Ye Old Tuckshops

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 and no one knew the reason. 

The Annex Tuck-Shop

The secondary and smaller tuckshop was located behind the Annex E building. It was called the Annex Tuckshop. Both tuckshop had wooden long tables with very old looking aluminium tops and rickety long benches never like the slick tables and chairs of today's school canteens. There were very few stalls selling food at both locations and each recess there was a mad scramble to get at the food. Why? Because after eating we will go out into field and hot sun to play football. The prefects would be let out early when they are on tuckshop duty of ensuring that we would line up in neat rows to order our food.

Fifty-five years hence, the ex-Rafflesians are still recalling tucking at their food and discussing the menu and the hawkers that sold their food to us. It all began with trying to identify a mystery person: 

Leo Chin Seng:  If I recall correctly, our friend was selling mee siam, at the main tuckshop. Wah, that chilly sambal was damn shiok. His name could be Maidin?

Tahale Selamat:  Yes he is an Indian Muslim; the Malays spelt it Mydin.

It turned out that his name was not Maidin but V Malik Mohd and he sold mee siam and mee goreng

Teo Joo Huak: I had checked the recent publication “ Back To Raffles @ Bras Basah”, on page 23 ( a page on Raffles Institution Hall, Library, Gymnasium, Main Tuckshop, Food Stalls ) item 42 photo showing The Indian Food Stall owned by V Malik Mohd since 1949.

Leo Chin Seng: I still have fond memories of his mee siam. A simple 20 or 30 cents portion, I think.

Liu Nam Chuen:  Mee siam man Very cheeky. He piled a small bamboo between the mee siam cos I brought my own hard boiled egg

Patrick Lim:  I don't know his name but am very sure I bought mee goreng added with rojak gravy from him. He was amused that a Chinese boy ate it so often, at least twice a week. When I ordered mee goreng, he wud automatically add rojak gravy, when most of the boys ate it dry. He looked fierce but friendly, smiled a lot with some front teeth missing, I remember.

Tahale Selamat: There the big white enamel bowl of mee siam!!

Leo Chin Seng: Haha, Patrick, I remembered him well too : a chirpy chap, ever ready to banter or tease us young boys. He was selling mee siam,at the main tuckshop, would fry up mee goreng too, n also recalled his version of indian rojak, not an extensive range of selection, only a few simple items.Stall beside him was the other Indian man in the pic, selling hot drinks n cakes, buns, stuffs like that.

James Foo Khee Fong:  This is the real McCoy selling the prata and teh tarik (he didn’t tarek) but he may have changed the menu to mee goreng and indian rojak. Leo is right on the spot about the other corner selling drinks and was manned by elderly couple with daughter. Middle stall sold mee soup and char siew rice but 100% sure it changed to selling char kway teow and the stall is smacked in the middle.

Leo Chin Seng: Yes, selling teh, kopi, was this very much darker Indian man, in the main tuckshop too, his stall next to thus mee siam man. Apart from that Indian man hot drinks stall , there was another iced drinks stall, manned by a Hylam peh leh, assisted by his young daughter, if my recall is correct. They were selling some  kind of milo drink ,adding in milk, in a big roundish tall glass container.

James Foo Khee Fong: The Malay man/woman stall is by the side wall and have to queue up along the narrow alley to buy.

Patrick Lim Yew Ying: I remember it was Indian rojak, with thick, sweet tomato gravy. He also sold mee goreng. 

James Foo Khee Fong: My memory of this stall is also closer to yours as can’t remember the mee siam (maybe not a big fan of Indian mee siam which has thick coconut based gravy). The only two stalls that stays vivid in my mind are the mee rebus and lontong stall at the annex tuckshop and the char kway teow in the main tuckshop. The char kwar teow was literally something to die for as we beat the recess buzzer on the split second and raced through the wooden steps from second level, sometimes jumping down a few to be quicker than the others, ran past the narrow toilets walkways and then past the long tables to be first in line to order the char kway teow which is sweet, saltish with an egg that’s half done.

Chen Wen: One of the most popular order from the Char Kway Teow man was to tell him you wanted the 40 cents combo.  For 40 cents you get an egg fried into the kway teow  but had to wait a short time.  If you don't want this premium combo, you can just "pick from the shelf" which was replenished often.

Rajan Khrishnan: As someone else wrote on this group the Char Kwey Tiao in the tuckshop was a big hit and often ran out. I remember what was termed as the "Char Kwey Tiao dash". As the time for the recess time bell to ring neared, sime eager classmates would move towards the classroom door so that they would be first off the mark when there was a hint of the bell ringing,to reach  the stall ahead of others. It was most amusing amongst a group who had particular interest in this somewhat dwadly serious daily occurrence. Some even chose to go to the toilet just before recess so that they can have a lead to the particular stall.

Even today a few of us discuss this "CKT Dash" with pleasant memories.

Patrick Lim Yew Ying: Yes, the mee rebus was so good I ate at least twice a week. The mee goreng  from this seller can be added with the gravy, a little soggy, but tasted very good. I didn't particularly like the rojak cuz of almost all flour, but mee goreng was a favorite after mee rebus, which became my gold standard to compare with subsequently, whenever I took mee rebus. I missed the char kway teow cuz I didn't jump the stairs.

Chen Wen: The mee rebus Malay man did top it up with some black sauce.  I think we could also ask for more.  In the main tuckshop, the stall that was selling fishball noddle and char kway teow also had a container of fried onions.  Some students took so much each time that it often ran out.

In retrospect those hawker stalls were indeed of high calibre.  The Indian stall that sold mee siam normally occasionally served Indian rojak.

Lee Yoon Moi : The mee rebus at the annex tuck shop was my favourite. Ate there almost every recess. Can never forget the taste, up to now no mee rebus tastes like it. Also remember the guy helping out there wore eye liner, which puzzled me - being too innocent then. We used to disturb the mee goreng man at the main tuck shop by shouting ‘balek India’. He would then bantered and joked with us happily.

James Foo Khee Fong, The Annex tuckshop sold lontong, mee rebus and tau suan (recalled by Lionel as it’s his favorite) and lady selling Milo drinks.

Rajan Krishnan: A elderly man carrying a pole across his shoulder with baskets at each end used to come to the main tuckshop before recess time and leave after that. He sold bubor hitam with coconut milk to be added on. Sometimes bubor terigu.

Lionel Lee: That elderly man who carried his wares like a hawker also sold tau suan a dessert which I continue to love to this day. In those days, many times I had only 10 cents in my pocket for recess and Tau Suan is what I went for 10 cents a bowl, which was all I could afford.

James Foo Khee Fong: During pre U 1, they came out with rule that all plates must be returned to the big rattan baskets placed at the end of the dining table. As we entered into a rebellious age of 16-17, we defied the rules but the school positioned prefects around the long tables (Tok Panjang) and with gryphon eyes watched to catch those that left their plates behind. Remember when we had to return our plates after eating mee rebus or lontong? We came out with idea how not to comply the strict rules by making someone else return it. Around 10-15 of us, some from different classes would play or pay som, one on one and loser take on the next loser sitting next to him and so on until finally we have one big loser and he will collect all the 10-15 plates and put them inside the rattan basket. The prefects who stood there couldn’t “arrest” us as we did no wrong even though we didn’t return the plates as someone in our group did our job.

Food continues to be dear to the stomachs of every Singaporeans. We older men would still recall the good old days we spent at our School Tuck-Shops eating simple meals yet mouth watering good!

Contributed by James Foo, Yoon Moi, Rajan, Chen Wen, Chin Seng, Patrick, Tahale, Nam Chuen, Joo Huak and Lionel