Old
photos (4)
This
photo was taken with Yock Eng High School uniform for the school report book in
1964 when I was 14 year-old.
I
spent 7 years, one year extra needed for normal primary school studies, from
1957 to 1963, and managed to ascend to secondary school. My father filed 3 schools
for me during selection exercise - Catholic High School, Maris Stella High
School, and Yock Eng High School,
Yock
Eng High School was chosen because my cousin was studied there. My cousin was
so smart that took only 5 years to complete the primary school studies, who had
got a double promotion and skipped primary 4, straight to primary 5.
Yock
Eng was located at No. 65, Tanjong Katong Road, adjacent to the Hollywood
cinema. My cousin had already completed Pre-U 2 when I entered Yock Eng, and I
took over from him the brass buttons for the school uniform and the school
badge together with some old textbooks. My dad was a tailor, with those school
uniform buttons and the school badge, on the first day at Yock Eng I was able to
wear the school uniform. There were also some new acquainted classmates in school
uniform, who were students rose from Yock Eng’s affiliated primary 6 classes.
Yock
Eng scheduled Primary classes (Pr 1 to 6) and Sec 1classes in the afternoon
session, so I was in the afternoon session in Sec 1. I could take a STC bus No
15 from Victoria Street, it would arrive at a bus stop in front of the school, the
bus fare for student was 10 cents (bus fare for adult was 25 cents). However,
the STC bus No 15 did not ply regularly on time and often had to wait for a
long time, hence, I would rather to take a Changi bus or any STC bus going to Geylang
Road, I would alight at the bus-stop immediately after Paya Lebar Road, and walked
from there to school about 300m.
In
1964, Sec 1, I was chosen to be the class monitor by Ms Xu Wenqui, the form
teacher, whose name was ‘Rose’ literary, but she refused to be called as Meiqui
(玫瑰),
instead wanted to be called ‘Wenqui’. This became students’ gossip about her
name. Probably because there was a song lyric ‘Rose, Rose, I love you’.
We were
made to study the textbooks and its authors, to memorize by heart. Tests and
examinations were merely the test of the ability of the student memorizing
power.
In
1965, when I was in Sec 2, suddenly Singapore was withdrew from Malaysia to
become an independent republic. We started to recite the National Pledge every
morning before the class started.
In
1966, there were art class or science class to be chosen, I took a Sec 3
science class, no more memorize by heart in studies, physics, chemistry,
trigonometry, geometry, algebra, had to understand the principle, not memorize.
In
1967, the year we switched to English textbooks, both teachers and students could
not cope with the sudden changes, as usual lessons were continued taught in Chinese.
In
1967, I managed to obtain a grade 3 in the Chinese School Sec 4 School
Certificate Examination. I was rose to Pre-U 1, but I did not continue my
studies, I applied to join the SAF (Singapore Armed Forces), but was rejected
and was asked to wait for the national
service conscription letter.
The scores
of my studies in Yock Eng were as follow:
1964
(Sec 1), the form teacher was Ms Xu Wenqui
who taught us Chinese. I was in position 12 in a class of 38 students. I
was the class monitor.
1965
(Sec 2), the form teacher was Mr Ho Hedong who taught us Chemistry. I was in position
8 in a class of class 36 students.
1966
(Sec 3 Science), the form teacher was Mr Chan Pofat who taught us Chinese. I was in position 8 in a class of class 39 students..
1967(Sec
4 Science), the form teacher was Mr Ho Yusheng who taught us Chemistry. I was in position 17 in a class of class 39 students.
