My Primary School in 1966

Bukit Ho Swee East School (Class of Pr.3A (p.m.), 1968 - this is the school that I have been to. Spent 6 years there until I finish my PSLE and move on to Gan Eng Seng School (Secondary school). The uniform is white and brown. My eldest brother, Seng Cheng studied in the chinese school down by the slope; called Bukit Ho Swee West School, the uniform is White and Sky Blue. I remember participating in the milk scheme in the late 60s because of my small and undernourished built; the school's fight tooth decay campaign and the Post Office Saving Bank money savings campaign. I can still remember the fight tooth decay song....it goes something like this,
Fight tooth decay the toothbrush way,
After your meal to stop decay,
Use your toothbrush right and ........I forgot leow...hee hee.
Walking home to our Blk 5, #611-C flat after school especially during Chinese New Year period was fun then, there were fire crackers thrown down from the flats every where and we have to be careful. Aiyoh, no problem la those days! It's like that one la!
Geok Hua, Yoke Kheng and Guek Hong were all from the same school. Sin Kiat went to Jervois Primary School - today the school is some kind of half-way house.
Today, BHSES school is gone and is replaced by some kind of Ministry of Education Examination Centre or something like that.
My primary one class is 1D and my form teacher then is Ms Quek who subsequently became Mrs Lim. She was very young and pretty then; hee hee, today she must be at least 60 years old - wonder where she is now.
I was kinda of smart and proceed to 2A, 3A, 4A, 5A and then 6A. My 6A teacher then was Mr Yuen. He sent me to take part in the Oratorical Contest in De La Salle Primary School with a girl named Wong Yuet Peng - Yuet Peng must be 47 or 48 today hor , hee hee. The script for the contest was written by him. I also perform on stage during the school's celebration for National Day - one in a play as the chief of a gangster and the other one in Wu-Su demonstration - kool huh! I still remember my script for the gangster chief - I started the sketch by shouting - " How much money have we stolen?"

A new school , Gan Eng Seng Primary School is formed from the merger of Alexandra Hill Pr, Bukit Ho Swee Pr, Henderson Pr and Keng Seng Pr in Jan 2002. The merged school has been functioning at the new school built at Lengkok Bahru (former Alexandra Hill PS site).

Sultan Shoal - 27 Nov 2006

Hee hee, remember this picture on the left ? Most of you do except those who have not been there before. This year in Nov 24 - 27, 2006 and since 1998, every year after that without fail, Seng Cheng and my family (Sing Chee and Jason) had been there ......Sultan Shoal ! Sultan Shoal is located on the western anchorage of Singapore Straits. It is off Tuas and our reclaimed Jurong Island. On the shoal, a lighthouse has stood there since 1895. Sultan Shoal is a good getaway and a great fishing spot too. Here is where our next generation grew up - Jasmin, Justin, Jacklyn, Jason, Eugene, Tania, Shi Min, Kwok Sin, Yi Wen will all remember Sultan Shoal. This is the place where everyone who had been there and who holds a rod or a fishing line was sure to catch an edible fish....Ga-fish, pomfret, grouper, selar, kuning, Queen fish, Green-eye sotong, baby baracooda, Kim Bak Lor......
On the island, which took about 5 min to walk leisurely round, there is also a lagoon which will fill up during high tide, 2 units of chalets each having a telephone, 3 air-conditioned rooms enough for 12 adults, 2 BBQ pits for each chalet unit, deck chairs and wrought iron chairs/table on the outside, Majong table, Dining Table, Sofa seats, DVD player, Karaoke System on the inside and TV tuner and Yagi antenna system that are capable of receiving the Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia broadcast stations; fully furnished kitchen cooking facilities and utensils and two large bathing rooms/toilet.
I remember in 1998 when we first went to stay on Sultan Shoal, the jetties that streches out to the sea were made of wood. The kids then would sit on the jetty during high tide - the waves would come pounding strongly over the jetty and heave it up and down. It was fun but dangerous as we feared that the jetty might gave way then; about 3 years back in 2004 I think, the jetties were replaced with concrete ones which were very strong and a lot more safer....but there goes the fun part which the kids still remember. Some of the kids also like to go crabbing in the lagoon during low tide. Today in Nov 27, 2006, we discover that there were many many oysters on the rocks and the walls of the lagoon - hee hee, guess what is on the menu in our next trip? Every time we go there, we will always have BBQ. We will bring in food to cook/BBQ and occassionally the breakfast and lunch were brought in by others who come in the morning boat the next day for a day or two visit. Guess what we do on the island ?....Fishing, watch TV/movies, sleep, eat, swim in the lagoon, pluck coconut, pluck mangos...fishing, watch TV/movies.....repeat.

Here are some information that I found out about the island. : Currently still active and has a focal plane of 20 m (66 ft) - meaning the diameter of the tower I guessed; the light in the lighthouse rotates to give two white flashes every 15 s. The tower is 18 m (59 ft) tall. The masonry tower is centered on the roof of a 2-story keeper's house. The lighthouse is painted white; the keeper's house roof is red. The striking lighthouse exhibits a remarkable mixture of Oriental and Victorian design and is located on the island of Selat Jurong, about 8 km (5 mi) south of the western tip of Singapore Island. Accessible only by the PSA launches from the West Coast Pier. BTW, the Car Park 2 outside nearby the pier and along the West Coast Highway is free parking anytime, hee hee.... so you know what to do.....drive and park there la!

SingChee

Yesteryears

My earliest recollection of my childhood streches way back to 1966 when I was then almost 7 years old . Now I always remember it as the year England won the World Cup.
Guessed what, I was still drinking from the milk bottle before I was embarrassed into giving it up before I started primary school. Kindergarden then were for the rich as none of any of us, siblings started with them.
I recalled sitting near the window of our new 1 room, 611-C, Blk 5 unit overlooking Bukit Ho Swee Road when we first moved there. There were many lorries carrying soil and gravel along the road leading towards Jalan Klinik, just a stone throw away where the building of the flats continued. There were lorries painted red, blue, green and assorted colours.
The block of flat opposite our block had lift and we were fascinated by how my neighbour , Ah Chew disappear into it and comes down from the staircase later. We all thought he was very brave.
A bowl of prawn noodle then was 25 cents for the big bowl bought from the hardworking tick-tock man. He will bring the bowls of hot noodle to our house when you placed the order with him when he walks pass your flat with his tick-tock sticks.
At night, a mee-goreng man pushes his cart along Bukit Ho Swee Road calling out "Mee-Goreng, Mee-Goreng".
Hawkers were common behind our block of the flats and we ususally bought breakfast there.
I remember one of dad's friend who was a sailor. When he came to visit us once, he brought many colourful birds and parrots in two cages for us. He also help us paint the house with white wash.
I also remember the swill collector who came every morning to collect the food that we threw away - the 'Pia Poon' person as we call him/her will till 2 big tin containers on/his stick and will pick up the swill from house to house; the swill are for the pigs in the farm - come Chinese New Year, he would thank us by giving us a live stock or sometimes 24 eggs from his farm. Hee, Hee, what a deal then - today, the farm are professionally managed and eat only genetically modified food I guessed...but those were the days.