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...

2101 Raffles Scout Troop (Sitting from Left Amos Koh Ah Meng 1st, Chey Chor Wai 3rd, Lionel Lee 4th, Tay Wee lee 5th Kwok Wai Keong 6th, Tan Poh Puay 7th, Kwek Siew Jin 8th, Kwek Teng Khoon 9th, S Puhaidran 10th Sitting from Right Lim Kim Quee 1st, Leong Teep Khee 3rd Siva Kandiah 4th, Chong Hong Leong 5th Chua Seng Chew 6th. Standing Last Row from Left Denis Tan 1st, Koh Chee Wah 2nd, Liow Siew Choon 5th,  Teo Guan Chye 8th, Khoo Teng Chye 11th. Standing Last Row from from Right Chia Chee Keong 1st Ho Lim Eng 4th) 2101 Scouts Patch There were two scout troops in Raffles Institution in 1966, the 2101 Scout Troop, formerly the 32 nd Raffles and the 2102 Scout Troop, formerly 2 nd Raffles. From Sec 3B Sc, Chey Chor Wai was Senior Patrol Leader of 2101 Scout Troop and Chan Bok and Lionel Lee, who were both Patrol Leaders of Eagle and Hawk Patrols respectively. The other patrols in 2101 were Kestrel, Owl, Kingfisher and Falcon. Unless we are patrol leaders, most were gra...

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 le...

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...