Chua Chu Kang Secondary School - The Early Years School Camps

1994
In their second year, the pioneer batch of pupils got their first taste of outdoor camping at Jalan Bahtera Camp. It was a 3D-2N camp. All the activities were planned and organized by the teachers, no external vendor. The most exciting part of the camp was the night walk from camp to the Lim Chu Kang Cemeteries. The pupils started off in high spirit and noisily.....but the moment we went into the cemetery, it was total silence from them, all the way back to camp. Ms Sum, the Principal, led the way in this night walk.

 One of the 2 classes of second batch NT pupils 1996

First batch NT pupils in the Workshop

1995
When we planned the Sec 2 camp for the 19 classes, we did not foresee the enormity of the task until the camp superintendent mentioned to us our 'bravery' to have so many campers at one time. He had never seen a school doing that....for 750 pupils at one go!!!!! Madness!!!! We have to use the next door Camp Christine as well.
Surprisingly, we pulled it off without much incidents ( a couple of pupils were sent back for fever). We did the high ropes, the sea activities like raft building, camp fire etc. All the meals were cooked by Mr Zukliflee and his family who slept in the camp as well.

In retrospect, it was really mad of us to conduct a camp for over 750 pupils at one go. Not everyone of us have organized camps before and yet we took it on. I felt that Ms Sum placed her trust on us, the PE department and me, as she seldom appear in the picture during the planning and recce. We just update her on the progress....that's it.
We could have broken up the organization of the camp into phases. However, the thought of having to conduct it twice would mean taxing every one's time and energy. Fortunately, we have Mr Paul Low, who was certified to conduct obstacles courses and sea activities with us. But then...imagine the risks.......what if......It gave me the shivers when I reminiscence about it.

St John's Island Camp
After the Sec 2 camp, the Sec 3 St John's Camp was a breeze. The pioneer batch went to St John's Island for the Sec 3 Camp after the Sec 2 camp. Again, all the activities were successfully conducted by the teachers and some pupils from the uniformed groups. Mr Zul and family cooked the meals. It was really a 'family' affair.

                                                                       The TRUST FALL

                                 BLIND leading the BLIND Confidence walk around St John's Island

  One of the group lead by Mr Paul LowYes, we brought our own food for meals cooked by mr Zulkiflee and family

Up the steep hill to the camp

 

                                     CCKS Staff at 2nd St John's Island Camp in 1996

Some of this pioneer pupils also went for the Mt Ophir Expedition. The trainings were done after school.....trekking up and down Bukit Timah Hill, night walk along the abandoned railway track, walk to MacRitchie, etc.
Though we lost our way halfway up Mt Ophir and thus did not reach the summit, we were rather satisfied with the experience.

Mt Ophir Expedition 1995 - before departure

                                                 Mt Ophir expedition 1995 - At base camp
Sec 1
The school receives another 8 classes of Sec 1 for year 1995, same combination  of 2NT, 2NA and 4Exp classes. 1995 also saw the school became a two-session school to accommodate the increased number of pupils. This would go on until the 'bloom batch' left after 1997.

Opening Ceremony
Prof Low S C, the MP of CCK officially declared the school 'opened' in a spectacular night affair of pupils' performances and dinner. I remembered that we prayed hard for the skies to hold on until the ceremony was over...it was so dark until the last minutes. We would want our weeks of preparations and rehearsal to bear fruit that night. Our prayers were obviously answered......

End 1995
One thing which we did not foresee was the departure of Ms Sum to MoE, a promotion which we were pleased for her. We thought that she would at least see the pioneer batch through the GCE 'O' examinations before leaving...it was not to be so......It was a rather quiet farewell.
Hello...Mrs Teo Khin Hiang

Chua Chu Kang Secondary School - The Three Heavenly Princes

December 1993
Before the news of the posting of new pupils were announced, some first year pupils already began to tell us stories of possible scenarios next year. From their friends, siblings, etc they told us that a particular famous primary school nearby was encouraging their 'weaker' pupils to join CCKS if they wanted a 'new beginning'. The pupils told us to expect some teen-gang leaders to apply to join us. They spoke especially about the '3 Heavenly Princes' who were already very notorious in that primary school. Even parents knew about them and their street gangs!!!!!

Thus on a December morning when the new pupils came to report, I stationed myself on the second level to scan the registration action. Sure enough, the three 'Princes' strolled in with aplomb but separately. It was very easy to recognize them.......they walked with a swagger, wore slippers, shirt tucked out, longish hair unlike most pupils who wore their primary school uniform proudly. Their parents were not with them. I could only manage to talk to one of them, enquiring about his attire and grooming and asking him to tidy up when he starts school next year. Surprisingly, he was not confrontational....The others disappeared just as quickly as they arrived.

