The Fun Class

Annex E Building of Raffles Institution

The Sec 3B Science classroom was in the Annex Building E of Raffles Institution which was at the junction of North Bridge Road and Bras Basah Road. The site is now occupied by the Raffles City Complex. No one knew why it was called Annex E. It started life as Raffles Girls School. By the time this photo, which is from the Singapore National Archives, was taken RGS had moved location to Anderson Road

Location of our Class Sec 3B Science

Our classroom was located as shown on the first floor and faced the very large Raffles Institution field. From our classroom, we could view many football and rugby matches between class lessons. 

In those days with old buildings, access to our classroom was by way of entering into another class Sec 3A Science, i.e. we must disturb the lesson in the A class each time we need to enter our classroom. This makes going to the toilet difficult. It also means that we cannot be late for any lesson. Yap Cheng Hua remembered that each time we had to pass through Sec 3A we would be scolded especially by one teacher Mr Michael Liew. He would say, ''You think you are TOP class, don't act tough, don't rest on your..."

Our classroom was secluded from the main corridor which ran perpendicular to the rooms. It was large for a class of forty-four. There was adequate space at the back of the classroom and allowed us the opportunity as a whole class to get into all sorts of mischief and trouble, thus making this class so memorable.

We would always station someone to watch out for the teachers. The one person who volunteered for the sentry duty was Tan Koon Wah. Now Koon Wah suffered from a polio when young and he had to wear braces. He sat on the third row of the class and he would stand near the door, peered out the windows on the right side of the classroom, at the corridor linking the classes. The teacher could sighted as he walked the corridor to enter the class. Koon Wah would alert the whole class and then despite his leg braces, would dash to his seat at super speed. 

One favourite prank was for us to lock in those boys who were dilly-dallying in class after dismissal. Some of us would rush out and lock the door preventing the others to come out. As a result, the locked-in boys would take to screaming. Chen Wen remembered that Chua Fook Kee was a shrill and loud screamer and another classmate Hia Hui Kim could mimic that scream. At the same time we had two trumpeters in class, Hui Kim and Foo Moo Pao and if they were ever locked in, there would be ear-shattering blares on their trumpet. Once we took to screaming so loudly along with trumpet blaring causing such a pandemonium that the Assistant Principal Mr George Sobreilo conducted an investigation. It was to no avail because he never did find out who were the culprits

The seating plan of Sec 3 B Sc (1966)

Chen Wen whom we all attributed to have an elephant memory was able to cough out a sitting plan of the 44 boys in that class. We sat on wooden chairs and had wooden flip top study desks. One common punishment for not paying attention in class was to be asked to stand on these chairs throughout the rest of the lesson. We always got back our pound of flesh for that punishment because as the teacher left the classroom we would all open and shut our flip desktops making loud banging noises.

Now the Annex building had wooden floors and the planks were laid longitudinally. Over the years dust would have been trapped between the wood planks. Below our classroom was the Physics Lab and our rival class Sec 3A would have their physics lesson below. One of our cheeky acts was to stamp our feet on the wooden floor, all forty-four of us, causing century year old dust to rain on their heads.

At the same time, we used the back of the classroom to practice Standing Broad Jumps as well as the 4x10m Shuttle Run. Obviously it affected the Science Lab class below and from time to time School Prefects would be sent to our class to book the errant boys. Somehow we managed to receive early warning that the prefect was coming. He would appear in our classroom finding 44 innocent faces all seated at our desks.

Contributed by Lionel, Chen Wen, Cheng Hua and Poh Seng