My Teaching Career (Woodlands Sec 1985 - 1987)

Woodlands part 1

The first day that I reported to Woodlands Secondary, I met Mrs Nara and Mr Ngoh Choon Ho who brought me around. the Technical Head was Mr Peh Tow Toon, a powerful figure in the technical area. It was in early Feb 1985.
I could never imagine the later events that occurred during Nara's time. The general staff was against her as she often picked on vulnerable teachers and delayed their promotion or confirmation without much reasons. I was also told to watch from the workshop's machine room how Mrs Nara would hide herself behind trees to catch teachers leaving. The whole matter became heated when some staff decided to take action by submitting a letter of complaint to MoE. I was inevitably drawn in when the group, led by a CL teacher came to school at night to approach me for my signature. I had just started as a supervisor of the CET programme by VITB. The other supervisor was Mr Low Siew Mun.
When the letter reached MoE, investigation began. During that time, Mrs Nara was trying to pinpoint the 'Indian chiefs'. She called me to her office, questioning me and was seen shedding tears. I was told not to say much on the matter. Thought it was left to that.
At the end of the year, we heard that she met a serious accident during her holidays in New Zealand. The life at Woodlands changed dramatically from then on.
In Woodlands, I was in charge of soccer again. We have some success in the A division boys when we entered the semi final and played in National Stadium. the etam was made up of mainly Sec 5 boys. We lost though.