Meanwhile, some parents were already enquiring  about the classes these 3 'Princes' were in and looked relieved when they realized that their child was in a different class. A couple of them requested change to separate their child from any one of the 'Princes'. Anyway, the three were placed separately into the three NT classes....yes, we had THREE NT full classes.

1994
We were really overwhelmed by numbers this year. There were a total of 19 Secondary One classes, 3 NT, 8 NA and 8 Express ( I might have gotten the actual allocation wrong). Proportionally, the number of teachers also bloomed. It was a really explosive year. Teachers hardly knew each other. The reason why the explosion in the number of classes was that CCKS was supposed to be a holding school for the new Kranji Secondary. However, the decision was made to absorb all pupils into CCKS under one Principal. There would not be a split later on.

As expected, host of problems cropped up. It was like fighting fire after fire. There was a time when the three Princes tried to exert their separate influences. 'Gang songs' were often heard along the corridors. There was an occasion that I had to run to the classroom block to diffuse a situation when chairs were used as weapons in a fight. The secret to diffusing the situation quickly was to identify the main culprits quickly and stopped them, anyone of them would do.
However, the Princes generally brought their conflicts, problems, recruitment, etc,  out of the school premises...usually at the Teck Whye blocks, market and Lot 1 (MacDonald & Burger King at ground level). There was an occasion when the OM went to a coffee shop under one of the Teck Whye blocks to talk to a 'headman' requesting them not to involve our pupils in the after 'school activities'. Maybe that was the reason why the 'activities' shifted elsewhere, no more waiting at the outdoor staircase outside the school and there were less 'settlement' talk in classrooms.

The Three Princes

They were rather different in many ways, in behavior, outlook and level of operation. They belonged to separate 'gangs' ie either 369 and SKT.

Prince 1. Andy, the biggest in size,  well built, dark, fearsome looking and looked like a grownup man. He was very quiet but the aural was there. He could just sit like a king and no one dare to approach him. He seemed to have a problem with speech and could not write/complete simple sentences. Almost every pupil feared him when he passed by. However, he seldom give teachers any behavioural problem, besides not submitting work and not listening during lessons. In my few encounters, he was calm and aloof. I could see that he did not want to confront teachers. I did not see the explosive part of him as I heard that he threw chairs and tables in primary school. After school, he would sit at the staircase opposite the entrance of the school, with his followers. It was a form of territorial domination and meant to intimidate the others. We would call the police whenever he was there. Later on, wisely, he would usually disperse his group when police approach to investigate.
Around the middle of his second year, he just disappeared from school totally. I heard that he had problems with the law, arrested and placed in an institution. Since he was 'very averaged ' I guessed he thought it was useless to continue school. Till now, we have not heard anything about him, whether he became a kingpin or changed to be a law abiding citizen.

Prince 2.  Lim C S looked nerdy when he put on his round gold-rimmed spectacles. He had a centre parting hairstyle which would got him in trouble on grooming most of the time (yes, we also dictated the way they combed their hair then). Though he was average in size and built,  he was more vocal than Andy. Surprisingly, they always avoided direct confrontation and ignore each other most of the time. When he heckled, the class would become silent immediately. He used Hokkien dialect most of the time but have better literacy than Andy, at least he wrote better and coherently. I was told that he often helped his fishmonger father in the wet market. He always had one or two followers around him. He was difficult to gauge, expressing very little. He hated having his hair cut and would be absent when he knew the time was up for a cut. C S also disappeared from school one day in his second year.

Prince 3. Peter T was the fiercest, loudest, thinnest (but he was very strong) and the most disruptive Prince of all. His lack of proficiency in English and Mandarin (just wonder how these pupils get through 6 years of primary school education) made him a frustrated person sometime. He used Hokkien most of the time and teachers have had a hard time making him learn, least to submit work. He was confrontational towards all and would always look for a fight, having anger management issues. Wherever Peter went, there would surely be a problem. When he was all,worked up, his eyes would narrow, neck veins showing, mouth shouting, hand in a clutch, etc. He would use anything that he could get his hands on in a confrontation. There was a few times that I just managed to hold on to him tightly enough so that the fight would not escalate further. He would listen to me and quieten down. Maybe he knew me through the many conversations I have had with him since day one, at times not necessary about his behavioural problems.
He has a brother in Lim C S's class. Tan K K was total reverse of Peter. Like black from white. He was a calm, polite and articulate boy, neatly dressed and groomed most of the time.  He was seldom involved or want to be involved in his brother's problems.
There was once I caught Peter with a packet of yellowish substance when he acted strangely, stumbling along the corridor. I knew he was on drugs. Ms Sum handled that case after I reported the find. From then on, I believed he was clean.  
Peter was an enigma. He became the only 'Prince' to complete 4 years of secondary education. On every Teacher's Day, he would present an orchid stalk to every teacher. His father owned an orchid farm in Lim Chu Kang, so I was told. At those moment, how not to love him? At certain time, he would defuse situations for teachers but could also be confrontational to some if they did not know how to handle him. Once you gained his respect, he seldom failed you.
The best moment for me was when he came back to school after he graduated. He wore the army uniform so proudly. He told me that he would be joining the Commandoes. It was a teary moment for me to hear that! A supposedly 'rotten apple' turned good!!! For a couple of years after,  he would still bring flowers for teachers personally on Teacher's Day. I heard that he is still a Commando now. Way to go Peter!!!!!

