I Remember SG: My School Days

Tonight's post is my submission for the 'I Remember SG' Singapore Memory Project.

I feel very fortunate, in a way, to have grown up in an era, where there was no school rankings, no DSA, no Gifted Education Programme.

What is known as CCA now was then ECA (Extra-curricular activies) and one could join whichever sport without having to undergo selection trials or risk being kicked out of the ECA if one was not in the school team.

I was in the gymnastics team...and honestly, I don't think I ever got round to perfecting a sommersault, but I had great fun training for whatever few skills I could master.

Streaming in the primary school was unheard of.

Those were the days when the PSLE results slip only stated whether one passed or failed.

And there were only two choices for secondary school.

There was no agonising over where to go for many of us from the mission schools as it was a given that we would go on to the 'affiliated' secondary school, thus maintaining bonds with many friends who had grown up with us from childhood; bonds which have endured till now.

Life in St Anthony's Convent for me was outstanding in two key aspects:

1) The presence of the Canossian nuns and the prayerful atmosphere in school.

Being a convent school, this was inevitable but neither was there ever any outright proselytisation which would have made the non-Christian students and staff uncomfortable. In fact, the Malay/Muslim teachers and students got along very well with the nuns, who walked the talk of showing God's love to all, whilst maintaining strict discipline with the help of the teachers.

And because of their 'actions speak louder than words' examples, many girls would go on to convert to Christianity on their own accord.

True, there were nuns who were 'holy terrors' by virtue of their at-times fierce demeanour, but deep down, the girls knew they cared and in turn, returned that affection.

2) Music/drama activities.

Music was omnipresent in SAC. 

Hymns were sung at assembly every day and in my time at both the primary and secondary school, we had absolutely fantastic music teachers who had no end of activities to keep us occupied, where music and drama were concerned.

Music lessons were never sacrificed for revision of other subjects and they were definitely the favourite periods for us girls.

My primary school music teacher was Miss Monica Toh, whose soaring soprano voice kept us enthralled even as she drilled us in theory and taught us how to sing (and speak) clearly, learn to play songs on the recorder, pianica and harmonica.

The one most vivid memory I'll always treasure is the opretta she produced when I was in P4 viz The Magic Rose. It was a stage musical and involved almost the whole of one session of the primary level.

Oh...that was amazing! 

It had acting and singing; there was a choir and instrumental ensemble and we ran the show for not just one, but three performances!

The Youth Festival was also something to work towards and I remember playing two Filipino songs on the pianica for that in an ensemble and being dressed up in a traditional Filipina dress too when I was in P5. :)

My secondary school music teacher was no less amazing and she is the one and only Mrs Christine Kanagarajah, who taught generations of SAC girls and imbued in us a musicality which would remain with us all through our lives. Even now, so many years after leaving school, the hymns and songs we learnt stick in our brains and just a line or two can trigger a warm rush of nostalgia.

Incidentally, she is also the composer of our beloved school song, a marvellously melodius and emphatic anthem with meaningful lyrics which truly embody the Canossian ethos by which we were schooled in.

Drama was another activity which was encouraged, with each class usually having to put up some skit or other for big occasions like Teacher's Day, Foundress' Day or smaller events in school.

There was also the annual Inter-Class Drama Competition, with each class putting up a play. 

I most distinctly remember my Sec One experience where the play centred around a bird family and we had to wear a chatek feather on our heads to symbolise our avian origins...lol!

Ah...the goings-on that went on at the small stage in our 'Big Hall' during these performances!

It was also in Sec Three that I finally discovered my *ahem* more feminine side when I started taking an interest in dance.

Rose Eberwein taught lessons in our school for a spell, and eventually, Miss Emily Hogan took over and I remember her drum which she used to thump out the beats and rhythms for us to follow.

We choreographed items for school performances using popular tunes from then....including Funky Town, A Fifith Of Beethoven (from Saturday Night Fever) and the theme from Close Encounters of The Third Kind...and the reception from the audience was always nothing short of enthusiastic!

I'm pretty certain what we went through laid the groundwork for present-day SAC to find her niche in the Performing Arts, whilst providing a holistic education for the girls. :)