The Naughty Boys

At Raffles Institution we were introduced to a myriad of literary writings. In Secondary One for our English Language text, we were introduced to 'All Men Are Brothers'. It is a portrait of Albert Schweitzer and his medical missionary work in Lamberene in French Equatorial Africa. Chen Wen kept the textbook all these years (see picture). In those days the covers of our textbook were non-discreet and dull but the stories inside can be quite fascinating. Imagine we were 'kampong' boys coming from neighbourhood primary schools, now told to study a Nobel Prize Laurette of 1952. It immediately trusted us into a different world that can be explored just by reading books.  Chen Wen remembered that in Sec 1, the books we studied included A Time of Darkness, The Adventures of Hang Tuah and Outstanding Short Stories. In a Time of darkness there was a spooky character named KL Fong. Chen Wen teased Cheong Moon Foo by calling him KL Cheong. Lee Dan Lin added salt and peppe...

The Main Tuck-Shop What is now the school canteen was call the School Tuck-Shop in our days. The term "tuck", meaning food, is an Australian slang which means to  "to tuck into a meal".  We had two Tuckshops, the larger called the main tuck-shop was located next to main Raffles Institution Building. Strangely, one passed through the corridor of the toilets to get to it although you can get to it from the sides which are open to the field. A large Banyan tree, verdant with foliage and numerous aerial roots stood tall next to the main tuckshop. It was a majestic tree. RI was a Banyan tree to us as we grew up and we were sheltered by the foliage of the huge school compound, much like sheltering under that Banyan tree; we felt at home and secure. So many classmates, so many friends. We, Rafflesians, never saw the Banyan tree and the main tuckshop as separate entities, they were one iconic feature of the Bras Basah Campus. Then one day the grand old tree fell an...

About 300 boys of ages 14-15 years must surely and evidently manifest strong testosterone urges resulting in growth spurts, muscular development and attraction to the girls. Alas, we are but an all -boys school and there was little opportunity for the meeting of the sexes. We can only look forlornly across North Bridge Road towards the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus, an all-girls school. Being a convent, there were very high walls surrounding that school thus shielding the girls from view. Nevertheless this did not stop us from  the sharing of  juicy girlfriends stories, fantasies and 'naughty' pictures. Raffles Institution is a great school which prided itself not only for its extraordinary academic results but also a superb all round education with much emphasis in sports, the arts and extra curricular activities. An intensive school programme and activities occupied the attention of the boys. It must have been so designed to divert attention from the testosterone ...

The Last Assembly at RI Bras Basah Road We, old Rafflesians, always cherish the school songs we sang at the Thursday assemblies as well as the weekly music lessons we received during the lower secondary classes. Sec 3B Science had our music lessons every Wednesday before recess at the School Hall together with other Sec 3 classes. The lessons were taught by Mr George Sobreilo the asst Principal and sometimes by Mr David Lim, the Inspector of Schools for Music sent by the Ministry of Education. The School published a yellow coloured notebook which had a list of more than 150 songs and we all had to buy this RI songbook like a textbook. We sang those songs in turn during assembly and at every event. We had to sit on the floor of the school hall which was quite disconcerting because we wore white shorts and invariably these shorts would be dirty with dust. Many of us were from poor families and cannot afford to have uniforms laundered every day, so we came to school with d...