By the way, we never get the chance to meet their parents even though we tried calling. They just would not come to school. Once we went to visit Peter's father at his farm. He just said, 'do what you need to do'. I believed that their parents are all hardworking people who just wanted to leave their child in the hands of the school, believing that the school is a good place to transform them into useful and good people.

Even if we can change only ONE, just ONE, we have done the job as an educator...... Peter was the case.

                                  Cycling Trip to Pulau Ubin with Mr Tan Suan Tien 1993

                                 
                     Pulau Ubin 1993 Cycling - going to Ubin was a must during the initial years

Some of the pioneering NA pupils who made it to 'O' levels - notice the centre-parting hairstyle? A rage during those days.

Chua Chu Kang Secondary School - the Early Years 1

November 1992
I was asked by the then D&T Specialist, the late Mr Soon Eng Lee, whether I could uproot myself from Si Ling Sec to join a new school in the West. Without hesitation, I submitted a request to step down from my HOD post there so as to join this new school as I was feeling like a rotting carcass in Si Ling.
In early December, he arranged a meeting with the then Principal-designate, Ms Sum Chee Wah. Upon arrival, I was thrilled by the brand new premises and later inspired by Ms Sum's vision in starting the new school called Chua Chu Kang Secondary. I met a familiar face, Mr Ong Hong Teong there. Altogether there were 10 staff, more ladies than men, in the first year.
For a start, there would be 8 classes  ie  3 NA and 4 Express.

CCKS November 1992 - taken after I met Ms Sum in school

1993
Start of the new year saw a couple more staff joining. We were really excited by the new beginning. To be closer to the pupils, we had daily lunches with them during the first term.

                                 Staff bonding at a Changi chalet 1995, included VP Mr Hoon

Of course, there was the staff bonding, staff-pupils bonding exercises. At the end of it, we knew the name and nuances of virtually every pupil, 320 of them. The classes were all housed on the top level. A few fortunate ones (4) had classroom with a balcony view, rare indeed!
From the start, there were problems with the NA pupils, common were fighting, theft, smoking, grooming and 'after school' activities. There was even an underaged pregnancy. Naturally, as one of the few man teachers, I was tasked with the discipline job (morning assemblies, hall assemblies, dispute management, etc). For a start, we were very strict with the pupils. 'Long' hair or fringes were cut on the spot, sometimes by Mr Zulkiflee, TSO cum barber. Gold items, electronic devices (then only pagers and Walkman), lighters, cigarettes, etc were confiscated. Some valuable items were only returned at end of day or week. Combs with sharp handle were also modified before returning to the pupils. Nails were checked very regularly and cut on the spot, nail polish remover caused the girls much anguish then. In fact, the pupils' bags were checked regularly, usually after morning flag raising. As a result, some thinking pupils began the day by hiding the ' illegal' items inside the OHP (what happened to these AVA equipment today?), on top of the false ceiling boards in classroom and toilets, inside water cistern in toilet, etc. Surprise class raids were common. Imagine those horror expressions of pupils in the class when we (me and another lady/man teacher) trooped into the classroom unexpectedly to check the bags, the false ceiling etc. Just like a police raid. Once, I found a porno VCD inside the OHP. When I scanned the room, it was obvious who the culprit was..... He confessed later and was given the cane.

Caning
Oh yes, caning in class was quite common. There were a few public caning, usually for recalcitrant pupils who committed serious offences like fighting. The pupils were dealt with only after their written confession collected and parents called. Some implored us not to call their parents. They accepted the cane willingly. After caning, they have to write a reflection and talk to us.

