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...

Cheong Moon Foo was our class monitor of Sec 3B Science. He was slightly older than most of us and had an elder brother disposition to the extent that he was elected monitor of his classes from Sec 1-3. Unfortunately, Sec 3B was so incorrigible and up to so much mischiefs that it got the better of him. By Sec 4 and beyond Moon Foo refused to be class monitor anymore. Poor Moon Foo, he was hauled up by teachers and principal umpteen times to answer for the class’ misbehaviors. Most times, he was told to take control of the class but secretly, he was enjoying our pranks. The worst was when the class was detained and not allowed to attend the RI-Saints Rugby Match. During that detention the class made such a ruckus including offending Asst Principal George Sobreilo for doing a slow match towards the flag lowering ceremony that Moon Foo gave up entirely. Chen Wen recalled a secret that Moon Foo pledged him to keep and now exposed for the first time in 54 years. It belied the ki...

The Singapore Flag The National Pledge of Singapore, an oath of allegiance, was first introduced in August 1966. It was an initiative by the Ministry of Education and approved by government. So when it was first introduced, the schoolchildren will recite the pledge at the start of the school day. This routine has stood the test of time. More than 50 years later, students are still reciting the pledge today. At the beginning of nationhood, the pledge became a rallying cry for the country and has engendered a sense of pride. commitment and faithfulness for many succeeding generations of school children.  It all started with us in Sec 3B Science, we were the first batch of Singapore schoolchildren who recited this pledge. At that time there were two sessions in school, the morning and afternoon sessions. Secondary 1 to 3 classes were in the afternoon session and Sec 4 to Pre-university 2, the morning session. It was like a rite of passage when we moved from the afternoon to t...