from my elder brother. I also secretly went to stream to catch fishes myself or with my brothers. We risked our feet being cut by debris while wading in the black and smelly stream water. Here we also harvested earthworms from certain part of the river bed to feed the fish.

I find it very difficult to describe this feeling of sheer exhilaration, thrill and joy of a good catch, be it a big male spider, big rare dragonfly, burong (bird) with unique singing voice or a colourful fish. It was the ecstasy of winning something big, outwitting the survival instincts of nature.

Admiring a newly born puppy. We don't wear shoes. Me in the centre topless. Left is my sis and squatting is brother Bobby.

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EARLY YEARS, MY CHILDHOOD, Part 1

Play, play and more play. If you do not harbour this thought or experience it, you probably missed your childhood. Although I did very well in studies, I never miss a moment of play.



Following my Brother


With Mum and Bobby

My elder brother is 5 years older, younger brother is 5 year younger. My sister was one year younger. The age gap was incompatible for meaningful child play among brothers. Most of the time, I have to find space and thing to play alone. My elder brother, sometimes took me along, I was delighted just to follow him along and watched him play with his friends. When my older brother included me in his activities, it makes me proud and truly privileged. My younger brother was just too young to play with me. And my sister wouldn’t play my games and that was understandable

Play in School

In primary school, mostly during the period from Pri 4 to 6, I was most playful. We played catching, ‘hantum bola’ marbles and miniature plastics toys call ‘kutis’. I was especially good at tops or ‘gasing’, a Malay game. Most of the games primarily predicated on the principle of knocking out the opponent position, such as marble and ‘gasing’. Sometimes with a good marble, a good hit can even shattered opponent marble into pieces.

Flying Kites

Kite flying with my neighbours was another memorable play. I have the ability make my own kites. It not as simple as one thinks. With poor aerodynamics the kite will never get airborne and even if it did, it will probably go into spiral back to earth. You need to tied the kite accurately and balance the kite with tail for stability. I have succeeded in flying my own home made kite. I was never involved with kite fighting. That will involve lacing the string with pounded glass and glue.

During the school holiday, my mum will allow me to stay with one of my richer uncles living in a landed property. There I will play snakes and ladder, draught and other board games. I normally stay over a week. It must be my parent way of giving us something they could not afford. How innovative. My mum too reciprocated with big kampong chicken. Our rambutans were ‘eat and take all you can’.


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FATHER'S VISION

Father's Vision

From the time my dad started the family in sembawang, he had known that it was not going to be easy. The odds were clearly stacked against him. His salary was meager. His age wasn’t young. He was already in his 50s. He does not have the technical skill or English language to get a better paying job. In spite of all the handicaps, he did raise a very happy family.

English Education

Clearly he had broad and clear vision. The only way for a better future was english education. He pushed hard and ensure me and my younger brother had English education. My elder brother was denied this due to lack of opportunity. For my elder brother lack of english education, he mitigated it by ennrolling my brother with technical education after his secondary school. With long term saving, he was even able to support my younger brother for overseas university.


I do it "My Way"


As for me, the circumstance was special. Very deep in my heart, I understood the predicament my father confronted. I am confident that I will excel if I stay focus and build my own life independently. After finishing pre-university in Raffles Institution and completing my national service in the navy, I pursue my passion for flying. I made the grade and never since regretted. My education after school was self learning, something I pursue relentlessly to enhance my knowledge in every fields. I have never allow my lack of material wealth to stand in the way of gaining intellectual wealth. I just soaked up knowledge regardless of relevance and without preconditions.

Simple and frugal life

Living condition in my childhood days was simple and rudimentary. We were poor by today standard and definition of poverty. But we had more than enough to eat, opportunity for education and plenty time to play as children. In school, fellow classmates never complain for lack of toys or time to play or too much schoolwork. Even without pocket money, many still content with tap water and snacks brought from home. Our parents were mostly very strict but parental love was abundant. We used hand me down clothes and shoes, but we don’t complain. We had simple rickety bicycles to move around. There was no television. But we still managed to watch some popular black and white programs from Huang Long Community Centre or my neighbour’s house. Electricity came when I was in primary 2 or 3. Drinking water was always from the well. Food was mainly from family farm except for fish and pork. Photographs of my father with younger brother Heng Yow (left) and elder brother Bobby (right).

All family members must contribute

Time was divided amongst school, play and helping in the house works.
Participating in house works or helping out in family business were norms for those living in the countryside. My elder brother helped my mum to deliver eggs to buyers. During the fruit season, he hawked rambutans outside a cinema call ‘Sultan’. He also sells rambutans to school teachers.

Mum tapped rubber for $5 per day

My mum took a half day job tapping rubber trees for latex and was paid $5 per day. She started before sunrise and by 9a.m the latex was ready for collection. My sister or I will go to the plantation to help here collect the latex so as to complete her job earlier. In that way she can be back early to cook lunch for us. None of my friends knew I worked in the rubber plantation as I was rather embarrassed to share my experience. It was really dirty and always stung by swarm of mosquitoes.

Sharing the family loads

At home, my sister and I also helped to tend to the chicken and to collect eggs. During the weekend, I also help collect chicken grass to supplement the chicken feeds. All my brothers and sister also help to collect and cut fire woods for cooking. Those duties were normally reserved during school holidays. During rambutan season, we also plucked them and then bundled them to be sold off. House works like washing crockery, washing and collecting laundry was done by my mum or sister. My brothers help in fetching water from the well.

So that’s how we grew up working together as a family. We shared the loads whereas unlike today, children share the goodies. We don’t questions about fairness of house duties. We just did it. It’s about responsibility, obligation and being useful. When completed, it’s play time. In spite of the doing what we did, I don’t recall we ever complain. Sometimes it’s even enjoyable. There was no problem of child obesity. All of us were skinny. My childhood was truly very meaningful, memorable and happy.

To be continued next post.

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