The Naughty Boys

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...

A very innocent question asked many times by the Chinese Language teacher of those who took Chinese as their second language conducted in the Sec 3B Sc classroom.   He could have asked about other places with the same outcome but he chose Egypt each and every time.   Perhaps he was fascinated by ancient civilizations especially one like Egypt that dated well before even the Chinese civilization. Mr. Egypt told interesting and purportedly true stories to students when he was not teaching or after he had finished what he intended to teach for the period.   The authenticity of his stories was often met with skepticism followed by the question, How do you know? It became a standard routine.   His answer would invariably be “Do you know Egypt?”   When the inevitable answer “yes” was given, he would ask “How do you know Egypt?” The expected standard answer was “I read about it.” Mr. Egypt would then end the standard routine with “I knew it the sa...

This is the official photo of the School Staff in 1966. By early 1966, Mr Philip Liau succeeded Mr E W Jesudason as the Principal of Raffles Institution. Both were very strict disciplinarians, running the School with iron fists, imposing their visions and their ambitions for the School. Although the boys feared them, we all subscribed to the need of keeping the School in shape; we believed that this would maintain RI at the pole position among all secondary schools in Singapore. Anglo Chinese School (ACS), St Joseph’s Institution, Victoria Secondary School, St Andrew’s School all stood far behind RI. Of special note was the Rafflesian Spirit then. It was palpable. It stirred us on not only to pledge loyalty to the School but also to achieve the aspirations and ambitions our principal and teachers had for us. Unlike other schools, the boys came from all backgrounds, many from families with humble means. We were chosen by merit after completing the PSLE, Primary Six Leaving Exam...