Physics and the Indomitable Mr Pwee

When we were promoted to Secondary 3, we were streamed into the Science or Arts Classes. We had no choice, it was decided for us by an aggregate of three subjects, Mathematics, Science and English from the results of the final examination of Secondary 2. Some were unhappy because based on the total final examination results some would have been in the A class instead of B or C class. Their positions in standard at he final examinations merited them to be placed in the better classes.

For those of us who were disappointed to be assigned to Sec 3B Science, we soon realized that we were placed into a fun class, the most memorable class in all our many years of education. Serendipitously, the cheeky boys congregated into that one class, now infamous for the havoc created in the classroom.  Sec 3B was strongly and diversely represented by Sec 2A and Sec 2C.  Mathematically, the average of A+C = B.

Physics was a new subject for us. Many of the boys liked it and thus many became engineers. Physic lessons were enjoyable in Sec 3B not only because many of us were interested but because the lessons turned out to be fun and memorable not the least of which because of the antics we played during the teaching of it.

Mr Pwee Hock Teck was our Physics teacher. He had a big frame but he had a mild mannered and unsophisticated demeanor. He was also a patient man. Unfortunately, we took advantage of his good nature by playing pranks on him:

1. Mr Pwee liked to walk up and down the class while he was teaching. He would walk to the back of the class and then turned around to face the black board. In that short pause, we would often pin a tail of ribbons made out of newspapers by inserting them into the waist of his pants. He would then walk to the front of the class with a ‘pony tail’ coming out of his trousers, as we giggled.

2. Someone, it could have been Chan Yau Seng, caught a giant grasshopper in the school field. He brought it to class kept it inside his flip-top desk. Our flip top desk had a space to keep our books and the flip-top cover would serve as our writing table. As Mr Pwee walked past and turned around, someone slipped the grasshopper into the teacher’s shirt! Imagine the commotion and the hilarious scene that ensued. Mr Pwee demanded that the student own up. No one did, so Mr Pwee wanted to send Moon Foo to detention class instead. In the end someone did stand up and was duly sent to detention class

3. Another time, Leong Teep Khee, burnt newspapers in the book space of our desk then flipped the cover over causing a lot of smoke in class whilst Mr Pwee was teaching. Teep Khee denied he started the fire, only that he tried to quench it, hence smoked the classroom. 

4. There was a faulty chair in the classroom in which the seat was nearly broken in half. We decided to replace the teacher’s chair with this chair. We brought the two halfs together, precariously still standing.  Unfortunately, Mr Pwee was the teacher who unwittingly sat on the chair. The two sides of the chair wedged in and pinched his buttocks. At this point Poh Seng saw that he immediately shot up, after he had recomposed, he told the class that he had good reflexes. We all roared with laughter.

5. We used to walk in the Physics Lab, which was below our classroom, as a group and greeted Mr Pwee with a united “Good Afternoon Sir”. However, once we decided to stand in one row and walked in the Lab one by one and proceeded to greet Mr Pwee with 44 ‘Good Afternoon Sir’. It was a long greeting after which he told us that we need not greet him anymore. 

6. We were having a lesson on magnetism one day. Chen Wen remembered that Cecil Chiam, Lim Kim Quee and Hia Hui Kim promptly tried to demagnetize the magnet rods by burning them with Bunsen burners.

7. There was a siren on the teacher’s bench during a lesson on sound waves. When Mr Pwee left the Lab, Cecil Chiam promptly went up to the siren and experimented with cranking it with increasing speed. The resulting loud wailing of the siren permeated the whole Annex E block. Mr Pwee rushed in, by which time Cecil had run to his bench. He was so angry and asked Moon Foo who the culprit was. As usual the class monitor kept silent and no one owned up. At this time Mr Pwee threatened to punish Moon Foo. Cecil bravely came forward to confessed. No one remembered whether Cecil was ever punished. Everyone, except Cecil remembered the siren incident.

8. There was also unconfirmed rumour that Mr. Pwee went to school in a singlet one day before he came to RI.

Despite all this pranks on him, Mr Pwee was not known to lose his temper. He was very tolerant and took all the mischiefs in his stride. We do not know if he ever punished anyone. Once he sent a few to detention class for their pranks.  Later in the same week he and the class did very well during a class when an MOE inspector was present.  When the inspector left, the class persuaded him to withdraw the detention class sentence (typically served on Saturdays).  He did withdraw with little hesitation. The class admired him.

On looking back, some of us think that we were unkind to Mr Pwee. We took advantage of his good nature. He was a little plump is the face and this suited his name 'Pwee' which in Hokkien means fat. It gave him a nerdy look and this made him a prime target. Swee Chuang observed that he took it well; we do not understand why.


Contributed by Lionel, Chen Wen, Poh Seng, Cecil, Kim Quee and Swee Chuang