There were rumblings about 'teen gangs' existing, but not much came out of them. Touching base with most of the boys, we managed to identify a few pupils who might be connected to the street-gangs in the Teck Whye area. Police were informed.
There was one afternoon when a pupil came running back into the school compound with blood stain on his shirt and a blue-black face. He was Neo Seow Hua, one of the silent 'member'. Seow Hua was in the NA class. He seldom used English, using Hokkien and Mandarin most of the time. When asked what happened, he brushed it off, washed up and wanted to run home. So we called his father who operated a fruit-juice stall at Telok Blangah Food Centre (Harbourfront) to inform him about the matter and to fetch him back. His father came, with little expression, took Seow Hua home, just like that. Thus we called the matter closed. From his classmates, we came to know that he went for a 'one-to-one' settlement with a rival gang, alone!

The first year was quite an exciting one. Apart from discipline problems like smoking, fighting, we have had quite a smooth year. One incident which 'excited' the school was the presence of a flasher outside the school, near the area where the present mosque is located. The police caught him finally after the male staff were told to patrol the area.

We were really fired up to be better than schools around us in the area. We were dreaming the ideals. I believed that Bukit Panjang Govt High at that time, was looking at us with great interest as they have a good reputation and would not want to overtaken by an upstart like us.
The apple-green was on the rise.....give us 5 years, so we thought. The neighborhood knew about our zero tolerant towards ill-discipline. Coming to think of it, we were quite draconian then.

CCKS June 2001 - When I left the school

An Old Friend

Last week, I was very happy to meet an old friend of mine, from our days in Chua Chu Kang Secondary in the 90s, Pak Chik Samat. He is one of those friends who you never forget as he went through many school events and experiences with you.

 

 

Pak Chik was originally employed as a school warden when CCK was started by Ms Sum Chee Wah, the Principal in 1992. Before the first pupils arrived at the beginning of 1993, he guarded the school premises day and night. Once the school began operation, he was then employed as a gardener.

During those initial days, stocky Pak Chik, TSO Zulkiflee and I decided to transform the garden scape of the school. Bonsai plant, Wrightia was planted along the front fence boundary of the school. These plants are now more than 20 years old!!!! Many fruit and spice trees were also planted around the school besides the normal trees which NEA?PPD provided, to create a kampung atmosphere. Go into CCK compound now and you know what I meant.

Pak Chik also followed us to school camps outside school. He was such an integral part of the school then.

                                    Pak Chik with Mr Lee A L, Zulkiflee and his father-in-law
                                   Pak Chik's favorite food : Mee Goreng with potatoes

When I met him again last week, I can't help to have a sense of helplessness initially. However as we chatted I sensed an air of optimism and hope even at an age of 75. He is on a wheelchair and spent the weekdays in Swami Home (Sembawang). He has to learn to reuse his once powerful limbs again through a variety of exercises. However, his ever smile and optimism made me saw a light in a tunnel and is confident that he will lead a satisfactory life, though his problems cannot be easily solved. I have never manage to hold a good conversation with him, like chicken and duck. He understands but cannot speak in English. I can understand basic Malay but cannot speak it. However, somehow, we understand each other all this time!! An endearing part is that he always call me Mr Whoosh....

Pak Chik - retired in 2000. AM Wilson presenting him a gift from staff





My Teaching Career (1993 - 2001)

Chua Chu Kang Secondary - the First year
When I first met Ms Sum Chee Wah in December 1992, I saw a firm but pleasant lady in a long skirt. She was starting the school and I could see that there were still renovation work going on. The Christian Cross at the front porch was taken down. I get to know that the premises was meant to be for St Margaret Secondary but they finally declined to move in.
As I was late, Mr Soon left though he was supposed to introduce me to Ms Sum. It was like an interview and I guess I was accepted, easy because I was a common teacher. Coincidentally, I met Mr Ong Hong Teong whom I knew. He was there slightly earlier than me.
It was an exciting time as there was a spirit of being on a mission. There were so many things to start anew though the uniform of olive green was already chosen. The badge was later designed with the logo, Serve, Grow and Excel.
The original team at CCKS included Celine Koh (Humanities), Mrs Quah Hui Tin (Art), Mrs Beatrice Kwek (HE), Jenny Wong (English), Mr Tan Suan Tin (a temporory teacher in PE) and Zulkiflee (WS Instructor) with Mr Samat (gardener)
There were 8 classes in the first year, 2 NT, 2 NA and 4 express.
Already, there were inherent problems with the NA and NT classes when they came in from primary schools. Some were gang followers (PHT and AST) and their problems were evident at around the Teck Whye blocks. Police were called in a few times. Ms Sum did not spare the cane and I became the unofficial discipline master.
The school did attempt to change its name to Stagmont Secondary but was rejected for some reasons. Even the name CHUA CHU KANG was not to be changed into its hanyu pinyin version of CHOA CHU KANG.
It was a pleasant year, not knowing that a tsunami was to hit CCKS.